KEY FINDINGS
In June 2016, the Inter-Agency Common Feedback Project collected feedback from communities (2100 respondents) across 14 earthquake affected districts on protection related issues. This was the second round of the Protection themed Community Perception Survey, and it was marked by a small (2 to 4 percent), but consistent improvement in community perceptions across all questions. Protection issues centered around water shortages, which came out prominently in the last round, conducted in May 2016, have lessened in this round, perhaps due to the approaching monsoon at the time of data collection.
In past CFP surveys conducted during the immediate earthquake response, and in other thematic surveys, there has not been a clear trend that would indicate lower levels of satisfaction or needs being met amongst lower caste respondents. However, when asked questions specifically related to protection themes (related to violence, tension, discrimination and mistreatment, among others) higher than average responses are observed by Dalit respondents on nearly every question in the Protection Survey.
Only 5 percent of people covered by the Protection Survey say there is a problem with violence within their community. However, at the district level there is significant variation. For example, in Dolakha 19 percent of respondents said there is a problem with violence within their community; nearly four times the national average. Respondents in Sindhupalchok and Gorkha also indicated higher than average levels of violence within their communities, at 11 and 9 percent respectively.
Finally, when it comes to providing feedback to government or l/NGOs on the recovery and reconstruction process, only 19 percent of respondents have provided feedback to government, and 15 percent to l/NGOs. It was also found that women are much less likely than men to provide feedback. The main reasons cited by respondents for not providing feedback include not feeling like anyone will listen, not feeling like it will change anything and not knowing where or how to provide feedback. This illustrates the importance of closing the feedback loop with communities to show them that their voices are being heard, and having an impact on reconstruction decisions.
Recommendations
- Protection partners, especially those working in Dolakha, should look into higher than average levels of perceived violence in communities in Dolakha, Sindhupalchok and Gorkha.
- All recovery and reconstruction partners should scale up their efforts to make feedback channels accessible to communities, and to demonstrate to those communities that their voice is being heard, and what decisions their feedback impacts.