YOUR World Research Insecurity and uncertainty: Marginalised youth living rights in fragile and

conflict affected situations in Nepal and Ethiopia

Research from

Rural Kapilvastu Nepal

Youth Uncertainty Rights (YOUR) World Research has worked with some of the most marginalised young people across eight fragile environments in Ethiopia and Nepal. The research has generated new knowledge about how marginalised youth perceive, navigate, negotiate and respond to uncertainty, and how this may affect their rights and pathways out of poverty in impoverished fragile and conflict affected communities, which may be prone to environmental disasters Young people are facing increasing unemployment, more fragile and unpredictable environments and, in many places, the effects of religious, ethnic and political conflict. YOUR World Research shows that, when we include youth by listening to their views, a picture emerges of creativity and innovative ideas in the face of significant challenges. This site summary provides an overview of the main findings from the research activities carried out in the rural

area of Kapilvastu, Nepal, located in the south of the country, in the Terai or plains region bordering India.

Detailed research was conducted with 60 young men and women.

Partners in Nepal ActionAid Nepal Research Centre for Educational Innovation and Development (CERID), Tribhuvan University, Nepal Local Partner in Rural Kapilvastu SAHAJ NEPAL

T eam and Partners The research was carried out in the rural areas of Kapilvastu, Nepal in partnership with local organisation – Sahaj Nepal who have demonstrated their local expertise in working with the most marginalised children and youth on poverty, rights and participation.

Key Messages for Policy and Practice Young women from poor families need support to continue their education

Marginalised young people are unable to continue schooling because of poverty, dropping out from school before completing primary education. Young people from poor households have to work from a very young age to support their family. Young women in particular do not get enough time to study due to a heavy workload at home. Youth recommendations: Develop a policy to recognise young people’s care work in the home, and develop a support mechanism so that they can continue their schooling.

Develop employment plans focusing on poor and marginalised young people

In order to access employment opportunities, most of the marginalised young people, especially young men, tried to gain access to learning skills while in informal employment. These include driving, cooking, carpentry, repair work, house painting and sewing. Youth recommendations: Strengthen skills-oriented education and develop employment plans for marginalised young people.

Strengthen youth access to quality basic services

Young people do not have access to basic services in their communities, including health services. Barriers preventing marginalised young people from accessing services include having to walk long distances, cost, and the need for citizenship documentation, which not all can afford. Youth recommendations: Consider how to support the most marginalised, so they are not further discriminated against due to inability to access services and citizenship papers.

Address the problem of landlessness

Without land of their own, families are particularly vulnerable to poverty, environmental fragility and discrimination. Landlessness cuts across their livelihood, living situations and social contexts and has largely influenced the feeling of uncertainty. Youth recommendations: Address the problem of landlessness.

Gender and caste-based discrimination are still rife

Gender and caste-based discrimination are prevalent in the lives of marginalised young people. Based on socio-cultural norms and values, discrimination further perpetuates marginalisation of the most vulnerable young people. Youth recommendations: Address gender and caste inequality through public campaigns, in particular emphasising the value of educating girls.

Ensure safety and security of young women

Young women live in fear of violence and abuse, including rape and sexual harassment. Many have direct experience of abuse. Young people, including some young men, feel this gender discrimination must be addressed to ensure basic safety for young women in their pursuit of opportunities outside the home. Youth recommendations: Address gender discrimination through action on women’s safety and security in domestic, community and workplaces so that young women are and feel respected and safe.

Establish peaceful relations among different communities

Many young people were affected by conflict in this area, losing parents or siblings. The devastation happened in front of their eyes when they were small children. This has left a cohort of young people distressed and unable to continue schooling. Some young people have developed a retaliatory feeling. Youth recommendations: Support for establishing peaceful and equitable relationships across communities.

Dr Vicky Johnson, Principal Investigator, Goldsmiths Dr Andy West, Senior Research Fellow, Goldsmiths Signe Gosmann, Research Officer/ Fellow, Goldsmiths Andrew Church, Adviser, University of Brighton Ethiopian Team Dr Melese Getu, National Research Lead, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia Amid Ahmed, Debre Markos University Milki Getachew, PhD student, Goldsmiths Nepal Team Dr Sumon Kamal Tuladhar, National Research Lead, previously Unicef and CERID, Nepal Sabitra Neupane, HomeNet Nepal Shubhendra Man Shrestha, PhD student, Goldsmiths

Funded by: ESRC/DFID Poverty Alleviation Fund [ES/N014391/1 and ES/N014391/2]

February 2019

The feeling of uncertainty among marginalised young people in rural Kapilvastu is influenced by family poverty, heavy demands on their labour to support their families, lack of parental care, alcoholism, violence, changing cultural and social norms, landlessness and lack of access to public services.

