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A Voice For the Voiceless

MISSION

The Advocacy Project seeks to produce social change by helping marginalized communities to become advocates for social justice and claim their rights

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Nepal Social Development and People’s Empowerment Center (NESPEC)

NESPEC’s work unites right-holders through social mobilization, skill development, promotion of suitable technology, and building of social capital.  NESPEC campaigns against autocracy, exploitation, injustice, and oppression as well as acting as a leading organization in making a difference in the social sector based on its own values and norms. 

NESPEC’s primary goals consist of:

• Sustainably increasing the standard of living and pace of development for the ultra-poor of Nepal.
• Increasing the social and political functioning of oppressed groups through community mobilization and the raising of awareness about democratic governance, peace, and human rights.

NESPEC is a nonprofit organization based in Gaighat, a city located in the Udayapur District of Nepal.  It was created in 1997 for the purpose of increasing the social, political, and economic status of oppressed groups by empowering them to advocate for, exercise, and preserve their rights.

The establishment of democracy in Nepal in B.S. 2046 (1989) led to an explosion of dozens of new non-governmental organizations working toward a variety of social causes.  Unfortunately, many of these organizations did not have pure intentions and developed primarily in order to access the newly available funds from international donors.  Only some evolved as truly social organizations working for the betterment of their communities.

NESPEC developed in the face of two main challenges.  On one hand, there were challenges to change the negative beliefs people held about NGOs. On the other hand, there were the practical issues involved in conducting effective development work, involving the many political, economic, and social issues related to the process of empowering and educating right-holders.  Despite these challenges, there was a clear awareness within the community of the lack of a community institution that could effectively lead a human rights-based development campaign with strong values, norms, and innovative work. Thus, with the initiation and participation of local volunteers and social workers, NESPEC was established.




NESPEC is currently conducting a Land Rights Campaign on Food Security Issues in collaboration with Action Aid Nepal, which began in 2007 and continues through the present.  The campaign is focused on raising awareness about the problems involving land ownership and cultivation in rural Nepal by addressing the threats posed by erosion and usurpation of land. 

Past programs include:

• Peace & Development Program(PDP)
• Small commercial agriculture program
• Improved Cooking Stove(ICS) Program
• Education Awareness Program
• Social Interactivities against Girls Trafficking
• Women Industrialization Development Project
• Decentralized Energy Management Initiative  (DEMI)
• Peace, Democracy and Human Rights Program
• Livelihood Enhancement With Micro-Irrigation Project (LEMI)
• Scholarship Program
• Peace, Democracy and Human rights program

NESPEC regularly disseminates Human Rights – related information through: press releases, processions, seminars, and orientations.



NESPEC is a member organization of Collective Campaign for Peace (COCAP) and has been working as its Eastern Region Focal Point since 2005. It has also experience working with the Regional Renewable Energy Service Centre (RRESC) and the United Nations Development Program.  NESPEC's current partners are:

• District Administration Office (Udayapur)
• Social Welfare Council (SWC)
• NGO Federation Nepal
• Collective Campaign for Peace (COCAP)
• Safe Motherhood Federation Nepal

Social Mobilization

• Under the different programs conducted by NESPEC within Udayapur district, 102 community based organizations (CBOs) have been established and 3 lakh rupees have been invested as saving & credit, while 8 lakhs rupees have been invested as revolving funds. There are 1,912 household from target groups directly benefiting from this.

Peace, Democracy and Human Rights Campaign

• 817 conflict-affected households from four village development committees (VDCs) of Udayapur district have been included in income generation and skill-development activities to support conflict transformation and the peace process. Additionally, community mediation, school peace zone campaigns, seminars, processions, press releases, and orientations were conducted in order to involve conflict parties in reconciliation, supported by the United Nations Development Program Support for Peace and Development Initiative.
• 200 people from ten CBOs were provided conflict management training with the support of GTZ/RCIW.
• 150 people from three different locations in the district were oriented about the trafficking of young girls.  Supervision committees were formed by creating connections with local volunteers trained with the Women Development Office’s Gender Equality Mainstream Program/
• A Humanitarian Help Camp was established during the 2006 People’s Movement that served the injured as well as provided basic medicine and food to protesters. This campaign was supported by local people and from NESPEC’S core fund.
• An information and resource centre has been established with the help of NESPEC's core fund to provide new information and knowledge to those involved in human rights-based campaigns.
• The NESPEC volunteer core group established a fund through donations of 1 rupee per person from local members to support women and children who are at-risk. After organizing a public program, sufficient funds were raised to provide educational materials and uniforms for a girl named Kalpana Rai and her brother Arjun Kumar Rai inhabitant of Risku, Katari.  They had been trafficked into a circus in India, rescued, returned to Nepal and are now being cared for by some of NESPEC’s stakeholders who have committed to help them.

Food Security and Land Rights Campaign: 

• In 2007, NESPEC began a series of activities and campaigns for the Food Security and Land Rights campaign, with the support of Action Aid Nepal. There are currently four land rights action groups and one district land rights forum that have been established for uniting landless peoples and those living in disputed areas such as on riverbanks or near community forests. These people face tremendous problems in terms of managing their daily livelihood. Most of them are forced to work for large landowners and are unable to earn nearly enough money to sustain their families. The large majority of these people are from Dalit, Janajati and Madhesi castes, who are already faced with considerable discrimination. NESPEC has begun the process of empowering them through a variety of orientations, campaigns, trainings, and regular meetings, as well as supporting them to raise their voice for their rights on a national level.
• There are an additional twenty-five farmers' cooperatives (representing 634 families) that have been established in the four Village Development Committees of Jogidaha, Handiya, Sundarpur and Siddipur in which NESPEC is currently working. NESPEC has also started 8 different REFLECT classes for these groups in order to empower them to personally identify their own problems, as well as to help them in the process of finding a solution for themselves on the local level.
• Furthermore, eight youth groups have been established by the local children of these communities, and there are now two thousand children that have been included through the facilitation of NESPEC. The children of these groups are staging monthly meetings in order to discuss their problems and find solutions, and NESPEC is supporting them in their various activities and campaigns. The children are publishing wall newspapers (bulletin boards) by writing articles and drawing pictures; they are collecting different articles and literature materials from their friends and putting them in their monthly wall newspaper. The children are also organizing various programs and activities on special occasions such as International Children's Day. These types of activities help them to develop their intellectual and creative skills in a way that will benefit their communities as a whole.

