SAHARA Group, Nepal : Completed Projects

SAHARA HOME

SAHARA Projects

How To Help

Executive Members

Volunteering

SAHARA Childrens Home

About Nepal

Home>>Projects>>Completed Projects

SAHARA Group, Nepal

Some of the Ongoing projects of SAHARA Group are enumerated below.

1.	*Reintegration of Conflict Affected Children*
2.	*Mine Risk Education Campaign*
3.	*Studies on "Situation of Street Children in Kathmandu Valley"*
4.	*Outreach Health Check up for Street Children in Kathmandu Valley*
5.	*Community Enabling Centre*
6.	*Rehabilitation of IDUs street children*

1.	Reintegration of Conflict Affected Children

This programme was implemented with the financial support from Save the Children Norway-Nepal for the period of two and half years (2004-2006) to reintegrate the conflict-affected children to their respective family and community.

Objectives
	To reintegrate conflict affected children in their family and community to ensure more secured and homely environment to develop their potentiality in natural settings.
	To develop appropriate and replicable procedures and model for reintegration of children already landed in institutional care homes due to ongoing-armed conflict

Activities
	Reunion with family/community
	Income generation support to care takers
	Formation and strengthening of child clubs
	Formation and strengthening of community safety nets
	Follow-Up of Reintegrated children

Achievement
	A total of 50 children from 9 districts were reintegrated
	Educational support to the children and IG support to their families had been provided.

Duration
The duration of the project was 2 years.

Working Areas
The project targeted the conflict-affected children from mostly conflict-affected districts of western Nepal. In fact the children from nine districts of central (Sindhupalchok), western (Syangja), mid western (Banke, Bardiya, Surkhet, Humla, Dolpa, Jajarkot, Dailekh) and far western (Kailali and Kanchanpur) development region were reintegrated during the project period.

Partners
The programme had been implemented through coordination with different government and non-government organizations in the district such as WDO, Child Clubs and other community based organizations.
		Top

2.	Mine Risk Education Campaign

With the financial and technical cooperation from save the children Norway-Nepal, SAHARA Group had implemented a programme entitled Mine Risk Education campaign. The major focus of this programme was to create awareness and disseminate the information about the risk of landmines and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) particularly for children.

Objectives
	To publish the different awareness materials
	To aware the children about the risks of stray/abandoned explosives and mine
	To reduce the risks of landmines and IEDs among children.

Activities
	Publication of different mine risk awareness materials (booklets and posters)
	Interaction with various government organizations and NGOs in district headquarters
	Distribution of Awareness Materials
	Impact assessment survey of Mine Risk Education Materials.

Achievement
	Publication- SAHARA published the different publication on MRE first time in Nepal in the massive volume (Mine Risk Education Booklet - 10000 and posters - 10000).
	Distribution of published booklets and posters at grassroots level.
	Interaction- The MRE is the behavior base knowledge so the interaction among different stakeholders and targeted people were conducted.
	Initiative of SAHARA is appreciated nation wide.
	SAHARA is one of the prominent members of Mine Action Working Group of Nepal.

Duration
The duration of the programme was for 2 years.

Working Areas
This programme was implemented in five districts of western and mid western development region of Nepal i.e. Syangja, Myagdi and Baglung of Western Development Region and Banke and Bardiya of Mid Western Development Region.

Partners
SAHARA Group mainly used its own existing resources for the implementation of the programme. Besides various child clubs and other local organizations were also used to ensure the effectiveness of the programme.
		Top

3.	*Studies on "Situation of Street Children in Kathmandu Valley"*

SAHARA Group had conducted a research in January 2006 to bring out the different aspects of street children. This report has been prepared after interviewing a total of 170 street children within Kathmandu valley. The report has been divided into seven different chapters and each chapter is intensively focused on various aspects of street children such as causes of leaving home, understanding of HIV/AIDS and STIs, Drug using behaviour among them, transferring the syringe, the difficulties in living in streets etc.

Objectives
	Identify the causes of leaving home.
	Find out the work they are doing in the street
	Find out the problem they are facing in the street.
	Find out the probabilities of reintegration and rehabilitation.
	Find out the risk of HIV/AIDS and other communicable diseases among the street children.

Activities
	Outreach field visit for collection of information
	Documentation of Information

Achievement
The report has come up with complete information regarding various aspects of street children. So it provides the bases for designing any kind of programmes and formulating different acts and laws focusing street children.

Duration
The overall duration of the research was six months

Working Areas
Information was collected from different locations, where the street children live, within the Kathmandu valley. The locations were: chabhil, Thamel, Lagankhel, Patandhoka, Kalimati, Old Bus Park, New Bus Park, Samakhusi, Sorhakhutte, Baneshor etc.

