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FINAL Draft Report

Final Evaluation

Janjatis Social and Economic Empowerment Project

(JANSEEP)

Nepal March 2012

Nordeco In cooperation with

Social Welfare council, Nepal March 2012

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Executive Summary This reports contains the findings and recommendations of the joint CARE/SWC final evaluation (14-28 February 2012) of the JANSEEP Project.

Overall the Team finds that the project has been relevant and has generally been implemented in an effective and efficient way. The project has achieved considerable success in awareness raising, livelihood improvement, HMJ’s access to basic services and enhancement of IPOs. Most targets have been more than fulfilled and the project has achieved a high degree of awareness raising and ownership with promising indicators for replication and sustainability although the project span of only five years is too short for real consolidation of social changes. JANSEEP has proven that offering a “total package” of advocacy, organizational strengthening and livelihood improvement with future potential for including also non-IPs may support IP rights and identity, while at the same time creating better cooperation and coherence in the local community. The project strategy and approach has been well suited to target the limited number of Thami and Surel populations in the geographically and culturally well defined areas in the hills, strengthening their identity and access to services and resources while at the same ensuring the understanding and cooperation with other communities. The project has been less successful in promoting both identity and support and understanding from surrounding communities and service providers for the Dhanuk in the ethnically diverse Terai villages inhabited by Dhanuks as well as other - and sometimes even poorer and more socially excluded - population groups. While gradual inclusion of other community groups in Dhanuk lead initiatives (such as S&CC, advocacy Centres or support from lead farmers) are gradually ensuring a higher degree of community accept, the Team finds that a more “all inclusive” field approach from the beginning might have increased Dhanuk identity as well as acceptance in the local community. It should be noted that the Danuk were only recognised on district level after project advocacy (see page 9) Generally the project has been successful in turning most challenges into opportunities, however with regards to create experience exchange and synergy with other CARE projects the project has demonstrated a clear gap in implementation. On national level JANSEEP has contributed to a very active policy dialogue as IP rights have become a hot topic in the ongoing constitution dialogue. However, the dialogue has also taken a more direct and possibly more party political direction than assumed at project start. Both partners and donors need to revisit their involvement in this polarisation. The Team finds that some sort of post programme support or follow up should be considered for S&CCs (follow up and monitoring on ethical rules, transparency and fund raising) and for continued capacity building of IPOS with focus on activity planning, gender awareness, IP rights and community consultation to ensure the grass root linkage of the IPOs.

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List of abbreviations

Acronyms and Abbreviations

CBO Community Based Organization

CDO District Cooperative Office

CFUGs Community Forest User Groups

CHULI Churia Livelihood Improvement Program (CARE)

CLTS Community-led total sanitation

CSO Civil Society Organization

DDC District Development Committee

DCC District Coordination committee (of NEFIN)

DADO District Agriculture Development Office

Danida Danish International Development Assistance

DEO District Education Office

DFO District Forest Office

DK Denmark

DKK Danish Kroner

EU European Union

GoN Government of Nepal

Hh Household

HMJ Highly Marginalised Janajatis

IP Indigenous peoples

IPO Indigenous peoples organisation

JANSEEP Janjatis Social and Economic Empowerment Project

JIWAN Jaladh Integrated Watershed and Natural Resource Management

KTM Kathmandu

LP Lok Pathsala or “Open Village schools”

M & E Monitoring and Evaluation

MoE Ministry of Education

MTR Midterm Review

NDS Nepal Dhanuk Samaj (Dhanuk IPO)

NEFIN Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities

NGO Non-Governmental Organization

NRs Nepalese Rupees

NTS Nepal Thami Samaj (Thami IPO)

PEC Popular Education Centres

PLAF Public Land Agroforestry

PMC Project Management Committee

PVSE Poor, Vulnerable and Socially Excluded

RBA Rights Based Approach

REFLECT Regenerated Freirean Literacy through Empowering Community Techniques.

ROM Result Oriented Monitoring

SJUS Surel Jati Utthan Samaj (Surel IPO)

S&CC Saving and credit cooperative

SWC Social Welfare Council, Nepal

UCPA Underlying Causes of Poverty Analysis

VDC Village Development Committee

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Executive Summary

List of Abbreviation and Acronyms

1.Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… p 5 2 Objective and methodology of Evaluation …………………………………………………………………. p 5

2.1 Evaluation objectives

2.2 Evaluation methodology 3 Assessment of project approach, strategy, target group and indicators ……………………………. p 6

3.1 Project approach

3.2 Project Strategy

3.3 Project target group

3.4 Project indicators and activity targets 4. Findings related to specific output (result) and activity targets ……………………………………….. p 7 5. Findings and recommendations on progress towards the development goal of poverty reduction and empowerment - through protection and promotion of political, economical, social and cultural rights of the IPs…………………………………………………………………………………………………….. p 8

5.1 Asserting right to identity;

5.2 Special focus on the rights of indigenous women

5.3 Increased household income through opportunity diversification

5.4 Access to basic services

5.5 Enhanced IPO capacity.

5.6 Local coherence and cooperation on equal terms4 6. Project partnership, organisation, management and monitoring ……………………………………. p 14

6.1 Partnership modalities

6.2 Project organisation and Management

6.3 Finance management

6.4 Project reporting and monitoring 7. Assessment of project response to challenges and gaps …………………………………………….. p 16 8. Project relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, sustainability and replicability ………………………. p 17

8.1 Relevance

8.2 Efficiency and effectiveness

8.3 Sustainability

8.4 Replicability

9. Conclusion and lessons learnt ……………………………………………………………………………... p 19

9.1 Conclusion

9.2 Lessons learnt 10. Summary of main recommendations ……………………………………………………………………. p 20

10.1 Recommendations for the remaining project period

10.2 Recommendations for possible project follow up

10.3 Recommendations for future projects supported by CARE, NEFIN and/or EU and other donors Annex 1: Terms of Reference Annex 2: Schedule of Field Visits and Meetings of the Final evaluation Annex 3: Map showing the target area with indication of VDCs visit during the evaluation Annex 4: Persons met during the final evaluation Annex 5: List of Documents Annex 6: Finance report

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Final Evaluation of Janjatis Social and Economic Empowerment Project (JANSEEP) 1.Introduction This report contains the findings and recommendations of the joint CARE –Nepal Social Welfare Council (SWC) final evaluation of the Janjatis Social and Economic Empowerment Project (JANSEEP) in Nepal.

The JANSEEP project is a five years project ending 20. March 2012. It is jointly implemented by CARE Nepal and Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NEFIN) with financial support from the EU, Care DK and DANIDA. The project focus on livelihood improvement through protection and promotion of political, economical, social and cultural rights of three different highly marginalised Janjatis (HMJs) in two Districts in Nepal (Dhanuk in Dhanusha District and Surel and Thami in Dolakha).

