Livelihoods Recovery for Peace (LRP) project

1. Mobilising the poorest communities for peace and development — LRP began by identifying the communities with the largest proportion of vulnerable, excluded and economically deprived (VEED) people. The project’s community groups are being formed in these ‘poverty pockets’ across all 271 village development committees (VDCs).  As of June 2012, 416 community groups have been formed. Much of LRP’s support is going for the social and economic empowerment of the members of these groups and their surrounding communities. More than 94 percent of the members of the groups formed are women and more than 60 percent are Terai Dalits, who are the poorest of the poor amongst Nepal’s many caste and ethnic groups.

2. Improving the local infrastructure — LRP is supporting communities to build new common infrastructures and rehabilitate damaged ones to improve their livelihoods and health. Work began in 2010, and 281 user committees using financial support (channelled through local government) have built 1773 infrastructures. Of the amount provided, approximately 36% is going for community buildings, 19% for toilets, 17% for drainage and lane improvement, 11% for drinking water supply and 8% for school buildings. The remaining are spent on electrification, culverts, health post building and river training. The projects are identified by community groups. LRP has planned 62 schemes for 2012.

3. Improving livelihood of the poorest and most vulnerable — LRP is supporting women, youth, individuals from conflict-affected families, Dalits and the poorest households to make a decent living by providing them with:
• skills and vocational training;
• support for income generating activities;
• micro and small enterprise development support;
• improved access to micro-finance; and
• access to solar home lighting systems.

As of June 2012, 12362 households have received grants for income generating activities (IGA).

4. Empowering women — Many women in this area are severely disadvantaged — in 2001 only 16.8% of women were literate in the three districts compared with 41.3% of men and 34.9% of women in Nepal. LRP is empowering the area’s women, in coordination with other UNDP projects and agencies, by improving their access to livelihood assets, involving them in decision making (80% of leadership positions in the newly formed groups are held by women) and forming women’s rights forums (WRFs). These forums are supporting women victims of violence and providing legal literacy training. As of 2011, a total of 176 WRFs have been formed. One WRF usually has 11-15 members and as of 2011 there are 2265 members in the WRF. These women consecutively play a proactive role to sensitize more women members of their community group on Gender Based Violence (GBV). The number of women who have benefitted from WRF is at least 2265 as of December 31, 2011.

5. Strengthening local institutions — The project is helping youth clubs, local government bodies and other institutions to become more responsive to promoting livelihoods and peace. Youth empowerment — One of the area’s most pressing problems is the high rates of youth unemployment. LRP is running a Youth for Social Cohesion and Peace programme through youth clubs and NGOs. It is providing tutorial support in the poverty pockets and helping young people to hold peace conversations and run other peace activities. The project is also appointing youth volunteers to serve alongside the project’s peace and livelihoods facilitators (PALs) in all VDCs. Aiming for a lasting impact LRP is taking a socially inclusive approach by, for example, encouraging the implementing NGOs to have a diverse staff. Whilst its main focus is on improving and empowering the neediest people, it also supports work that benefits all communities and classes. This should help the project overcome the main challenge it faces of getting the area’s many political groupings to work together for the benefit of all local people. Success stories from project districts point the way forward. After the communal conflicts of 2007, weekly meetings facilitated by LRP in this area are rebuilding trust between the area’s hill and Terai origin people. As a result of this and some infrastructure improvements these communities have begun to mix again and common trust is growing.