CANADA NEPAL GENDER IN ORGANIZATIONS

Section II: Outcomes Mapping

6. The CNGO Project

CNGO Design and Implementation | Community Based Initiatives Fund

6.1. Capacity Building in CNGO

CNGO was designed as a capacity building project, with the vision of promoting good governance and the transition to greater equality between women and men.

Capacity building as understood in CNGO:

Capacity building is both the means or process of gaining capacity⁵ , and a way to achieve an ends, in this case, good governance and gender equality.
Capacity growth is an ongoing process that must be owned by the stakeholders.
As capacity is gained, awareness of new and different capacities grows, and new capacities will be needed to strengthen the new knowledge.
Capacity building also needs to be approached from a systems perspective; collaborative action is needed from different system stakeholders to strengthen and sustain capacity and capacity results.
Capacity is the essential ingredient for sustainable development.
Capacity is also needed when addressing root causes of the current conflict: unequal and inadequate development benefits. The empowerment of the poor and marginalized, most often women, is needed to be able to demand their rights and exercise their duties.

Since the time frame of the project was four years (later changed to five years) the capacity building results expected in CNGO at this time are primarily the means - the capacities (in Results Based Monitoring terminology, the outputs). The ends - development outcomes and longer term impact - are starting to materialize, and will become stronger if the capacity building has taken root. This is the path to sustainability envisioned in the project design.

The project straddles categorization as a "gender equality project" and also a "civil society/governance" project. Gender equality is thus more than a cross-cutting theme; it is a primary objective. Strengthening civil society is equally integral to the project stakeholders. Working synergistically toward gender equality and good governance provides the potential to transform social relations for better development results - for both women and men.

Because gender equality is a key project focus, the deep rooted norms that institutionalized women's oppression and the unequal power relations between women and men formed the challenge to NGO capacity building and longer term societal change.

Building capacity of an NGO to deliver services is a first level of capacity. This is fairly standard and straight forward, although not necessarily easy to achieve. More complex is building the capacity of the NGO to contribute to changing society's rules, institutions and standards of behaviour, its social capital, or how the society organizes itself. ⁶CNGO was working at this level of deep change, transformation for gender equality.

Many NGOs and projects "deliver gender", especially projects meeting practical needs such as income generating activities or drinking water schemes. Instead, CNGO planned to develop PNGOs (participating NGOs) that understood and internalized the deep change in social institutions needed to overcome the ingrained oppression faced by women. However, given the current situation on gender relations in Nepal, even changing a willing PNGO to be gender mainstreamed, still requires that they function in a very gendered society - with socially constructed gender roles that privilege men and their needs, while regarding women as inferior, second class citizens. This presented ongoing challenges for the CNGO partners.

6.2. CNGO Design and Implementation

The project design was premised on research indicating a lack of gender expertise and capable NGOs in districts. The project's approach was to build gender capacity in the organization: individuals as gender experts and organizations that are gender mainstreamed. These district experts would be catalysts and advocates for gender equality beyond the time of CNGO support, and ensure the sustainability of project results. Through the NGOs, the project would realize benefits for community women and men, rather than CNGO itself working at the community level. In addition, their capacity as capable NGOs was to be enhanced. Strengthening their governance structures and organizational practices contributed to a stronger civil society.

PNGOs are the primary beneficiary of the project. Two NGOs were selected from each of the six working districts⁷. They entered a partnership agreement with CNGO to serve as Gender Resource Organizations (GROs) for their district. These PNGOs agreed to contribute to gender sensitive development by providing technical services, training, advice and leadership for gender equality, as well as by implementing gender integrated programs with communities, local government, and other NGOs⁸.

The project inputs (described in more detail in annex 1) began with building consensus on the need for individual and organizational change. Training and coaching on gender concepts then internalized the belief in and practice of gender equality at a personal and organizational level. Strengthening organizational systems and practices supported more capable, democratic and transparent PNGOs, with the capacity to design and deliver programs. Creating an attitude and skills to look outward and make relationships with other stakeholders to advance the work of gender equality required a significant change in mind set and capacity among PNGOs. Linkage building for gender equality was emphasized throughout the capacity building process with workshops and opportunities for collaboration. Stakeholders included the community, local government bodies, Line Agencies (LA), and international, national and district NGOs (I/NGOs), as well as other potential resource providers.

