CANADA NEPAL GENDER IN ORGANIZATIONS

Section II: NGO Capacity building for gender equality

10. Learning Organizations

| Action Learning | Action Learning Set |
The PNGOs were motivated to take responsibility for their own learning and capacity building. Several approaches were adopted:

10.1. Sustainability Spiral

“The mission statement guides and focuses the PNGO toward building a viable organization that is able to attract resources, and then to implement programs that have a positive impact / result. Through assessing the impact of its work, the organization learns and improves to be more viable, which in turn enables it to attract new resources and achieve greater impact, thus continuing the spiral of learning and integrating new knowledge into the organization and its work.” ⁵

PNGOs were introduced to the spiral model as a way of conceptualizing their own growth process and critical factors for success. CNGO fostered vision-led organizations with a focus on achieving meaningful impact for people, in contrast to NGOs that are donor driven and exist primarily to mobilize funds.

10.2. GRO Indicators

PNGOs were facilitated to develop their own indicators of a GRO, and to regularly monitor their progress toward the indicators. As they achieved these indicators, they were encouraged to set new indicators that would challenge them to move forward. A sample set of indicators are presented in Reference #7 of Section 6. Near the end of the capacity building cycle, PNGOs participated in a workshop to explore their strengths to be a GRO, and the qualities needed such as social entrepreneurship, and they developed a marketing plan. This module is available from CNGO.

10.3. Action Learning

Introduction
NGOs working at grassroots level are focused on delivering activities. They do good work but don't complete documentation of their work. They do not have a reflection culture and many important learnings are easily lost. Also, relying on information produced at national level doesn't make the GRO work reliable in the community because that information often doesn't reflect the grassroots reality.

A resource organization needs a mechanism to produce new knowledge and information regularly from its own action. There are many local issues connected with gender. PNGOs felt the need to explore the complexities of Nepali society from the gender point of view. This analysis reveals the new dynamics of patriarchy developing in rural areas along with the growing misconception of modernization.

Realizing the need for innovation and research within a GRO, action learning methodologies were outlined in a workshop for all PNGOs. Consequently, action learning sets were formed in each of the PNGOs.

Objective
Set theory and knowledge sometimes kills individual enthusiasm. Instead, this action learning initiative gave the PNGO members a new angle of thought and inspired them to innovate, use and disseminate new findings. They equipped themselves with a new tool to explore and analyze matters. They learned to conclude their action and then explore key findings from the big bag of local information. This initiative was aimed toward enabling individuals and groups of the PNGOs to ask questions and find out answers.

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Strategy
The essence of the action learning process lies in regular communication and dialogue on different topics within and outside an organization. An action learning team meets regularly and basically reflects on the past period. They arrive at conclusions on their past actions with key learnings and then plan for the future considering those learnings.

The chain of action learning is:

CNGO organized training on "Action Learning" and encouraged PNGO action learning teams. The three days training clarified the theoretical aspects and pushed them forward to practice. The training focused on how NGOs can produce learning documents and use it for a meaningful purpose. Action Learning helps to produce useful IEC materials also.

Action Learning Set
All PNGOs formed an action learning set within their organization. The set comprised equal numbers of women and men in mixed PNGOs, with about 4 to 8 members in a set. The set members appointed a coordinator who was responsible to organize a regular meeting of the set. PNGOs established criteria to select the members of the team. It was not necessary for all members to be educated. People with local knowledge but having no academic qualifications are good set members. The set works in the organization as a separate wing. Some of the PNGOs gave the set the status of a sub-committee but in other PNGOs it worked independently as a technical wing. The set explores key issues of the organization, society, and community and forwards its findings to the concerned body for approval and consensus.

Action Learning Topics
Most of the time, the action learning topic fit with the organization objectives. But sometimes topics guided organizational objectives. It was very natural for women’s organizations which are fully committed to mobilizing marginalized women to choose the topic of gender discrimination, witchcraft or violence against women for further exploration. Likewise, cultural suffering guided PNGOs to do more action. Far-west PNGOs concentrated on the harmful traditions of Chhaupadi and Dhan Khane⁶ and did very serious work. Naturally we should expect work on touchability issue and social mobilization from a Dalit involved PNGO.

But the process was equally important in the action learning approach. "2 Ds" (dialogue and documentation) should be continued in an organization. Action learning process produced resource materials according to the time and context.

Due to the action learning process, PNGOs released new information - IEC materials - on Chhaupadi, Dhan Khane, witchcraft, dowry and domestic violence that changed the stereotype perceptions of people. Most importantly, the new findings demonstrated the realities clearly and helped people change their views. It converted PNGOs into information and knowledge generating institutions, a real gender resource organization at local level.

A sample action learning plan is included in Reference #8 of Section 6.

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