International Partnership
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‘The approach being used by Sahakarmi Samaj is both needed and very effective. Lives are being changed in a fundamental way and people are taking a measure of control over their own development.’
Mal Simmons, External Evaluator (2010)
SHEP's Learning Partnership with Sahakarmi Samaj
In September 2006, SHEP entered into a partnership with the Nepalese non-governmental organisation, Sahakarmi Samaj ('Interdependent Community'). Like SHEP, Sahakarmi specialises in the training and deployment in the community of skilled facilitators. It uses an approach called 'Faciliation for Empowerment and Social Transformation' of FEST (see below)
Located between Tibet to the north and India to the south, Nepal has recently emerged from ten years of intense civil conflict that has seen the death of thousands of people in fighting between Maoist insurgents and government forces. In this troubled context, Sahakarmi's facilitators work to build trust and solidarity among members of village communities and provide support to community groups as they learn how to manage their affairs through democratic deliberation and planned collective action. Over recent years, Sahakarmi's work in Banke District has led to the establishment of more than 146 community-based organisations which continue to address the needs of their respective communities. These groups are linked by a number of local and regional networking organisations which assist them in their dealings with government and other agencies and advocate necessary policy changes.
In May 2007, SHEP was awarded funding from the Department of Foreign Affairs to support Sahakarmi to extend its programme to two further districts - Kanchanpur (Nepal's most south-westerly district) and Bardiya (home of some of the world's last remaining Bengal tigers). In delivering support to Sahakarmi, SHEP works in close partnership with the Dutch development organisation, ICCO-Kerkinactie, which is a co-funder of the programme.
This programme has been a tremendous success and a genuine learning partnership. During 2010, an independent evaluation of programme was conducted by Mal Simmons (see below). Also in 2010, a monitoring team from Irish Aid visited the project. The Irish Aid team was impressed with the in-depth community development appraoch used and by the contribution made by Sahakarmi Samaj to addressing complex social, economic and health issues in Bardiya and Kanchanpr DIstricts.
In 2010, SHEP successfully applied to Irish Aid and to ICCO-Kerkinactie, for funding to support phase two of the six year programme (November 2010-October 2013)
Learnings fron SHEPs Exchange Visits
Irish Aid Monitoring Report (2010)
SHEP-Sahakaami Samaj Evaluation Report (2010)
Nepal Human Development Report
Other International Partnerships
Over the coming years, SHEP intends to strengthen its international partnership programme. We welcome contact from organisations which share our commitment to building capacity for constructive personal and social change.
