Communication for Empowerment in Nepal

An assessment of communication and media needs among indigenous peoples of Nepal (2009), a report.



The following is the executive summary of the 103-page study by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Regional Centre in Bangkok:

Executive Summary
Indigenous peoples (IPs) in Nepal, known there as indigenous nationalities, remain a marginalized and vulnerable group largely excluded from the mainstream development process. They represent 37.2 percent of the population. A large number of IPs, particularly indigenous women, have been living in extreme poverty and face many development challenges, including limited access to natural resources, unequal access to healthcare, education, water and sanitation.

The changing socio-political climate in Nepal is witnessing increasing political participation of the IPs and demands changes in the governance systems in the country. But an informed participation of citizens in governance and other decision making processes requires access to information and effective communication channels. Therefore, this Communication for Empowerment assessment in Nepal aims to identify challenges and opportunities to enhance voice and participation of IPs in the governance and development process.

The C4E study is comprised of three main parts: the national overview study, the media and ICT landscape and the field assessment.

Inclusion and Development of the Indigenous Peoples
Since 2006, Nepal has been going through a major social and political transformation, including the election of the Constituent Assembly and the unprecedented process of creating a constitution to establish Nepal as a federal republic. The new constitution defines a new structure, and the right to self-determination lies at the heart of demands by indigenous peoples for greater recognition in this new structure. Decisions about the state structure and how it will be governed are the most contentious issues in the ongoing debate, and they will have implications for the inclusive participation and development of indigenous peoples for years to come.

The national overview study examines the diversity and complexity of the Nepali society with its various caste and ethnic identities. It also illustrates significant dimensions of language, religion, geographic areas and variations in development outcomes among the different groups of indigenous peoples. The expression of grievances and issues of the oppressed groups, including IPs, has brought 'identity politics' to prominence in Nepal. Collective mobilization of these groups has created an environment of ethno-political conflict. (See note 1) The cultural, social, political and economic differences between dominant caste groups and the subordinated IPs (and other excluded groups) run deep in the Nepali society.

Nepal faces a critical challenge in establishing social cohesion, especially given the conflicting demands among the various social groups. There is very little intergroup dialogue on issues of concern to indigenous peoples, especially in the mass media. IPs groups are often underrepresented in major governance institutions. A bureaucracy that is more inclusive and representative could help to ensure more effective development, particularly in the delivery of basic social services to IPs and other commonly excluded groups.

The current process of social and political transformation in Nepal provides a unique opportunity for the empowerment and mobilization of indigenous peoples. Over the past decade, groups representing IPs have become more organized and can now lobby and advocate for ending inequality and for building more inclusive democratic governance systems. The umbrella organization representing all indigenous peoples' organizations (IPOs) is the Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NEFIN). NEFIN notes socio-economic disparity among groups of indigenous peoples and recognizes the need for special efforts to support the livelihoods and development of the 'disadvantaged' groups.

The formation of an IPs caucus of representatives in the Constituent Assembly provides an excellent opportunity for amplifying demands and negotiating for desired policies and legal instruments for more inclusive participation. There are thus opportunities for incorporating the rights of IPs into the new constitution. Increasingly, the recent national development plans and policies have recognized the need for specific provisions to advance development of IPs an excluded groups. Currently, Nepal officially recognizes 59 groups of indigenous peoples. However, there is an ongoing process to identify and categorize groups that were not included in the earlier classification.

Media and ICT landscape
This section examines the media and information and communication technology (ICT) landscape in Nepal as it pertains to indigenous peoples, including the policy and legal environment, challenges and opportunities. Access to traditional media (print, TV and radio) and to new media is examined in terms of physical access, language, different types of media outlets and the use of ICTs. It also explores the role of the mainstream media in amplifying the voice and participation of indigenous peoples' groups in Nepali society, including the issues related to representation, ownership and coverage of their issues.

The key findings from the overview of the media landscape indicate that indigenous peoples' communities have relatively little access, voice and participation in the mainstream media. By and large, Nepal's media is owned and controlled by more socially and economically powerful groups or influenced by political parties. IPs and other excluded groups have low representation in the
media. Their demands are not always well represented or acknowledged. In addition, language remains a major barrier. Content in their first language (mother tongue) is still limited in the mainstream media. Furthermore, IPs often have low literacy rates in their first language, which means that the written word is not the most effective medium for access to information and communications. Resource and capacity constraints are two other major challenges, particularly for media organizations at the local and community levels.

Concurrently, indigenous peoples have very limited access to ICT-enabled communications. While access to telecommunication services is gradually increasing, the usage is rather inconsistent due to the inability to pay for the equipment and services as well as challenges to service reliability.

ICT services and applications have very low relevance to the majority of rural Nepalis, including IPs. Services and information provided on the Internet do not match the needs of users.

Nevertheless, new opportunities for enhancing access, voice and participation of IPs have emerged as the technological convergence of the traditional and new media comes closer to reality and services become more affordable. In addition, the new media and networked communication environments have transformed the communicative space driven by the use of modern technology such as the Internet, wireless technologies and mobile telephony. Through these new technologies, users and communities, including IPs, can create content themselves.

Other opportunities lie in the improvement of the existing media and communication channels, particularly community radio.

