Further training of the Dang So staff included a 3-day Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) workshop. Participants in this workshop included the VDC Chairperson & Vice Chairperson, the Secretaries of the Programme VDCs, the SO staff (including the CAs), and the local NGO representatives

The five phases of the SCDP Implementation Process are shown in Table 1. Once the preparatory activities described above were completed, and the SDF staff were trained and ready to initiate the Programme in the communities, the Programme moved into Phase One of the Implementation Process- institutional development at the local level.

A fundamental component of the SCDP Programme is the formation of Communitybased Organisations (CBOs). To encourage community participation in the SCDP through the development of CBOs, the support organisations held introductory meetings in each ward' . These meetings were arranged by the ward leader/community leader upon the request of the support organisation and the VDC Chairperson. During the meeting, the VDC chairperson introduced the SCDP SQ/SDF staff to the ward leaders, and the SCDP staff explained the SCDP approach to sustainable development. Ward leaders then arranged a time at which the SCDP SO staff (either the CO or the CA) could come to the ward to hold an introductory meeting about the SCDP Programme. The ward leaders made final arrangements for the introductory meeting, including notifying ward members of the meeting. The style of the meeting was in accordance with local customs, and the ward leader/community leader determined the location of the meeting.

Once arranged, the, introductory meeting was hosted by the SO. The DDC Chairperson, the VDC Chairperson, the Local Development Officer (LDO) and the District Forestry Officer also attended. Presentations were made on the general principles of the SCDP approach to sustainable development, and the importance of CBO formation. Then the rules and guidelines for Programme participation and CBO formation were explained. The Programme guidelines for CBO formation are provided in Box 3.

After the introductory meeting community members organised themselves into CBOs according to the guidelines provided in the previous section. The first tasks of each CBO were (1) to establish a time and meeting place for the CBO weekly meetings, (2) to select a Chairperson and a Manager and (3) to set a weekly contribution fee. Next, the CBO had to report to the SCDP SO staff, so that a SO staff member (CO or CA) could attend the first CBO meeting and ensure that the CBO met all of the criteria required for Programme participation. Several meetings between the community members and the SO staff member were usually required before the CBO met all of the requirements. As the CBOs are meant to be self-governing organisations, they should abide by the principles outlined in Box 4.

The number and type of CBO formed varied among the three districts, however, all three types of CBOs (all men, all women and mixed) were formed in each district. In every district all-female CBOs were substantially outnumbered by all-male and mixed CBOs.

The amount of time required to form and develop a fully functional 'Tindependent CBO depended on the members of the CBO In some circumstances, the CBO development process took less than 6 weeks, however, more frequently, it was found that CBO development was slow, requiring 3 months or more. Some activities which were found to encourage efficient and effective CBO formation are noted in Box 5.

3.2.2.1 Difficulties Encountered while Forming CBOs

The ease or difficulty in forming CBOs in any area ultimately depended on the community members. In some areas, CBO formation was quick and efficient, while in other areas the process was more lengthy and time consuming. The most commonly encountered difficulties are summarised below.

1. People from different ethnic groups, castes and geographical locations were not easily motivated to group together and form a single CBO
2. Some people found it difficult to attend weekly meetings.
3. In some areas it was not possible to select a CBO Manager because no members of the CB0 (and in some cases the settlement) were literate.
4. In some communities well-respected and/or influential members of the community did not support the concept of forming CBOs
5. In 2 districts project activities were started in the first week of August, and many farmers were busy planting their summer crops.
6. In some VDCs people have two residences in two different settlements (one in the hills and one in the valley). For these people it was not easy to determine whether to join the hill settlement CB0 or the valley settlement CB0.
7. In scattered settlements it was difficult to coordinate activities and bring people from the households together to have meetings.

Furthermore, it was not uncommon for villagers to be suspicious of the overall intentions of the SCDP Programme. In one case, some villagers had participated in a similar government-initiated savings programme that had been unsuccessful. In other areas community members worried that the new people (the SO/SDF staff) may collect their savings and leave. Furthermore, some people speculated as to the political affiliations of the SCDP Programme.

The SDF/SO staff played a fundamental role in helping the communities overcome these difficulties. They worked with individual community members and community leaders to convince them of the benefits of social mobilisation and self-help, and to motivate them to form CBOs The SDF staff explained that it was particularly important to identify'trouble-makers'-influential members of the community who were discouraging CB0 formation- and convince these individuals of the benefits of CB0 formation.

Once CBOs were formed, members continued having weekly meetings and contributing to their CBO Community Fund (CF). The money saved in the community fund is loaned out to members of the CBO who are most in need. These people are referred to as the poorest of the poor (POP). The money is to be used for income generating activities. POP who wish to borrow a small loan from the CF must first prepare a small enterprise plan, explaining what it is they intend to do with the borrowed money, and, how and when they intend to repay the loan. During the CBO weekly meetings the CBO members review the proposed enterprise plans of the CBO POP The CBO members then select which projects are most urgent, and distribute the CF money accordingly. The CBO members also agree on a loan payback scheme.

