I have been very bad keeping my blog site up to date recently - so here is a case study i put together for VSO outlining the problems that Dalits face and the work that the VSO and the vols are doing to support the Dalit community of Nepal secure their rights

VSO ADVOCACY CASE STUDY: NEPAL - Participation & Governance

The Dalit CSO Consortium's influence on the new constitution

VSO Nepal's Participation and Governance programme:

VSO Nepal's Participation and Governance programme in Nepal consists of 22 partner organisations with 14 volunteers and has been running since 2004. The programme supports NGOs that are working to secure the rights of marginalised groups including women, people with disabilities and the Dalit community. There are many such NGOs in Nepal and they have been active in trying to bring about social change for around the last 20 years. At present it is an exciting but highly important time in Nepal for these NGOs as the development of the new constitution is taking place and this presents a real opportunity to get the needs and rights of the marginalised groups that the NGOs represent included in Nepal's new constitution. This case study looks at how the Dalit movement has united to achieve this.

The caste problem in Nepal:

The caste system is practiced throughout South Asia including Nepal and the so-called lower-caste people namely Dalits suffer from extreme poverty and discrimination in daily life. As a result they lag behind in all areas of development socially, politically and economically despite the many efforts being made to address this. Nepal is a poor country, one of the poorest in Asia and many people are disadvantaged but Dalits exist at the bottom of this poverty. This is illustrated by the 2001 census data for Nepal which shows that Dalits fall behind in terms of life expectancy living to just an average age of 51 compared to the national average of 59. In terms of child health there are 117 infant deaths per thousand in the Dalit community compared to the national average of 75. In terms of education Dalits have an average literacy rate of just 34% compared to the national average of 54% and although the percentage of the population for those finishing higher education is low in Nepal Dalits still lag far behind the national average with just 0.4% of the Dalit population completing higher education compared to the national average of 3.4%. Economically 47 % of Dalits live below the Nepali defined poverty line compared to 31% of the national average. UNDP figures show that landlessness among Dalits is 25% compared to 10% among non-Dalits and that the average size of Dalit holdings is 0.18 hectares compared to that of non-Dalits which is 0.43 hectares.

The national census 2001 findings show that Dalits represent 13% of the population though Dalit NGOs estimate that the Dalit population is actually around 20%. Yet, despite recent increased representation in parliament (the Constituent Assembly) Dalit representation in government and positions of power is proportionately very low - as is their access to government services such as health and education. Nepal was actually declared a caste free nation in 1964 - but it is hard to confirm this from statistics even over 40 years on!

The New Government of Nepal

The democratic election of Nepal's Constituent Assembly (CA) in April 2008 has led to a wider representation of marginalised groups in government including Dalits. Thanks in part to the work of Civil Society NGOs Dalits now hold 49 out of the 601 CA member posts (7 "First Passed the Post" and 42 through "Proportionate Representation"). That is 8% of all CA members, a significant change, and the first real opportunity for Dalits to play a key role in influencing politics in Nepal to secure their rights and improve their situation. To support the Dalit community in achieving this, the international donor community has provided funding to various Dalit NGOs over the past couple of years to support them with the development of Dalit Agendas for the new constitution. Despite the progress made by the Dalit NGOs so far, there is still a long way to go to secure Dalit needs and rights in the new constitution and then to ensure that the provisions for Dalits in the new constitution are actually implemented and their human rights secured.

The challenges ahead

There are many challenges ahead, not least that there has been a lack of unity amongst Dalit NGOs in the past resulting in no one strong common voice to take the Dalit campaign forwards. In the CA Dalit members are divided across political parties making it hard for them to agree on a single Dalit Agenda and raise a united voice. There is still disproportionate representation of the Dalit population within the CA and there is already evidence that traditional culture is influencing Dalits' role in the CA. In addition to this many of the new Dalit CA members are also lagging behind in skills to enable them to play a meaningful role in the new government.

Across the country Dalits are geographically dispersed and a minority in most constituencies making it hard for them to raise their voice at a national level. Like poor and marginalised people everywhere Dalits are at the bottom of society in every way and often their own daily subsistence and survival needs takes priority over claiming their rights. The issue of caste based discrimination does not get high attention as a violation of human rights meaning that there is limited pressure to change nationally and there is a lack of awareness of the issue internationally.

