Nepal

2012 Project Evaluation Report: Capacity Building in Youth and Peacebuilding

From 2010 to 2012, Search For Common Ground, with support from UNICEF, conducted a project to assist the local Nepalese NGO leadership and staff in shaping capacity building on youth and peacebuilding. As a component of a reintegration and rehabilitation program, the 'Capacity Building in Youth and Peacebuilding' project was evaluated using various methods of Focused Group Discussions (FGDs), survey, interviews, and project reports to assess the impact on capacity building and training in Nepal. Overall results demonstrated the increase in the implementing partners' knowledge and skills in designing peacebuilding programs and a large majority of participants who found the trainings useful and relevant. Specifically, many participants were successfully able to organize effective dialogues at local levels, outdoor leadership activities and use experiential learning methods.

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2012 Project Evaluation Report: Women Building Community Peace in Eastern Terai

In January 2012, Search for Common Ground (SFCG), Nepal finished a project called Women Building Community Peace in Eastern Terai. Funded by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), this project's overall goal was to strengthen the role of women and girls in the Eastern Terai to be a positive force for peacebuilding at the local level. The project was implemented in four districts, which involved three major activity components:

1. Women Leadership and Community Peacebuilding Training for Women Leaders/Networks;
2. Training to Local Decision Makers on Gender Sensitivity and Peacebuilding;
3. Women-led Community Peacebuilding Initiatives. A final project evaluation was carried out to evaluate the results.

Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), Collection of Case Studies (CCS) and Field Observation (FO) were used in all four project districts to evaluate the results. The final evaluation found that the project was successful in achieving the desired results, i.e. greater understanding of the importance of women's leadership, their potential role in the community, knowledge, and skills on conflict transformation and peacebuilding. However, the project was not free from challenges, particularly from the existing social and cultural context in Terai which continues to impede women from stepping out of their household activities.

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2012 Youth and Peacebuilding: Baseline Interviews

Search For Common Ground conducted individual field interviews to help understand the importance of youth in peacebuilding, transformation of conflict and building a culture of peace. Information was specifically gathered on the various programs and approaches taken toward youth and peacebuilding. The interviews highlighted some positive trends and program success, while recognizing further development is still needed. The National Youth Policy, while still developing implementation processes, has linked youth and government. SFCG's specific projects have helped bring about transformations in a range of communities. Production of radio and TV programs have promoted dialogue and social cohesion, while SFCG efforts in education has developed teacher education and youth soft skills. The respondents have indicated a positive progression in youth and peacebuilding, while acknowledging some work left to be accomplished.

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2012 The Peacebuilding Initiative: Baseline Survey Report

Search For Common Ground conducted a survey to assess the impact and progress of its program in Nepal, 'The Peacebuilding Initiative (TPI)'. To promote consensus building, the TPI program was comprised of two main components, dialogue with key stakeholders, youth and woman as well as a media program. The survey highlighted some positive findings, while recognizing further development needed in the communities. General community violence has decreased. The survey respondents are, regardless, not aware or responsive to the peace agreement that ended a decade of civil war. Woman and youth participation and acceptance in their society is still struggling, with areas of improvement in some community meetings and representation. The impact and response to the media programs has been the greatest, providing for a high level of trust in media professionals competence to disseminate awareness of issues. Quantitative data analysis has provided for an in-depth view on numerous issues and populations within Nepal.

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2012 Hamro Team: Final Evaluation

The purpose of this study was to explore viewership of Hamro Team TV series, audience responses and internalization of messages, as well as to explore the attitudes of audiences on relevant topics. More specifically, to determine what motivates viewers, as citizens, to engage in the democratization process; emphasize the relationships among different ethnic and political groups; and to be aware of the role they play in governance. It examines if and how viewing the program has changed the audiences' motivations, and investigates the program's impact on viewers' attitudes towards tolerance, communication, and participation in political processes. This study does not include results from the two radio programs, nor from outreach and community peacebuilding programs that were also funded by GTF and formed part of the overall 'Team' project. Those have been evaluated in different evaluations and results are available on request.

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2011 Pathways to Peace Program: Final Evaluation

The Pathways to Peace program (P2P) was implemented by Search for Common Ground in partnership with Youth Initiative, Association of Youth Organizations in Nepal, Youth Action, and Y! Magazine. The program sought to structurally transform the way that youth participate in the civic and political arena so that they can make a substantial positive contribution to the overall peace and democratic processes in Nepal. P2P foresaw its strategic results as: a more politically aware youth; youth inclusion in dialogues on key civic and political issues and youth participation in democratization process from the grassroots to the national level.