CF loans have been used for a variety of activities such as poultry farming, goat rearing, vegetable farming, and establishing small businesses. In some circumstances, CF money has also been loaned to CBO members to cover health expenses or other household emergency needs. As CBO members are able to borrow money from the CF, they are no longer dependent on moneylenders (who charge unreasonable amounts of interest on their loans).

If the amount of the loan requested by the CBO member is too large to be lent by the CBO the CBO can submit the proposal to the Sustainable Development Facility (See section 3.3.3)

During this phase, CBOs concentrate on developing and implementing work-plans that relate to their district's sustainable development entry point. From the initiation of Phase 2 onwards, the SDF also provides credit to the CBOs and supports CBOs by facilitating and supporting capacity building and human resources development activities.

In addition to managing their CF money, the CBO members were required to prepare a work plan for their CBO The work-plan activities focus on the district's sustainable development entry point (social development in Kailali environmental management in Surkhet and economic development in Dang). CBO members suggest development activities that they feel are necessary for the betterment of the entire community. Examples include: installing an irrigation/water supply scheme, obtaining a new school roof, purchasing school supplies (desks, chairs), and constructing pit latrines. The CBO members discuss the proposed activities, and those activities which are supported by all of the CBO members are included in the CBO work-plan. Once the CBO members have decided to endorse a project activity, they have to decide on what their contribution to the project will be (i.e. labour, or a financial contribution, or other), how long the project should take, and what assistance they require to complete the project. Once completed, the CBO chairperson submits the CBO work-plan to the SQ/SDF for review. The SDF provides both technical support and funds from the Seed Grant Fund (SGF) to complete approved CBO workplan activities.

The Seed Grant Fund was used mainly to support social development and environmental management initiatives that CBOs requested in their CBO work-plans. The guidelines for granting the seed grant money were somewhat flexible, however there were three requirements: (1) projects had to be beneficial to all members of the CBO (2) projects had to maximise community involvement and input, and (3) projects had to obtain matching funds from some other organisation. The 'other organisation' could be the VDC or the DDC or an outside contributor such as the UNDP Small Grants Programme. In general, the contribution of the CBOs would be the labor required by the project. Installing a water supply system, road and trail improvement and riverside reforestation are examples of activities funded by the Seed Grant Fund.

The SCDP also sponsored a variety of training and development/capacity building activities through its Human Resources Development Fund (a part of the Seed Grant Fund). Human resources development and capacity building are essential components of the SCDP approach to sustainable community development. Initial training activities focused on providing the SO staff with the training they required to manage the SDF and implement SCDP activities at the local level. This included training on capacity building, the social mobilisation approach, and Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) research techniques. In addition to SO staff training, many CBO members were trained as sustainable development specialists (SDS). (SDS). are community specialists, who are able to use the skills they learn from their training to implement activities which contribute to economic or social development, or environmental management in their communities. (SDS). include people who have been trained in fields such as improved cooking stove (ICS) construction and maintenance, pit latrine construction, apiculture etc. Box 6 provides a summary of the different types of capacity building exercises undertaken by the SCDP participants.

In addition to the training activities mentioned above, the SCDP sponsored many exposure visits for CBO members, DDC officials, VDC. officials, DMC/SDC members and SO staff Through exposure visits the participants are able to see the impacts of other communities self-help initiatives, and gain confidence in the ability of their own community to achieve similar successes. Furthermore, they can exchange information and gain ideas for development activities for their own villages.

One component of the Programme is small- scale enterprise development at the settlement level. Small- scale economic development activities are funded through loans from the CBOs community fund (CF). Generally, the (CF). money is loaned to the poorest of the poor CBO members. Lending money to the POP contributes to economic development of the settlement.

Some economic development activities proposed by the CBO members require loans that are more substantial than the CBO is able to support. Provided the CBO members all approve of the proposed project, the CBO chairman can submit the project enterprise plan to the SDF to request a loan from the SDF Credit Capital Fund. Although the individual CBO member who develops the enterprise plan is ultimately responsible for paying back his/her SDF loan, the entire CBO becomes responsible for the loan in the event that the individual defaults on his/her payments. Examples of projects that were initiated using money borrowed from the SDF Credit Capital Fund include: vegetable farming, bicycle repair shop establishment, animal husbandry, non-timber forest product -11-tinn and hanaria cultivation.

The development of the following groups did not occur at any specific time during this phase of the project. Furthermore, not all CBOs formed all of the groups discussed below.