Support from VSO and the development of 'The Dalit CSO consortium for a fair society'

In recognition of the importance that the drafting of the new constitution presents for the Dalit community VSO volunteers initiated a meeting for the Dalit NGO leaders to bring them together to look at if and how they could work together. A couple of months later Tony Baldry MP who was in Nepal with VSO as part of the 'VSO Parliamentarian Volunteering Project' met with and encouraged Dalit Leaders on the importance of working together to develop a common Dalit Agenda for the constitution and having a united voice. Dalit leaders agreed to work together and formed 'The Dalit CSO consortium for a fair society' in Autumn 2009, they are now more committed to working together in advocating for Dalit Rights than before as they recognise that if Dalit rights are not enshrined in the constitution now then maybe they never will be!

The consortium now consists of 10 Dalit NGO partner organizations, this was originally the 6 national Dalit organisations that VSO work with but has been expanded to bring national coverage and bring specific expertise on board including legal and media skills. Broadly speaking the consortium consists of a board, which is a senior representative from each of the Dalit NGOs, who provide direction and make decisions and a project team that consists of staff members from each of the partners that carry out the consortium's activities. A code of conduct has been developed and agreed by the consortium outlining how they operate.

It is important to note that VSO and the volunteers only play a supporting role in the consortium. The consortium needs to be owned and driven by its partners so that it is sustainable and will continue once the volunteer support moves on. VSO volunteers provide support with the facilitation of meetings at board level and technical support at project team level including project planning and proposal development. The volunteers work by developing the skills and expertise of staff and board and by guiding and advising only.

Consortium projects

The consortium is demonstrating their commitment working together on the following projects:

UNDP - The United Nations Development Programme

The consortium is now working in partnership with the UNDP, on their Support for Participatory Constitution Building in Nepal project. They are collecting opinions from over 35,000 community members across the country on what issues the new constitution should address for Dalits. These opinions will be aggregated and submitted to the constitution drafting committee and thematic committees. In addition to this Consortium partners are now combining their efforts to develop a common Dalit Agenda to submit to the CA.

If not now, maybe never....

The consortium is in the final stages of developing a proposal to support a large national and international advocacy campaign to ensure that Dalit Rights are included in the new constitution and to monitor its implementation. This proposal will be sent to the DFID coordinated, multi donor "Rights, Democracy and Inclusion Fund" within the coming weeks.

Other VSO support

Training: As well as support from the volunteers attached to partner organisations VSO also run regular training workshops for their partners, recent events that have been particularly useful for the partners and the role that they will play in the constitution development process have included advocacy and lobbying focusing on the use of the media, Human Rights and Monitoring and Evaluation.

Durban Review Conference: The Durban Declaration, made in 2001, was the outcome of the World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance. In April 2009 the Declaration was reviewed at a Conference at the UN in Geneva. A number of VSO Dalit partner organisations attended the conference and a VSO volunteer working with one of the partners accompanied the delegates to Geneva. The issue of caste based discrimination had not been included in the Durban Declaration and it was hoped that the delegates could influence the Review conference outcome document and ensure that caste discrimination was mentioned. Unfortunately that was not possible and delegates realised just how difficult it is to get your issue recognized and endorsed at international level. However, with the support of the volunteer, members of the Nepal delegation were able to make two statements in the review conference meetings on caste discrimination and participate in side events on the issue. In addition they were able to make new regional and international links which can be used to further the Dalit cause. They also identified other opportunities to raise the issue of caste discrimination in other UN fora; the first of these opportunities will arise at the Human Rights Council meeting in September.

South African Study Tour: VSO supported a study tour forfive VSO Dalit partner organisation members accompanied by a volunteer and the governance programme leader to visit South Africa in May 2009. Their objectives were tolook at the lessons learnt by South Africa in the constitution making process, to look at how South Africa dealt with marginalised community issues in the constitution and to see how NGOs, particularly at local level, are involved in monitoring the provisions of the constitution. South Africa was chosen because it is reputed to have one of the best constitutions in the world. In addition the constitution was agreed after a period of internal conflict and there was widespread community involvement in developing the new constitution, both of these have echoes in Nepal. A report of the study tour is being prepared for publication and there will be an event to share the learning from the tour.

Pol Vol Tony Baldry MP: Tonyreturned to Nepal for a second visit in August 2009 and has continued his support for the Dalit CSO Consortium. He spent one of his days with VSO Nepal challenging and encouraging the Dalit consortium's national advocacy proposals and suggesting further livelihoods programmes linking traditional Dalit trades to UK trade guilds, British Council facilitated City & Guilds skills qualifications and bilateral donor (specifically DFID) job creation objectives.

August marks the first anniversary of the Dalit CSO Consortium and one which VSO Nepal and the Governance volunteers can be proud of encouraging a united approach to Dalit rights advocacy. There is a long way to go to achieve a fair society in Nepal but Dalit civil society organisations are now realising that unity gives them the greatest chance of achieving that.