CANADA NEPAL GENDER IN ORGANIZATIONS

Section II: Outcomes Mapping

9.Project Context Challenges

Gender Inequality | NGO Culture | Local Government Bodies | Maoist Conflict

During project implementation, the context and the current capacity of the system in which the PNGOs were embedded needed to be understood. The PNGO organizational changes would be better sustained if changes in their environment also occurred. This assessment was ongoing. But as the system came to be better understood, the system was experiencing turbulent change. Political instability and the completion of the local government bodies term with no opportunity for local elections, and a Maoist insurrection, presented great challenges for project implementation and project results. Two other factors that contextualize the project are the prevailing social norms on gender roles and relations, and the norms and practices of NGOs.

At the same time, the capacity of the PNGOs was growing, and their internalisation of gender equality and opposition to discrimination allowed them to be able to survive in the context.

Four aspects of the local environment are discussed as presenting challenges for the project: gender inequality as a deeply rooted social construct, immature local NGO culture, absence of local bodies, and the Maoist conflict.

9.1. Gender Inequality

Many reports discuss the gender inequalities that are deeply rooted in the economic, political, cultural, social and religious norms of Nepal. Indicators such as the skewed literacy rate, the high maternal death rate and the long work day for women compared to men are well documented. Women experience violence, discrimination and powerlessness in all aspects of their lives. In this report, the gender context is the unique characteristics in the CNGO working districts, and the influence that these have on gender in organizations.

CNGO's challenge was to mainstream gender equality in the PNGOs. A basic assumption is that gender equality programs delivered without passion are not sustainable. Without passion, gender becomes a passing donor interest that is delivered as long as program funds are available. With passion, an organization transforms itself into a committed vision-led change agent.

However no matter how sincere the motivation of an individual, they are embedded in their family and community values. Women initially face a huge hurdle convincing their family to permit them to participate in the NGO. Once that is overcome, she remains responsible for the household duties, since men are generally unwilling to help or take responsibility. So her time for the workplace is more limited. For security reasons and to protect her honour she is less/not able to move about alone or in the evening. Social control is exerted on her and her family to conform to the expected norms.

In contrast, men never say that their family supported them, or gave them permission, or had to be convinced. They assume their right to take on these roles, especially as senior office bearers in NGOs. They assume family support - in other words, their domestic needs are taken care of by the women in their families. Women nearly always mentioned that the family had to be convinced or later had to "help" her by taking on some of her normal household duties. These reflect the very different family constraints that women face to be able to take on NGO and gender equality work.

Women who were involved in the PNGOs at the initial stage of CNGO had already challenged these stereotypes. In the women's PNGOs, they felt harassed by their neighbours - men and women who challenged their right to establish an NGO and teased them for thinking beyond their place. Women in mixed PNGOs tended to be silenced and marginalized, with a few exceptions. Men who tried to help women in the home or the organization faced ridicule and were told to stop such behaviour.

Change in the PNGOs was not easy with the resistance against deep change surrounding them. When working in the community, PNGOs would encounter men who resisted any influence on their women folk that might change their subordinate status or convince the men to change their behaviour. Line agencies and district offices are staffed nearly exclusively by men, who represent the local elite with a vested interest in the status quo. This again presented obstacles for women to effectively influence government staff on gender equality.

Courage is needed for women to engage men on gender change in this environment. And courage is needed for committed men to take a stand also.

9.2. NGO Culture

CNGO began its work in an NGO sector that already faced many criticisms and presented challenges to the "ideal NGO" that justifies donor supported civil society projects. The PNGOs shared some of these characteristics, qualities that CNGO tried to reshape and channel differently, but that continued to present challenges for the project staff.

NGOs began to form in large numbers after democracy and multiparty government began in 1990. Each district may have several hundred registered NGOs, however the active ones tend to be limited to a couple of dozen or even fewer in many districts. Some characteristics that shape NGO culture are family domination and one person leadership. Often, members of the extended family largely constitute the executive body, and if any projects are implemented, the staff positions are usually assigned to family and close relatives first. The founder often holds on to the power in the organization, and democratic process is ignored.

Many NGOs are thus formed to garner donor funds in an employment agency/contractor model, and the organization is not motivated by any vision or passion for social change. Most NGOs are formed by the local elites and are male dominated, with a tendency to pass on project benefits to their own community.

NGOs have little history of collaboration for a greater cause. In part this is due to competition among them for donor resources, Donors have initiated issue based coalitions or associations based on that common donor (e.g. NGO Coordinating Committee was formed by UNICEF), as well as supported the national NGO Federation with its district chapters. But tension among NGOs is more the norm than collaboration.

In addition, many NGOs have political party affiliations and NGO politics can mirror the political spectrum. Access to funds and ability to influence are in part determined by this political affiliation. Consequently the culture of transparency and coordination for the greater good are not practiced. Information is hoarded rather than shared, to give competitive advantage.

