Realizing the rights of children in Nepal through Child Sensitive Social Protection (PAHUNCH)

Background

“Realizing the rights of children in Nepal through Child Sensitive Social Protection (PAHUNCH)” is a five years project being implemented in the Kavre and Mahottari districts of Nepal. To improve the access of the marginalized and vulnerable groups into social protection schemes, this project brings positive changes to society. Many schemes come under social protection for different categories and various disadvantageous groups. The overall budget of the project is for NRP. 110,95,781 (In word Eleven Million Ninety-Five Thousand Seven Hundred and Eighty-One) and the overall duration of the project starts from January 2016 to January 2021.

PAHUNCH is a project being implemented in Kavre and Mahottari districts to improve the access of the marginalized and vulnerable groups into social protection schemes. There are many schemes of social protection for different categories and various disadvantageous groups. The gap in accessing to the social protection schemes left the vulnerable people mainly the children’s wellbeing behind. Based on the learning from the first phase, Save the Children International designed this project to improve access of the families and children to the social protection schemes and contribute to improving the overall wellbeing of the children in the project areas. In this context, Save the Children International is working with district partners to implement the project. Similarly, CWISH is included in the implementation team as a resource organization to capacitate and enable the implementing staff in various child rights and child protection issues. Furthermore, the partnership also aims to develop the capacity of the service providers such as health posts, municipalities, and rural municipality, child protection committees, school teachers as well as child clubs in the issues of child rights.

Established on 16 February 2012, Social Protection Civil Society Network (SPCSN) has been active in raising the voice of right holders, promoting interfaces among right holders, experts, and duty bearers, making duty bearers more accountable on various social protection issues. SPCSN is a liberal forum comprising 16 non-government organizations (NGOs), which are actively engaging themselves in the sector of human rights and social protection, and 2 INGOs with supportive as well as advisory roles. Member organizations represent and are dedicated to working with the most vulnerable groups in Nepal such as children, the elderly, people with disabilities, traffic survivors, people with HIV/AIDS, single women, landless people, and so on. At present, its secretariat is run by Children-Women in Social Service and Human Rights (CWISH) at Budhhanagar, Kathmandu where CWISH is responsible for overall administrative and managerial works of the project.

Objectives

• Capacitate partner organizations, child protection committees, school teachers in child protection, child rights, rights-based approach
• Capacity building of CPCs, Rural municipalities, and Municipalities in Child Rights, and Child protection
• Capacity building of, Rural municipalities and Municipalities in making child-focused planning
• Policy advocacy on child-sensitive social protection by implementing an advocacy plan formulated by SPCSN

Activities

1. Capacity building of CPCs on their roles and responsibilities – Kavre, Dolkha
2. Capacity building of school teachers on psychosocial and emotional wellbeing
3. Capacity building of CPCs on CPVM and child tracking and to establish a paper-based management information system – Kavre and Dolakha
4. Handholding support in child rights violation cases
5. Capacity building of Palikas on CFLG
6. Support SPCSN for a regular meeting to implement an advocacy plan