WELCOME ACCURO FIDUCIARY
TO YOUR YEAR 3 - Q1 PROJECT REPORT
CURRENT SITUATION IN NEPAL
With lock-down in Nepal being in full effect, it has been an unusual time for our projects, however we have adapted accordingly, protected funds and ensured continuity in our work. Lock-down in Nepal is currently due to lift on the 31st of August.
GIRLS EMPOWERMENT PROGRAM
Due to lock-down we have taken the vast majority of our program online, we have ensured that our girls have access to tablets, phones or laptops and have adequate data allowance to attend all meetings and are able to stay in constant communication with each other, councillors and the team leaders.
Throughout the quarter we distributed guides online and on hoarding boards in the villages offering information to particularly vulnerable young girls pertaining to anxiety and worries related to lock-down.
With the Information, Education and Communication (IEC) material on how to take care of your mental health, a character Usha (Usha translates to morning or dawn; signifying a new dawn for girls) an adolescent girl has been introduced. The character is designed to be relatable and will be a representative for other adolescent girls and used to disseminate information and generate awareness.
In addition to these social media posters specifically targeted to adolescent girls, other various posters about making girl friendly quarantine centres, correct use of sanitisers and masks, etc. have also been prepared and shared.
THE GIRLS IN THE MEDIA
Our girls have been recording educational videos to aid other girls throughout the region on topics from menstrual hygiene, abuse and staying safe during Covid-19 lock-down.
These videos have been picked up by local and national news channels to help support young women across the county.
The girls have also been sharing stories regarding their first period and the reaction, often negative or confused, from family and the treatment from their community.
This is groundbreaking in Nepal and we are incredibly proud of the girls speaking up about such sensitive topics, to give other young women support and confidence at this often difficult time in their young lives.
Through our partnerships with Aabhani Media’s Happy FM and Kawasoti FM; regular Public Service Announcements (PSAs) regarding girls empowerment are being aired along with 4 full episodes through Happy FM and 5 episodes through Kawasoti FM based around discussions with child rights and girls rights practitioners, activists, and stakeholders.
The episodes are also simultaneously posted live through Facebook Live.
To spread the girls individual activism work via their networks, the peer educators have utilised non-mainstream platforms like TikTok, with a substantial number of users that fall within the GEP primary beneficiary age group. This is replacing some of the interaction that the girls would usually have on visits to other villages and regions to discuss girls rights, their work and progress.
The skills that the girls have developed throughout this program have proved invaluable when looking after their families and educating their communities during this unusual time, further expanding the reach of our program the number of beneficiaries that it helps.
COVID-19 RESPONSE, Protect Complete.
Reaching 17 Municipalities across the areas in which we work in Nepal, this project provided thousands of deeply underprivileged people with the necessary equipment to safely detect and prevent the spread of Covid-19.
Working with district hospitals, eye institutes and health posts we provided hundreds of infrared thermometers and PPE sets along with thousands of KN-95 masks, surgical gloves, top gloves and paper masks. These institutions were severely under-stocked and in dire need of safe supplies to protect both staff at patients.
We also provided much-needed food and supplies to the deeply underprivileged families of the area who were left with no way of feeding themselves during lock-down
We distributed posters for hoarding boards and produced radio broadcasts and social media campaigns to inform residents of the more rural areas of best practices within their homes and villages to stem the spread of Covid-19, and what to do if infection reaches their village.
In total this project impacted, in varying degrees, approximately 50,000 people.
CHILD NUTRITION PROGRAM
Our child nutrition program lays ready and waiting to begin as soon as lock-down is eased. We still have full permissions and the team is ready to go. This project now more than ever will be of vital importance, we are monitoring the situation carefully for a launch date and assessing any aspects of the program that may need to be adapted for maximum impact during these unusual times.