The JANSEEP final evaluation is the first joint CARE-SWC evaluation and has been carried out by a multidisciplinary team from SWC and CARE following the latest EU ROM recommendation to do only one final evaluation. With different backgrounds and fields of expertise the team members supplemented each other well and made the evaluation a very positive learning process for the evaluation team as well. The Final Evaluation Team (in the following called “The Team”) had the following members:

Krishna Raj Tiwari: SWC team-leader (external consultant to SWC)

Sanjay Mallik: SWC Regional Director

Madav Bhattarai: Financial Expert (External consultant to SWC)

Hanne Hübertz: Overall Team Leader (External Nordeco consultant to CARE) During field visits and consultations the Team was assisted by project staff and/or local mobilisers. The Team would like to express our gratitude to them for all the assistance in organising and reorganising field visits. Also the Team would like to thank the local communities for their friendliness and patience with our endless questions.

2. Objectives and methodology of the final evaluation 2.1 Final evaluation objectives Following the TOR developed by CARE (attached as annex 1) the primary purpose of the final evaluation was is to assess the overall outcome and impact of the project over the period and document the learning and experiences. Specifically the Team should: 1. Access the project performance and achievements against the project objective and logical framework

based indicators in term of relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability 2. Document the major lesson learnt, best practices and faced challenges. 3. Assess how and with which results this project has helped alleviate poverty, support the livelihoods or

advocate for the rights of the HMJs; 4. Provide recommendation to respective organizations; including NEFIN, CARE-Nepal, SWC Nepal,

CARE Denmark and EC based on the findings of the evaluation.

2.2 Final evaluation methodology The Team spent 6 days (14-19 February 2012) visiting project activities in the two target districts: Dolakha and Dhanusha. The Team had interactions with various groups and cooperatives as well as with individual key informants and non-beneficiaries in 5 of the 13 target VDCs. (Suri VDC for Surel communities, Suspa amd Sundrawati VDCs for Thami communities and Dhanuji and Lagma Gadaguthi VDCs for Dhanuk communities). Plans and methodology was shared with project staff and CARE head office before start.

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In addition the team conducted interviews with the relevant IPOs, NCCs, DDCs and government line agencies on VDC and district level. As time in the field was short, the Team divided into different sub-teams, one for Surel and one for Thami in Dolakha and one for Dhanuk and one for non-Dhanuk in Dhanusha. The Team held experience-sharing sessions with field staff and IPOs committee members in both districts. On National level the Team had meetings with NEFIN and with Thami and Dhanuk IPO representatives in Kathmandu on the 20

th of February followed by a Team “finding-sharing” workshop in NEFIN.

Finally the Team reviewed the project document and progress reports as well as previous reviews and assessments, in particular the MTR and the EU ROM as well as the draft End Line Survey, which unfortunately the Team did not receive until after the debriefing. Following the field work the team held a debriefing in CARE Nepal on the 24

th of February. A draft report was submitted 28

th of February 2012.

(Final evaluation schedule and map showing project target VDCs in the two Districts with indication of VDCs visited by the Team is attached as Annex 2 and 3).

3. Assessment of project approach, strategy, target group and indicators

3.1 Project approach

The Janajatis comprise about 38 % of the total population of Nepal. Janajatis are defined as “Indigenous Peoples are those ethnic groups or communities, who have their own mother tongue and traditional customs, distinct cultural identity, distinct social structure and written or oral history of their own”. The government has recognized 59 different ethnic groups as Janajatis.

Due to unfavourable policies many Janajatis have been economically exploited, culturally suppressed and politically excluded to the extent that many today are regarded as highly marginalised janjaties (HMJs) in terms of maintaining their culture as well as in political and economic terms. The JANSEEP project was designed as a response to this situation. The JANSEEP Project has an advocacy and right based approach with the intermediate (specific) objective focusing on protecting and promoting “political, economical, social and cultural rights of specifically poor vulnerable and socially excluded Dhanuk, Thami and Surel Janjatis of Dhanusha and Dolakha districts”, with the overall objective that this strengthening of rights should lead towards “poverty reduction and empowerment of highly marginalized Adivasi Janajatis (HMJs) in Nepal”. It was therefore relevant for the Team to look at whether the project has been able to ensure a higher degree of protection and promotion of identity and rights as well as looking at progress towards poverty reduction and empowerment as a result of these achievements.

3.2 Project strategy The project strategy is to have a clear partnership approach working through NEFIN and strengthening the three relevant NEFIN member IPOs on National and District level (Nepal Thami Samaj, Surel Jati Utthan Samaj and Nepal Dhanuk Samaj) to advocate for the rights of their indigenous peoples (IPs). Also the IPOs should involve in carrying out specific IP identity focused programmes such as revival of indigenous skills and culture, strengthening the indigenous languages and supporting the IPs to access services, resources and access to decision-making bodies. Further the project aims at working with and through existing CARE programs and experiences in the proposed districts. While not specifically stressed in the strategy, the project also chose to put a special effort into awareness raining related to indigenous women’s rights, seeing that they are ”twice disadvantaged”, being socially excluded due to being indigenous peoples and being further suppressed by living in strongly male dominated traditional cultures. To assess the project strategy it was therefore relevant for the Team to look at partnership modalities and success in both overall management and field implementation, the strength of the IPOs on different levels and the impact of the specific IP programs as well as looking at gender issues and the level of cooperation with other CARE projects or programs in the area.

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3.3 Project Target Group The project target group is HMJs on national, district and VDC level with focus on two Districts and 3 HMJsin 13 VDCs:

The Thami (totally approx. 23.000 people) with about 14.000 (more than half of all Thamis) living in Dholakha District in the midhills. In the 6 project VDCs there is a total of approx. 1800 hh.

The Sural with their entire population comprising only 44 hh in one VDC (Suri) in Dolakha District.

The Dhanuk, that are one of the many indigenous peoples in the Terai with a total population of aprox. 200.000 people, living mainly in Dhanusha, Saptari, Siraha, Sunsari, Morang and Mahottari Districts. The project focus on Dhanusha district with special attention to 6 VDCs with high representation of Dhanuks (about 1500 hh).

Although they were all registered as HMJs at project start, it is important to realise their different “point of departures” - not just do they differ in number and geography, they also differ with regards to level of perception of identity, culture, language and gender situation:

The geographically clustered Thami with a relatively high perception of Thami cultural identity and a Thami language spoken by more than 50% of the Thami in Dolakha District, which is believed to be the ancestral homeland of the Thami.

The Surel that are on the on the brink of extinction with less than 300 people – but still with a language that nearly all Surel speak and understands.

The Dhanuk that, although still maintaining a Dhanuk identity eg. in relation to marriage, are more integrated in general Madhesi (Terai) villages with different ethnic groups and casts, and mainly use the common Madhisi language Maitheli.

It should be noted that traditionally the “hill women” such as the Thami and Surel women enjoy greater level of equality and independence than the Dhanuk and other highly discriminated women in the male dominated Terai. The Team has taken these initial differences into account when assessing achievement and progress and formulating recommendations.