With two PNGOs based in district environments that ranged from hostile to indifferent towards gender equality and NGOs, CNGO designed interventions to promote an enabling district environment for gender equality and for NGOs. Although HMG policy endorses district development through NGOs, and policy statements encourage gender equality, at district level, these policies have not been proactively implemented. Therefore, CNGO facilitated the formation of a District Development Committee (DDC) level committee to foster collaboration among NGOs and DDC/LA officials. Gender equality was a cross-cutting theme for the committee. The PNGOs were actively involved on the committee; however the CNGO consultant and project staff (NGO coordinators - NGOC), were responsible for implementation and follow-up. Later in the project, a more gender focused approach was adopted to work at district level, and in two districts, a Gender Equity Committee (sometimes called Gender Equality in the districts - GEC) was piloted to provide a government level platform to coordinate and monitor gender programs. The central Ministries of Local Development (MLD) and for Women, Children and Social Welfare (MWCSW) were engaged in these processes to legitimize the committees and to pilot these structures for replication by the Ministries in other districts, if they proved successful. These committees formed the basis for government and NGO linkage building, and promoting trust and coordination among stakeholders.

Another dimension of district collaboration was also necessary; civil society has yet to form a collective voice with the ability to bring forward community needs and to build social capital. The PNGOs realized that working alone they could not sufficiently influence government and advocate for gender equality. With CNGO support, they formed gender allies, a network of NGOs, district officials and community members who could be a pressure group to raise awareness and resolve cases of gender abuse. In addition, CNGO and the PNGOs worked to strengthen the existing NGO associations in each district to foster cooperation and understanding of the effective role of associations as member driven coalitions that can advocate for social change.

Thus CNGO:

built the local expertise for gender (viable PNGOs),
fostered an environment where gender equality services / capacity was demanded by the community (impact due to PNGOs community work, gender allies), and
facilitated linkages with local bodies, LA and donors to channel the gender expertise (access to decision-makers and program delivery resources through committees and networking).

Additional components of CNGO that are not included in this outcomes mapping report were implemented at central level with the Social Welfare Council (SWC) as the project bilateral partner. CNGO worked with the SWC and other stakeholders from Ministries and civil society to design and implement a database of I/NGOs. The PNGOs were helpful in sharing information and gathering forms from NGOs in their districts. CNGO also facilitated the consultation process leading to a draft NGO Act, and PNGOs participated in regional meetings. The process has stalled due to the political situation and the numerous changes in Member Secretary at SWC.

6.3. Community Based Initiatives Fund

As one of the final inputs to the PNGO capacity building process, CNGO provided funds (Community-based Initiatives Fund - CBI) for implementation of three projects per PNGO to practice / apply and institutionalize their new skills, and to increase their credibility and recognition as Gender Resource Organizations. A secondary purpose was to contribute to gender equality development within their district - with communities, with other NGOs and with local government.

Each PNGO designed - using PRA tools and consultation with the target beneficiaries - a small project, implemented the project and submitted final reports to CNGO. CNGO coached the PNGOs throughout the process. The first project, CBI #1, focused on gender integrated organizational capacity building of several local NGOs/CBOs, known in the project as "PPNGOs"⁹ . On average, these small projects were completed within one year, and project budget averaged Rp. 500,000 ($10,000 Cdn). The PNGOs benefited by developing skills in organizational capacity building to enable them to replicate CNGO and also establishing linkages with like-minded NGOs.

The second project, CBI #2, targeted community groups and addressed practical and strategic gender needs, such as women's rights, literacy, income generating activities and provision of drinking water. The main activity was training, although some small infrastructure was included in some projects. These projects were implemented over the same one year period as CBI #1, beginning in fall 2002 and completed in fall 2003. Project budgets were about Rp. 500,000 also. PNGOs benefited by sharpening their skills in gender integrated project design and delivery that was responsive to community identified needs.

The CBI #3 projects facilitated linkages with Line Agencies (LA) and local bodies (District Development Committee - DDC and Village Development Committee - VDC) staff, in the absence of district politicians. The PNGOs developed gender integrated training packages tailored to the needs of different agencies, such as District Agricultural Office, VDC secretaries and District Health Office. These projects were implemented over a six month period, from fall 2003 to spring 2004. Project budgets averaged Rp. 400,000. PNGOs deepened their training skills and strengthened linkages with local government, thereby gaining experience in interacting with government officers and a better understanding of government programs.