Ongoing

The ‘Community Empowerment through Social and Economic Upliftment Project’ (CESE-UP) aims at strengthening the social capabilities of the most marginalized people in 6 communities in Morang, Sarlahi, and Chitwan, and to act as ‘change agents’ at the household and community level against caste- & gender-based discrimination. Although the main visible problem in the project communities is poverty, at its root is caste- and gender-based discrimination against dalits and ethnic minorities, in particular women. They are often landless and survive ‘from hand to mouth’ doing hard daily labour or seasonal work. They often have no identity papers and therefore cannot access the services and rights guaranteed by Nepalese legislation; sufficient livelihood or land to cultivate, health, water and sanitation, education, and social security benefits (senior-citizens, people living with disabilities, etc.). The project sensitizes them to their fundamental rights as guaranteed by the Nepalese Constitution, and encourages them to form their own local organizations to advocate for their rights. Through the community organizations, in particular women’s groups and cooperatives, health and sanitation conditions and practices can be improved. By supporting children with school uniforms and materials, the drop-out and truancy rates can be reduced. The community groups are assisted in setting up and operating small funds, where the members can get loans for developing cottage industries, purchase of small livestock, renting land and cultivating vegetables and herbs. In Terai’s flatlands where floods and droughts alternate, mitigating natural disasters is possible through disaster preparedness and climate-change sensitive construction and cultivation. The project involves approximately 13 000 people(belonging to Santhal, Musahar, Paswan, Chamar/Sarki, Tamang, Biswakarma, Pariyar ,Chepang, Bote or Majhi dalit or ethnic groups)  and some 280 local civil servants and civil society organization employees.

The Pauli comprises of 1 km of embankment along the right bank of the Khare Khola of Madi Municipality, Chitwan district. Total 46 houses had badly affected by floods and inundation triggered by incessant rainfall occurred on Mid-August of 2018. About 100 bigha of land have been inundated and covered by sand due to flood. The inundation had ruined the fertile paddy field and transformed it as a sand bank. It had destroyed all poorly constructed traditional huts. The people in the mentioned territory most of are considered as lower caste and socially deprived still are in the most vulnerable situation. Most of them are land less. Some of them had cultivated government land. But, due to the flood they lost their fertile paddy field and transformed it as a sand bank. Now, the whole farmland is covered by wild thrones and there is no productivity. Under the project SUS has been supporting the community  through restoration of the farmland and livelihood initiatives in the colabaration with CEDAR Fund, Hongkong.

The overall objective of the project is to strengthen the institutional capacity of Community Resource and Service Centre of Bharatpur Municipality-29, Kabilash, Chitwan. The specific objectives of the project are: (i) to strengthen organizational, technical, financial, and physical capacities of CRSC to enable it to deliver community development service to the communities in a sustainable manner. It is expected that with the strengthening of the CRSC, it will be in a position to improve and sustain the livelihood situation of the communities through the services it indents to provide. The project is funded by CEDAR Fund, Hongkong.