3.4 Project indicators and activity targets The project has clear and generally measurable targets or indicators on all activities under the four specific outputs (results):

i. Increased awareness and capacity of HMJs to assert their right to identity;

ii. Increased household income of HMJs through diversification of income opportunities and building on their indigenous skills and knowledge;

iii. Improved assess of HMJs to basic services health education and natural resources;

iv. Enhanced capacity of indigenous people organizations (IPOs) for protection, promotion and fulfilment of their rights through policy dialogue.

Rather than developing outcome indicators the project document includes a verbal description of expected impact on target groups/beneficiaries. This description covers 7 “outcomes” related to the situation of the target groups /beneficiaries and 4 “outcomes” related to the technical and management capacities of the target groups and/or the local partner(s). The Team has tried to follow these “outcomes” in assessing project impact and progress towards the development goal. 4. Findings and recommendations related to specific output (result) and activity targets

All project reports and reviews and assessments as well as the end line survey report a very high level of fulfilment of targets for outputs and activities. The Teams field work generally confirmed these achievements. The team finds that most activities have been well carried out and in many cases have reached more than double the set targets. However, the Team noted a few shortcomings related to:

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Advocacy and literacy The reports state that 1117 women have required basic literacy skills compared to the set target of 600. However, this number refers to the number of women participating in the “advocacy centres” initiated by the project. Each centre initially did a 9 months literacy class (following REFLECT methodology that includes general awareness raising) and there is still local confusion as to what is literacy class and what is advocacy centre. The women have clearly been empowered by the classes and the continued discussions in the advocacy centres (now registered as NGOs), but the effect on literacy has been minimal. None of the more than 30 participants met by the Team had gone beyond being able to write their name.

Development of primary level school curricula in indigenous languages The project target for mother tongue training is that primary school curricula are developed and courses carried out in Thami, Surel and Dhanuk languages. However, only one school has tested the draft curricula in Thami and the final curricula is still in the process of approval by MoE. Developing, testing and obtaining MoE approval for just one indigenous language curicula turned out to be a longer process than originally foreseen, thus less activity have been directed towards Surel and Dhanuk curricula, as the Surel comprise a very small group, and the Dhanuk generally speak the common Terai Language Maitheli.

Increased income based on indigenous skills and knowledge The Team finds that the project has made considerable progress in promoting income generation. However, reviving indigenous skills proved less successful. Apart from agriculture and a woodcarving workshop, most vocational training and income generation is based on small business development in areas such as tree nursery, motorcycle repair, electricity and electronics shop, tailoring, basic village shops, fish ponds etc). In Dolakha there is a growing interest in an indigenous Yew tree (Taxus sp.), as the leaves are sold for cancer treatment. Few other activities related to medicinal plant growing and marketing were observed by the Team.

5. Findings and recommendations on progress towards the development goal of poverty

reduction and empowerment - through protection and promotion of the political, economical, social and cultural rights of the IPs

The project strategy towards reaching tangible outcomes and impact is illustrated by the figure below:

5.1 Asserting right to identity

5.1.1 Progress regarding self-confidence and identity: The Team finds that Project advocacy and empowerment activities has increased the self-confidence, awareness and ability to preserve the identity of all three targeted HMJs on local, district and national level.

Most markedly in the perception of identity and ownership amid the Thami, where the Bhume Temple restoration has been supported by JANSEEP and now functions as a focal point for all Thamis with a priest that has inherited the responsibility through generations. Other indications among the Thami are higher awareness to protect the language (testing school classes in Thami), the Thami-supported wood carving workshop and income generation activities, the mobilisation and struggle to have Thamis elected into the

Asserting right to

Identity

Increased HH income through

opportunity

diversification

Enhanced IPOs capacity

Access to basic

services Output / Impact

7

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management committee of CFUGs, and the high response to the JANSEEP supported radio programs in Thami (A number of Thamis bought radios to be able to listen to these programs). Also the Surel community are more aware of their Surel identity and the need to preserve Surel language and culture, illustrated by the construction of the “Surel Gate” supported by JANSEEP. However, the Surel are a very small isolated community (only 44 hh) and marriage with other ethnic groups and casts is slowly working against maintaining a separate identity. In addition the End Line Survey (Feb 2012) reports that due to the strengthened identity of the Surel many households have been able to transfer their land ownership certificates under their own identity. The Team also found an increase in Dhanuk self-confidence and awareness, most clearly expressed by the Dhanuk organisation on District level that has participated in the DCC and exchanges experience with other IPOs, but less clearly expressed by the women interviewed by the Team in the two VDCs visited. The women expressed stronger coherence with other women in the village than on being Dhanuks. When asked to define Dhanuk identity the IPO on both district and VDC level gave rather vague answers. However, although generally following same lifestyle and celebrating same cultural events as most Terai people, marriage partners are still found strictly within the Dhanuk communities. Though the Government of Nepal (GON) listed Dhanuk as an IP they were not recognized at district level until the publication of Dhanuk Darpan, which included their history and culture identity. While the Team finds a considerable increase in feeling of identity and ownership, this is feeling is not reflected in the special IP activities carried out by the project. IPO constructed water systems, workshop and offices are still labelled “CARE, NEFIN and EU” rather than “Thami Samaj” or “Sundrawati Water User Group”. The Team recommends that to increase ownership feeling (and thus also improved maintenance) of project supported assets/structures (offices, water taps, etc.) these should be labelled by local names and logos only, not “advertising” for NGOs and donors. The Team is aware that this will require a change in EU visibility policy.

5.2 Special focus on the rights of indigenous women

5.2.2 Progress on women’s capacity to influence decisions:

The focus on indigenous women and especially the advocacy centres/REFLECT classes and the Saving and Credit Cooperatives (S&CCs) has increased women’s mobilisation, empowerment, income generation and capacity to influence decisions. The Team finds that the advocacy centres/REFLECT classes in all target VDCs have empowered the HMJ women and created awareness on women’s rights as well as on indigenous peoples rights and joint community issues. However, the project has failed to involve a similar number of men in a second stage of joint awareness and responsibility sharing. Due to the empowerment there are now more women in decision-making bodies in the target areas, eg in local committees, Forest and Water user groups (FUGs and WUGs) and S&CCs. Only few of the women hold leading positions, although the Surel have 2 women FUG chairpersons and a woman lead farmer. However, even in Dhanusha the women are the majority in most S&CCs and generally can take loans without consulting husbands. All interviewed women in the VDCs in Dhanusha would have preferred to include all local women in project activities from the beginning of the project. They also voiced their disappointment that the discussions on sanitation in the advocacy centre were not followed up by IPO support for toilet construction, but did not feel strong enough to put pressure on the VDC IPO. The Team finds that while the Dhanuk women in the advocacy centres are clearly better informed, have a greater freedom of movement and are able and willing to speak up, the action taken directly as a result of discussion in the advocacy centres is more limited. It is recommended that exchange visits are arranged between the Dhanuk advocacy centres and the “women only” PEC (Popular Education Centres) of the CHULI programme implemented by CARE in the same and neighbouring districts. (And possibly also with the Lok Pathsalas (LP) of the JIWAN programme in Dhanusha). PECs and LPs have very good examples of eg. successful campaigns for school access, increased wages and improved health service.