For the purpose of the evaluation, P2P activities were grouped into four activity streams:

• Civic Leadership School (CLS) provided leadership training for participants from civil society, the private sector, political student unions and youth organizations, aimed at strengthening their leadership and non-adversarial advocacy skills.

• College Seminar/Civic Education organized quarterly seminars on university campuses with the help of campus-based student organizations, on subjects such as democratic institutions, rule of law, constitution development and political affairs.

• Policy Development and Advocacy activities mobilized youth organizations and existing networks; P2P sought to make the youth's voices heard at the central government level and among established civil society.

• Youth Media projects included a quarterly magazine and a radio drama.

These were assessed on the basis of effectiveness, contextual relevance, coherence & coordination, and sustainability. The evaluation review employed mixed methods, but was primarily qualitative. Data collection was done through interviews, electronic surveys administered by SFCG, a partner workshop including a PRA exercise, and limited document review. Two urban areas outside of Kathmandu were selected for the qualitative data collection. The program theory of change was assessed through pathway analysis.

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2011 Evaluation Report: Capacity in Youth and Peacebuilding

This is an evaluation of the year long peacebuilding project titled "Capacity in Youth and Peacebuilding in Nepal," implemented by Search for Common Ground with financial support from UNICEF. The program was implemented from April 2009 - April 2010 with the overarching purpose of the project was to build the capacity of youth leaders and organizations to participate in the peace process at the local level. More specifically, the intended result of the project was increased capacity of civil society organizations in eight districts to enable access of children and youth to their peacebuilding activities. To accomplish this, a variety of activities were undertaken including the development of materials on youth and peacebuilding, the implementation of a comprehensive training program on youth and peacebuilding, and the organization of regional and national youth gatherings. The purpose of the evaluation was to measure the results of these activities with emphasis given to changes in knowledges, attitudes, and behaviors of the target groups. To measure these results, primary information was gathered from focus group discussions, interviews with key informants, survey data, and evaluator observations.

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2010 Programmatic Evaluation of Search for Common Ground in Nepal

This 2010 internal and external evaluation sought to assess Search for Common Ground's programming in Nepal. SFCG has a multi-pronged program to support the peace process, combining media with community peacebuilding work. SFCG has 47 staff with a presence in 16 districts across the country and works with children and youth, media, and civil society. Projects include the production of two nationally and 17 locally broadcast radio programs and community-based activities with youth, children and other key actors in the peace process. The five OECD DAC Criteria for Evaluating Development Assistance were used to guide this evaluation: relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability and impact. In particular, relevance and outcomes/impact were emphasized over the others. The evaluators, gathered information on the basis of literature review of SFCG documents, field observation, existing monitoring database, focused group discussions (FGD), key informant interviews (KII) and case studies. Ultiamtely, the programmatic evaluation found that SFCG programs increase local ownership, marginalized group participation, and youth involvement in the peace and transition processes.

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2010 After Action Review: Pathway To Peace Program Nepal

P2P is a multi-pronged program aimed at actively involving Nepalese youth in the peace and democratization process. P2P seeks to bring youth into the mainstream of civic engagement with special emphasis on fostering cooperation among youth from different backgrounds and with varying political affiliations. The short-term goal of P2P is to reduce the manipulation of youth to violence and prevent them from playing a spoiler role in the peace and democratization process. The long-term goal of this project is “to structurally transform the way that youth participate in the civic and political arena so that they make a substantial and positive contribution to the overall peace and democratization processes in Nepal.”

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2009 Internal Project Evaluation Report: Enhancing Youth Participation and Decision Making

With support from the National Endowment for Democracy, Search for Common Ground implemented the project Enhancing Youth Participation in Decision Making which lasted from April 2008 to March 2009. The project carried out mapping of youth clubs, a youth leadership workshop, a training of trainers workshop, the development of a manual for the youth leadership workshop, and micro-level community peacebuilding projects. The purpose of the evaluation was to draw qualitative lessons for the future and inform leadership and staff how to move forward in SFCG's program in eastern Terai. Evaluation data was gathered through interviews with program staff, document reviews, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews with civil society people. The evaluation highlighted that the project was particularly successful at enhancing the level of knowledge of youth in youth clubs and mobilizing these youth to peacebuilding.

