Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Ambassador through Youth Facilitative Leadership

ICA Nepal in coordination with Kalpa Academy launched Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Ambassador, through Youth Facilitative Leadership Programme. The program intended to engage youths in activities through imparting knowledge about Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and building skills on project design and implementation. 

Kalpa Academy “Center for Governance and Sustainable Development” has been working in Nepal since 2019 with the main motto of contributing positively to the broad objectives of sustainable development in Nepal and strengthening Nepal's human resources with life-related skills and knowledge whereas ICA Nepal has been facilitating different capacity-building sessions aiming at the holistic development of the nation since 1998. The program related to the Youths has always become one of the core projects of ICA Nepal. We collectively believe that the Youths are the future of the nation and they must be nurtured with awareness and knowledge for the sustainable development of the nation. Over the strong words of David Nabarro “When it comes to sustainable development every county is a developing country” we hoped to implement this very program aiming at Youths. The launching event was held on 21 October 2021 in the presence of hundreds of youths along with University Professors and development workers. Professor Robertson Work, the chief guest of the event, emphasized the contribution that these innovative programs will bring to the development of youth and the accomplishment of UN initiatives. We will be working with young people directly through training and mentorship. The first batch of the training will start at the end of November to facilitate the youth on SDGs. The purpose of this training is to provide young people with the opportunity to participate in these programs and integrate the SDGs into their daily activities.

The Youths are the future of the nation as well as the key driver for the successful implementation and development. Kalpa Academy and ICA Nepal coordinately strive to engage and educate more youths through SDG education. We believe that every Youth is important, they are agents and leaders of the developed nation. The program is an initiative meant for enabling Nepali youths and contributing to SDG. It is a scheme for learning through engagement. The session highly focuses on Leadership and Capacity Development, Gender Equality and Social Inclusion, Quality education, Disaster Risk Management, and Good Governance.

During the launching event, we successfully conducted a brief survey regarding general information about the SDGs. The experts reflected on the serious topics related to the SDG, and Millennium Development Goals along with the brief introduction of Malala Yousafzai. The survey aimed to enlighten youths about their opportunity with more interaction. The Manager of Kalpa Academy Er. Ravi Khanal enlightened the participants on previous SDGs from 2000 to 2015 and the upcoming fifteen years plan from 2015 to 2030. 

The program provides a basic introduction of Module/Case Studies, Workshop/Training/Seminar, along with Field Visit and Presentation. The program carries a 3-month learning period of 2:30 hours per week, including report preparation and presentation. The session extends up to four months with 3 different batches each i.e Nov-Jan (Batch 1), Mar-May (Batch 2), July-Sep (Batch 3), with Certificates. The training will be facilitated with an individual coaching session, personal profiling, skill development training, communication skills, project proposal writing, and many more facilities. What one person perceives as a pain point, another individual may not see it in the same light or see it as an issue that needs to be addressed. This training will bring together students, experts, and practitioners of Governance and SDGs in real-time situations. Excursions in different fields/organizations will also add awareness among the attendees. The experts from Governance institutions/Organizations will provide an insight into their respective fields of work where the Youths will get a chance to directly learn from the specialists and exchange their ideas. At the end of the training, the ambassadors will make participants skilled to interact with officials concerned and work out a program independently on the relevant themes. The attendees will get support for learning, coaching, evaluating, collaborating, and implanting.

After the completion of the training, we have envisioned letting youths know more about their responsibility towards the nation along with professional and personal development through more secured career goals. The enhanced capacity for action-orientation, efficiency in partnership, and handling resources, and visible reliable act of sustainability can be observed among the attendees. The program helps Youths to think outside the box and develop decision-making capacity without being bound by preconceived ideas. Youths who want to contribute positively to society but don’t know where to begin, then this program is for them as one cannot bring change on its own they must be guided. Youths must learn to build a network and work in a team with the groups pursuing the same goal. The session also increases the capacity of the Youths in CV/Resume making, imparting knowledge, exposure of opportunities, social inclusion, and quality life through SDGs. The session will be chaired by experts nationwide and around the globe. The launch event was very fruitful and the attendees also showed their interest in getting involved in this session promptly.