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Further the Team finds that the initial focus on awareness raising in “women only groups” is well justified. However, the team recommends that advocacy should also be carried out in “mixed groups” (male and female, different casts and janajatis) at the same time or as a second step to ensure the awareness, decision-making and shared responsibility of the entire community. And finally the Team finds that to a certain degree especially the Dhanuk women have been left out of overall IPO decision making. Basically while they discuss in the advocacy centre, the male dominated IPO make the decisions on what to do with the money allocated from the VDC towards the IP. The Team recommends that any future project or follow up should make sure that women from the target group are included in project decision-making and activity planning from the very beginning.

5.2.2 Progress on family decision-making: Due to the project awareness campaigns the HMJ have become more aware on matters related to reproductive health and HIV/AIDS. However, as most of this awareness has focused on women, it is now up to them to raise the issue of HIV/AIDS in the family - which according to reports from the Dhanuk women often ends in gender-based violence. Also the hierarchy between women should not be overlooked. The Team heard a number of reports of the mother in law still being in charge of health care issues in both Tham and Dhanuk communities. It is recommended to keep this in mind in any further replication of project approach. The Team finds that the advocacy centres have – inadvertently - made the HIV/AIDS issue a “women’s matter”. The Team recommends that in any future replication of the project approach peer orientation on HIV/AIDS for returning immigrant workers is considered to avoid the issue becoming a “private” family or women’s issue.

5.3 Increased household income through opportunity diversification

5.3.1 Progress on improved livelihood: The economic empowerment activities directed specifically towards the HMJs such as vocational training and access to savings and credit has led to an increase in agricultural productivity, production and income generation. Improved food security is reported from all target areas, mainly due to agriculture improvement and vegetable cultivation for both marketing and household consumption. The increase has been most noticeable among the Thami, where vegetable growing has more than doubled income and food security for many farmers. Training “lead farmers” to train others has proven a viable strategy. However, the presently rather successful organic vegetable farming in Dhanusha may be difficult to maintain as long as most of animal dung is used as fuel rather than for compost making. Project initiated Thami, Surel and Dhanuk led saving and credit cooperatives (S&CCs) have contributed to increased income and food security. As well as clearly mobilising people and providing access to credit the S&CCs have also reduced dependence on landlords and money lenders. (In one case in Dhanusha the interest rate of the money lender dropped from 60% to 25 % due to S&CC competition). It should be noted that all S&CCs are running without project seed money. Organisation and transparency was found good in all S&CCs visited by the Team, although still dependent on few key persons (eg. former project local resource persons (LRPs)). However, in spite of being registered, the S&CCs are still relatively new with little experience on eg. how to deal with lenders with failed investments. (Do they again become dependent on money lenders?). The project has supported a number of private income generation activities and more have been initiated with S&CC loans. All are relatively new and “untested”. However, the team found a degree of ownership and entrepreneurship in most of the businesses visited (Wood carving, motorcycle repair, tree nursery, fish pond etc.). Also the project has linked the different initiatives with trainers, lead farmers and/or district line agencies to promote sustainability. The project has promoted tailoring businesses for Thami and Surel women with training still ongoing and equipment not yet allocated to individual businesses. Apart from benefitting from specific income generation activities directed at Thami, Surel and Dhanuk IPs, livelihood and food security has also been improved by improved technical capacity and improved confidence to claim government services and funds and access to common resources (see 5.3.2 and 5.4).

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The team finds that the impact of project interventions on livelihood improvement is very good. However, in introduction of organic vegetable farming in the Terai area the project has given too little attention to the question of fertiliser/manure. The Team recommends that future projects in the Terai introduce alternative fuel sources eg. biogas in connection with agriculture improvement. Use of biogas may improve sanitation, hygienic, reduce women workload, increase organic matter/compost and support the global agenda for reducing carbon emission. The Team finds that while the S&CCs are running well, they are still relatively inexperienced and the awareness of the S&CC towards the potential loan risks is low. The Team recommends that some sort of regular follow up visits are organised as well as introducing “ethical rules” and regular self monitoring in all JANSEEP cooperatives and in any future S&CC programme. 5.3.2 Progress on HMJ technical capacity: The target HMJs have gained stronger technical and management capacities especially in agriculture, animal husbandry and the running of savings and credit schemes. Part of the success is due to the early and consequent involvement of line agency staff in all activities. In addition a number of selected people in the target HMJ communities have acquired new or improved skills within small business management, tree growing, tailoring, woodcarving and maintenance of water systems due to training and capacity building carried out by the project. Unfortunately in most cases this training was carried out by the end of the project period leaving little time to support or monitor the active transformation of these skills into viable businesses or employment possibilities. The Team found cases of reportedly relatively high drop out of training courses as well as people not using the skills afterwards. The team has had difficulties confirming this finding in monitoring or reports. The Team therefore recommends that any future project should develop a target indicator or feed back mechanism on the percentage of trained people actually putting that skill into use. 5.3.3 Progress on policy changes influencing the livelihood of HMJs: During the project period the national policy focus on indigenous peoples rights and on gender equality has increased and has been institutionalised. Among other plans and strategies the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (2002-2007) explicitly stated social inclusion and poverty reduction as one of the four pillars of the Tenth Five Year Plan. Also social inclusion and target programs focusing on empowering Highly Marginalized Janjatis (HMJs) is included in the government’s efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goal by 2015. These positive policy changes has clearly made it easier for IPOs and women’s groups to access specific government funds. However, policy changes take time to become embedded in both government institutions and IPOs. In spite of NEFIN organising a successful JANSEEP supported conference for indigenous women with participation of women from the project area, the local IPO in Dhanusha decided to focus the project agriculture training on the men, who tend to go abroad for work, rather than on the women who stay. The Team finds that the still “institutionally young” IPOs may focus on traditional values and may not automatically understand/be in favour of women empowerment in spite of policy changes and training. The Team recommends some sort of regular “follow up awareness raising” on both IP and women’s rights for new IPO committee members.

