Nanda Kumari in Sustainable Peace Building

Nanda Kumari Rai 31 is a conflict affected person living in Sahkhuwasabha, in eastern mountain region of Nepal, as her husband Bhisma Rai was kidnapped and murdered during the period of armed conflict. She lives in a tiny house with mud floor, and thatched roof. At the back of the house she has a dusty little plot where she grows maize, tomatoes. She has two children and old mother in law to look after. She is only the bread winning member of the family. Being the household head of a family with two siblings and old mother in-law, poor Nanda Kumari has to manage everything by herself after the death of her husband.

Nanda Kumari never went to school as the girl children rarely go to school when she was young. Though she is not formally educated she got trainings from Peace Building From Below Project(PBB) on managing conflicts in community, gender and social inclusion. “I can talk about the village development issues with donors, project staff and government line agencies myself and I can facilitate the local level conflict “Says Nanda Kumari. For her honesty and contribution in the community, Nanda Kumari has been elected as the treasurer of Sumnima Sagarmatha Mother Group in Khartmchha, Sanhkuwasabha. “I enjoy in contributing in development and peace building in my village and I will spend my life in peace building because I lost my husband in arm conflict and let there be no more armed conflict in Nepal again” says Nanda Kumari.

Gender Equality and Social Inclusion is one the main strategies adopted by Peace Building from Below Project, implemented by Rural Reconstruction Nepal with the support of Canadian International Development Agency(CIDA).A survey made after a year of project intervention showed that 30 percent of the Community Based People’s Organizations have made their structure Gender Equality and Social Inclusion friendly and 35 percent of Community Based Peoples Organisations have been able to solve the conflicts related to Gender and social inclusion by themselves.