Investor Trip to Nepal – March/April 2008

View a 10-minute video about SFCG's work in Nepal

Read a letter written by a Nepali youth about SFCG's radio programs.

   

Programmes Home > Nepal

Community Outreach Program for Children Associated with Armed Forces and Armed Groups (CAAFAG)

SFCG has begun implementing programs aimed at supporting the return and reintegration of children associated with armed forces and armed groups As part of a UNICEF-led working group on this issue, SFCG has been contributing towards reintegration and communications. It has produced public service announcements (PSAs) to encourage children to 'come back home,' recorded a drama called Aba Ghar Farkaum (Lets Go Home), printed a flipbook to facilitate dialogue among community members about how to provide a conducive environment for children to be happily reintegrated, has organized an 'intergenerational dohori on safe return, reintegration and reunification' in all its 11 districts, and has trained youth networks in various districts to create community-based efforts to support the return and reintegration of children associated with armed forces.

Folk Media Festivals – Dohiri for Inter-generational dialogue




Dohiri is a Nepali folk music form which is essentially a dialogue between groups. Often used as to depict the courting process between men and women, one group sings an improvised verse and a second group responds. The dialogue usually culminates in some sort of conclusion. SFCG and its partners used the dohiri as a dialogue tool for community groups. 

One of the most important factors in supporting former child soldiers to rebuild their lives is the reestablishment of relationships with their parents and with elders in their communities. In order to strengthen these, SFCG initiated a series of inter-generational dialogues, using traditional folk media known as dohiri, which uses duets as a dialogue tool. In eleven districts, including those most affected by armed conflict, SFCG brought together folk singers, local child protection NGOs, and youth organizations to create festivals using Dohiri.  In each district, the organizing group set specific attitude change objectives all aimed at encouraging communities and particularly parents to accept home those children who had been involved in the war. The festivals drew thousands of people from across each district in which they were organized and many were broadcast live on local radio stations. In one, the dohiri artists had planned the dialogue with care, organizing children onto one side and elders onto the other. Using the songs and a drama performed by young people, they told a story of a child who had been away fighting in the war and wasn’t sure of whether to come home. They went back and forth, discussing the challenges and fears that children felt. When the child and parents agreed that it was time to come back together, the crowd of thousands cheered, celebrating the symbol of a reunified family after war.

One example of the dialogue from the festival is:

Oh fellow youth open your eyes
Light candles to remove darkness

That black night has now gone
The responsibility to build the country has now come to us

Let's discuss amongst youth, adult and children
Let's take decisions being responsible and determined

We have to eliminate the caste discrimination
Have to understand that all humans are equal

We have to return child soldiers and labours
We also have to eliminate the bonded labour

If the youths move ahead in positive action
There will be beautiful society if discrimination ends

Nepal government responsible for its citizen
Everyone has their right in the constitution that will be made

Participants reported significant changes in their attitudes resulting from the festivals, that they were much more likely to listen to their own children’s views and accept former soldiers back into their communities.

Posters and Flip Books

In addition to radio programming, SFCG put out a series of comic-based communications materials aimed at delivering messages on the return and reintegration of children associated with armed forces and armed groups. Nationally recognized political cartoonist Abin Shrestha drew a poster that was distributed across the country by child protection organizations, some of whom used it to mobilize community sensitization workshops and to link children in need with resources to support them in their reintegration process. 

Additionally, SFCG produced a flip book of cartoons that are being used by child protection organizations to facilitate discussions with communities and children about positive reintegration processes. Click here to read the flip book.

 

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Search For Common Ground in Nepal
P.O. Box 24905
Kathmandu, Nepal
Tel: +977 (1) 4002010
Fax: +977 (1) 4437152
stripathee@sfcg.org