new horizon 2012

Pg. 1 | 2012 | www.un.org.np

New Horizon

E-magazine produced by Joint UN Traineeship Programme 2011-12. (www.un.org.np)

Message from Robert Piper I am very happy to congratulate all of the trainees who have completed their 11 month UN

Traineeship. This has been a remarkable group of young people and we hope that

prospective employers will benefit from the professional and personal growth we have seen

in them over the past year. Indeed, we have also benefitted greatly from their presence and

inputs.

This scheme has been a pilot and based on its success, we have decided to continue to give

members of traditionally excluded communities an opportunity to gain experience from

working at the United Nations in Nepal. Our decision to continue, is not least, based on the

results we have seen from this first cohort of extraordinary individuals. I wish them all

success in their future endeavours.

New Horizon Horizon New

Photo@Rajendra, UNIC

New Horizon


Overview of Traineeship Program

Many of the

trainees

under the

‗Joint UN

Traineeship

Programme‘ came to know about this

program through colleges and some

got the information from local NGOs.

Foundation for Development

Management (FDM) went to colleges

and many NGOs to advertise the

Traineeship Programme and as a

result, over 700 youths applied for this

Program. Some of the trainees were

fresh graduates whereas some were

teachers, social mobilisers,

housewives or pursuing different jobs.

There was an extensive screening

procedure to select only 31 individuals.

All of them joined with the hope that it

will provide a platform for their future

career. Being associated with many

UN agencies, it was only natural to

think that the 11 months spend will give

them a much needed impetus for their

career.

Many of the trainees come from a

modest background and worked hard

for their studies and this Traineeship

program came as an opportunity for a

better future. It is not easy for the

individuals from historically and

culturally excluded communities to

compete freely in the modern work

environment. To fit in the international

organization is quite farfetched.

However, with the learning from this

program and many professional

acquaintances they have developed;

there is a hope for a better career.

We had to bear in mind that the quality

of education was not of the same

grade for all trainees. Some were quite

privileged to be educated in good

schools and colleges in Kathmandu

whereas some of them studied from

government schools and colleges with

poor standard of education. Since UN

is an international organization, it

required English as means of

communication-written or spoken. This

was also a learning experience in

terms of written and spoken ability.

Similarly, this program also built

confidence in trainees to articulate and

present themselves well.

I believe the 11 months structured full

time training imparted to trainees

helped develop expertise in their area

of work, communication skills, building

team work, drive for result etc. Instilling

in trainees such virtues would be

pivotal for their growth in their

professional and personal life.

I hope, with learning from this Program

there is no looking back and the

trainees will be employed and excel in

their respective work; which is

precisely the purpose behind this

program.

Pratik Bickram Rana Program Specialist.

Foundation for Development Management (FDM)

How we learned on the trainee programme

Time can often pass fast in the UNDP Nepal country office.

Sometimes the pace of work can make it seem like you

never get time to think, as we deal and follow up with

government, push on policy, engage in project management

activities, speak to development partners or simply get

caught in traffic between meetings. However, there are times

when we must stop in our tracks and think about how we

interact and who are our key clients. I think, the UN joint

trainee programme is one such initiative that has made me

think long and hard about Nepal.

The environment unit has been one of the lucky groups to

receive a trainee. I have co-mentored Kul Nepali over the

past number of months along with other colleagues in the

environment and especially Anupa Lamichane who is his

Mentor. It has been a pleasure and I have learned a lot I

initially thought, we will need to work closely with our new

trainee to help him understand the technical areas of climate

change and environment. After sitting with our new arrival,

my first impression was incorrect. He held a depth of

knowledge on the topics.

I soon realized that it was not that Kul or all the other

trainees that turned up at his desk lacked technical

knowledge, it was sometimes simply the confidence to be

able to articulate that knowledge and put it into

understandable language was not always there. Speaking

with confidence on a topic takes skill that takes practice.

By the time, June came around, Kul was articulating his

impressions of UNDP at a unit level strategic day retreat.

Vijay Singh, our unit head honorably wrote a day later ―dear

Kul, it was really good to hear reflections from you about the

office, your traineeship, and about us. Thanks for frankly

expressing your feelings.‖ However, there were many days

when Kul was not seen as a trainee, but simply as part of

the team, going about his duties and striving to do his work

as efficiently as possible – I‘m sure many others have had

similar experiences across UN House. I am sure we will be

hearing more from the trainees – I know I‘ll certainly be

staying in touch with Kul.

Mr. Brian Harding, Co-Mentor, Climate Change Specialist, EECC Unit


New Horizon

Physical Labour, Status and people’s Perspective

I was carrying a water-filled vessel in a

programme organised to welcome the

Executive Director, Anthony Lakes by

UNICEF Nepal at Lalitpur. I was really

excited; for this was the first time I was

in ethnic attire. All the people were

dressed in Nepal‘s different culture due

to which the UN House premise

seemed painted in different colours.

On 12th January 2012, UNICEF

organized the programme in honour of

Mr. Lakes‘ visit. Like other sections of

UNICEF, the WASH section presented

its progress and achievements of last

four decades including future plans,

with a situation of WASH in Nepal

through performances. The

presentation was to portray the

situation of children and women in

Nepal. I played the role of a mother in

that short play.

As Andreas Knapp presented the

progress report, we were playing the

role of different characters. In the

meantime, he asked the Executive

Director if he wanted to carry the

vessel. He accepted and carried it. He

was happy, because of first such

experience in his life. The audiences

were amazed by his simplicity. The

following day, some people were

wondering whether he was offended by

such manner, because in Nepali

culture asking a senior person to do

any menial job is taken as disrespect.

However, it reflects Nepali perspective

towards physical labour.

Despite modernization, there seems no

change in people‘s attitudes towards

labour. It is enmeshed with gender and

caste in a large extent. The household

works like fetching water and cooking

dishes are taken as the work of

housewives. Moreover, hard working

people, with skill, are ironically tagged

as low caste and deprived of dignity;

whereas, sluggish people are

respected. As the Executive Director

was carrying the vessel, I remembered

my childhood days; we would go about

an hour distance to fetch water. Our

past hardship has eased a bit now

days; however, large numbers of

people still have no access to drinking

water. As a consequence, children and

women are highly affected in terms of

education, health, and so on. However,

the very contrasting aspect is some

people are suffering from health

problems because of over working,

whereas, some are facing such

problems due to lack of proper

exercise and understanding towards

labour.