5.4 Access to basic services

5.4.1 Progress on improved access to health and education services and natural resources: The End Line Survey documents that project capacity building and awareness campaigns on basic rights to health and education services together with HMJ focused concrete project activities (support to construction of water systems and hand pumps through the District IPOs) have generally improved the target group’s access to health and education services. However, in spite of increased awareness on health and sanitation issues, especially in the female dominated advocacy centres in Dhanusha VDCs, there is still a high demand for toilet facilities. Furthermore

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one of the advocacy centres in Lagma VDC visited by the Team still felt that their request for better service was ignored by the local health clinic. HMJ school attendance has increased, mainly due to increased parent awareness. An increasing number of girls and HMJ children receive government scholarships – at least partly due to IPO awareness raising on overall government policies on Indigenous peoples rights. A number of key informants in the HMJ villages mentioned the project scholarships as being an important factor for school attendance. However, the Team finds this hard to believe, as project scholarships are very few, small and only given for one year. Two other factors may be more important: 1) the empowerment of women and 2) the increased awareness of the importance of education among the men working abroad. Increased HMJ access to natural resources is demonstrated by higher Thami and Surel representation in forest user groups, and by the first group of landless Dhanuk farmers accessing public VDC land for agro-forestry (PLAF) in Dhanusha. However, there is a huge potential for the IPO in Dhanusha to advocate for more uncultivated land to be handed over to Dhanuks and other poor farmers for agroforestry of tree planting on permanent or temporary lease. The EU ROM report recommends a scholarship program for indigenous children. The Teams finds, that the main factor for school attendance is parent awareness, which has strongly increased in the project target area. However, few indigenous girls (especially in the Terai) finish upper secondary school. The Team therefore recommends that a possible EU supported scholarship programme focus on helping indigenous girls to stay in school longer rather than be married of at the age of 14-15. On access to natural resources in the Terai, the Team finds that land is the main issue. The Team therefore recommends that NEFIN and the IPOs in the Terai consider a stronger advocacy effort for unused land (eg VDC land) to be leased or allocated to poor and landless IP farmers for tree planting or public land agro-forestry (PLAF).

5.4.2. Progress on sensitizing of government offices: Generally government line agencies, VDC and DDC representatives have been sensitized towards the needs and issues of HMJs and have demonstrated improved response and better service to the target HMJs.

As part of the sensitizing of the service providers, and to ensure future cooperation, the District IPOs supported by dedicated project field staff has been very focused on ensuring close links with district line agencies for all project activities. As a result there is now very good and active relations between project staff, the target group and government line agencies, especially in Dolakha District. Many Thami and Surel lead farmers and people involved in income generation activities have personal links to line agencies. Thus the target areas are visited more often and the communities included in overall programmes (eg. within water and forestry). In Dhanusha District the line agencies are also well aware of the HMJ issues. However, the team did not find the same close personal contact to line agency staff. The Team finds that the project approach to early involvement and sensitizing of line agencies towards the rights and needs of the IPs has had an important and long lasting effect on project achievements. It is therefore recommended that future HMJ projects replicate this approach. 5.4.3 Progress on HMJs access to decision-making and funding: Both communities and service providers show increased awareness of HMJ issues. This awareness together with the increased self confidence created by the stronger IP identity and understanding of IP rights have increased the target HMJs access to decision-making processes and funding. In particular the Thami and Surel have improved their representation in CFUGs and have demonstrated a stronger awareness on the importance of being represented in committees and other decision-making bodies. Both Thami and Surel villages and IPOs have improved access to VDC and district funds (on water supply, forest products, support to nursery etc.) and continue channelling funds from annual VDC budgets. A notable example of accessing government resources is the Surel community's success in getting their citizenships in the name of Surel instead of the previous Sunuwar. As the Surel are now recognised as an IP at risk, this enables every Surel possessing a citizenship or formal birth certificate to receive a monthly entitlement of 500 NRp allocated by the government for endangered IP groups.

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Also the Dhanuk IPO on District and VDC level has gained increased access to government funds for indigenous peoples. However, in at least one VDC (Dhanuji) the funds were used by the IPO on VDC level for building construction with little consultation with the women or the Dhanuk Community on their needs and priorities. The Team finds, that although the higher IP awareness supported by policy changes in their favour has increased the IP access to government funding, the IPO committees do not automatically focus on the benefit of the local people, or listen to them. The Team recommends that follow up training on IP rights and on community consultation is regularly held for newly elected committee members to ensure the IPOs linkage with grass root wishes and needs.

5.5 Enhanced IPO capacity.

5.5.1 Progress on organisational governance and representativeness of IPOs: Both NEFIN on central level and the targeted District Coordination Councils (DCCs) and IPOs have (to a varying degree) improved organisational governance (including transparency and accountability) and increased managerial capability through the project capacity building and the increased feeling of IP identity. JANSEEP has supported the establishment and development of national IPOs for Thami and Dhanuk, respectively. Training has included project design, proposal and report writing. Further training on office management and financial management has been given. In addition, the physical establishment of offices has been supported, including small grants for rent. However, with regular IPO committee elections and high committee member turnover, required institutional knowledge easily gets lost in young organisations. The Thami, Surel and Dhanuk IPOs on district level all have a strong identity, but are still organisationally weak with little planning capacity and funding for office premises, management and activities after project termination. Also in the linkage between national (policy focused) level and district/VDC (more livelihood focused) level there is scope for improvement. Apart from being responsible for running the popular radio program in Thami, Sureal and Maitheli languages the two district DCCs have also functioned as information centres and as a focus for experience exchange, and IPO support. Through DCC the IPs targeted by the project has had an opportunity to experience other IPs’ struggle for cultural identity, while in their turn spreading the JANSEEP project experiences. However it seems that DCC outgoing activities to a high degree are dependent on donor funding and thus may have to follow donor priorities and focus on specific IPs. The Team finds that DCCs and IPOs as local organisations on district and VDC level may be innovative and important partners in future projects, especially if they are able to maintain local integrity. However all three targeted IPOs on District level has a need for further capacity building – especially in advocacy and activity planning as well as gender awareness, local consultation (representation) and indigenous rights. It is therefore recommended that the project partners consider some sort of post project support to ensure further capacity building and follow up on district IPO performance especially with regards to planning, gender and local consultation issues.

Further it is recommended that the project develop a short presentation (eg. Power point) on the project approach and implementation for the IPs to use in the DCCs to inspire other IPOs to copy. 5.5.2 Progress on policy advocacy and NEFIN and IPO fund access and networks: Within the project period NEFIN has developed into one of the strongest political networks in the country possibly next in power to the major political parties. NEFIN sees a federal state as the best way to secure indigenous peoples rights and – with a new constitution still under development - NEFIN is now strongly advocating for indigenous rights within such a federal state. JANSEEP has supported NEFIN in carrying out a number of initiatives at the national level related to policy advocacy, mainly related to inclusion of IPs rights in the new constitution and to correct IP inclusion in the 2011 population census. Further JANSEEP has supported specific advocacy and network activities such as

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the indigenous women's conference, the world indigenous day, the general assembly of NEFIN and the caucus meeting (constitution assembly of member's forum of Indigenous People). These activities have generally linked the policy advocacy efforts with current issues thus taking advantage of the public and media focus to good effect. However, within the time of the project it has been more and more difficult to separate policy advocacy and networking for IP rights from party politics, eg. demonstrated by JANSEEP support to “Interaction with Network of JANJATI CA members (CAUCUS) and lobbing for identity based federal states” (14 federal states, among them 5 federal states are based on ethnic identity)” and “National TV dialogue on ”ensuring IP rights in up coming constitution of Nepal” through interaction between political parties, NEFIN and IP intellectuals.

