United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) is the UN’s global development network
advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge,
experience and resources to help people build a better life.
UNDP is on the ground in 166 countries, working with them
on their own solutions to global and national development
challenges. UNDP has been supporting Nepal in its struggle
against poverty since 1963 in building up the capacity of
government agencies, civil society and community groups to fight poverty and to bring these
groups and Nepal’s donors together to design and implement
successful poverty alleviation projects.
Livelihood Recovery for Peace (LRP) is a UNDP project implemented
in the central Tarai Districts of Mahottari, Sarlahi and
Rautahat. The project socially mobilizes communities at
the village level and builds local capacities and institutions
for promoting peace and social cohesion through people’s
empowerment and transfer of resources for rehabilitation
and construction of infrastructures. The emphasis is on
working with the most vulnerable section of the population
having little or no land at all. This is because threats
to peace are often greatest in fragile, early post-conflict
settings when the state lacks the capacity to provide basic
services to the people. The context of choosing central
Tarai is that security is a challenge with the emergence
of latent conflicts. Poverty is relatively higher and there
is a pressing need to promote social harmony between the
people of hill and Tarai backgrounds. Underscoring common
priorities to build resilience in the post-conflict scenario
of the country is emphasised. The programme activities focus
on bringing communities together to work towards a common
vision and deliver tangible peace dividends. Empowering
women and promoting gender justice is imbibed in all project
activities as they have been historically marginalized.
Objectives
The overall objective of the project is to contribute to
restoring the foundations for sustainable development by
strengthening the capacities of communities and local institutions
to achieve sustained livelihood recovery and peace building.
Specifically the project aims to:
Promote peace and social cohesion at
the community level
Generate short-term employment as peace dividends
Enhance skills and knowledge of local youth on market
demand for long-term sustainable development
Strengthen various assets of rural households and
communities for better livelihoods
Strengthen capacities of relevant government and
other institutions to deliver livelihood recovery
services.