Thus, as I saw the filled vessel carried

by Mr. Lakes, it symbolized the

suffering of children and women who

are confined to such works. At the

same time, it strikes me as how labour

has been assessed in term of status.

However, I wonder when will such

discriminations and discrepancies in

terms of gender, caste and status, will

meet its end.

Sita Bishwokarma Trainee, UNICEF/NCO, WASH Section

New Horizon


Representation of UN Trainees

The UN Traineeship is an affirmative

action from UN to make the socially

excluded groups more competent in

the professional sphere. This initiation

of UN is very appreciable, which has

provided a genuine opportunity to

develop professionalism and increase

the marketability of the trainees. The

―UN Traineeship Program‖ is driven by

the agenda of ‗inclusion‘ and ‗equity‘.

Nonetheless, there are rooms for

improvements to make it more

inclusive in coming phases of the

program. Some of the points worth

considering in coming phases of the

program highlighted by the map are:

Highest number of trainees from

Western region

Low representation from Mid-and

Far-Western regions

No representation from Karnali

zone

Some interesting achievements are:

Higher representation of female

(57%) than male (43%)

All of the trainees from central

region are female

Note: The address and sex of the

trainees is as per the list of ‘Finally

selected candidates for UN

Traineeship Program 2011-12’ by

FDM.

Map: Representation of UN Trainees

Mohan Masarangi Magar Trainee, UNICEF (PME)


New Horizon

Save good culture and remove bad culture

Every society and country is

modernizing day by day. No one can

break the process of change. New

things are being discovered all the

time. Change is the need of the

society. But in the name of change; will

the society forget their culture?

I got chance to know that some

societies are saving their culture and

profession when I participated into the

workshop of WTLCP project in

Sauraha as a UN trainee.

Sauraha attracts many tourists. It is the

central and the main entrance of the

Chitwan National Park. Many hotels

and resorts use the word ‗jungle‘ to

their name to give essence of forest.

Another best thing of Sauraha is that

there are scheduled dances of Tharu

culture in each hotel and resorts which

is the main entertainment for the

national and international tourists.

Tharu culture has amazing dances

involving Tharu males and females

taking sticks or fire logs. This exemplify

that some society is saving their

culture. We all have to salute them and

encourage them to save their tradition.

We keep hearing from everyone that

people are going to leave their culture

but it is evident from Tharu cultural

programme at Sauraha that not all

Nepali and communities are leaving

their culture. In the context of Dalit

Community, few castes are involved in

metallurgical operation and some

castes play Sarangi, Madal and other

musical instruments as their profession

and culture. These types of professions

are related with the so-called

―untouchable‖. People from different

community have different cultures and

professions, then why the

untouchablity factor is connected to

Dalit community. According to

Mendalism there are only two types of

species i. e. male and female in which

monohybrid and dihybrid cross can

take place. According to theory of

human genetics, all homosapines

species have 23 pairs of chromosomes

which are more valuable and important

to the scientific field. I just want to

emphasize that there is no

untouchability in the world scientifically.

So people belonging to Dalit

community don‘t have to hesitate to do

their profession and maintain their

culture. They have to save their

profession and culture which is good

but bad culture like untouchability need

to be removed from the society. Dalit

communities have to do their

profession but they need to be part of

modernization as it is the need of the

society. Government of Nepal /UN /

NGOs /INGOs need to support to

modernize their professions and in

saving their culture.

Kul Nepali Trainee, Environment, Energy and Climate Change

(EECC) Unit UNDP

Photo: Tharu people showing their cul-ture at Sauraha, Chitwan district.

New Horizon


Shaping up happy life

It was on 26 April 2011, when I first

entered in the UN House with many

queries on United Nations and its

functions. I had no idea about the

United Nations except in the text books

during my schooldays. I always had a

dream to know about the UN System

closely. My dream became true after

joining as a UN trainee at the Strategic

Planning and Development

Effectiveness Unit (SPDEU) in the

United Nations Development Program

(UNDP). The frequent field visits and

report writing was the main task

assigned to me. During the period of

my field visits, I got many opportunities

to meet with the beneficiaries of the

UNDP supported projects.

During my recent visit to Jumla, I met a

37 years old woman beneficiary named

NIli Pariyar, a resident of Raralihi VDC-

9. She got married when she was 12

years old. She had her first baby girl at

the age of 15 and now she has eight

children. She and her husband used to

run a small tailoring business in their

hut by operating a hand operated

sewing machine in traditional way. She

used to follow a Lagi Pratha (traditional

practice where the service providers

are paid by grains on harvesting

season or during festivals instead of

cash wages) earlier which was

humiliating and was very difficult for

her to manage food, clothing, and

education of her children and to

celebrate festivals from her earnings.

Her elder children were not educated

and they have not been to school at all.

In February 2009, she joined the

Janapragatishil Micro-Enterprise

tailoring group and attended a 7 day

long skill training in June 2009. Her

group received three sewing machines

and one iron from Micro Enterprise

Development Program (MEDEP), a

UNDP funded project and started their

business. Now the situation is

changing and because of MEDEP

support she is now able to earn a profit

of Rs. 200 per day. Now her household

condition has changed for better and

she does not have to worry for hand to

mouth problem. She manages her daily

family expenses smoothly and she is

thankful to MEDEP for the support.

Her five children are now studying at a

government school and the rest of her

three illiterate children have got

married and settled.

She is also running her business

commercially in a modern way using

sewing machines that are operated by

leg peddles with over-lock machine.

She stitches mostly women‘s clothing

and limited men‘s clothes. She loaned

Rs. 30,000 to one of the villager and

earned 2% interest annually. She took

loan from the Poverty Alleviation Fund

(PAF) for goat farming and sells 2-3

goats annually which are additional

good source of income. She has now

refunded the loan from PAF and is

living happily with her family.

Nili‘s hard work will give her better

future and business in the days to

come.

From the field observation, I have

come to know how UNDP has

supported at the grass-root level and

how the beneficiaries have benefitted.

