Train 100 Nepali youth monitors so aid saves lives

Following the devastating earthquake which hit Nepal on 25^th April, 2015 a number of studies demonstrated that relief was not always reaching those who needed it. Using your money Integrity Action and Youth Initiative Nepal 20 trained youth volunteers to use Community Integrity Building (CIB), to work with relief organisations and local government to suggest recommendations for improvements, before monitoring to ensure these recommendations were carried out to the satisfaction of the communities affected.

After training 100 monitors and establishing a platform for dialogue and raising awareness about the problems uncovered by the monitors the following results were achieved:

• 1,448 households received information through Youth Initiatives monitors on how to access vital aid and what they were entitled to enabling them to access food, clothing and water
• 25% of the 24 problems discovered and actioned by the monitors, during this pilot, have been resolved to date
• 141 families have received food, blankets and warm clothes through the recommendations made by the monitors
• 119 primary school children received warm clothes and books as a direct result of the intervention

This intervention provided vital relief to families, who otherwise would not have had access, and also set up structures and relationships to ensure sustainability. Based on recommendations suggested by Youth Initiative’s trained monitors, and agreed within the Integrity Hubs, the following have been implemented:

• Village Development Committees (VDCs) in all 5 districts are now sharing lists of households who are entitled to relief benefits. Monitors, equipped with this information, are able to support those eligible households to register and receive those benefits.
• VDC staff in all districts now attend monthly meetings where monitors share feedback on the effectiveness of relief aid from the point of view of the citizens.
• Youth Initiatives have developed relationships with other local activists who are also identifying problems with aid and relief distribution and reporting this to trained monitors so that effective responses can be designed.

The pilot covered a relatively small geographic area so the results are correspondingly modest, but applying this approach more widely in disaster-affected areas has great potential. Citizen monitors have been able to identify, share and respond to problems as well as create a platform for citizens, local officials and aid agencies to engage with one another.

Once again thank you for your contribution to our project! It all makes a difference!