South-Eastern Nepal
Hotspot start date: November 2014
In south-eastern Nepal, the Freedom Fund is investing in a comprehensive intervention to address agricultural debt bondage slavery affecting whole families. NGO partners are enabling groups of these families to organise together for their human rights, through developing economic alternatives and micro-credit, as well as focusing on rights to land and enabling former child slaves to benefit from non-formal education and then integrate into village schools. We are also supporting the capacity building and leadership of the Harawa-Charawa Network, a network of Harawa-Charawa bonded labour survivors representing the needs of their communities and advocating to end bonded labour.
Read the South-Eastern Nepal Hotspot 2021 Annual Report.
Click here to read more about the south-eastern Nepal hotspot program.
Our impact as of mid-2022
Metric |
Total |
Lives impactedNumber of active, regular participants of programs supported by the Freedom Fund. Includes members of community vigilance committees, self-help groups, individuals rescued from slavery, and those given educational, psychosocial or income generation services. Excludes those provided with one-time information. |
69,320 |
Total investedTotal funds invested in hotspot programs since the Freedom Fund’s inception. |
$7.2m |
Cost per personAverage cost of community interventions per active, regular participant. Excludes grants made to partners working indirectly, e.g. at international policy level or for research and evaluation purposes. Excludes grants made for research and evaluation purposes. |
$96 |
Victims liberatedNumber of people liberated from any form of slavery, be it through gradual change of circumstance or shorter “rescue event”. The Freedom Fund’s approach is to only support liberations where services for survivor recovery are provided. We formalised this policy with partners in July 2016. Prior to this date a small proportion of reported liberations may not have included follow-up support. Survivor recovery services are provided (by Freedom Fund partner or other agency) to ensure the individual can resettle with their family or independently, and can access socio-economic and legal assistance to ensure their freedom can be sustained. |
1,844 |
Community freedom groups supportedNumber of active, local groups, including community vigilance committees and self-help savings and loans groups, formed or supported by Freedom Fund partners. |
703 |
At-risk children in schoolNumber of previously out-of-school children in slavery-affected communities now enrolled in formal or informal education as a result of Freedom Fund support. |
21,465 |
Graduates of vocational trainingNumber of slavery survivors or highly vulnerable individuals completing vocational training courses provided or referred by Freedom Fund partners. |
1,049 |
Micro-enterprises startedNumber of slavery survivors or highly vulnerable individuals who have started micro-enterprises or gained a new form of income as a result of Freedom Fund support. |
4,828 |
Individuals accessing social & legal servicesNumber of individuals provided with social and legal services by Freedom Fund partners. These services help slavery survivors recover from mental trauma as well as provide at-risk individuals with legal protection and options for recourse. |
15,502 |
Individuals with new access to gov't servicesNumber of people supported by our partners who gain new access to government entitlements such as employment rights, school places, pensions, compensation payments, ID cards, and land rights. |
23,365 |
Legal cases assistedNumber of individual legal cases that our partners provide any kind of support to, including advice, testimony, direct litigation, and witness protection. |
246 |
ArrestsNumber of arrests of traffickers and slaveholders in which one or more Freedom Fund partners played a key supporting role. |
24 |
ConvictionsNumber of convictions of traffickers and slaveholders in which one or more Freedom Fund partners played a key supporting role. |
1 |
Changes in public policyNumber of changes to public policy attributable in part to Freedom Fund partners. |
22 |
Media storiesNumber of media stories about slavery and trafficking that can be attributed to the Freedom Fund or its partners’ efforts to generate attention to the issue. |
781 |
OUR PARTNERS
Bhawani Integrated Development Centre (BIDC)
Community Development Forum (CDF)
Community Improvement Center (CIC)
Janachetana Dalit Sangam (JDS)
Tapeshowri Social Welfare Organization (TSWO)
Human Rights and Rural Youth Exchange (HURYC)
Dalit Jana Kalyan Yuba Club (DJKYC)
Dalit Society Welfare Committee Nepal (DSWCN)
Samriddha Foundation (SF)
Shripurraj Community Development Centre (SCDC)
Centre for Mental Health and Counselling (CMC)
Manakamana Training Course and Skill Development Institute Pvt Ltd
Rastriya Dalit Network (RDN)
Community Self-Reliance Centre (CSRC)
RESEARCH AND EVALUATION
- The Modern Slavery Trap: Bonded Labour. This briefing by the Institute for Development provides much-needed insight into appropriate policy interventions and future directions for research into breaking the cycles of bonded labour.
The following research study is underway in the south-eastern Nepal hotspot program:
- Participatory Evaluation of the south-eastern Nepal hotspot Institute for Development Studies, University of Sussex
- In partnership with the University of York and the Center for Mental Health and Counselling Nepal, we are piloting a mental health social intervention with bonded labourer communities. We will evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention by assessing the mental health and social support of bonded labourers participants and members of a control group.