Prepared by: Swikriti Parajuli

I’m a student and I believe in learning and sharing. Besides community development, I’m passionate about arts, music, and sports. 

ICA Nepal is an experienced team dedicated to working in the field of human capacity building, and community development through advanced methods. It pursues to recognize people’s initiation, creativity, and enthusiasm in bringing sustainable development by considering existing cultural dynamics and pluralities. It is committed to creating an environment, in which the opportunity to participate and the construction of sustainable change and development is foremost.

Spark Project on Promotion of Child Education

Children's education has been playing a major role in today’s society. A person without education and qualification is worthless and seems like a handicapped person. One must be mentally and physically prepared to learn and adapt to new things in society. Education shows us the importance of hard work and, at the same time, helps us grow and develop. Although there had have made policies and rights regarding child education, children are still facing problems in getting one. Despite the children and societal needs, children who are way too far from their dreams are forced to end one. Education builds team spirit and discipline in children, which will help them and the country in the future growth and development.  Education acquired during childhood teaches and molds a child in their communication and assists them to work as a team.

CHILD EDUCATION has always had a very huge impact on me, it is the SPARK I hold. During early September, I got a chance to conduct a program for children aiming at quality education awareness. First, my team members and I went to a nearby temple known as Mahadevsthan to get ourselves exposed to the beautiful nature by collecting all the local derived children. The children were very desperate and inclined to get involved in these activities that they loved.

The primary goal of the project was to distribute necessary materials to deprived children and to encourage them to read, breaking poverty. We were focused on raising awareness and spreading the importance of child education. The present children were also supposed to bring out their creativity through a drawing competition which was held on that particular day. Throughout the project, they additionally got a chance to engage themselves in mini-football competitions and clean up the temple area.

Considering the pandemic we also took all the safety measures along with gloves, masks, and sanitizers. The children were actively participating and they made the project even more fun. Firstly, we held a drawing competition, everyone was very thrilled to participate. The drawing competition brought out all the creativeness inside them. Further, we announced our winners and awarded each of them with storybooks to keep them motivated and never stop doing things they loved. My team members and I then successfully distributed reading materials such as copies, pens, sign-pen color, etc, and some reusable bags to the kids, promoting education. They were all very contented to receive the gifts where some of them also had tears filled in their eyes with joy. Next, we all took a little break and offered the children snacks, juice, and chocolates. Then, we held a mini football competition to add more fun and relaxing day to children. After the loving and fun day, we took all the children back home and had a long-lasting memorable day for life.

Overall the project was a huge success. Everyone learned various new things and got to know a lot of things from one’s perspective. After the completion of the project, my team members and I were deeply enlightened by the importance of education and how only one project can bring smiles and hope to their little eyes. We also hope to conduct these projects more in the near future because at the end of the day it is also our responsibility to lead a positive project to bring change and form a strong nation through the literate population. The project has deeply influenced me and had a more clear vision of my spark. The active participation from both my team members and children made the whole project more fun and astonishing.

This September has been very fruitful and informative for me. I was lucky enough to get to attend the Certificate Course on Social Artistry brought by ICA Nepal. The session included some incredible personalities involved in Social Artistry for more than a decade from across the globe. Some of the facilitators were Janet Sanders, supported by Evelyn Kurihara Philbrook, and the Social Artistry team of Nepal. Everyone has a little Spark within them, and throughout the session, we got the opportunity to explore those Spark. I am very considerate about the CHID EDUCATION, and I wish every child to be able to reach literacy, breaking poverty. Even though I want to do a lot of things aiming at child education, so far I haven't been able to make it. During the project, all the attendees were asked to conduct Spark Project in whatever thing they wish for leaving a positive message in society. All the financial support was also provided by the ICA Nepal to aspire them to start up. I will be forever grateful to the whole ICA team and the facilitators for the opportunity.