PNGOs are inevitably drawn into district NGO practices, and ways of managing their organization. CNGO continually "negotiated" with the PNGOs to think about and practice different ways.

9.3. Local Government Bodies

When CNGO was designed and began implementation, local government bodies (District and Village Development Committees) were enjoying a period of stability and growth. Projects such as UNDP's Participatory District Development Project (PDDP) and Local Governance Project (LGP) were building governance capacity in many districts, and other donors also had governance programs to support decentralization. Gender was often a component of these programs, at least in project documents.

Local politicians were active and tended to extend development benefits to their constituents. Political control was held by elites - generally high caste men - and women's as well as marginalized group's interests were absent in decision-making.

At the national level, decentralization was supported, although progress was slow. During the first half of 2002, uncertainly built as the local bodies mandate was due to expire. Elections looked difficult due to the Maoist insurgency. The elected local bodies term expired in July 2002. District development became the direct responsibility of the Local Development Officer (LDO) of Ministry of Local Development (MLD), and the local politicians were sidelined. Political instability at the national level resulted in the dissolution of Parliament and finally the king taking control in October 2002.

The district development environment changed. Some people who were interviewed felt that the environment became more conducive to bring in systems, and a good LDO could make positive changes. However with no accountability to the people nor a system to bring the voice of the people to the decision-making table, democracy and development suffered. It also entrenched the power of Line Agencies and their programs at district level. The usual problems created by the transfer of LDOs were compounded as the continuity formerly provided by the politicians was lost.

Frustration was created among the local organizations, especially the local NGOs. They lost their relationship and access to accountable local representatives that could, for example, retain the learning on gender concepts and be long term working partners for local level planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of gender equality impact.

The presence of the women elected representatives at the ward level used to encourage the ward communities to think about the importance of women's position in political structures. The local people's voice could be organized to pressure their elected bodies. People feel that the elected representatives are obliged to be accountable for the local communitys' interests and therefore, the dissolution has effected negatively on the process of decentralization.

The CNGO program with DDCs was centred on the District Partnership Program (DPP), which entailed forming a DDC level committee comprising DDC and NGOs, and a Gender Equality Committee. With district planning processes unclear and the DDC committee structure weak, CNGO's support for collaboration through structures was difficult to sustain. In addition, the PNGOs were expected to build relationships with local bodies to advocate for gender equality, and the absence of politicians and the lack of continuity in leadership made advocacy more difficult.

9.4. Maoist Conflict

Nepal has been facing a politically disturbing situation since the emergence of the Maoist movement in 1996. CNGO started within this context. The situation has affected the CNGO districts in a destructive manner in social, economic and organizational aspects. Even if the government provides security for the public, it is mostly confined to the head quarters.

The PNGOs serve as GROs in their districts for the cause of social justice. By working in the adverse situation, they have acquired skills in dealing with the conflict, and overcoming complicated problems from both the conflicting parties. On one hand, the Maoists put pressure on them to sign agreements before conducting any activity in the community. On the other hand, the Government Security Force demands clarification about PNGOs' involvement in grassroots NGOs and communities. The situation is challenging; however the PNGOs have consistently worked on their mission to promote gender equality. The PNGOs have developed confidence by working in a conflict situation and claim that the local people can implement development programs during this situation, while outsiders cannot work alone in districts. Thus despite facing a very difficult situation, they have recognized the context as an opportunity with potential for promoting gender equality. For example, they have identified that the situation has affected the children and women in the rural areas more negatively.

The conflict frequently exposed the project implementation team to an uncertain and insecure situation, which disturbed the project implementation flow to some extent. Learning events and meetings were postponed at times while the situation was monitored. CNGO staff and PNGOs became more skilled and experienced in handling situations that had initially daunted everyone. For example, several years ago the PNGOs were reluctant to discuss conflict management or peace-building projects for fear of reprisals. Now they have the ability to continue their work and contribute to peace-building.

Throughout the project period, the CNGO staff team provided continuous supervision and coaching to the PNGOs by paying field visits on a regular basis. The CNGO staff team remained in close contact with the PNGOs also through various training activities. The PNGOs appreciated this relationship, which encouraged them to continue their work even in this difficult time.

As noted in the CIDA funded "Peace and Conflict Impact Assessment" Report, CNGO's support to reduce gender inequality is tackling one of the root causes of social injustice. Some of the recommendations are useful for consideration in new project design to build on the achievements of CNGO.¹¹ In particular, the report notes that capacity building is needed to build human capital, and strong advocacy is required to change the power relations that contribute to conflict. In addition, the report noted the importance of meeting community basic needs for service delivery and poverty alleviation. CNGO was less focused on "tangible deliverables". In the current climate, donors are taking on a larger share of the government role in service delivery. Therefore, a logical next step is building on the capacity strengthening successes of CNGO to now fund projects delivered by PNGOs that work with marginalized communities.