|
1. National Census 2011 Citizen Observation Project (NCOP)
Background
National
Population Census 2011 will be the eleventh in a series of the
population enumeration in Nepal. Moreover, this census marks one
hundred year of census counting in the country. In this historical
event, Nepalese people have to be proud of it and celebrate it by
'no omissions, no duplications'. And this is also true that after
239 years, Nepali people are writing their constitution devising
federal democratic state. The Constituent Assembly (CA) is formed
more or less on the basis of 2001 census data. State Restructuring
and Division of Power Committee of CA has decided 14 federal units
and 22 autonomous areas based on 2001 population database. Further
state structures such as protected areas, special areas, and local
governments units will also be devised on the basis of larger
database of the National Census 2011. Hence upcoming national census
has a pivotal role in laying the foundations of the new Nepal that
would be the real foundation of future Nepal.
Population
and Housing Census (PHC) 2011 is the first post-conflict census in
Nepal. The post-conflict period in country has given rise to several
new agendas to settle at social, economic and political level, and
settlement process is going on. At the same time, civil societies
are coming forward and strongly putting their apprehensions in every
spheres of national and social life. In this context, census is also
being viewed as a matter of public concern, and a means of seeking
group identity. This, in the present time, is linking census with
identity politics. With the emerging identity politics, all most all
but more specifically, minority, indigenous nationalities and other
excluded groups
have shown their strong disagreement on the exclusionary and
bureaucratic nature of the censuses that have been practiced during
the last 100 years.
Census
observation by civil society is an initiative “looking the
population counting process from the public eyes”. Although this
initiative is new for Nepal, more or less similar types of
initiatives are being practiced in many countries to deal varieties
of situations/problems. In general, such initiative aims to
authenticate the principles, procedure, and the results of census
as per the
national and international criterion and enhance credibility of the
census results.
However, in some countries, such initiative has been devised and
implemented to deal the problems that likely to arise during
post-conflict situation (disagreement, etc.).
Project Goal;
To
contribute to reliable data generation & improve the inclusive
census process so that the apprehension among MINEs under counting
their population will be rectified.
Other key information;
Duration :
June- November 2011
Network partner NGOs
: CEADS, COSSS,
Disabled Human Rights Centre (DHRC),
National
Muslim Forum (NMF),
Jagaran Media Centre (JMC),
Parichaya Samaj and
Shakti Samuha (SS).
Funding partner
: SDC, SIRF/SNV and UN Population Fund
Other partner/s (OP/s)
: MINEs caucuses under the Constituent Assembly and other
national networks such as
NFDN, NFO-FONIN, NCARD and
PAN.
Project districts
: Throughout the country (75 districts; 80 census
districts)
Key
Activities :
ü
Formation
and operationalize national network of MINEs CSOs.
ü
Formation
and mobilization of National Advisory Committee (NAC).
ü
Selection
and training to Observers from 75 districts, i.e. 80 census
districts.
ü
Review of
census policy, process and operation plan and development census
observation instruments.
ü
Census
observation in purposively selected 3200 households at 160 VDCs
across the country.
ü
Post
Enumeration Activities (PEA) and Post Enumeration Survey (PES)
activities
ü
Media
campaign for sensitization, e.g. PSA in television and local 72 FM
stations.
ü
Observation
report preparation and submission/dissemination
Back to top.
2. Inclusion of Minority Groups for Sustainable Peace in
Nepal (IMSPN)
Background
Coming few years, which
will bring new constitution and lay the foundation of democracy in
Nepal, has significant importance in Nepal’s modern history. For
minority civil society this is an extremely valuable opportunity to
play an active role in establishing and promoting inclusive
democracy in Nepal. This is also a good opportunity to affect
long-term change to improve implementation of minority communities’
participation and rights, by influencing the constitutional making
and implementation process. It is essential that minority
organizations are able to take part fully in this process. However,
there are few serious problems that have posed challenges for
minority groups’ participation in constitution making process that
will lay foundation of inclusive democracy in Nepal. These include
lack of capacity among minority groups to struggle peacefully to
advocate for their rights, poor representation in state organs and
decision making levels, their voices seldom get priority in the
places where they’re represented, lack of awareness about the facts
and information about minority groups and so on.
Future expected policies
and programs to be designed and implemented once the constitution is
formally adopted offer similar opportunities. After the constituent
assembly election, it appears that minority representatives and
civil society are getting more and more divided according to their
party lines and their individual group interests, this work aims to
encourage collaboration between groups in order to effectively
achieve changes that benefit all minority communities in the
country.
The project aims to build
the capacity of minority civil society and public bodies (through
training, networking/collaboration opportunities, exchange of ideas
and contacts with relevant stakeholders) to effectively represent
the interest of minority communities. It will also focus on
sensitizing a wide range of stakeholders (ranging from minority
activists to representatives of government) on the importance of the
human rights of minority communities, the national and international
instruments existing to protect those and how to ensure that
appropriate mechanisms/policies are adopted and implemented to
guarantee the respect of these rights.
Project Goal;
To improve the
implementation of the rights of minorities in Nepal to contribute to
the consolidation of democracy and rule of law, to the promotion of
human rights and to the prevention of violent conflicts.
Other key information;
Duration :
September 2010- January 2012
Regional partner NGOs
: SSD (Morang), APEC (Siraha), Support Nepal (Dhanusha),
Bikas Nepal (Parsa),
Kapince Nepal (Kapilvastu), Force Nepal
(Banke), MCPC (Kanchanpur)
Funding partner
: Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA)
Other partner/s (OP/s)
: Constitutional committees of the CA, minority CSOs.
Project districts
: Ilam, Morang, Saptari, Udaypur, Siraha, Dhanusha,
Sindhuli,
Sarlahi, Parsa, Makwanpur,
Chitwan, Rupandehi, Kapilvastu,
Dang, Banke, Surkhet,
Bardiya, Kailali, Kanchanpur,
Dadeldhura.
Key
Activities :
-
Capacity building of
minority rights activists on constitutional and legislature
focused issues of minority groups in Nepal.
-
Advocacy campaigns to
increase the participation of minority civil society in drafting
process of new constitution and advocacy work for appropriate
legislature to ensure minority rights.
-
Public discussions on
contemporary and pertinent issues of different minority group at
different communities across the project districts.
-
Production of radio
programs focused at increasing dialogue between the minority
communities and CA members/statutory bodies on different
minority issues and air through local community FM stations.
-
Dialogue, workshop
with statutory bodies related to minority groups with focus on
minority rights-specific knowledge on international standards
and instruments and Nepali constitutional provisions.
-
Publication of policy
briefing with focus on policy recommendations on ensuring
minority communities are not left aside from the developments
that will follow the new constitution.
-
Organization of an
international workshop on protecting minority rights in
federalism.
-
Production and
telecasting of 40 weekly TV talk shows; Bikalp (Alternative)
on issues of minority groups.
Back to top.
Include Dalits, Madheshi, Indigenous Nationalities, PWD,
LGBT, women, religious and linguistic minorities
|