Sanjay Pariyar Trainee, Strategic Planning and Development Effec-

tiveness Unit (SPDEU) UNDP

Photo: Nili Pariya—37 , Raralihi VDC-9, Jumla.


New Horizon

Getting light through darkness

As a trainee, I got to work in the

Human Resources unit in UNDP

Nepal. This was a very good

opportunity for me to prove myself, and

to play a part in changing the way

lower caste people are treated in our

society.

I belong to a so-called lower caste.

This was reason enough for my

friends, and even my teachers, to

discriminate against me and to

disrespect me. All people are equal

regardless of their caste, and we must

respect one another, and treat

everyone equally. But this does not

always happen. Everyone does not

realize that if only given the right

opportunities, people from lower castes

can fare well too. And because the

people around me lacked this

realization, I was disrespected. At

times, I even felt inferior myself.

But ever since I got this opportunity to

work in a prestigious and exemplary

organization, the attitude of my friends

and teachers towards me has

changed. Now they respect me for my

versatility and for being recognized.

The respect I now get from them is

also probably just human nature – to

respect people that hold higher

positions! My association with UNDP

has made them see me as someone

with a high position!

This traineeship has also brought a

vast difference in me. It has given me a

chance to know and cherish my own

talents. It has given me my identity, a

big reason to smile.

It is said that it is always a dark night

that brings a bright morning; and

hopefully tomorrow, my ambitions and

dreams will come true. Tomorrow,

people will understand that no one is

untouchable, no caste is small, and no

one with the right opportunities will fail

just because of his caste. I encourage

all my fellow-beings who are fighting

caste-based discrimination to keep the

hope. Good fate is created by hard

work. So, learn and live – there is light

coming your way.

Sushmita Diyali Trainee, HR Unit, UNDP

New Horizon


Gender Equality in the context of Women Participation

UNDP places

gender equality

and women

empowerment

as a

development

goal, a human

rights principle

and an effective

means and

approach to

achieving

development.

UNDP‘s Gender

Equality

Strategy defines

gender equality

as ‗equality

between men

and women‘ and positions it as an

indivisible and integral part of UNDP‘s

human development goal. It actively

seeks to raise women participation

from local to national level.

Women participation is increasing

these days, but is still not adequate. In

a ‗community-based water induced

disaster and soil conservation training

cum workshop‘ in June 2011 in

Nawalparasi, women participation was

45%, but in a similar workshop at the

national level, it was 18%. This shows

that while the communities are

becoming aware of gender equality

and importance of women participation,

there is still a lot to be done at the

national, policy-making level.

Equality in a male dominant society like

Nepal is not achieved until there is

equal opportunity for women. But

giving opportunity is not enough, the

women also need to be empowered to

grab the opportunity that is provided.

They need to be encouraged and

supported to come out of the social

boundary that we have created. We

should help them to explore their

needs, desires and issues

independently. They should not be

intimidated as just household workers.

We require a holistic approach and

intervention from both governmental

and local level in development and

implementation of strategies for gender

equality and women participation. We

must realize that the two-wheel cart of

society will move smoothly only when

both its wheels are equally and

perfectly working.

Making a Women Empowered Nation

is definitely a difficult task but it is

achievable – we only need to keep

learning and working towards it.

It is not about Who and Which, it is all

about We.

Lakpa Tsiring Tamang Trainee, Disaster Risk Management Unit, UNDP

Photo: Technical Capacity and Need Assessment and Gap Identification of DHM for Sectoral EWS for CRM in Nepal

Photo: Presentation by Sita Gaire in community based water induced disaster and soil conservation training cum workshop, Nawalparasi.


New Horizon

Leasehold Forestry: A boon to pro-poor and socially backward people

Leasehold Forestry and Livestock

Programme (LFLP) is a programme

that has both a vision and action. An

extension of Hills Leasehold Forestry

and Forage Development Project

(HLFFDP), it is being implemented in

22 mid-hill districts of Nepal. It focuses

on livelihood improvement of the pro-

poor and socially-backward people of

the districts as well as on supporting

environment conservation by providing

leased land for 40 years. The

programme helps to decrease the

income gap between the haves and

have-nots.

I visited the Jhirubas Village

Development Committee (VDC), Palpa

where LFLP is in action. The VDC is

mostly inhabited by Magars. They were

mostly poor people with less than 6

months of food security before the

programme started. They practiced

shifting cultivation, in which they

slashed and burned the natural forests

in patches, causing environmental

degradation and worsened food

security.

The formation of leasehold forest user

groups (LFUGs) under LFLP has given

a ray of hope for them. The programme

employs agro-forestry for natural

resource management and increased

food security. It involves plantation of

short-term as well as long-term income

generating species. One encouraging

outcome was that within 9 months of

programme implementation, the

LFUGs in the VDC were awarded

Mountain Development Prize-2010 of

NRs 200,000 due to their active and

continuous involvement.

The programme also supports the

people in other ways, such as by

providing them goats as an income

generating source, by facilitating

saving and credit activities to avoid the

need to borrow from land lords at very

high interest rates, and also by linking

the groups with other development

partners which support them in

infrastructure development such as

solar-light installation, road

construction, micro-hydro projects,

drinking water facilities, etc.

LFLP has been a boon to the people. I

am pleased that I got an opportunity to

witness this and to lend a helping hand

towards making this project successful.

Bambam Mandal Trainee, LFLP, FAO

Photo: The group members working in the field for cultivation of broom-grass, one of the sources of income. V

ision without action is a dream; Action without vision is just

time pass; Vision with action can change the world.

New Horizon


UN Efforts for Socially Excluded and Marginalized Groups in Nepal

In the

Program of

Action of the

World Summit for Social Development

held in Copenhagen in 1995, the

inclusive society was defined as ―a

society for all‖, in which every

individual, each with rights and

responsibilities, has an active role to

play. An inclusive society is one that

rises above differences of race,

gender, class, generation and

geography to ensure equality of

opportunities for all regardless of origin

of people. The studies have shown that

inability to exercise political and

economic power fuels armed rebellion

and undermines peaceful transition

under democracy.

