General

Chepangs and Tamangs live in the hills and mountains of central Nepal facing many types of hazard that affect both lives and livelihood.They are regarded as the most marginalized and resource poor groups in Nepal.Their tiny land holdings provide no more th an 3 to 6 months of food security.The forest and overall landscape is degrading because of the human pressure in forest land.The already formed Community Forest User Groups are not functioning well because of their limited capacity.Due to lack of knowledge of efficient and sustainable agricultural practices and land-tenure rights the communities practicing the traditional slash and burn cultivation have reduced the cultivation cycle from 3-5 years to one year.This had led to serious soil erosion problems th at cause regular landslides that destroy agricultural fields and threaten the lives of people and animals.The main objective of this project is to uplift the livelihoods and food security of the Chepang and Tamang communities through agro-forestry developm ent and improved community-based natural resource management.This is achieved by developing sound biodiversity management and sustainable livelihood activities in order to maintain rebuild and revitalize socio-ecological production landscape.Capacity build ing of CFUGs will be done to strenghten their operational capacity and women's self-help groups will be formed to promote women's empowerment and livelihood.The project will build capacities of local civil society organizations and duty-brearers and promot e positive interaction between local government and Chepang and Tamang communities.The project implemented by NAFAN and supported by the Swallows supports Finland's development objectives by increasing food security and promoting sustainable use of natural resources local democracy and participation of women in decision making. The project will strengthen local organization's capacity in community capacity building and establishing linkages between communities and local government. The project is expected t o benefit directly around 2200 right-holders and 100 duty-bearers. In addition to this approx. 3000 people are expected to benefit indirectly.

General

The on-going debate on governance and benefit sharing in the forest sector and the push for the recognition of participatory forest management options represents potential for communities to receive benefits from forest conservation effort. Equitable benef it sharing in PFM is considered one of the most important issues for community cohesion conflicts solving/managing and in enhancing community voice and good governance.Well managed benefit sharing models provide positive incentives to support forest conser vation-plus presents enormous potential benefits for forest communities. It also presents unprecedented potentials for raising incomes securing land rights and social development. On the other hand as a consequence of the increasing pressures on and value of forest lands connected with the creation and commercialization of products and services they are expected to generate also potential social and environmental cost with related unprecedented risks of conflict between stakeholder groups and interests if b enefits and costs sharing as well as governance issues are not properly and well addressed from the very beginning. This project aims to establish pilot projects on benefit sharing accompanied by the necessary governance issues in 3 forest blocks in Mount Kenya region. The project will establish a learning platform in a number of areas including analysing benefit/cost sharing aspect and governance issues. Key questions to be answered include 1) Who will benefit from PFM 2) Mode of payment 3) What are the ex pected costs and possible risks from PFM 4). What are the core aspects to be considered in formulating proper benefit sharing mechanism and adopting good governance principles.The overall goal of the proposed project: ?To enhance governance and institution al capacity of community forest associations (CFA) in managing the affairs of the forest including equitable benefit sharing.

General

There is a urgent need for provision of water and sanitation services as basic human right and enforcement of relevant regulations that affecting the improvement peri-urban settlements in Zambia which requires to be improved for both the livelihood and the environment. The Overall Objective of the Project is to Upscale the Implementation + Operationalise through Public Private Partnership the lessons learnt from Zambia Sustainable Sanitation Improvement Project (SSIP) a 6 years Longitudinal Action Oriented Research Recommendations implemented by NECOS + Its International Partner GDTF. The project will promote equal access to clean water better sanitation and safe environment for the targeted communities. For some time NECOS has been pioneering alternative me thods of providing sanitation services in peri-urban areas taking into account the need to protect contamination of underground water and the environment in general. The project promotes the assertion that equality between women and men is fundamental to t ackling poverty and promoting meaningful and lasting improvements in the quality of community life. The construction dry toilets will significantly expected to contribute to improved peri-urban areas if intervention actions are taken. NECOS strives to rais e the standard of living and improved community healthy to reduce the environment health risks and costs of public health importance. The project planned to construct 150 dry toilets + build on the achievements of the six (6 years) longitudinal action orie nted research on the social-cultural sanitation financing mechanisms and the upgrading of the peri urban living environment. The main beneficiaries of the proposed project are the vulnerable people in the four 4 Constituencies and 8 Wards with population e stimated at 18000 of the peri- urban residents including the councilors and area members of parliament. Project key activities include the construction of 150 Dry ToiletsFacilitating Policy Dialogue Workshops SMEs training + capacity building School WASHE + Community Hygiene PromotionStakeholder meetings Monitoring +EvaluationReport writings Policy Brief IECs Materials + Ecosan user manual developmentImproved Tenure security promotionUrban Small Scale farming promotionSanitation MarketingPromotion of Sanita tion Loan and Social Schemes introductionFacilitating student internships finalisingEcosan Curriculum Creating and Compilation of