“I feel marginalised as me and my family are living in slum. We do not have land ownership and other property in our name. I have a small hut with two small rooms here. Me and my parents do labour work and other seasonal work for living. There is no tube-well at home for water. I feel very bad going to collect water from either a neighbour's house or in the community. Me and my parents are poor. We do not have anything. When I was a child there was nothing at home. Now, I become older and can go for work and earn something myself." (Mohan, young man, aged 20, 314)

• Most of the young people are living with their parents, where there are heavy demands on their labour to support their families. While young women mainly are expected to perform household chores such as cooking, cleaning, washing dishes and taking care of cattle, young men are engaged in labour work at an early age to support their family financially.

• Many young people did not get the opportunity to go to school and therefore cannot read and write simple sentences. Young people dropped out from school at an early age because of commitments at home, long distances to school, or needing to contribute to family income.

• Some young people grow up in an abusive family environment, unable to access financial or emotional support from their parents. Many young people, especially young women were denied expressing their views and are not listened to.

“He [step-father] used to love me for his vested interest because he thought that If I work then he would have something to eat. He (step-father) used to think bad about me. He used to say that if I do [keep physical relations] with him, then we will have food to eat. I feel very sad that I was born as a daughter. I wish no one should suffer like me. I used to think - why was I born? I did not enjoy my life” (Sarbati, young woman, aged 24, 323).

• Some young people want to exercise economic freedom from a young age, prioritising risky work in the informal sector over education.

• Young people who dropped out from school have been engaged in different income generating activities. To the extent that young men find employment, it tends to be on construction sites or in factories. Young women tend to be engaged in agricultural work on a seasonal basis.

• Young people aspired to gaining skills in agriculture, factory work, electricity, video making, catering, tent making, generator repairing and cooking. The realisation of having skills increases their confidence.

• Young people spoke of labour exploitation in seasonal and factory work both in Nepal and in India. As rural Kapilvastu is close to India, Nepali young people experience wage depression due to influx of cheap labour from India.

• Young people feel discrimination based on caste, ethnicity, gender and poverty. Experience of conflict leaves some young men with a feeling of retaliation and rage.

“I belong to a poor family. I have experienced domination from higher class community. If I go to someone's house, they asked me to sit outside. If they are seated on a chair or bench, I have to sit on the ground. I do not feel that I am equal to them.” (Pankaj, young man, aged 16, 307)

• Experiences of flood and drought leave young people feeling insecure.

• Many young people are unable to access public services such as electricity and clean water.

• Mobile phones and social media are used by young people to connect with their friends and start a relationship, sometimes resulting in marriage. Inter-caste marriage is happening without parental consent. Young people feel social norms need to change, even if they appreciate some cultural traditions.

• A perception that ‘earning and saving money in Nepal is difficult’ among the most marginalised young men leads them to migrate to India and other countries.

• Young women’s mobility is restricted, due to social and cultural values and tradition in rural Kapilvastu. Married young women are not free to take decisions.

Main Findings

M ethodology

The methodology was co-constructed with marginalised young people, exploring their

perceptions of uncertainty, place and space, mobility and migration, transition and growing up, self/others, autonomy and relationships, and conflict and environmental crisis. Two cross cutting themes - strategies and interventions, what helps and doesn’t help in times of uncertainty – help provide insight for policy makers and practitioners. Participatory, creative and moving methods were used, and data was drawn from multiple sources including direct observations, interviews, physical artefacts, and audio-visual materials. Researchers spent time on-site interacting with the people studied.

L ocations

The rural areas of Kapilvastu remain among the poorest communities in Nepal. Research was carried out in

Devipur, Bishunpur, Vudihawa and Bahadurgunj. All these rural communities were affected by conflict, migration and environmental fragility. These research locations were selected on the basis of diversity in terms of religion and ethnicity, poverty, conflict and environmental fragility.

P articipants

Researchers have worked with marginalised young people aged 15 to 24 living in impoverished rural areas

of Kapilvastu, taking care to reach a gender balance in the sampling. The participant sample and criteria of marginalisation and vulnerability were developed through the inception and piloting phase of the research project. Snowballing was used to reach the most marginalised and a coding system was developed to monitor and report on the diversity of young people in the case studies.

R esearch

The research was conducted in five phases, using qualitative methods and applied creative and engaging

participatory and visual methods, such as mapping, rivers of life, photo narrative, network and support diagrams, free drawing. These enabled in-depth investigation of how uncertainty affects the lives and context of young people and how in turn young people seek strategies to shape their rights and change their contexts.

60 detailed and focused case studies were collected from rural Kapilvastu. Small group discussions with young people were organised prior to extended individual case studies, to familiarise participants with the research. The case studies from young men and women show how marginalised youth experience intersecting aspects of poverty, ethnicity, caste, religion, disability, education and socio-economic status. They provide an insight into the strategies employed by young people in the face of uncertainty. The findings were cross checked with 25 adults and 5 key stakeholders from the area.

What we did

Small group with young women in Devipur, Kapilvastu

Young women men expressing her uncertainty through drawing in Bishunpur, Kapilvastu

Young men making network and support diagram in Bishunpur

Young man making a rivers of life in Bishunpur