In the Nepalese context, the social

order remained exclusionary because it

classified all groups within the broad

framework of the Hindu hierarchical

system of the four varnas based on the

concepts of ritual purity and pollution

putting the Dalits at the bottom rung.

Junga Bahadur Rana in the 1954 Civil

Code, creating a vicious circle of

poverty and further marginalization,

first codified the exclusion. The

traditional social power structure and

the lack of access to political power

remain key factors for continued

discrimination against women and

traditionally excluded groups.

Since beginning of Peoples‘ movement

in Nepal, UN has been giving priority to

promote gender equality and social

inclusion through integrating it into

programs and policies. Human rights,

gender equality and social inclusion

are one of the four priority areas of

UNDAF in Nepal. Among the various

initiatives, the ―UN Joint Traineeship

Program‖ is one of the great efforts by

UN to uplift this particular group in the

society. This is a very new initiative

launched with a view to promoting

inclusion of the excluded groups in

employment. Twenty-nine trainees

were placed in eight different UN

agencies (UNDP including RCHCO,

UNICEF, UNHCR, UNFPA, FAO,

UNESCO, WHO, UNHCR) vis-à-vis

their background and interest. The

eleven-month Program started on 26

April 2011 to enhance their

professional competencies in order to

improve their employability in the

public, private and non-governmental

sectors. It has tremendously helped us

to tap into available UN expertise and

resources.

During my stint, I learned the UN

working system and substantive work

of the respective unit, as well as

communicating and coordinating with

different stakeholders. As trainees in

OHCHR-Nepal, I have gained

knowledge about national and

international human rights instruments,

protection and monitoring mechanisms,

and Nepal‘s international obligations. A

hundred day campaign slogan with "I

Commit to End Caste Based

Discrimination and Untouchability" to

raise wider awareness on the content

of Untouchbility Act 2011 aiming for the

effective implementation of Law, jointly

organized by the National Dalit

Commission (NDC) and OHCHR-Nepal

provided me a very good opportunity to

participate in and contribute to different

promotional activities. We were five

trainees in OHCHR-Nepal who were

involved in almost all events organized

inside the valley. We helped to collect

online commitment, thumbprint and to

disseminate the Campaign materials

for more than 20 programs. In addition,

I had the opportunity to be involved in

different discussions and consultations,

especially in the area of economic,

social and cultural rights.

We are very thankful to the Foundation

for Development Management (FDM)

for its unrelenting support to us. It has

played a vital role for the effective

learning by organizing different

meetings, workshops, etc.

Finally, yet importantly, as UN

Trainees, we learnt many things for our

career development. As the program

initiator UN Resident and Humanitarian

Coordinator in Nepal Mr. Robert Piper

has said, this program will continue

next year also. Thank you for this great

opportunity. Hope it will bring a lot of

changes especially for the prosperity

and well being of the society.

Bhagawati Ghale Trainee, OHCHR-Nepal


New Horizon

‗‘I have to rush

for another

meeting and

need to

complete this

task by the

end of the

day‖. This is the most common phrase

that we usually hear from UN staffs

committed to their respective work.

Dedication, patience, hard labor,

sincerity and cooperation are what UN

staff posses while carrying out

activities in order to bring positive

outcome and meet organizational goal.

Respecting each other‘s views while

having discussion during meetings,

letting everyone to speak, taking

comments/suggestions positively for

the betterment, well planning and

coordination among the team members

have indeed led UN people to perform

better. Moreover, the culture of

appreciation for the task being

performed even though it is minor one

is much remarkable. Most importantly,

UN staff members adhere to the

principle of equality and respect, which

I have closely observed while working

at UNRCHCO office as everyone is

treated equally no matter what position

do they hold.

Punctuality is another thing that

matters a lot for UN people. Whatever

task they are committed to do, they

strive to complete on time and with

much accuracy.

These people are so much dedicated

and committed towards their work that I

have many times seen them working

from early morning to late evening. In

fact, they have such a hectic busy

schedule that they even don‘t have

time for lunch.

Though it is said that professional

workers don‘t much enjoy their

personal life however I found UN staff

equally capable in maintaining their

personal life too. Besides, they do also

manage to make their presence in

various social occasions such as

birthday celebration, farewell party and

other festive celebrations taking place

inside the office.

This is what we should learn from UN

people!

Sangmo Yongon, Trainee, RCHCO

My learning

as a UN

Trainee at the

United Nation

Office of the

High

Commissioner for Human Rights-Nepal

(OHCHR-N) was incredible and

productive in terms of both capacity

building and exposure to the UN

system. It familiarized me with the

context of Human Rights as well as the

substantative work. I am swollen with

pride to be a part of OHCHR, the

global Human Rights Organization.

Professionalism, sensitiveness,

dedication, sharing culture, flexibility,

coping with the pressure to meet

deadline in a short time period and

working in a multi-cultural environment

are some of the major aspects which I

learnt during the course of my training.

As a trainee, I was provided with

numerous training opportunities.

During the course of my training I

attained various seminars, workshops

and interaction which enhanced my

knowledge on the various aspects of

Human Rights. Among them, training

and interaction on Demonstration and

Public Protest Monitoring, interaction

on serious cases withdraw and ToT on

the Caste Discrimination and

Untouchability (Crime and Offence) Act

-2011 were the major events I was

exposed to. Report launching event of

the Access to Justice for the Dalits in

Nepal was also one of the significant

events in which I participated.

During the course of my training period

I have learned the human rights

situation of our country. The principle

of non-Discrimination and the Right to

Equality are core human rights

principles that are enshrined in the

Charter of the United Nations‘ the

Universal Declaration of Human

Rights. However, the steps to address

the issues of marginalized and

disadvantaged groups are insufficient

and not satisfactory. Till date, the

situation of the human rights in Nepal

is very much pathetic. Although Rule of

Law, impunity and accountability are

highly emphasized in the law, these

are yet to be implemented and

reflected in the practical life so that

people could realize them. The human

rights violators are roaming freely in

the society and some of them are

holding the position of public interest.

In fact, it shows the extreme failure of

the state. Delay on the formation of

Truth and Reconciliation Commission

(TRC) and Commission on Inquiry of

Disappeared (CID) has hampered the

Comprehensive Peace Agreement.

