6.1    Introduction
6.2    Expansion of VDP into more VDCs
6.3    High expectations in a short time frame
6.4    Coverage of All Households in a Settlement
6.5    Technology transfer and linkage to specialized services
6.6    Improved market linkages
6.7    Coordination with other financial institutions
6.8    Incorporating awareness about gender and equity
6.9    Prioritized demands of male and female COs
6.10  Changes in gender roles and responsibilities
6.11  Participatory Monitoring System
6.12  COs as receptors of information of vital issues

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6.1 INTRODUCTION

Social mobilization is a social learning process. First of all, there is no fool-proof guideline that can be applied in all the VDCs in a blanket way. Every community responds to VDP interventions in different ways. The willingness to accept the concept of social mobilization varies from one community to the next. Education, exposure to development issues, religion, tradition, geography, economic conditions, expertise and dedication of the social mobilizers, are some of the key factors that affect a community’s decision to embrace a new way of life. If the indigenous communities of the Terai are skeptical of venturing into ‘unknown’ territory, the migrant settlers from the hills who live in the same village are more willing to take risks and experiment with new suggestions.

VDP has been charting its course through feedback received from the field on what works and what doesn’t work under various circumstances. VDP’s guidelines have been refined through its experiences of direct contact with the lives of the rural men and women. It is the feedback that women in mixed groups were not participating much in group discussions, that prompted VDP to give the women more space and liberty for empowerment by making it mandatory for men and women to form different COs.

There is no end to the learning process, it cannot end. Thus the programme too will always be learning and trying to adjust and improve accordingly based on field reality. Although initial assessments have shown that VDP has come a long way in achieving its goals and objectives, there is still a lot of room for improvement. VDP still needs to tackle many challenges, introduce new ideas, in order to make the programme even more effective. Below are some of the issues of immediate concern to the programme.

6.2 EXPANSION OF VDP INTO MORE VDCs

The VDP has been implemented in a total 175 VDCs so far. Having felt that VDP is the ideal model of decentralized poverty alleviation initiatives, it is imperative to try to replicate it in as many VDCs as possible. The challenge for the Programme now is to gradually expand into more VDCs of each participating district.

6.3 HIGH EXPECTATIONS IN A SHORT TIME FRAME

VDP is a process oriented approach of transforming the nascent community organizations into self-governing institutions at the grassroots, empowering them and enabling them to increasingly undertake development into their hands. It is an approach that takes considerable effort and time. On the other hand, the expectations raised by the social mobilization process are quite high in relation to what could be achieved by VDP is a short period of time. The challenge, therefore, is to link the prioritized development needs and potentials of the communities, of both men and women, with the resources of the line agencies, I/NGOs, and the donors so that COs can act as a permanent receiving mechanisms at the grassroots. Development resources can be optimally utilized if they can be channeled through these COs, only if there are strong functional linkages with all the development agencies at the district and village levels.

6.4 COVERAGE OF ALL HOUSEHOLDS IN A SETTLEMENT

Despite continuous effort, an average of 20 percent households of the settlement have still not been able to be incorporated into COs. The challenge for the programme now is to identify the ‘missing’ households and find out the reason why they have not been included into the folds of VDP. The coverage of the programme varies from place to place. In some districts, the coverage is nearly 100 percent.. e.g. Chafamandu in Achham where the coverage is 99 percent. Elsewhere the coverage averages at 80 percent. The ‘missing’ 20 percent could be disinterested affluent people who are not attracted by the notion of social mobilization; they could be the poor oppressed "dalits" who customarily live in the periphery of settlements; or they could be households where the breadearners are seasonal migrants. Whoever the ‘missing’ may be, the programme now faces the task of assessing the coverage of each and every settlement. It needs to determine who has been left out, why they have been left out, and how they can be urged to join the community organizations so that they are not marginalized from the development process.

6.5 TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER AND LINKAGE TO SPECIALIZED SERVICES

Various types of enterprises have been initiated by COs by utilizing the credit capital from the LTF. The enterprises that have emerged so far are the traditional enterprises mainly in agriculture and livestock. This is due to poor accessibility of the rural communities to the better, appropriate and efficient technologies. Enterprises based on rural/traditional technologies and practices tend to have low benefits, thus limiting people’s choices for economic initiatives. It has been noticed that the use of credit capital also tends to get confined to these traditional enterprises.

