Status of IYV 2001 in Nepal

(As of October 2001)

Bhuvan B. SilwalIYV National Coordinator

National UN Volunteer, Nepal

IYV 2001 Secretariat, Nepal

Outline of Presentation: BackgroundBackground of Volunteerism and NGO in NepalIYV 2001 Implementation Strategy

Status of IYV in Nepal: Achievements to Date

IYV Nepal and other international OrganisationsBeyond IYV 2001 in Nepal

IYV Secretariat, Nepal 2

Background• Words of voluntary related actions, things: Sewa in

Nepal, India and Sri Lanka, Kela in Bangaladesh, and so on

Volunteering-as Swayamsewak in Nepal, India, Shebok in Bangaladesh, Asasamak in Laos.

Nepal -land of multi-ethnic, multi-linguistic, multi-religious people

Nepal's own historical, traditional, cultural, social, economic background to germinate, care, develop and sustain volunteeringJhara, Dhikur, Parma, Badghar, Guthi, Ban, Lathi, Ban Samuha”: examples

Background Kathmandu: city of Temples and monasteries made

by the people mostly free of cost Thousands of Chautary and Pati, Pauwas used to be

built to gain virtue. Dan (Giving): highly valuable to all religions. Hindu

scriptures the Mahabharat, the Ramayan, the Upanishads. Dana Paramita (donation capacity): greatly prized in Buddhism. Christianity propounds that in giving to the needy one gives to godIn Islam the jakat (donation) is a must. It says that God loves the giver

Emergence of Formal Volunteering

Tulsi Mehar began Nepal Gandhi Smarak Charkha Pracharak Guthi in 1926 Bhukampa Sewa Dal (i.e. Earthquake Support Group) was first organised modern ad hoc group to response after the great earthquake in 1934 Paropakar began by late great volunteer Mr. Daya Bir Singh Kansakar was first blood donor and Dr. Ananda Shrestha is highest blood donor in Nepal. 8th Plan adopts the policy of extension, organisation, simplification of act and rules and involvement of Community Service The Social Welfare Act 1990 -further led to the promotion of such organisations.

Types of Voluntary Organisations in Nepal

UGs, sports clubs, religious sects, pharmacists, tea stall, owners, civil servants, construction contractors, libraries, trusts, non-profit companies are registered as NGOs under the Association Act and therefore are counted as NGOsEstd. NGOs: >12,000 NGOs & CBOs > 20,000 Its hard to separate VOs from NGOs in some respects. IYV Toolkit: Mutual aid or self-help e.g. CF UGs, Philanthropy e.g. Paropakar, Campaigning & advocacy e.g. Dalit NGOs Federation and Participation and self-governance e.g. Samuhik Abhiyan, Pragya.In 1973 TU launched NDS for MA students for 9 months. HMG: initiated NDVS- 400 volunteers.

Traditional Recognition of Volunteering Nepalese saying : if you have any appreciation of me,

please go to others and tell the people about, and if you have any complaint, criticism, please come to me and whisper in my ear...

Samajik Samman contains different forms: culturally symbolic materials and process: -symbolic award: shawl, vermilion and -Process: Abhinandan, Ratha Yatra, Dosalla Wodhaune, Kadar patra, Badhai, Puraskar

Daivi Paropakar Padak (i.e. Disaster medal): famous one given by King after disaster.

The SWC's: started awarding one role model volunteer.

NGOs and Volunteerism in NepalTrend of NGOs in Nepal

Figure 1: Trend of NGOs Emergence.

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

60 77 89 90 91 00 01

Year

# o

f N

GO

s

Impact on Traditional Volunteering Systems

Impact of different development models over the traditional volunteering systems: actually unknown.Many financial cooperatives were set up & run in urban areas; some of them already disappeared with the savings.CF through the efforts of local Ugs: a big success to manage natural resources through “Green Volunteers”. Case Studies from Bardia & Nawalparsi districts indicated negative impacts from project interventions.Nepalese NGOs are not free from public critics. The ultimate impact of the trend has been observed to be neither supportive nor neutral to traditional values of volunteering.

International Year of Volunteers 2001 In Nepal

• 19-members IYV National Steering Committee formed in Nepal on 1 August 2000.

• Chair: Hon’ble NPC Member of Nepal

• Member-Secretary: NDVS

• Members: DOE, MLD, SWC, FNCCI, TU, NRCS, NGO Fed, RUNVAN, NFD, IAVE, UNDP/UNV, International VSAs, Japanese Embassy

General Working Structure of IYV Nepal

IY V 2 0 0 1 N S CC h a ired b y H on . N P C M em b er D r. J .C . P okh are l

IY C 2 0 0 1 S ec re ta ria tIY V 2 0 0 1 N a tion a l C oord in a to r

S u p p orted b y U N V P rog ram m e

N etw ork in g G rou pN G O F ed lead in g

E d ito ria l Team fo rN ep a l V o lu n teer B ook 2 0 0 1

R esearch G rou pN D V S lead in g

R esou rce M ob i. G rou pR A F H A J lead in g

R ecog n it ion G rou pF ew loca l leve l in t ia t ives seen

Expected Impact of IYV in Nepal Increased awareness to and renaissance of

traditional volunteering systems. More resources available - human and financial. Improved Networking in the Voluntary Sector. Improved documentation of volunteering sector. Increased lobbying & more favorable Operating

environment for the volunteer sector.