Lack of the legal framework on the

witness protection is another element

to be addressed. And the expectation

of civilians are ruined. So on this

pretext, the questions of protection and

promotion of the human rights are

considered as a day dream. Although

there are lots to be done, some

advancement had been carried on. The

passage of the new Untouchability Act

and National Human Rights

Commission –Nepal entitled as a

Constitutional Body is one such good

step.

Sapana Pariyar Trainee, OHCHR Nepal

UN staff in my observation

Working as a Trainee

New Horizon


UN support for socially excluded and marginalized group

UN is an

organization

advocating for

change and

connecting

countries to knowledge, experience

and resources to help people build a

better life. It is focused on helping

countries build and share solutions to

the challenges in the field of

Democratic Governance, Poverty

Reduction ,Crisis Prevention and

Recovery, Environment & Energy,

HIV/AIDS. It is helping the developing

countries to attract and use aid

effectively. In all its activities, it

encourage the protection of human

rights and the empowerment of

women.

UNDP in Nepal concentrates its efforts

for greater impact in the most remote,

poor, and/or conflict-affected areas of

the mid- and far-western development

regions and the Terai, where its rights-

based interventions are targeted

towards the disadvantaged and

vulnerable groups.

it‘s rule of law activities seek to

address the exclusion of the poor and

marginalized, ensuring legal protection

of and justice for all. This involves a

bottom-up approach of legal

empowerment to enable the poor and

disadvantaged groups to understand

and claim their entitlements and rights,

and access justice, security and

services for this purpose. Support for

gender equality, and the inclusion of

marginalized groups and groups

subject to discrimination are key

aspects of this work.

Based on this spirit, the UN Country

Team in Nepal lunched UN joint

traineeship programme for socially

excluded group and selected 30

trainees. The purpose of this program

is to provide training to recent

graduates from historically, socially and

politically excluded group, by providing

them with work assignment so that

they can build up their capacity, to gain

greater confidence for future job

interviews, experience, and of course

improve their English skills. I‘m also

one such UN trainee and am feeling

extreme change within me before and

after joining this program, I have learnt

many things during these days and

have gained the experience which is

fruitful to me and for my career. I‘m

very much thankful to the UN.

Manju Sah Trainee, UNESCO

UN Trainees experience working for human rights with OHCHR Sapana Pariyar, who has an extreme interest to work in the

field of human rights, says UN traineeship program

introduced her not only to human rights protection and

promotion work, but also familiarized her with the multi-

cultural working environment and the UN system. She is one

of the trainees among five others who joined OHCHR-Nepal

under the United Nations Country Team (UNCT)‘s UN

traineeship program. In OHCHR, the trainees were placed

under three of its different thematic units and sections,

namely, Accountability, Impunity and Rule of Law (AIR), Anti

-discrimination and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

(ADESCR), Analysis, Reporting and Coordination (AIR) and

administration section.

―Placing them under different section is an effort to

familiarize them with the work of each thematic unit and

provide them an opportunity to learn about different areas

related to human rights protection and promotion.‖ says

Narendra Pande who is an agency focal point from OHCHR-

Nepal for UN traineeship program. Besides an enriching

experience of learning by doing, the trainees joining OHCHR

-Nepal received different other opportunities to increase their

competencies including through computer classes, career

counseling and trainings on different thematic areas of

human rights adds Mr. Pande. The trainees acquired

different skills including human rights monitoring and

reporting, training organization and management and

administration skills while working with OHCHR-Nepal.

Bhagwati Ghale, who originally hails from Syangja recollects

similar experience to Sapana of working with OHCHR-

Nepal. She describes her work as a great learning

opportunity which did not only help in creating a conceptual

clarity on human rights but also exposed her to the field of

human rights training and capacity building.

―I have observed our trainees gradually increasing their

performance and confidence level. They very new to the

field of human rights when they joined our office and it is

quite amazing to see the way they have progressed. I am

sure this opportunity will reward them in the future‖ says

Satish Mainali, a mentor of one of the trainee with OHCHR-

Nepal. He says that it can be made much more effective by

reaching out to the socially and geographically excluded

people, creating their access and providing them an

opportunity to work and learn by being part of the UN.

Nirupama Sharma, Mentor, Human Rights Officer, OHCHR


New Horizon

Joint UN Traineeship Program; a Gate Way of Career Options

We feel proud of saying Nepal is a

common place of diverse groups of

people—be it either in ethnicity,

religion, languages or geographical

structures. We are rich in cultural and

historical heritages and these have

become the identities to glorify our

nation over the world. Simultaneously,

some bad cultures and their impacts

have drawn far back our nation from

the pace of world development. Some

of the communities; women, dalits,

adibashis/ janajatis and some

minorities were historically and

traditionally pushed back from the

mainstream of nation. The Government

of Nepal has been implementing new

policies addressing those groups of

people. However, they are not properly

utilizing those policies and

opportunities due to the problems of

poverty, illiteracy, haphazard

settlement, and low access in

communication/media. During the

course of transformation from old

Nepal to new Nepal, UN announced its

first Joint Traineeship Program for the

socially marginalized communities of

Nepal.

On the day of induction ceremony of

the traineeship program most of the

participants had laughed while Mr. Kul

Nepali, one of UN Joint Traineeship

Program trainees had said, "Before this

time, I was a teacher. I know how

water is formed and I teach students

that two times hydrogen and one time

oxygen constitute to form water but I

don't know the UN System though I am

entering in to it." Nevertheless, this was

the representative expression for all

the trainees then, at least for me.

I had known the name of United

Nations, names of development

agencies/ sector but not their working

systems. I had known the importance

of trainings but not about the

importance of internship or the

traineeship programs. For me, it was

difficult to say even a quick ‗yes!' to Mr.

Bhupadas Rajbhandari of Foundation

for Development Management (FDM)

when he had asked me to take a final

decision entering in to this traineeship

program. However, I was finally been

placed in UN Field Coordination Office

in Dadeldhura. And this traineeship

opportunity became a gate way for my

career growth and even more I prefer

to say it 'career options'.

During the period of nine months in the

Joint UN Traineeship program, I was

able to widen my sphere of the

knowledge in various sectors;

development sectors i. e. I/NGOs and

government sectors. I became aware

of socio-cultural aspects of the people

of Far Western Rigion as well.

