2.  AN OVERVIEW OF SCDP
  

2.1 OBJECTIVES OF SCDP AS A MODEL FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

The SCDP aims to promote sustainable development at the grassroots level through capacity building exercises and empowerment of the local population. SCDP integrates environmental management, social development, and economic development to facilitate sustainable community development.

The immediate objective of the Programme is to enhance the capacity of a wide range of organisations, at the community, regional and national levels to support and promote sustainable community development programmes in Nepal.

At the community level, objectives of the Programme include:

• To enable communities to mobilise human and financial capital, from sources within their own community and from external sources
• To enable communities to identify problems in their communities, formulate and implement plans to solve those problems, and manage their resources

At the district and national levels, objectives include:

• To assist communities to develop linkages and partnerships with government agencies, NGOs and private sector agencies for formulation of sustainable development policies

The fundamental principles of the SCDP approach to development are: (1) Participation of all stakeholders from national to local levels; (2) Integration of environmentally sustainable socio-economic development into development plans and activities; and, (3) Information sharing to ease adaptation/ replication of the experiences of the Programme both within the country and abroad. SCDP incorporates these principles into its approach to sustainable community development, and they are reflected in the integrated and participatory nature of the village level activities.

Figure 1 shows SCDP's integrated approach to sustainable community development. SCDP has identified environmental management, social development and economic development as three entry points for starting sustainable community development activities. To work towards sustainable community development, communities must participate in activities pertaining to each of the three entry points, while abiding by the fundamental principles (integration, participation and information sharing) described above.

SCDP recognises three fundamental components of sustainable development: (1) building and strengthening local institutions at the grassroots level for natural resources management, (2) mobilising human, technical and financial resources, both internal and external to implement Programme activities, and (3) increasing the capacities of local communities and other stakeholders to effectively, efficiently and equitably manage their conservation and development efforts.

SCDP was first introduced in Surkhet and Kailah districts in 1997. In 1998 the Programme was also implemented in Dang district. The success of that 3-year pilot phase has secured further support for the programme, and in 2000, the Programme will expand and cover 3 additional districts- Humla, MOkhaldhunghayagdi and Okhaldhungha (see figure 2).

As SCDP was an experimental Programme, a variety of different approaches were used to implement the Programme activities. This made it possible to compare the relative effectiveness of the different approaches. There were two primary ways in which the approach to Programme implementation differed among the three Programme districts. First, each of the districts initiated Programme activities from a different entry point (environmental management, social development or economic development), and then gradually started activities related to the other areas. Second, two types of agencies (government and nongovernmental) were used as Support Organisations (SOs) for the Programme. ,

The SCDP facilitates various different types of activities related to sustainable community development. All SCDP activities contribute to overall community development through at least one of environmental management, socioeconomic development and capacity building. A key component of the SCDP approach is the idea of self-help: the SCDP support activities that develop the capacity of Community members to draw upon their resources and help themselves.

The SCDP considers bringing the community together to work towards solutions to its problems an important step in this self-help process. As such, developing Communitybased Organisations (CBOs) is a Programme priority. CBOs analyse their development problems, and work together to develop solutions. In addition, with support from the SO staff, CBOs learn how to set up micro credit systems to encourage economic development in their community.

The SCDP encourages and facilitates CBO and NGO capacity building through workshops, exposure tours and various training activities. Many of these activities are funded through the Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF).

Although many SCDP activities have focussed on developing the capacities of the local level institutions to help themselves, the SCDP acknowledges that grass-roots initiatives require governmental support. For this purpose, the SCDP has worked closely with government agencies at all levels.

For the initial three year pilot project, UNDP gave SCDP a total of $198 000' (U.S.) to initiate and run the Programme in each of the three Programme districts. Only 15% of this money could be used to cover the NGO/SO's operational costs. The remaining 85% is the Sustainable Development Facility Fund (SDFF), which is further divided into the Seed Grant Fund (SGF), the Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF) and the SDF Credit Capital Fund (CCF) (see Figure 3.).

The majority of the SDFF is Out into the Credit Capital Fund (CCF). Money from this credit fund is loaned to individual CBC members for small enterprise economic development activities. The credit capital fund is a revolving fund, which helps ensure the financial sustainability of the Programme.

