Introduction

SAMAGRA’s long term vision centers around a self reliant, development oriented and dynamic society, ensuring human rights to every individual. It has underlined the mission to empower the marginalized and the absolute poor communities through the promotion of socio-economic and human capital adopting good governance, to claim and exercise their rights. To that end, SAMAGRA’s promoters had successfully experimented its holistic development approach in Jhadeba, VDC (where majority of the people consist of Dalits, adibasi-janajatis including other poorest vulnerable people) in Palpa district as far back as in 1985, at the time when the whole concept/practice of NGO was quite new in Nepal. The approach aimed at political and socio-economic empowerment of the target people for their self-reliant all-round development through the formation and empowerment of “Social Families (SFs)” organized amongst the rural communities under the supervision/inspiration of SAMAGRA field level staff, who, with the help of professionals, impart with relevant need- based skills, knowledge and information to the concerned people.

In May 4, 1996, SAMAGRA was registered in Kathmandu District Administration office and affiliated to Social Welfare Council. Now it has six “District Social Families” registered in six respective districts: Siraha, Saptari and Udaypur, Dhading, Gorkha and Lamjung and has district office along with regular staff and part time volunteers in each of these districts. In addition to these, SAMAGRA’s program covers additional seven districts: Bhojpur, Shankuwashabha, Sunsari, Dhanusha, Mahotari, Tanahu and Jumla and has a target to cover additional 13 districts in middle Terai and mid-western region in the next five years and all 75 districts in the next 15 years.

SAMAGRA began its empowerment campaign with a focus on livelihood & infrastructure development (by forming and mobilizing IGGs – Income Generation Groups, which were / being upgraded to Social Families later), and since 2002, adopted two-pronged strategy: rights-related awareness and livelihood empowerments, i.e. Civil & political rights along with 2nd & 3rd generation rights, the conflict transformation and GESI (Gender Empowerment and Social Inclusion) being the cross-cutting ones.

In order to ensure that the grass-root SFs become self reliant, they will form (have already formed in six districts) “District Social Family” registered in the respective district as an independent organization with necessary organizational capacity. The district SFs are affiliated to SAMAGRA and institutionalized to adhere to SAMAGRA’s philosophy and methodology of overall empowerment/development. SAMAGRA has also adopted cooperative movement as one of the components of its campaign. All the SFs in each VDC form and run a cooperative or get affiliated with the existing one which will help them strengthen SF’s concept of cooperation within the community. They will act as a legally registered local financial institution for mobilizing local financial resources and will help SF members meet their enhanced individual financial need.

SAMAGRA’s grass-roots level partners / networks mobilized through Regional offices, district offices and 60 volunteers include:

  • 516 Social Families & 911 IGGs (being converted to SFs) with more than 50,000 HHs
  • 42 Cooperatives (7 Women cooperatives)
  • 6 District Social Families (registered in concerned districts)
  • Networking/alliance with other organizations
Diversity / Inclusiveness in the organization In GA In EC   
Total43995
In GAIn the BoardStaff
Women16558
Dalits12320
Adibasi Janajatis17333
Madhesi11241
Backward Community3-5
Bahun-Chhetri-Dasnami16230
Differently able
1--

Present programs

Governance Facility
The Governance Facility is an initiative of the embassies of Denmark and Switzerland, and the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) set up in agreement with the Government of Nepal. A Partnership Agreement was signed between the Governance Facility and SAMAGRA on 15th October, 2015 to support for the implementation of “Empowering Marginalized People for Peace Building and Democratic Development” project covering a 3 years period from November 1, 2015 to 31st December 2018.

LGCDP-II

Local Governance and Community Development Programme (LGCDP) II which is a government led program jointly financed by the Government of Nepal and Development Partners that mainly focuses on local governance and community development sectors. LGCDP has been supporting 75 District Development Committees (DDCs), 217 Municipalities and 3,157 Village Development Committees (VDCs).
Samagra Bikash Sewa Kendra is acting as one of its Local Service Provider (LSP) in Kathmandu and Lamjung since 2013. The overall goal of the LGCDP II is to contribute towards poverty reduction through better local governance and community development.

Poverty Alleviation Fund

PAF is created by Government of Nepal as a special and targeted programme to bring the excluded communities in the mainstream of development, by involving the poor and disadvantaged groups themselves in the driving seat of development efforts. It seeks to improve living conditions, livelihoods and empowerment among the rural poor, with particular attention to groups that have traditionally been excluded by reasons of gender, ethnicity, caste and location. It has implemented its program in 59 districts. Samagra has been acting as its partner organization to implement its program in Dhading district.

Other international partners which supported in the past were USAID, GTZ, ActionAid and CCO.

 

Audit Report Fiscal Year  2017-18