Lack of technology to better utilize local resources is seen as a major stumbling block for initiating enterprises for the promotion of economic activities. Therefore, the programme will have to stress the introduction of innovative appropriate technologies at the grassroots level for COs to undertake productive enterprises. Diffusion of appropriate technology at the grassroots will promote new/appropriate enterprises, and will correspondingly increase the demand for credit capital from LTF. The utilization of appropriate and efficient technologies in the production process or in enterprises will increase the income of the rural communities by many folds, thereby enhancing the economy of rural communities. VDP will lay extra focus on those technologies that promote the utilization of labor and locally available resources. It will try to work out linkages with specialized centers like National Agricultural Research Center (NARC) and the Lumle & Pakhribaas Agricultural Centers, the various technical institutes, centers for renewable energy, etc. so as to provide the extra input in improved technologies that the rural men and women need.

6.6 IMPROVED MARKET LINKAGES

VDP has laid a lot of emphasis on human resource development at the grassroots. Inherent skills of the local people have been enhanced through general orientations on improved farming, horticulture, livestock raising, and crafts-making. A cadre of villagers have been groomed to function as experts in various fields in order to make the communities self-sufficient and self-reliant. With improved inputs, the production capacity and quality of products have been enhanced. What they now lack are market linkages. With proper access to the market, the villagers can expand their production as per the demands of the market and thus reap monetary benefits. This way the skills that the people have acquired will be put to use, and further opportunities of fine-tuning their skills can also open up.

6.7 COORDINATION WITH OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

Privatization and the open door policy of the Government has encouraged the establishment of many financial institutions in the districts. The LTF can enter into a contractual arrangement with these financial institutions for the wholesale credit for use by the COs. Experience has shown that COs, as they become mature, are increasingly demanding credit. Hence more credit needs to be mobilized. Access to wholesale credit from banks is one of the means of increasing credit capital in the LTF.

6.8 INCORPORATING AWARENESS ABOUT GENDER AND EQUITY

The 2,800 community organizations, that have already been formed have a potential role in mainstreaming gender in the local development process, by instituting basic gender sensitive orientation courses and by assuring that their members, especially female members, participate in the empowerment process. VDP will try to incorporate issues of gender equity into every aspect of programme implementation. For example, it will try to break gender stereotypes by advocating non-traditional skill development programmes (veterinary training for women, for instance). By addressing the basic needs of men and women like drinking water, irrigation, functional literacy etc., VDP will then try to address their strategic needs like legal and political empowerment.

6.9 PRIORITIZED DEMANDS OF MALE AND FEMALE COs

In order to incorporate the "voice" and "choice" of women in the local development process, VDP has encouraged the formation of separate COs of male and females at the settlement level. The programme now needs to analyze the prioritized development needs of the male and female COs. It needs to assess whether their demands differ, especially where skill enhancement, enterprise development and productive infrastructure are concerned. This feedback will be crucial for the programme to adjust its development interventions accordingly.

6.10 CHANGES IN GENDER ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

With the programme’s input in women’s empowerment as the basic criteria for achieving sustainable development, it is now time to assess the impact made by VDP’s gender-specific interventions. In order to ensure that VDP’s input are having the expected outcomes and impacts, the programme also needs to assess whether its input of credit and skill development (to men and women) have resulted in the initiation of enterprises by those men and women, and whether there has been a resultant change in their roles and responsibilities. For example, if women have been utilizing credit facility to increase their livestock holding, and yet are not assisted in some of their ‘traditional’ responsibilities, or their workload reduced through technological means, they could be overloaded with physical labor and not be able to fully participate in the process of empowerment.

The programme needs to monitor changes in social behavior brought about through the participation of the community in the social mobilization process, such that corrective action can be taken immediately if unintended effects and impacts surface. This is very important specially where gender roles and responsibilities are concerned. ‘Developmental’ inputs should not trigger social strife and disharmony.

6.11 PARTICIPATORY MONITORITY SYSTEM

It has become imperative to establish a systematic participatory monitoring system in all COs so as to allow CO member themselves to monitor their progress regularly and take corrective actions, if necessary. The programme now needs to work out an effective participatory monitoring system to ensure that the CO members are regularly monitoring their progress in the path of self-reliance and self-governance and taking corrective actions for any shortcomings in the development process.

6.12 COs AS RECEPTORS OF INFORMATION OF VITAL ISSUES

VDP has, so far, touched the lives of nearly 77,000 rural men and women in nearly 2800 COs formed in the villages. These COs are vibrant and institutional bases for any development message meant to reach the masses. Any message on awareness-raising - HIV/AIDS, family planning, cultural heritage, girl trafficking, child labor, DOTS programme, plastic pollution, safe use of pesticide, terminator genes, organic manure, rash use of antibiotics, alternative fuel - will be ensured of 80 percent coverage of settlements if they are channeled through the COs directly, or through the CMCs. The challenge that VDP faces is to network and collaborate with other development agencies and programmes to maximize their inputs, and therefore, the benefits for the COs. The first step towards this process is to disseminate the facts about VDP’s outreach and the impacts that have been made to as many agencies and programmes aspossible, both at the center and in the districts.

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