The Team finds that the national policy dialogue and networking efforts have been very successful taken good advantage of the actual political situation in the country. However, it is recommended that CARE and other future donors carefully consider the pitfalls of becoming too involved in national party politics. While it is perfectly legitimate for NEFIN to advocate for a specific political option, such as a federal Nepalese state, for CARE as a neutral development NGO this should be only one of many ways in which the interests of the HMJs may be taken into account.

5.6 Local coherence and cooperation on equal terms In addition to the above indicators and in line with the overall country policy and the underlying project assumption it may also be relevant to assess whether the empowerment of the IPOs has led to improved local coherence and cooperation on equal terms in the communities and on national level? While this is clearly the case in relation to the Thami (“Janseep has brought Thami and non-thami closer”) and probably also the Surel communities, the team did not find that the increased Dhanuk identity unites people in the same way as the Thami and Sural, nor does it necessarily lead to better cooperation with non-Dhanuk in the same village (eg. even poorer dalits or muslims). There is a risk that the focus on the Dhanuk alone may have lead to fragmentation rather than coherence in the local communities. However, The S&CCs opening up to all village inhabitants is a god example of shared benefits and cooperation. Also on national level the picture is mixed. Clearly NEFIN has given the IPOs a much needed voice and created a common platform for all indigenous peoples in Nepal. Whether NEFIN will be able to use this platform to advocate for coherence and cooperation on equal terms under the changing political realities in Nepal is yet to be seen. The Team finds that there is a need for different approaches to different IPs depending on cultural diversity, geographical focus and pattern of habitation. It is recommended that the project strategy may be successfully replicated in future HMJ projects in the hills and mountains, while the strategy for future HMJ projects in the Terai region may be reconsidered to possibly take a more “all inclusive” approach without loosing the IP focus.

6. Project partnership, organisation, management and monitoring

6.1 partnership modalities The project is implemented by CARE Nepal and NEFIN in partnership with the local NEFIN member organisations DCCs and IPOs in charge of field implementation. CARE has the financial responsiblity to the donors on the overall level with CARE staff playing a facilitation role on both national and local level. NEFIN (Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities) is an autonomous and politically non-partisan, national level common organization. NEFIN currently consists of 59 indigenous member organizations widely distributed throughout Terai, Hills and the Himalayas of Nepal. The objective of NEFIN is “documenting, preserving and promoting cultures, languages, religion, customs, traditions of the Indigenous Nationalities (INs) of Nepal and to assist them in developing and obtaining equal rights”. On District level NEFIN is represented by DCCs (District Coordination Councils), with the IPOs being NEFIN members.

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As already mentioned by the MTR the partnership approach is not very clearly laid out in the project document. However, over the project period of 5 years the partnership between CARE and NEFIN has developed and settled into a modality with strong NEFIN involvement including the housing of the JANSEEP office in Kathmandu and in Dhanusha district. On field level the project is implemented by the DCCs and IPOs on district level based on a jointly developed yearly action plan facilitated by a small number of dedicated project staff (Project manger and 3 “issue-based” officers based in Kathmandu and 4 local staff members in each district). District line agencies are closely involved in activities, but are not seen as official partners. The Team finds that the strong involvement of NEFIN on all levels of implementation has been a major factor for the project success. However, the NEFIN/IPO focus together with the high project manager turnover has left little room for inclusion of relevant CARE experience as prescribed in the project strategy. The Team recommends that a study is conducted to compare “pros and cons” of the different “advocacy groups” models in Terai: the CHULI Popular Education Centres (PEC) focusing on women in poverty pockets, the JIWAN “all inclusive” Lok Pathshalas or “open village schools” and the JANSEEP Advocacy Centres.

6.2 Project organisation and management The Project Organisation comprises three levels: central, district, and community. General and project management, administration and technical expertise are located at the centre, while field coordinators are based in each of the two districts with three Social Mobilisers in each of the two districts. The total management structure, however, is not shown in the organogram and the current management set-up differs from the prescription in the Project Document. NEFIN is officially the implementing agency, but a project management and implementation structure has in reality been established with management and staff ‘seconded’ from or recruited by both NEFIN and CARE, respectively. The day-to-day management includes a Project Manager, a part time Project Director assigned by NEFIN and a CARE seconded Programme Coordinator. This structure seems rather top heavy with many actors at the management level, but seem to work well, not least due to the personal qualities of the present project manager and staff. A Project Management Committee (PMC) was established in December 2008 and has met regularly. The PMC construction is not prescribed in the Project Document but it is relevant and brings the key partners together – JANSEEP staff, CARE, NEFIN and the targeted IPOs. As already mentioned the overall project implementation strategy is to work in partnership with NEFIN at the central and district level and with IPOs, including community based HMJ groups. JANSEEP interacts well with DCCs and IPOs at the district and sub-district level

JANSEEP has adopted a participatory bottom up planning process with the participation of the targeted IPOs. Following a consultation meeting at the district level between the respective technical staff from the JANSEEP, which verifies and recommends activities to be implemented, a meeting of the JANSEEP team finalises the Annual Implementation Plan (AIP), Detailed Implementation Plan (DIP) and specific Action Plans. Also the project has developed a detailed exit plan. The Team finds that although the project still operates in a very hierarchical structure on overall management level, the decentralised implementation has contributed to a strong feeling of local ownership and identity. It is recommended that the project participatory planning process and field structure with the IPOs as implementers and the field staff in a facilitation role should be replicated in future HMJ projects.

6.3 Finance management A separate finance report will be attached to the final report. Generally the project financial management has been sound. However, with less than a month left the project has:

About 14% of the total project budget left;

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Still local confusion on payments for instalment of water systems and hand pumps that needs to be clarified to not leave the locals with a feeling of being cheated;

Not yet implemented the final disposal plan for fixed project assets such as motorcycles, sewing machines, computers etc.

The team finds that there is a need for a rapid closing of all outstanding issues. It is therefore recommended that the project staff support the IPOs in finishing all paperwork and submitting all necessary bills for issues such as the last instalments of water system construction. Further it is recommended that the project develops and implements a final agreement on disposal of fixed assets.

6.4 Project reporting and monitoring The project has produced very detailed baseline data and regular progress reports. The reports clearly present work-in-progress and accomplishment at the activities level (process, strategy and output). Further the project has produced an outcome report and a baseline and end line study. In addition the project has been subject to both a mid term review (MTR) and EU Result Oriented Monitoring (ROM). Both the MTR and the ROM have given useful feed back to the project and the recommendations have been included in the exit strategy. The Team finds that the amount of produced documentation is impressive. However the surveys and reports would have benefitted from a more carefully analysis of outcome indicators and a selection of a smaller number of key values/pointers. The team therefore recommends that for monitoring of future projects the management team should analyse the outcome indicators and select a few key values/pointers for a much more focused and time efficient baseline, reporting and End Line Survey. In addition it is recommended to use participatory self monitoring for cost efficient monitoring data and increased feeling of ownership.