The Seed Grant Fund (SGF) is used for social development and environmental management activities that benefit all members of a CBO. For example, in Kailali, SGF provided funding to help one CBO purchase seedlings which were planted in a community plantation. In addition to reducing soil erosion, the community will be able to utilise -the timber and other products produced by the plantation in the years to come.

Support is also provided for capacity building workshops and skills development activities for CBO members. For example, funding for CBO member training sessions (i.e. smokeless stove construction, pit latrine construction, traditional birth attendant training and other sustainable development specialist training) and observation visits (to other VDCs, or to other development projects such as the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) was supplied by the HRDF. The HRDF also supported women's environmental literacy classes.

At the central level, the SCDP is guided by the National Planning Commission Secretariat (NPCS) which has a multisectoral and neutral institutional framework conducive to sustainable development. As both vertical and horizontal institutional partnerships are necessary to support execution and implementation of a Programme such as SCDP, a provision was made to develop a consultative committee that brings together all of the major central and local level stakeholders. This committee is called the Executive Committee (EC). The roles of the EC are:

• To strengthen partnerships among the major stakeholder institutions
• To mobilise and encourage central level support for successful implementation of the SCDP at the local level
• To guide the Programme management for overall implementation of the SCDP and support for formulation of macro level sustainable development policies

As a major objective of the EC meetings is to mobilise central support, the EC consists largely of central level institutions. The Executive Committee is led by the member of the NPC responsible for Forestry, Agriculture and Land Reforms. Members of the EC include:

• Representative of the Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation (MoFSC)
• Representative of the Ministry of Local Development (MLD)
• Representative of the Ministry of Population and the Environment (MoPE)
• Representative of the DDCs implementing the Programme
• Representative of the NGO Federation of Nepal
• Representative of the NGOs/SOs implementing the Programme
• The National Programme Director
• A UNDP representative

A technical assistance team supports the NPC and the Executive Committee. This team is involved with SCDP at all levels. It has a facilitative or supportive role, and does not control implementation or management of activities. The technical support team is responsible for:

• Providing documentation of the programme and its progress
• Disseminating information about the Programme
• Coordinating local and national stakeholders
• Monitoring the Programme activities at district and community levels
• Providing technical assistance and expertise as required
• Organising training, workshops, exposure tours and other capacity building activities

The technical support team consists of:

• A Programme Manager: responsible for overall coordination of Programme activities
• A National Coordinator (GEF/SGP)I: provides advice on natural resource management and biodiversity conservation
• Communication and Monitoring Specialist: advises on Programme monitoring, documentation and dissemination of information
• A Research and Training Specialist: provides expertise on action research, human resources development training, and organises training and workshops.

Eventually, SCDP plans to expand and develop the technical support office into a self sustaining sustainable development resource centre. This centre would be expected to serve a larger community of local authorities, NGOs, projects and partners, and would charge fees for its services.

At the district level, the SCDP management coordinates activities with the District Development Committees (DDCs). Support Organisations work under the guidance of the DDCs. As the local government body, the role of the DDC is to enhance' sustainable development at the local level. By working with, and supporting the DDC, the SCDP has been an instigator for the development of the following institutional conditions for sustainability:

• The DDCs consider the SCDP to be an important sustainable development programme of their own. Sustainable development has thus, become a function of the local government.
• Under the Local Governance Act, the DDCs have formed new legal bodies called District Management Committees' (DMCs/SDCs). DMCs/SDCs are the district level bodies responsible for policy-making, as well as coordinating and monitoring activities for sustainable development. By doing this, the DDCs have formally established the institutional framework for allocation of their own resources, and mobilisation of other resources for sustainable development. Furthermore, the DMC/SDC is strongly linked to the Support Organisation, which links district level policy support to local level implementation.

At the local level, SCDP activities are implemented by community-based organisations (CBOs). Support organisations (SOs) assist the (CBOs). in all respects. Local level organisations and the mechanisms for implementing Programme activities at the local level are discussed at length in throughout the remainder of this document.

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