Potential of community radio and other forms of media

Radio remains a major medium for indigenous peoples to communicate with the rest of the society. It is an important source of information and is widely owned and accessible. As of July 2009, Nepal's broadcasting sector was comprised of 323 licensed FM radio stations and 12 television channels. About 195 FM stations claimed to be community radio stations of which more than 160 were broadcasting at that time. These community radio stations were owned and operated by non-governmental organizations (NGOs), cooperatives and local government bodies. Radio, especially FM, reaches large parts of the country. According to the Broadcast Audience Survey (2006-2007) conducted by Equal Access Nepal, radio is ranked as the second most preferred source of information (96 percent) after television (99.3 percent) in urban areas. It remains the most preferred information source (98 percent) in rural areas. Although Nepal has a fairly wide
network of community radio stations, they have not been used for C4E of the indigenous peoples.

This is an opportunity that can be explored as part of the social inclusion process.

Infrastructure and opportunities for new media and ICTs in the remote rural areas

Nepal has a basic fibre cable network connecting the plains districts and there are plans to connect all districts within five years. Upon completion, Nepal will have the basic infrastructure needed to expand communication outreach using ICTs and new media. However, there are issues around ownership and pricing of the infrastructure and its use for rural communications that need to be resolved before it can be effectively used to promote voice and participation of IPs.

Combinations of mobile phones, new media and mainstream media
Mobile telephony is growing rapidly in Nepal. Competition in the telecommunications sector has brought down prices, making this tool accessible to a growing number of people. Some efforts are already underway at using mobile phones for soliciting public opinion in the media. This can be used immediately to bring the voices of more IPs to the forefront on issues put up for vote.

Such initiatives can benefit from partnerships between organizations that represent IPs and the mainstream media. Potential opportunities through mobile phones and other ICT applications can help enhance media content and expand space for communications among indigenous peoples in the mainstream media. These communication channels could promote the voices of IPs on issues that matter to them, and ensure that their views are broadly reflected in the media at the national level.

Nepal has a National Information Commission for ensuring the right of the people to be informed. This provides another opportunity to ensure that IPs and other marginalized groups can access the information they need to make decisions affecting their lives.

Field Assessment
The field study on information and communication needs, challenges and opportunities for IPs provides data for verifying and complementing the national overview study as well as the review of the media and ICT landscape. It does not seek to provide a representative view of the entire indigenous population in Nepal. Indigenous peoples were involved in the research process as the targeted beneficiaries of the C4E initiative, and also as partners in participatory development.

These findings are expected to assist in devising intervention strategies and actions for addressing information and communication needs of IPs in specific groups and areas. They could also assist in planning C4E interventions for excluded groups in Nepal. The recommendations based on the key findings are, through extrapolation, applicable to other parts of Nepal. In addition, the experiences and lessons from the community level research are also expected to help in improving the methodology for national C4E studies to be conducted in other countries. The study examined information and communications separately and not as interchangeable concepts. On one hand, access to information is a precondition for empowering IPs through understanding of issues and rights. On the other hand, communication means the ability of the people to express their voice, participate in a dialogue and influence decisions that affect their lives. The two complement each other but also embody separate meanings, which are necessary for understanding and implementing the C4E study.

The study was conducted in three locations:
• Durgauli, Kailali district in mid-western Nepal;
• Syaphru, Rasuwa district in the central region north of Kathmandu; and
• Basantapur, Tehrathum district in the eastern region of the country.

The research locations were selected taking into account the time constraints and they do not necessarily fully represent the three indigenous groups -- Tharu, Tamang and Limbu -- to which the majority of respondents belonged. Nevertheless, the selection of locations was intended to achieve a broad conceptual understanding of the diversity, geographical spread and differences in development outcomes among the different groups. The locations were fairly easily accessible by vehicle and therefore, the IPs at the locations generally represented a higher level of development in terms of access to modern infrastructures compared to those living in remote areas.

The field research provides insights into the diversity in Nepal and how it influences the lives of the people, particularly their accomen in media, and increase the impact of women on media. In this regard, more efforts are needed to identify strategic responses and capacity building of indigenous women by:

• Convening the national meeting among women from indigenous communities to analyze the present situation and identify the reasons for low representation of indigenous women in media;
• Supporting capacity building for indigenous women in media, including training and coaching of indigenous women journalists;
• Supporting production of media programmes focusing on women's issues and coverage of issues relevant to women's lives;
• Promoting gender policies for radio stations to ensure the equal participation of women.

Exchange of experiences and lessons learned on C4E of indigenous peoples
There is a need to generate knowledge and capture lessons learned on indigenous media and C4E experiences as well as to establish a platform for knowledge exchange on C4E. Proposed areas for C4E intervention are to:
• Explore potential collaborations with existing regional forums and organizations;
• Establish a regional knowledge sharing mechanism to enhance knowledge and implementation of the C4E initiatives;
• Document, in video and print, issues related to indigenous peoples (e.g. cultures and livelihood outcomes) for sharing knowledge and experience with the larger indigenous community and society;
• Set up a mechanism for archiving indigenous knowledge related to C4E.

Notes
1 Ethno-political conflict, according to Ted Robert Gurr (1997:8,9) "has become the principle source of warfare, insecurity, and loss of life in the contemporary world" and such conflicts "are the principle source of humanitarian disasters" (genocide, mass political murder, civilian fatalities, refugee situations and internal displacement, etc.). Conflict experts from dominant groups often express concerns about the consequences of ethno politics or identity politics in Nepal. Intellectuals from subordinated groups argue that cultural or identity politics is eclipsing contemporary Nepali social politics of equality due to the latter's failure to accommodate differences and deepen democracy. (Subba, 2009)

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