7. Assessment of project response to challenges and gaps The team has identified the following main challenges for project implementation and assessed the project response. Generally the project has been successful in turning most challenges into opportunities, however with regards to create experience exchange and synergy between the three CARE projects in Dhanusha (part of project overall strategy) the project has demonstrated a clear gap in implementation.

How to ensure project implementation under an unstable political situation with frequent strikes,

road blocks and other physical barriers (especially in the Terai) as well as party politics influencing implementation on both local and National level and with no formal democratic representation on local level: On district level the project strategy to deal with this situation has been decentralised and local implementation to limit traveling and ensure local acceptance of project activities and interventions. On national level the strategy has been to “jump directly into the beehive” directly addressing politician from different parties and actively participating in constitution debate and advocacy. Both strategies have proven surprisingly successful.

How to develop fruitful synergy in a partnership with very different partners with different origin, approaches, political agendas, hierarchies and institutional cultures: The project response has been and strengthening the role of NEFIN on national and local level (IPOs and DCCs) and employing janajatis in all staff positions. This has ensured a high degree of partner involvement, but may have different political/policy implications for the two partners.

How to ensure project coherence and direction with frequent IPO committee, project manager and NEFIN and CARE staff turnover: The project response has been frequent monitoring and review/assessments (too frequent?) and reporting, adherence to the clear target indicators and strong reliance on staff and coordinators in the field. This strategy has worked well, but has offered little space for CARE experiences (eg on women empowerment and groups) and may have limited project flexibility and adjustment to the wishes of the target group.

How and when to restore and revive traditional skills and knowledge in present context: While a training workshop has been initiated to revive wood carving similar activities with both a cultural identity

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and income generating potential has proven difficult to identify for the other target IPs. The project response to this challenge has been to go along with the wishes of the target population and focus on income generation activities that seems promising, traditional or not. Thus the project has provided training on new agriculture crops as well as tailoring, motorcycle maintenance, business skills etc.

How to ensure monitoring and documentation on impact of training and S&CCs loans: Projects with saving and credit components tend to measure the success in terms of how many % of the loan takers pay the loans back. It is however, (as the recent Gramine Bank case in Bangladesh has clearly shown) necessary to monitor that loan takers actually improve their income and livelihood – and that the loan takers with failed businesses are not just becoming more dependent on money lenders. In the end line survey effort are made to monitor annual savings of the target group as an indicator for improved financial security.

How gain from experience exchange between CARE supported projects in Dhanusha: CHULI, JIWAN and JANSEEP: In the initial phases JANSEEP cooperated with the CARE Chunauti program on issues related to women empowerment In Dhanusha District. However, after termination of the Chunauti program little experience exchange has happened between JANSEEP and other CARE supported projects, even though both CHULI and JIWAN operate in the same Terai district and, among other things, also focus on community strengthening, awareness building and income generation. The Team finds that this is a lost opportunity for JANSEEP to raise the awareness of Dhanuk IP issues in CHULI and JIWAN and on the other hand for JANSEEP to benefit from JIWAN and CHULI experiences within community mobilisation.

8. Project relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, sustainability and replicability

8.1 Relevance Overall the team finds the “grass root part” of the project (promotion and awareness raising of IP rights and identity, IP poverty alleviation) very relevant, although the strategy and approach of focusing solely on the HMJs is found more appropriate in the hills than in the Terai, where the ethnic situation is more complex and where the HMJ are not necessarily the poorest or the most socially excluded. The project is in line with government policies on promotion of the rights of indigenous peoples and also on poverty reduction. Advocating for indigenous rights and identity on national level is also found highly relevant. However, the political development in Nepal in the project period has made it more difficult for the project to stay clear of party politics on national policy dialogue level.

8.2 Efficiency and effectiveness The Team finds that the project has been implemented with a high degree of efficiency and has been effective in reaching/exceeding nearly all targets, mainly due to the below factors:

Clear working modality between the two partners based on joint yearly work plans and regular money transfer;

Good personal relations between NEFIN project director and CARE project manager;

Field activities implemented through local (district level) IPOs with a small committed group of project staff acting as facilitators;

All project staff being Janajatis;

All activities linked up with district line agencies from the beginning;

Most lead farmers active in spreading their knowledge to other farmers;

A high degree of ownership to the income generating activities, S&CCs and the project in general;

A focused and long lasting awareness raising effort on women’s empowerment;

The lack of democratic bodies on village/VDC level making it relatively easy for any more or less formal group to turn into a much needed forum for dealing with community issues;

A relatively long “secure” project period (5 years from the start rather than having to go through a period of uncertainty between a “phase 1” and “phase 2”).

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A few factors do, however, indicate less efficiency in project implementation. These are:

Top-heavy management on central level;

Rather bureaucratic and hierarchical procedures related to fund dispersal on all levels. (mainly due to responsibility sharing arrangement between the two partners);

A relatively high drop out of training and new skills implementing;

The low effect on adult literacy in the REFLECT classes;

Little or no field experience exchange with other CARE supported projects or programs in the area.

8.3 Sustainability The Team’s short field visit confirmed the expectations of high sustainability expressed in earlier reviews and reports. In spite of a slow start and a number of activities being implemented in the last second with little time for consolidation support from the project, the chances of sustainability of most project achievements is assessed as relatively high. The Team base this assumption on the following findings:

Good results of awareness raising and sensitization on all levels regarding IP identity and rights;

High degree of ownership to project achievements;

Official registration of IPOs, S&CCs and advocacy centres;

The efforts to make S&C cooperatives “all inclusive” (both related to gender and ethnicity);

Local resource person still around after phase out and in many cases having key function in cooperative or advocacy centre;

Increased HMJ representation in decision-making bodies;

Radio programmes continue raising the issue of HMJs;

Very strong (but also very hierarchical) IPO network including national, district and VDC level;

Close cooperation between different IPOs (experience exchange in DCCs).

In the Thami communities further indicators for high sustainability are:

Close group coherence and strengthened identity with the Bhume temple as “focal point”;

Improved cooperation with non-thami groups in the area;

Very good cooperation with service providers (water, DFO, Agriculture, livestock);

High increase in productivity and income generation from improved agriculture (DADO reports that 75% of the farmers that grow vegetables are doing it in a professional manner);

Participation and commitment of whole community - also the “not so poor” that may be willing and able to be more innovative and experimenting.

The future challenges for sustainability are mainly related to IPOs, S&CCs and various user groups and advocacy centres in relation to issues of organisation, management, planning and transparency. Regarding the IPOs there are further sustainability issues related to their capacity to keep in touch with needs and priorities on grass root level in the continued fund raising and policy dialogue. And to maintain local integrity and good relations between the IPO on different levels. Finally some of the private income generation activities are still very new and very fragile and would have benefitted from consolidation support, while the survival of Dhanuk organic farming may depend on development of other fuel sources (eg. biogas).

