English - Support to Participatory Constitution Building in Nepal ...

The Remake of a Statecommunity forestry alone is not ‘the answer’, it can make a significantcontribution to improving the lives of those living in poverty. In particular,CFUGs are trying to reach the bipanna households with a range of activitieswhich are captured by the acronym ‘FREELIFE plus H2O’ (see Box 4.3) andby establishing forest based pro-poor enterprises.3.1 Benefits for the bipannaThe acronym FREELIFE plus H2O are the livelihood assets that CFUGshave been providing to the bipanna households. These provisions are allwithin the mandate of a CFUG and can be provided without any furtheroutside support (see Box 4.2). The CFUGs are expected to deliver as manyprovisions as possible from the FREELIFE plus H2O package to the bipannain their group.Box 4.3 FREELIFE plus H2OThe main provisions of FREELIFE are access to group Funds, Representation in leadershippositions, training for Employment, scholarship for Education, access to community forestLand, Inclusion in decision making processes, and equitable access to Forest products andEnterprises. The additional H2O refers to Health, Humanitarian aspects (particularly forconflict victims) and support from Other organisations.Funds of the CFUG are made available to the bipanna against relatively low interest,between 0 and 24 per cent per annum with 24 per cent being the most common rate(private money lenders typically charge 40%). This is an important shift from the formerpolicies where group funds were exclusively used for community infrastructure (drinkingwater, schools, bridges etc.) for which it is difficult to claim that they are beneficial to thepoor.Representation of bipanna, other disadvantaged households and of women in general inCFUG leadership (committee membership) is encouraged by the CFUGs.Employment opportunities for the bipanna are identified by CFUGs where possible andprovisions made for training if this is necessary.Education is addressed by CFUGs by providing scholarships to the children of bipanna andin many occasions offering additional teachers to the schools.In Inclusion process, records are kept on who participates in meetings, with CFUG membersfrom more advantaged backgrounds being sensitised to encourage disadvantagedmembers to attend, to listen to their opinions, and give them space to raise their voice.Forest products from the community forest must be distributed in an equitable manner– equity meaning fair (according to need) rather than equal.Enterprises – see section 5.2.Humanitarian and Health supports are typically provided in emergencies, to help familiesthat are in a sudden destitute situation.73