Functional groups (FG) are responsible for executing the projects that their CBO undertakes according to its work-plan. They are responsible for implementing their project, managing the project finances, allocating resources, and monitoring the projects' progress. Each CBO may have several FGs, and all of the members of one (FG) are from the same CBO Types of functional groups include forest and watershed management functional groups, drinking water supply and management functional groups, micro-credit functional groups and so on.

The process for forming a functional group was as follows:

1. A (FG) chairperson is selected from interested CBO members.
2. A (FG) manager/secretary is selected from interested CBO members.
3. A total of 7-13 (FG) members are selected from interested CBO members.

Additional members can be included in the functional group as necessary. Selection of (FG) members should take place during a CBO meeting.

3.3.4.2 Mool Samiti 7 Formation

The Mool samiti (main committee) is a committee made up of the chairperson and mailager of each of the CBOs in a VDC. The role of the Mool samiti is to monitor CBO activities, help facilitate CBO formation and help obtain matching funds from the VDC. The Mool samiti is primarily concerned with financial monitoring, provision of funds and other financial matters.

Sharing information was seen as a key to successfully implementing Programme activities. To facilitate information sharing, a number of networking activities were arranged.

Activities included meetings:

1. CBO-CBO: The CBO Managers and Chairpersons met every month
2. VDC-VDC: The VDC Chairpersons met every 3 months.
3. VDC-DDC: The VDC Chairpersons met with the DMC/SDC every 6 months.
4. VDC-DDC-CBOs-NGOs- line agencies: The VDC Chairpersons, the DMC/SDC, the CBO Chairpersons and Managers the NGO/SO and liner agencies representatives met once per year.

Additional details on institutional linkages are shown in Annex 3.

1. District Management/ Sustainable Development Committee Meetings

DMC/SDC meetings were held monthly in each of the three Programme districts. During these meetings, the committee discussed SCDP activities and coordinated Programme activities with those of the line agencies. These meetings were also conducted to promote resource mobilisation from the VDCs, the DDC, and the line agencies.

2. Team meetings and staff meetings

In each district, the support organisation (SDF) team held monthly meetings at the SO office. Similarly, the SO staff from each district also met with the SCDP office staff on a monthly basis.

3. Sustainable Development Conferences

Monthly sustainable development conferences were held in each district to provide a forum in which CBO chairpersons and managers could share their experiences and discuss new ideas. During the conferences, future conservation and development activities would also be discussed and prioritised. The conferences were hosted and organised by the SOs.

4. Quarterly Review Meetings

In addition to their regular monthly meetings, every three months the SDF staff met with SCDP staff to review the activities of the previous quarter, discuss their progress and develop their workplan for the next quarter.

1. Executive Committee Meetings

The SCDP Executive Committee (EC) (formerly named the Board of Directors (BOD) met on several occasions to discuss project activities and formulate enabling policies at the Central Level. In 1997, the BOD met twice in Kathmandu, while in 1998 the EC met twice, once in Kathmandu and once in Nepalgunj. The EC is headed by the Member of the National Planning Commission responsible for Agriculture, Forestry and Land- Reforms. The National Programme Director of SCDP is the member secretary of the EC. Other members of the EC are: the joint Secretary, Ministry of Local Development; joint Secretary, Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation; joint Secretary, Ministry of Population and Environment; the representative of the DDCs implementing the Programme; the representative of NGOs/SOs implementing the Programme; a representative from UNDP; and, a representative from the NGO Federation of Nepal.

2. Tripartite Review Meetings

Each year a Tripartite Review Meeting is held at the NPC in Singha Durbar, Kathmandu.

The purpose of these meetings is to review the progress of the Programme over the last year, and to discuss the coming year's workplan and budget. The meetings are convened by UNDP, and the National Programme Director, the National Programme Manager, the EC, and relevant line agencies all participate in the meetings.

3. Project Reviews

The project was reviewed by both internal and external reviewers at various times between 1997 and 1999. The majority of the feedback provided by these reviews was positive. Nevertheless, efforts were made to modify Programme activities so as to overcome any weaknesses noted.

The decision to shift activities to the second focal point was made when the stakeholders involved with the Programme were satisfied with their achievements concerning the first entry point. Both the decision to change the focus of Programme activities, and the selection of the new focal point were made during a review workshop/meeting. This workshop/meeting was help approximately 8 months after the CBOs started activities related to the first entry point. Managers and chairpersons of the CBOs the VDC chairpersons, the DDC chairpersons, government officials and representatives of NGOs were involved in the decision-making process.

The actual transition from the second to the third phase of the Programme occurred more gradually. The CBOs, developed new workplans which corresponded to the new focus area. It is important to note that in this phase, as in phase two, having a "focus" area did not preclude participation in and funding of activities that were more closely related to one of the other two focus areas. This characteristic is inherent to the SCDP's integrated approach to development activities - nearly all Programme activities are beneficial to more than one of the Programme components (See Box 7). Furthermore, many activities from "phase two" were still continuing.

 
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