 
Campaign for Constitution Assembly Election: 

• Orientation meeting: NESPEC organized an orientation program of four weeks where four political parties were invited to speak about the constitution assembly election and its process through their institutional views to the volunteers, members and staff of NESPEC.  They spoke about the Nepali Congress, CPN United, CPNM and CPNUML. This program helped the human resource sector of NESPEC to learn about the concept of different political institutions as well as about the CA, which helped them to discuss the different issues in the community through the CA perspective.
• Sample CA Election: A sample CA election was organized by NESPEC volunteer core group on February 8th to develop the knowledge and skill of human resources of organization about election process. This exercise helped all the volunteers, members and staff to facilitate the community groups about the CA election process.
• CA Election Awareness Campaign: Group orientations were conducted in 25 different groups from four VDCs (Jogidaha, Handiya, Sundarpur, Siddipur and Triyuga Municipality).  CA election information pamphlets were distributed to them by the support of COCAP and in cooperation with District Election Commission. Street dramas also took place in six locations of those VDCs by local artists and NESPEC volunteers - drama was focused on land rights, access to CA of marginalized community, and food security.

Education

• Under our education awareness program, 115 children from 11 VDCs of Udayapur district who were outside of school were admitted to schools with the collaboration and support of the District Education Office (DEO). Through a similar process of leveraging the DEO, two Community Child Development Centers have been established for overall development of 36 children age 2-5 years old.
• With the support of SEBS and The Daywalka Foundation, NESPEC distributed scholarships to 24 Dalit and Janajati girls from remote area of Udayapur District to support their regular attendance in school and their education improvement.
• With the support of UNDP/SPDI, 817 people from marginalized groups and remote areas of the district were provided community education about conflict management, mediation, human rights and humanitarian law. And under the Child Peace Zone campaign, 473 children from 14 schools from the same areas were united and included in child clubs for conducting educational enhancements to their overall development.

Skill & Micro-enterprise

• 250 unemployed women were given skill-training in a variety of trades including: making soap, incense sticks, cloth flowers, food preparation, glass painting, gift glasses, and jute snipping.
• 30 youths were trained for employment in rural aggrovate work and basic electrician training with the help of UNDP/SPDI, DSI, and NESPEC's core fund.

Agriculture

• 200 Dalit and Janajati women were united in 20 groups to conduct commercial kitchen garden projects.  91 women from the same community have received a treadle pump for irrigation, seeds for planting, and technical trainings with collaboration between DFID/APPSP and NESPEC. Now those farmers are earning 3-5 thousand rupees per year by growing vegetables in their small farm.
• With the support of UNDP/SPDI and under the Peace and Development program (PDP), 640 families from ultra-poor, Dalit and Janajati were involved in a goat and pig husbandry program leading them to earn 5-20 thousand NRs per year.
• 440 farmers from ultra poor community have been united in 25 groups under the Livelihood Enhancement Micro Irrigation Project (LEMI) with the support of DFID/ADB/DOI. 339 of these farmers have been distributed treadle pumps and 10 farmers have been distributed drip technology as irrigation facilities. All of them have been trained about vegetable farming and market management technology. Now they are earning NRs.3-27 thousand per year.

Alternative/Renewable energy

• 2500 tons of firewood are being saved annually after installing improved cooking stove in 6700 household of 43 VDCs in the Udayapur and Sindhuli districts, under the National Improved Cooking Stove Program with the help of AEPC/ESAP.
• Through the support of AEPC/ESAP and under the Decentralized Energy Management Initiative, programs for energy surveying, energy planning and implementing, profile preparation of energy sector, and awareness of energy management have been done in Handiya and Aanptar VDCs of Udayapur District as well as in Mattimbirta VDC of Khotang District.
• After establishing a revolving fund of NRs. 50,000/- with the help of NESPEC, the District Development Committee along with five other local organizations, have installed 25 biomass plants including toilets in Handiya VDC which are being used by local consumers.
• "Solar tuki for poor" awareness campaigns conducted by coordinating with Centre for Rural Energy (CRE) in 10 VDCs of Udayapur District led to 50 households now using solar tuki.

Health, Drinking Water and Sanitation

• After providing training about safe drinking water, basic health, and sanitation to 30 local women from three drinking water consumer committees of Triyuga Municipality, there are now 300 consumers are using safe drinking water as well as 60 toilets that are being used by local consumers.
• 24 taps and 147 toilets have been constructed by the residents of Siddipur VDC under the Birendra Bazar and Salghari drinking water project. 166 household are included directly to this project with the help of NEWAH-Biratnagar.
• After conducting school sanitation program in three schools for targeting students and parents, with the help of UNICEF and Triyuga Municipality, there are changes in the participants’ daily habits about sanitation.

Contact:
Triyuga Municipality-3, Durgatole, Gaighat, Udayapur
Phone: 0977-035-420079
Fax: 0977-035-420722
Email NESPEC!

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