Similarly, I also improved my personal

as well as professional competencies

and skills. I conducted some

interviews, prepared case studies, and

reports while in the training. As a

result, I could be able to enhance my

documentation, coordination and

communication skills. In the same way,

I am now able to face interviews and

exams of various vacancies

confidently. Consequently, I am now

District Officer for Community and

Youth Empowerment Program of

Restless Development Nepal co-

partnership with Rural Environment

Development Centre (REDC), a local

NGO in Dadeldhura.

Finally, I am indebted to United Nations

Nepal family, UN RCHCO, UN FCO

DDL, all the trainee colleagues and

FDM for their direct and indirect

support of shaping my career. My

mentor 'Guru', Prem Singh Nayak

deserves my great respect since he

had carefully identified my weaknesses

as well as strengths and encouraged

and supported me for improvements.

Likewise, I would like to thank Marlies

Bull, Suresh Pandit and Rajaram

Chaudhary, staff of UN FCO DDL, for

their productive contributions to me

during my training. Similarly, I would

like to thank Rachana Rasaily of UN

RCHCO, Giri Panthi of UNFPA DDL

and Bishowraj Bhatt of UNICEF DDL

for their encouragement and support.

I wish for the continuation of these

types of traineeship programs by UN in

the days to come.

Dal Bahadur Sunar Trainee, RCHCO, Dadeldhura

New Horizon


Internship as a Learning Process: My Expectations and Benefits

As an intern

with United

Nations

Population

Fund

(UNFPA), I was working in the Gender

unit under the supervision of Ms.

Sudha Pant who is the senior program

officer in Gender unit. I began my

internship program on 28th May, 2011

with UNFPA which was to last for the

next eleven months. While the works I

had to carry out during this period was

particularly ‗glamorous and thrilling‘, I

felt that this internship period exposed

me to experiences which have

significantly altered my perception on

Gender related issues of Nepalese

situation in a relation with a more

global holistic approach.

I had originally intended to join UNFPA

as a way to participate directly in

different programs to see how the

program or policy are formulated and

implemented at the ground level as

well as at nation level and how different

partner organizations work in

collaboration with UN agencies.

Unfortunately though, a lot of my work

within the office had to do with a

particular project i.e. Elimination of

Violence Against Women (EVAW)

issues which I can proudly now say

that I learned a lot form it. This allowed

me to listen to people with ideas and

opinions that I had never before

considered, and helped me to develop

new ways of thinking about the same

problems I had previously been

thinking about.

Being in UNFPA, I realized that I didn‘t

knew much about a process or a topic

and then there was no reason to

forsake. I didn‘t know much about

Gender issues and I‘m still not a

professional, but now I‘m able to

understand the general coherences

and bring them contently together. It

was particularly interesting for me to

see how a development process is

realized, what kind of project

management is necessary and the

procedure of dealing with different

stakeholders.

In retrospective, I can say that I

benefited from the internship program

that I thought in a number of ways as it

gave me chance not only to work with

UNFPA but also a chance to learn from

the best Gender experts who in turn

provided me chance to working with

people from different parts of the world

and at the same time it enriched my

Curriculum Vitae (CV). To conclude, I

can state that my internship at the

UNFPA was a rewarding experience

and provided me with some new

perspective that I did not come across

during my studies. I also have to stress

that my colleagues at the UNFPA

contributed greatly to making my stay

here a very memorable one.

Anchala Chaudhary Trainee, UNFPA

Oops! Where have I landed?

When I applied for traineeship with UN

Agencies, I had wanted to be involved

in Human Resources Management

(HRM). I ‗knew‘ that HRM was about

managing human resources in rural

areas, and that it had something to do

with rural development. That was why

when the interview panel asked me

about my field of interest, my quick

reply was ‗HRM‘.

Luckily, I got selected. I was excited as

I was about to do something I was

interested in. But to my surprise, I was

assigned to the HR unit of UNICEF and

found myself doing something

completely different. HRM was different

from what I had thought it to be. It was

not about rural development. I was

totally wrong! I thought ―Oops! Where

have I landed?‖

Because of my pre-conceived wrong

notion of HRM, I was now doing

something different from my

expectation and interest. So for the first

month of the traineeship, I was not very

happy with what I was doing. However,

things changed.

Thankfully, I got Jens Broll, the HR

Specialist of UNICEF, as my mentor.

He was very thoughtful about my

growth and development, and it was

very nice to be working under him. The

entire HR team also supported me.

They helped me with all my queries

and issues related to the work, and

even my studies. They gave me their

precious time despite being very busy

with their own work. They treated me

like one of them and included me in all

relevant meetings and events.

So, as time passed, I started to enjoy

learning about HR and being part of a

wonderful team. Now, I am happy that I

got this opportunity of learning every

single day, and of enhancing my

knowledge and skills. Today I feel

more confident than before.

I am grateful to all the UNICEF staff

members for being warm and friendly

and to the HR team for mentoring and

supporting me throughout my time as

trainee.

Chungik L. Sherpa, Trainee, HR Unit, UNICEF


New Horizon

335 days with UN

‗Wow! I am

selected for

UN Joint Traineeship Program!‘ This

was my expression when I received a

call from Foundation for Development

Management (FDM) and found out for

the first time that I had been selected. I

was assigned to UNICEF field office in

Nepalgunj. Initially, I was sad for being

sent away from Kathmandu, the city of

opportunities. But the sadness soon

turned into happiness when, upon

arriving in the field office, I saw so

many opportunities for learning and

working.

The field office that I worked in does

not have an IT staff. So, the entire

responsibility of Information and

Communication Technology (ICT)

support was on my shoulders. It was a

challenging job for me to perform all

the work without any technical support

most of the time. This made me excited

and happy. I had got the opportunity to

implement the skills I had gained from

my studies and to enhance them. I was

working for the first time in a ‗real‘

working environment – it was for me

like sharpening the saw – in the field of

ICT. The office gave me opportunity to

learn and work even in the weekends

and from morning to late evening,

sometimes even up to 8:00 PM.

Most of the time during my assignment,

I worked inside the office in the

Operations department. There, I also

learned a lot about administrative work.