Partners
SCN-N was the funding partner for this programme.
		Top

4.	*Outreach Health Check up for Street Children in Kathmandu Valley*

SAHARA Group has conducted a short-term programme entitled 'outreach health check up for Street children residing in Kathmandu valley' with a view to socialize the street children through health awareness and counseling. It is considerable fact that most of the street children have lower level of awareness on health related issues thus they usually suffer from health related problems in large scale. So this programme was conducted to overcome these types of problem with the financial assistance from Australian Embassy and Save the Children Norway Nepal.

Objectives
	Assist to improve the health condition of street children.
	Support to socialize the street children through the health service and psychosocial counseling.
	Provide counseling and make them aware about HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis B and the effect of the drug.
	Identify the real status of street children in Kathmandu Valley.

Activities
	Providing daily outreach health service to the street children.
	Psychosocial counseling was provided on health and healthy behavior, Hepatitis B and HIV/AIDS.
	Mobile informal education classes.
	Promote accessibility of patients whose treatment is not possible through outreach health service to the hospitals,
	Help to get citizenship.
	Providing occasional clothes, foods and health check up to the street children.

Achievement
	Above Four hundred street children have got the medical check up and medicinal support.
	Four children were reintegrated to the family after the feasibility study of reintegration. The follow up is continuing.
	Intensive Counseling services were provided to the 27 street children out of them 18 children are on the way to improvement.
	After indicating the disease concentration, we provide different specialized treatment on the spot (Outreach).

Duration
The campaign lasted for 1 year (May 2005 to April 2006)

Working Areas
The working area was different places of Kathmandu valley where the street children mostly live.

Partners
Save the children-Norway and Australian Embassy had supported the programme.
		Top

5.	*Community Enabling Centre*

Community Enabling Centre (CEC) is one of the major initiatives of SAHARA in the field of community empowerment. The main objective of this programme was to ensure the access of public service for marginalized, dalits, wemen and poor people of the community. For this SAHARA has actively facilitated and coordinated with district level government organizations to provide various types of public services to the needy people. In addition SAHARA has also launched a sensitization campaign to ensure the access of marginalized people in government services. A total of 16 CECs have been formed in Syangja district for the same purpose.

Objectives
	Empower the beneficiaries by enabling them to assert and claim the public services as 'their basic rights',
	Facilitate them to comprehend and internalize the procedures; familiarize them with the documents and charges required for receiving various services and the authorities to whom to complain dilly-dallying,
	Bring the significant transformation in the behavior and attitude of the service providers towards the service seekers, and
	Facilitate to improve the standards of the public services.

Activities
	Training and orientation
	Community Interaction at VDC level
	Other different social activities related to service delivery
	Training for CECs Staffs
	Organization of interactions at different level regarding effective service delivery
	Information collection and dissemination
	Structured survey of various service providing organizations at district level.

Achievement
	As the rural people have developed a sense of 'belongingness/Ownership' over the CEC, the process has received general acceptance as a component of civil society;
	Citizen charter has been developed, published and distributed as the best approach for serving people through dissemination of information about the public service;
	Village profiles have been developed and distributed to the service providers that furnish them with necessary information to assess needs of the people/communities;
	The direct services provided to the people by the CECs has facilitated and enabled them to internalize all the procedure for receiving various services;
	General membership of the CECs is increasing as it is empowering the people, and enhanced the effectiveness and facilitated the easy flow of the programme in the community;
	District level Coordination Committee coordinates all the CECs, enabling them to discharge their responsibility more effectively;
	Interaction between the CEC and service providers has diffused the mistrust existing between service providers and people, built confidence and empowered the rural people in asserting and claiming public service as their rights;
	Customers are familiar with the documents, charges and offices required for receiving particular service and the authorities to whom to complain in case of any undue delay;
	'People friendly' attitude of the service providers is clearly felt;
	Significant increase in the number of the beneficiaries (service recipients);
	Mobile service camps provided people the services at their doorstep, and promoted the concept of Mobile Government;
	Services are 'speedy, qualitative, cost effective and hassle free';

Duration
The project was/had been implemented for the period of 3 years.

Working Areas
The programme was implemented in Syangja district by establishing a total of 16 CECs. The Village Development Committees where CECs formed were: Arukharka, Bhatkhola, Phedikhola, Bangsing, Bangepheda, Bicharichautara, Chilaunebas, Setidovan, Pauwoigaunde, Thuladihi, Pelkachaur, Rangbhang, Bahakot, Kolmab Barahachaur, Oraste, Darsing Dahathum, Arjunchaupari.

Partners
Enabling State Programme (ESP) of DFID was the funding partner for this programme.
		Top

6.	*Rehabilitation of IDUs street children*

Under this programme a total of 6 street children, who were injecting drug users, had been resided in the shelter for their socialization. Some of them have also got the vocational training from SAHARA Group and two of them were reintegrated in their family. The supporting partner of this programme was International Labour Organization (ILO). The programme was implemented to support the IDUs to improve their health and social relation. They resided at the Center of SAHARA for some months and later they started their life independently.
		Top

English Version