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2009 External Evaluation Radio For Peacebuilding

In January 2009, Search for Common Ground (SFCG) concluded the implementation of a project entitled Radio for Peacebuilding Nepal (R4PB Nepal). The project lasted 12 months and included two main activity components: training and coaching for radio producers, and the production and broadcast of regional and local radio talk shows. The primary purpose of this evaluation was to examine the results (including output and outcomes) of the project. The evaluation is meant to inform the funding agency and staff working on the action about what has been achieved through the project; the strengths and weaknesses of the methodologies used; and how to move the work forward.

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2009 External Evaluation Peace Process Communication Campaign

The Peace Process Communication Campaign (PPCC) is SFCG's c was launched with the major long term objectives of raising awareness, promoting the potential role of people in the peace process, ensuring the people's support of the peace process, and holding political leaders accountable in respect of the peace process. In contributing towards achieving these long term objectives, in the short term the project aimed at mobilizing media organizations and producing media pieces. In achieving these short term objectives the campaign carried out various activities including the production and broadcast of PSAs, the creation of peace songs, and the formation of working groups of journalists, media operators and civil society representatives. The evaluation was orientated towards establishing to what extent PPCC was able to fulfill its intended short-term and long-term objectives.

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2009 External Evaluation Children's Voices Project

The Children's Voices, a UNICEF co-funded project, was established at the first national-level DDR working group, the Children Associated with Armed Forces and Armed Groups (CAAFAG) Working Group. The project aimed to provide a platform for children and youth's voices in the transition to peace so as to prevent the further manipulation of youth to violence. The key project components are: a) the production of a radio program by children, Sunau Bolau, b) intergenerational folk media (Dohori) and the engagement of children and youth clubs in community peacebuilding, and c) communication campaigns such as posters, leaflets, public service announcements on radio, 45-minute drama cassettes and hoarding boards on return and reintegration of former CAAFAG. The main goal  of the evaluation was to analyze how the two-year emergency response to the return and reintegration project has impacted the community, and what the lessons learned were, both in terms of program objectives and implementation approaches.

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2008 Radio for Peace Building Project Evaluation

This external evaluation was carried out with the purposes of assessing the Radio for Peace Building (R4PB) project. R4PB, which began in May 2007 and is support by the U.S. Institute for Peace, has three major components: adaptation of two guidebooks on radio talkshow production and a youth guide aimed at peacebuilding into Nepali, training and coaching provided to 25 FM station producers and presenters to host radio talkshows on peacebuilding, and production of shows using the common ground approach. The evaluation was carried out over approximately three weeks in May and June 2008 with the purpose of determining the usability and adaptability of the guidebooks, the outcome of the training programs, and to evaluate the content of the shows. Evaluation data was collected through key informant interviews, focus group discussions, interviews with trainees, and content analysis of the shows. Ultimately, the evaluation highlighted that the project successfully sensitized radio producers of their role in the peacebuilding process, and innovatively created reference material dealing with peacebuilding for radio talkshow hosts in Nepal.

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2008 External Evaluation Youth in Peacebuilding and Community Decision Making

Using media and community-based activities, SFCG aims to foster the participation of key sectors of the population in Nepal in the peacebuilding process, with a particular focus on youth. In this context, SFCG conducted two-year programmatic evaluation to assess the outcomes, successes and shortcomings of their youth in peace building and community decision making project activities.

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2008 External Evaluation Children Associated with Armed Forces and Armed Groups Program

Search for Common Ground (SFCG) has completed one and a half year project, entitled "Children Associated with Armed Forces and Armed Groups Program" with support of UNICEF. Under this project, radio program produced by children 'Sunau Bolau', media sensitization, community peacebuilding and outreach related activities were carried out. One of the major activities, Sunau Bolau radio program was broadcasted from 52 local FM radio stations through out the nation as well as through local radio productions in Jhapa and Surkhet districts, focusing specifically on rural communities. The evaluation aimed at analyzing the extent to which the radio programs have brought changes in people in terms of their sensitiveness towards the issues of child rights, assessing the outcomes of dissemination and utilization of broadcasting materials, and assessing the perception of the listeners of Sunau Bolau, especially in terms of branding.

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