SERVICES: National Platforms

Nepal

Context: Immediately after the 2015 earthquake, the Community Engagement Working Group (CEWG) was formed, led by UNICEF, building on a Communications Working Group led by the Nepal Risk Reduction Consortium. It is an inclusive cross-sectoral coordination and technical support service involving UN, international and local NGOs, private sector media and telecommunications companies, national and local government bodies. It is called together as-needed. The group is one of four technical working groups supporting enhanced coordination the HCT’s Emergency Response Preparedness (ERP) Plan for Nepal.

Under this, a common service platform collects, aggregates, disseminates and advocates for community feedback collected from affected areas, called the Inter-Agency Common Feedback Project (CFP). It is hosted by the RCO and works on behalf of all stakeholders interested in engaging, including I/NGOs, UN agencies, government, media, donors, etc. The CFP has been extended through the reconstruction phase. Pre-earthquake, the Communications Working Group, operating in a preparedness context, had collected agreed generic life-saving and life-enhancing messages from each cluster which could be broadcast by media stakeholders immediately after the quake. The CFP has since been mainstreaming feedback from affected populations through effective engagement, data gathering, analysis and advocacy.

Government links: CFP worked closely with Nepal Reconstruction Authority (NRA) under Ministry of Home Affairs. Community feedback was a part of NRA’s communication workplan.

Leads/Chairs/Co-Chairs: The Working Group is chaired by UNICEF with coordination support from the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office (RCO) and remote technical support from OCHA’s Regional Office. Contact: Sanju Bhattarai: sbhattarai@unicef.org

National and international actors involved: Placement of the project within the UNRCO allows it access and advocacy at higher levels of leadership, including with the HCT, coordination mechanisms and reconstruction coordination fora.

Donors: DFID

Opportunities and challenges: The absence of government authorities in district level offices proved challenging when district liaison assistance was required to dispense district level survey results and findings.

A change to a federal structure and delays in government endorsement of new population and household level data made sampling difficult, and so CFP’s first survey round was delayed until second quarter 2018.

Frequent changes of the CEO of the Nepal Reconstruction Authority (NRA) was challenging. With the appointment of a new CEO in the NRA, advocacy of the objectives of the CFP and the findings of the community perception reports had to re-start.

Inter-Agency Common Feedback Project Nepal Earthquake 2015

Nepal Earthquake CwC Updates: April/May 2015