8.4 Replicability During the project period a number of project interventions and achievements have already been replicated outside the immediate target group. Women empowerment created in the advocacy centres has spread to other women in the community (less child marriage, more women raising their voice in meetings and more Dhanuk women outside their home and not using veils). Lead farmers (and the Thami nursery owner) have provided training to “outsiders”, the Dhanuk S&CC has opened up for non-Dhanuk members and the increased Thami awareness of identity has spread outside the target VDCs. The very good options for replication of project approach and various strategies and activities have already been described in previous chapters.

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9. Conclusion and lessons learnt 9.1 Conclusion Overall the Team finds that the project has been relevant and has generally been implemented in an effective and efficient way. The project has achieved considerable success in awareness raising, livelihood improvement, HMJ’s access to basic services and enhancement of IPOs. Most targets have been more than fulfilled and the project has achieved a high degree of awareness raising and ownership with promising indicators for replication and sustainability. Also the project has been “helped along” by the present government policies on improved HMJ capacity and livelihood. However, a project span of only five years is too short for real consolidation of impact and social changes. The team has therefore identified the following main areas in need of post project support:

Follow up training and capacity building for new IPOs

Regular monitoring/advisory visits to S&CC

An EU scholarship programme for IP girls as recommended by the EU ROM Further the advocacy centres would benefit from exchange visits to strong advocacy groups in other CARE projects. The support does not necessarily need to be in “one post project support package”. Possibly NEFIN might be able to raise funds for follow up training of the IPOs, while CARE through CHULI might undertake organisation of Advocacy Centre field exchange visits and S&CC follow up monitoring, at least in Dhanusha. The project approach has been well suited to target the IPs in the geographically and culturally well defined areas in the midhills, but somewhat less successful in the ethnically diverse Terai villages where a more “all inclusive” field approach might have increased IP empowerment as well as acceptance in the local community. Generally the project has managed to turn most challenges into opportunities, however with regards to synergy with other CARE projects the project has demonstrated a clear gap in implementation. On national level JANSEEP has contributed to a very active policy dialogue as IP rights have become a hot topic in the ongoing constitution dialogue. However, the advocacy has also taken a more direct path towards party politics, which should give thoughts for consideration among both partners and donors.

9.2 Lessons learnt

Strengthening of ethnic identity and ownership does not automatically lead to improved and equal relations with other communities; understanding and support from the other communities is needed for effectiveness and accountability and to avoid further exclusion, inter-village tension or even conflicts. JANSEEP has proven that offering a “total package” of advocacy, organizational strengthening and livelihood improvement with future potential for including also non-IPs may support IP rights and identity while at the same time creating better cooperation and coherence in the local community.

Without training and awareness raising newly formed IPOs may hold on to traditional values or focus on political power and may not automatically focus on the benefit of the local people or understand/be in favour of women empowerment;

Five years is too short a timespan for consolidation of social changes, but adequate time for creating lasting awareness;

Revival of traditional IP skills may not be always be feasible or desirable; also the HMJs live in the modern world of today – not in the past;

At present Nepal suffers from a clear democratic deficit at local level (no elected VDC committees). Thus all attempts to create forums for discussions on village matter are bound to reach some degree of success as there are few other for a for village level decisions and joint action mobilisation.

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10. Summary of main recommendations 10.1. Recommendation for the remaining project period

It is recommended that as part of final documentation the project develop a short action oriented presentation (eg. Power point or flip chart posters) on the project approach and implementation for the IPs to use in the DCCs to inspire other IPOs;

It is recommended that the project staff support the IPOs in finishing all paperwork and submitting all necessary bills for outstanding issues such as the last instalments of water system construction;

It is recommended that the project implements a final agreement on disposal of fixed assets.

10.2 Recommendations for possible post project follow up

It is recommended that exchange visits are arranged between the Dhanuk advocacy centres and the “women only” PEC (Popular Education Centres) of the CHULI programme implemented by CARE (and possibly also with the “all inclusive” Lok Pathsalas (LP) of the JIWAN programme) in Dhanusha;

I It is recommended that some sort of regular follow up visits are organised as well as introducing

“ethical rules” and regular self monitoring in all JANSEEP S&C Cooperatives

It is recommended that some sort of regular “follow up awareness raising” on IP rights, community consultation, planning and gender issues for new IPO committee members is organised;

It is recommended that a possible EU supported scholarship programme focus on helping indigenous girls to stay in school longer rather than be married of at the age of 14-15;

it is recommended that the partners and donors carefully consider the pitfalls of becoming too involved in national party politics in their effort for advocating for IP rights.

9.2.3 Recommendations for future projects supported by CARE, NEFIN and/or EU and other donors For future projects to be supported by CARE, NEFIN and/or EU and other donors the Team has the following recommendations for project design and implementation based on JANSEEP experience and lessons learnt:

It is recommended that ownership feeling (and improved maintenance) of project assets/structures

(offices, water taps, etc.) should be increased by using local logos only, not “advertising” for NGOs and donors;

It is recommended that although initial focus on awareness raising in “women only groups” is well justified, advocacy in “mixed groups” should be carried out at the same time or as a second step to ensure awareness and shared responsibility of the entire community;

It is recommended that women from the target group(s) are actively included in project decision-making and activity planning on all levels from the very beginning;

It is recommended that peer orientation on HIV/AIDS for returning immigrant workers is considered to avoid the issue becoming a “private” family or women’s issue;

It is recommended that advocacy for unused land (eg VDC land) to be leased or allocated to poor IP farmers for tree planting or public land agro-forestry (PLAF) is considered in future HMJ projects;

It is recommended that alternative fuel sources eg. biogas is introduced in connection with agriculture improvement in future projects in the Terai;

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It is recommended that target indicators or feed back mechanisms on the percentage of trained people actually putting that skill into use are developed to be able to monitor project impact;

It is recommended that future HMJ projects replicate the project approach to early involvement and sensitizing of line agencies towards the rights and needs of the IPs;

It is recommended that IPO capacity building on accessing of funds should go hand in hand with awareness raising on community consultation processes;

It is recommended that the JANSEEP strategy of IP empowerment may be replicated in future HMJ projects in the hills and mountains, while the strategy for future HMJ projects in the Terai region may be reconsidered to possibly take a more “all inclusive” approach without loosing the IP focus;

It is recommended that the JANSEEP participatory planning process and IPO field facilitation may

be replicated in future HMJ projects to contributed towards local ownership and identity;

It is recommended that for monitoring of future projects the management team should analyse the outcome indicators and select a few key values/pointers for more focused and time efficient surveys and reporting;

It is recommended to use participatory self monitoring for cost efficient monitoring data and increased feeling of ownership.