The office staffs were very professional

and supportive, and they contributed a

lot in enhancing my learning and skills.

I got to participate in different

programs, workshops, trainings,

functions and meetings. These

participations have boosted my

confidence, and now I feel that I can

work in any kind of environment and

organization.

It did strike me that an office with so

many staffs does not have any IT staff.

The staffs in the field office use IT in

their everyday work. So, I think that

there is a strong need of an IT staff in

the office in order to support staffs in

their day-to-day use of IT services.

Jalauddin Mansur Trainee, Operations Department

UNICEF, Nepalgunj

Importance of Interview Clinic

‗Interview

Clinic‘ was a

program that

was organized for the trainees in

different UN agencies. It was jointly

organized by the Foundation for

Development Management (FDM) and

UN focal points. As a UN trainee, I also

participated in the programme, and

found it to be very helpful in preparing

me for facing interviews.

I learned that punctuality, which is very

important in daily life, is important for

interviews as well. Nobody wants to

select a candidate that reaches late to

the interview. I also learned about

important tactics, such as asking

questions to the interview panel, which

can be followed during the interview for

positive impact.

The Interview Clinic also taught me

about the activities that I should do

before the interview. I learned that it is

never too early to start preparation. We

ought to use mediums such as

websites and reports to keep ourselves

updated about the organization and job

we are applying to. We must regularly

practice to enhance our communication

and presentation skills, and to avoid

getting nervous, anxious and stressed

during the interview.

Another important aspect that I learned

about was preparing Curriculum Vitae

(CV). I learned about the ideal length of

a CV, about what should and what

should not be included in a CV, and

about what kind of words are most

suitable for different sections in the CV.

I learned that a short and concise

synopsis of the person, limited to 2 or 3

sentences, is always advantageous.

Also, a CV should match our talents

with the job description. So, any

previous work experience, publication,

and achievement that are not relevant

to the job being applied for should be

omitted.

These types of preparatory sessions,

or Interview Clinics, are very helpful to

young people who are in the early

stage of career development. I am glad

to have got the opportunity to

participate in one of these clinics and I

hope that others get the opportunity

too.

Jhabindra Gaire Trainee, HIV/AIDS (UNICEF)

New Horizon


Enter like a mouse, nurture like an elephant

At the very

beginning of

the

Traineeship

program,

during our

induction, we got to know the most

eminent personalities of the United

Nations in Nepal. Their welcoming and

motivating nature really influenced us

very much. Everything they said

encouraged us to grow and enhance

our potential and groom ourselves.

One UN personality said ―Enter like a

mouse and nurture yourself like an

elephant‖. When we enter into an

organization, we should start from zero

and during our stay, we should grow

ourselves a lot by grabbing as much

knowledge and experience as we can.

We received some valuable tips and

indispensable thoughts for reaching

our career goals and objectives. These

were:

Being successful is not just about

making money and getting

appraisals; it is about setting a

career goal, planning to reach the

goal and working on the plan.

Knowledge is power. So, we must

continuously increase our

knowledge by interacting with our

co-workers and other people,

joining appropriate courses, doing

researches and studying journals

and newspapers.

We must fulfill all our assigned

responsibilities and present

ourselves as dedicated people

earnest to meet our obligations.

Optimism and passion are two key

ingredients for success. Optimism

is at the heart of a successful

human being. We must maintain a

positive outlook on life and never

give in to the destruction of defeat.

We must be able to constantly see

the cup as half full, to never be

blind to that silver lining.

The traineeship was all about these

traits which we need to build, develop

and improvise. It was about driving and

pushing ourselves forward and keeping

our momentum focused to acquire the

end result. It helped us to develop a

road map that could make an impact

on our prosperous future. It did help us

to open the doors of opportunity, but it

is our own responsibility to take the

wheel and embrace the essential

attitude that will help to open the gate

Babita Yadav Trainee, UNFPA

Blurred Access of Badi Community

Access is an

opportunity or

a right of

people to use

available

resources or

to exercise authority over something. It

has been found that in the Hindu

Nepalese society, the higher caste

people have had more access to

resources. Putting the spirit of equal

access in mist, these people with

higher access have held control over

better positions in the decision-making

process and thereby accumulated

property, and then used the same

property to expand their access to

different sectors. Thus, those who had

access continued to increase it and

those who lacked access continue to

be denied of it. Badi is one of those in

the latter category.

Badi is a caste that is at the bottom of

the caste hierarchy. According to

Muluki Ain (civil code) 1854, it is at the

bottom of even the Dalits, the lowest of

all castes.

To enhance access of the Badi

Community and to empower them, the

social protection concept of giving

grant or assistance such as housing or

child grant was introduced. However, in

practice, the Badi community has

minimum access to such assistance,

the reason being weak implementation

mechanisms and insufficient pro-

activeness. As a UNICEF trainee I did

an assessment of the Child Protection

Grant launched by the Government of

Nepal in 2009/10, and found that

although this program was targeted to

poor Dalits that includes the Badi

community, access of Badi children to

the grant is only 45 percent. Lack of

proper communication between the

community and local government

agencies, difficult claiming procedures

and administrative hassles and

complex policies to identify eligible

children are among the reasons for

this.

It is not just enough to launch

programs – we need strong

mechanisms and pro-active methods

that take the grant or social protection

to where they are needed, instead of

waiting for the people to come to the

grant provider. The involvement of non-

governmental sectors, especially for

monitoring, is also important. The

reasons for lack of access must be

properly identified and addressed. Only

then will access of the Badi community

be ensured.

Gopal Nepali (Badi) Trainee, UNICEF/SPD


New Horizon

First Impression

When I

entered into

the office of

UNHCR,

where I was

assigned for

my traineeship, I witnessed something

very pleasant – there were many

women staff, and they were actively

dealing with different cases in different

units.

UNHCR is a humanitarian organization

that looks after problems of refugees.

Its main priority is to safeguard the

rights and well being of refugees. The

issues it deals with are very sensitive,

and it is necessary that the people

dealing with these issues are careful

and responsible. The women staffs in

the office were exactly this – careful

and responsible. They understood the

sensitivity of the issues that they were

dealing with and executed their job

impressively.