Implementation StrategySensitise & Get the VOs & NGOs about IYV Process VOs, CBOs, NGOs based programmeWider coverage-gender, geographical, ethnic, sectorsContinuous press coverageIYV NSC priority programmes implementedPriority for local resource-based celebration.

Attentions paid while celebratingCoverage: all districts of the country Almost all celebrations should be through VOs/NGOsIYV Secretariat should not be donor for IYV celebrationsFocus to involve potential organisations and networking: SA, NGO Fed, Networking of Handicapped people, dalits..Facilitation of diverse organisations-gender, networking, VO, NGO, IVSAs.

IYV Launch in Nepal• IYV 2001: launched by

organising the national Volunteer Exhibition from December 17-18, 2000 in Kathmandu.

• 47 Volunteering related organisations took part in the exhibition

• Excellent media coverage • Regional Volunteer

Exhibition: organised from March 16-17, 2001 in NPG.

Achievements to Date:Analysis of Achievements

• The analysis of IYV activities in this kingdom began by observing the coverage of activities,

• The extent of coverage indicates that the programme reached all development regions, all geographical regions-mountain, hill, inner terai and terai- of Nepal.

• “The impact” of IYV activities demand further analysis by collecting additional quantitative figures.

Coverage of IYV 2001 in Nepal

Recognition HMG’s commitment. Traditionally, many events:

organised spontaneously VDRC: established the Bijay

Shree award this year. SWC: awarded Father

Watrin this year for his long volunteer service.

Nepal Volunteer Book 2001 is the name of the proposed publication.

Facilitation- Nepal Tax Laws allows

taxpayers to enjoy tax benefits.

- HMG: recently begun to make NDVS autonomous by bringing new legislation.

- Discussion continue to strengthen NDVS.

- 24 Interactions totally on volunteering and IYV .

Networking - V.O.s forum as NGO Fed

Volunteer Mobilisation Group agreed to set up under NGO Federation.

- www.nepalvolunteer.org set up.

- Establishment of Database of VOs begun.

- > 100 Organisations have been actively involved for IYV in Nepal.

Statistics of Some Volunteer Organisations in Nepal:

 

Development Region

# of VOs sampled(Before 1990)

Av. Years of Existence(range)

Av. Annual volunteers Mobilisation

Total Volunteer Mobilisation to date

Total 207 (25) 8.058 60.6 758811

Promotion• 10 articles in national media.

• 3 IYV special bulletins,

•Leaflets-2 types.

•Pamphlets-4 types,

•IYV Calenders-2 types.,

•Continuous media coverage

• 5 Trainings for women,

•Tree plantation

•Posters-2 types

Promotion• News Flashes-8 times and 1 special

in Nepali, •Greeting cards-4 types .•IYV T-Shirts-3 types., •Interaction programmes-4., •Sponsored cultural event.•Radio talk shows-4 times, •Students competitions, •Art exhibitions.•‘Khir Bhojan’ for old citizen in

Pashupati.

Role of UN Volunteers IYV Team in Bonn and Global Networking

• IYV Team supported: technical support, global networking and promotional materials.

• Global networking: better facilitated through www.iyv2001.org .

• Networking among the IYV Committees and focal persons: felt valuable & effective to share experiences & get inspired.

• Promotional materials including IYV publications, folders, posters, brochures, T-shirts, dot pens: useful

Beyond IYV 2001 in NepalKey Motivational Factors observed in 2001

Many genuine VOs - only desire to recognition their valuable contributions to society.

Many young organisations partially involved in volunteering: interested to get actively involved into global, regional and national networking.

Many perceives ‘common forum’ as an effective means to work and get recognition.

Many: work effectively if technical, informational and material support are available.

Weaknesses perceived in the year ? Strategically 1.5 year: a very short duration? Ethnic people, dalit, handicapped, gender: under represented.? Role of NSC: focused more on ‘directing role’ rather than on

action related functions e.g. fund raising.? -ve attitude of donor community toward volunteerism ? Inadequate know how on ‘fund raising’ techniques.? Jaycees, Rotary, Lions could not be activated. ?  The national network & capacity of Nepal Red Cross Society

and Nepal Scouts were under used.? Role of UN family (excluding UNV) to 2001:more expected.

Sustainability of IYV Initiatives

• NPC/NDVS: proposed autonomous body

• NDVS presently hosts IYV Secretariat & is proposed home for volunteer centre

• HMG funds for regular NDVS activities

• Volunteer networking under NGO Fed structure

Facilitation to volunteerism in future Documentation of Volunteering related information systematically Establishment of Volunteer Resource Centre, Information system &

dissemination of volunteering related information. The 10th five-year plan enhance volunteerism favourable policies

& programmes. Reviewing of legal provisions related to volunteering Capacity enhancement of Volunteer Organisations The proposed Forum for Coordination of Volunteering Sector

(FOCUS) HDR incorporates Volunteerism as thematic issue Strengthening of volunteering networking in Nepal