NEPAL

NEPAL APC STUDY AT A GLANCE

RESEARCH PARTNER – YUWALAYA, NEPAL

Crisis context

The massive Gorkha Earthquake on April 25, 2015 affected 14 districts of Nepal. Landslides in the Himalayas and aftershocks followed it for days. 8,980 people died, whereas 195 are missing and 22,303 were injured; 202,157 houses were fully damaged and 214,202 houses were partially damaged. The earthquake affected the livelihoods of over 2.28 million households and 8 million people.

Nepal is a small and poor country where a majority of the population lives in rural areas. The destruction of lives, livelihoods and property was a major setback undoing many developmental gains made over the past many years. For example, Nepal had seen an 80% decline in maternal mortality between 1991 and 2011. However, 41% of children under 5 years are stunted, 11% are wasted, and 29% are underweight. The earthquake severely damaged healthcare infrastructure in the 14 most affected districts particularly putting pregnant women and young children at risk. Following the earthquake, women and children in Nepal are also at a greater risk for violence, sexual abuse and trafficking.

The Nepal research for IPA’s Access to Play in Crisis (APC) was conducted in two villages, Bhumlutar in Kavre disctrict and Kunchowk in Sindupalchowk district. Most of the earthquake victims are still in the temporary shelters and also in their old damaged houses. The government of Nepal had committed support of 200,000 NRs to rebuild their homes in three installments along with another 300,000 NRs as soft loan. But the process of getting the money is lengthy and complex. A few aid-providing organizations committed support to rebuilding the homes and schools, but due to political instability and financial mismanagement the reconstruction work is being delayed. Homes are being rebuilt by the affected people using the skills they have (along with new skills from different trainings) and materials purchased in the open market and also by re-using the materials salvaged from their broken homes. Impact on the right to play

The awareness of the right to play is currently missing in both the children and adult duty bearers. Consequently, the interventions for children at village level have not prioritized provision of space and resources for play nor sensitized the community for removing the social barriers to children’s play in ordinary times as well as in the rebuilding efforts after the earthquake.

Immediately after the earthquake no children played as they were too shocked and in grief over the loss of loved ones and their homes. However, as the rebuilding process started, younger children were sent out to play, but were asked to stay away from unsafe places, including the open spaces which were near fully or partially damaged buildings and steep slopes.

However, people used many of these open spaces, such as playgrounds and school premises, as sites for temporary shelters they built themselves with any available and salvaged materials. So, children mostly played on the roads, which were not safe due to movement of people and materials in the aftermath of the earthquake. In Sindupalchowk, there were still some open spaces that were safe for playing. But in Kavre, whose terrain had steep slopes and forest areas there were no safe spaces for playing. Barriers to playing • After the earthquake and the aftershocks that followed, the destruction around the children traumatized them and prevented even small children from playing. • As children were asked to go play in safe places while parents worked, lack of adequate playable open spaces in the villages or spacious playgrounds in schools prevented many types of play. • For girls above 11 years in age, permission to play is typically withheld as girls are expected to help with household chores or do homework while at home. However, when permission to play is given to girls after finishing all assigned tasks, they prefer to stay indoors and play games on their mobile phones.

The habit of playing outside gradually erodes away. • Older adolescent girls (15-18 years) are considered grown-ups and not only do they have no social permission to play, they also do not want to play at home and in the neighbourhood.

• After the earthquake, adolescent boys were engaged in the reconstruction of their destroyed homes. Also, as they are considered “big children”, they are not expected to play. So, they did not play at all, but instead talked to friends and relatives on mobile phones. • For younger boys the major obstacles to play are the lack of adequate game materials and safe places to play. Few admitted that their parents also do not allow them to play. • The fear of thefts and trafficking engulfed families and aid workers alike who were more focused on survival and protection of children rather than promoting the right to play. • Disabled children were tied up in safe open spaces to keep them out of harm’s way while their families were busy in rebuilding activities. • Right after the earthquake, the aid agencies were more focused on distributing NFRI and food items and not recreational materials or hygiene kits that were urgently needed by children. Child friendly spaces were also created only after many weeks. • The aid agencies prioritized work in the sectors of education, protection, livelihood and reconstruction. Across different organizations responsibilities were divided to cater to different areas so that there was duplication in the works through interagency cooperation. Right to play was on no one’s agenda. • The child club network in Nepal is well known as a platform for fulfilling the rights of the child. But most child clubs are working on specific issues and some rights based on the focus area of the different donors and NGOs supporting them. Though child clubs organize competitions for games and sports, no work has been done till now to improve opportunities for play and removing barriers that prevent everyday play or free play.

Coping and playing in situations of crisis

When the schools reopened after a month, they became the primary places where children of all ages could play safely and engage in sports and other recreational activities. Adolescent girls play traditional games of Chungi and Dhyak as well as badminton and kho kho in school. Many of the schools had child clubs that regularly organize sports and recreation activities for children. In the immediate aftermath of the earthquake the child clubs were not functional like the schools, but they resumed activities after the schools reopened. Some of them received material support from aid agencies such as stationery and art supplies. Some child friendly spaces were also set up in some schools in Sindhupalchowk district which benefitted the students attending the spaces.

Chungi: Leaves or rubber bands are bundled together and used as a bouncy ball which children bounce on their feet; the one with the maximum bounces wins.

Dhyak: this is a form of hopscotch that is played on a flat surface after drawing a grid and using stones.

For adolescent girls, if they do not get permission to play, they play in secrecy inside their homes and pretend to do something else when their parents come. Some girls from Sindhupalchowk maintained a daily diary as encouraged by their school as an outlet for their feelings and emotions in the situation of crisis.

Across the age groups children seem to use loose parts and their imagination to play in this devastated rural landscape. Younger children engage in a lot of construction play as they are constantly exposed to rebuilding activities around them. Sometimes, they also build their own houses (made up of wood, leaves, straw etc.), create their own household materials and play. They also engage in play-acting where they create their own story, and act it out. Nepal’s children’s ideas for fulfilling their right to play

Almost all the children of this research felt that they needed a safe play space in the center of their village that would protect them from wild animals and traffickers. They also wanted this ground to be equipped with game materials, water and toilet. In a context where water and sanitation are not universally available in all homes, this is a necessity from the perspective of health and well being of children in the community. The research team recommends: 1. Communities should recognize that girls and boys need to play everyday for their well-being and healthy development. Awareness needs to be raised on this issue and community outreach undertaken to remove the many restrictions on children’s right to play, particularly for girls. 2. Organizations working for children should include right to play within their program activities and create opportunities for girls and boys of different age groups to play safely in crisis-hit areas immediately after the crisis. 3. There is a need for sustaining programs started after a disaster through follow-up programs to remove the barriers to free play in normal times as well.

Nepal Research team:

Technical Lead: Santosh Maharjan Research Coordinator: Diwakar Pyakurel

Field research team:

• Sumikshya Khadka • Kabita Basnet • Deepak Sunuwar • Jenish Maharjan