Prepared by: Swikriti Parajuli

I’m a student and I believe in learning and sharing. Besides community development, I’m passionate about arts, music, and sports.

Menstrual Taboos during Festivals in Nepal

Menstruation is a naturally occurring physiological phenomenon in women. It is religiously considered “impure,” deeming women “untouchable”. 

There are more than 50 festivals celebrated in Nepal every year. While the national festivals have fixed dates, religious festivals are set by astrologers following the lunar calendar. There are more than 50 festivals celebrated in Nepal every year. We are now at the mouth of our biggest festival, Dashain. Dashain is the biggest and most important Hindu festival in Nepal. The festival commemorates the victory of good over evil and the nine forms of Goddess Durga. It is also known as Bijaya/Vijaya Dashami or Bada Dashain.  

Festivals bring great joy and togetherness to our loved ones. All family members get together and have fun together. The women of the house are busy with a series of chores that they must complete along with cleanliness in their homes. Women often struggle during the festive season by counting their menstrual days. There is a strong belief that women shouldn’t put tika or else it is a sin. Women are considered impure and dirty throughout their menstrual period. They are even considered untouchable and are prohibited to enter the kitchen, temple, going to the puja kotha, or participating in religious functions while on their period, not to touch any plants/ crops or they are dead and even put tika.

While growing up, most Nepali women didn’t enter places of worship during her period and the new generation are also learning the same. In many cultures, menstruating women are not allowed to bathe or wash their hair during the first three days of their period. Menstruating girls and women are excluded from fasting and praying during the festive season. Around 40 to 60% of adolescent girls dry their reusable napkins/cloths under direct sunlight outside the house, but others are still reluctant to dry them in the sun because, in Hindu society, there is a strong belief that the sun is a god, and it should not be shown to a god or else it is a sin. Likewise, they dry their reusable sanitary pads in dark places because if seen by others, boys and men might tease the girls which also leads to infection. Especially the Brahmin family practices strict menstrual rituals. But slowly but surely something seems to be changing. Women have begun to question these practices. 

It’s not just Hindus who have menstrual rituals and taboos, some old tribal religions practice it as well. Apart from the indigenous communities of Nepal and the Sikhs, most cultures follow some form of menstrual customs. There are two adherents of thought behind the age-old practices of menstrual taboos. First, the restrictions on women during menstruation supposedly ensured they got adequate rest, time to nourish their bodies, and paid attention to their hygiene. It was meant for a woman’s overall well-being. But this doesn’t make much sense. On one hand, it's saying to make sure she’s in good health while on the other hand, the practice put her under several dietary restrictions and make her stay in a dark place. The second, more plausible reason is that menstruation indicated a woman’s reproductive status to her family and the community. This proved helpful in monitoring women’s sexual activities and thus prevented pre-marital sex and adultery. Hence, from a sociological and anthropological viewpoint, the taboos were largely meant to contain, suppress, and dominate women. Most of the women couldn’t bring themselves to completely disregard the stereotypes as they didn’t want to go against their family’s faith and tradition, feared hurting their mother’s feelings, and, for others, habits were difficult to break. There are many restrictions on menstruating women. Although we have made so much advancement, still menstruation is considered a state of impurity and curse of God rather than a natural process.

Women during festivals keep their menstrual cycle updated in their calendar and are compelled to use medicine to prevent or delay their menstruation. Once they get their menstruation during the festive season they are taken out from all the functions and are forced to miss everything. Discriminations against menstruating women are still widespread in Nepal where mensuration is considered taboo. In Nepal, several women face numerous restrictions imposed by their families. 

This year also, many women and girls may be refrained from putting ‘Tika’ during Dashain and Tihar. Families should acknowledge that menstruation is a natural process and a private matter. It is not a curse or a state of impurity.

Prepared by: Swikriti Parajuli

I’m a student and I believe in learning and sharing. Besides community development, I’m passionate about arts, music, and sports. Being a girl myself, and on the same shoe as other women, I have always looked forward to addressing such menstrual taboos and aware  people.