As I talk about the women in UNHCR, I

remember my childhood. I grew up in a

traditional society that was completely

against educating girls. They said that

it was meaningless and a waste of

money to educate daughters. But my

father believed that education is the

greatest asset of all, and that

daughters also deserve to be

educated. He enrolled me in a primary

school. The traditional society always

criticized him for sending me to school.

But he did not give in.

My father encouraged me for my

formal education, which has led

towards the betterment of my life.

Unfortunately, I lost my father when I

was fourteen. But I still feel proud of

him. To see so many women working

in UNHCR is reinforcement of the

belief my father had – that daughters

are worthy of an education too.

UNHCR is a very good example of

women participation and gender

equality in the office, and the first

impression I got of it made me feel

proud.

I had a bitter childhood experience of

having to stand up against the society

for education. What my father and I

had faced was the result of gender

inequality. Here I am going to put

forward a song written for gender

equality in Nepalese context.

Nilmaya Pun Trainee, UNHCR

I am not your slave Neither I am your slave nor am I your

cook

A woman of the age I am, all confidence

in the look.

We have also eyes to see all around

Legs can walk round and round

Cut and see the blood all red

Touch and feel my heat in your head.

Neither I am your doll nor am I your

cook

A woman of the age I am, all confidence

in the look.

Sons and daughters are from the same

womb

Then, why is this discrimination?

If sons inherit parental name,

why are we for intimidation?

We know you have honey in word

But up the sleeve have a sword.

Neither I am your subordinate nor am I

your cook

A woman of the Era I am, all confidence

in the look.

On 26th Dec 2011, we (UN Trainee)

organized a picnic programme. Many

of us participated while those placed

outside the valley could not make it. At first we didn‘t realize

the importance of the picnic but when we gathered at the

venue at Tribhuwan Park, it turned into a kind of informal

experience sharing programme.

Before we did not know much detail about each other as we

were placed in different agencies and we hardly

communicated. Thus, the picnic became a platform to

know each other. We had our introductory session

during breakfast.

As we managed our pre pack breakfast/lunch set, we

got more time to discuss on various matters regarding

traineeship program. Meanwhile, we also had

experience sharing session which became milestone to

know about the learning activities. We too had fun time

as all of us enjoyed dancing and singing.

Another important thing that came up from the meeting

is the concept of the newsletter. I would like to

recommend for the next group of trainee to organize

this type of picnic which will be helpful to share the

learnt activities.

I would like to thank Kul ji,Sanjaya ji,Sita ji for taking

lead to organize the picnic program . I would also like

to thank colleagues who took participation and made it

successful.

UN Trainee Picnic

Sarita B.K. Trainee, Office of the United Nations

Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator

New Horizon


Traineeship with UNIRP

When I was

assigned to

UNIRP as a

trainee, I got

opportunity to

participate in a 7 days workshop

training at Nagarkot right at the start of

my traineeship in UNDP. I learned

various aspects related to workshop

arrangements, coordination and issues

and programs on rehabilitation of ex-

combatants in Nepal from that training

workshop .The workshop was

conducted on 22-27 May 2011.

In the training, different experts

presented different themes such as:

1. An overview of the IDDRS

facilitated by Hans Thorgren ,

DDR in Nepal facilitated by

Desmond Molly

2. Disarmament & Demobilization :

international Experiences

facilitated by Hans Thorgren

3. The Maoist Insurgency: Historical

Background presented by Prem

Singh Basnyat

4. About the DDR/SSR Nexus

facilitated by Bengt Ljunggren

5. Rehabilitation/Integration: Nepal

case- study presented by Prem

Singh Basnyat/ Trilochan Malla

6. Socioeconomic profiling and the

Labor market in the Context of

Rehab in Nepal presented by Ina

Pietschmann/ Richard Bowd

7. Post- Training Reintegration

support presented by Richard

Bowd

8. DDR and Transitional Justice

facilitated by Isabela Leao/

Glaucia Boyer, on GIZ

Experience : Vocational Training in

the Cantonments facilitated by

Heidi Gutsche

9. Do No Harm facilitated by Latif

Bashardost / Kevin Chang/ Michael

Brown , VMLRs Case- study

facilitated by Prem Singh Basnyat,

Gender responsive DDR facilitated

by Glaucia Boyer, Gender

Perspective : Nepal case- study

facilated by Latif Bashardost/ Bal

Krishna Sharma, health Packages :

Nepal case study presented by

Aruna Pant , Rehabilitation options:

Sierra Leone and Int. Experiences

presented by Bengt Ljunggren,

Presented on DDR and Natural

(NRM) by Glaucia Boyer, The

political Environment for the

Integration and rehab. In Nepal,

Youth and DDR, Options for

Rehabilitation Design in Nepal

facilitated by Dr. Abdul H. Omar/

Rajendra Shrestha , UNIRP's

Rehabilitation information system

(RIS), DDR: Human Security vs.

Vested Interest presented by

Desmond Molly . Documentary on

Silencing the Guns presented by

Khem thapa in the mentioning

Subject.

I benefited tremendously from the

above mentioned subjects. It gave me

a broader mind to understand the

integration of post conflict period like

Nepal and Sudan. In the Rehabilitation

process the experience shared by

national and international resource

persons was very much technical

which emphasized that every country

have to create its own need

identification, conflict must be

addressed according their geography,

cultural and address the conflict

reason. I was familiar with UN staffs,

international specialized trainer, and

national specialized trainers. This gave

me more confidence to understand the

Nepalese situation and international

situation on post conflict situation,

rehabilitation and reintegration

process.

In my observation, the training

workshop was very effective and

knowledgeable to my carrier

development, especially in the peace

building process, which was newly

introduced in Nepal during the 10

years of Maoist insurgency.

Sita Bishwakarma Trainee, UNIRP

Ram Babu Shah National Information Officer

UN Information Centre (UNIC)

Sangita Khadka

Development Communication Officer

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

Kul Nepali UN Trainee

Sanjay Pariyar UN Trainee

Editorial Board

Rajendra Man Banepali Information Management Assistant

UN Information Centre (UNIC)

Tapa Dipti Sitaula Communications Analyst

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

new horizon 2012

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