NGO Federation of Nepal (NFN)

Introduction

The genesis of NGO federation of Nepal (NFN) is the result of constant struggle of civil society organizations in nepal. Established in 1991 for the promotion and protection of social justice, human rights and pro-poor development, NFN has evolved as a national organization that works for the entire NGO movement in Nepal.

NFN is a democratic organization run by a team of NGo professionals who volunteer their services to achieve the vision of NFN. It is an autonomous,independent and politically non-partisan organization, governed by its own constitution. It has prepared and enforced a Code of Conduct(CoC) to increase accountability and transparency of NGO's in their operations. The CoC has been widely disseminated to its member NGO's and efforts are going on to observe its compliance by all members.

NFN has more than 3400 member NGOs affiliated to it through 75 district chapters. To coordinate and mobilise its member NGOs in carrying out various pogrammes effectively and efficiently, NFN has five regional committees, one in each development region.

Vision

NFN envisions a democratic and just society through a vibrant and strengthend NGO movement striving for economically sustainable, socially equitable and environment freindly nation.

Mission

* Oganize and mobilize people to promote democratic and just society.
* Strengthen the NGO movement and promote capacitybuilding processes.
* Safeguard the autonomy of civil society and works a change agent.

* To strengthen a dyanamic and pro-people NGO movement of nepal thus ensuring the autonomy and freedom of civil society.
* To enhance the capacity of NGOs for improving organizational good goverance.
* To mobilize member organizations to implement pro-poor development initiatives.
* To promote and protect human rights, social justice and lasting democratic peace.

Strategic Framework

NFN has adopted a four pillar strategy to meet the needs of its members in the current period of political transition. The four pillars are:

* capacity building and NGO governance reform.
* Women empowerment and inclusion.
* Youth empowerment.
* Broad-based civil society networking.

NFN's vision of a democratic and just society can only be achieved by building the capacity of civil society agencies and improving their governance, empowering women and promoting inclusion at all levels.
Mobilising youth and through broad-based civil society networking for social change.The NFn has a great responsibility on thesefronts. To fulfill this responsibility,the NFn will focus on the following broad-based thematic areas:

* institutional strengthening.
* political transition and emerging issuess.
* Women and children issues.
* Youth issues.
* Dalit and janajati issues.
* influence in national and international policy area.
* issues of marginalized and geographically excluded peoples.

NFN aspires to mobilise both individuals and institutions to initiate change of their own choosing. Linking local initiatives with international policy can be a catalyst for making an impact at various levels.

NFN will implement its strategy through the following five management departments (The sixth department being financeand administration) with a focus on thematic areas:

* Advocacy and Networking Department.
* institutional Development Department.
* Capacity Building and NGO Governance Reform Department.
* Women and inclusion Department.
* Research and communication Department.

NFN's basic approach is to engage in issue-based advocacy, awareness raising activities, social mobilisation and campaigns to sensites people to thir rights and responsibilities. This will also empower people to participate in policy change initiatives and training on rights-based approach to development and institutional good governance, on-site coaching and supervision, interface discussions and round-table dialouge for NGO members and personel and comply with the NGO CoC, NFN rules, policies and Guiding principle.

The NFn will strengthen its partnerships with othercivil society federations,alliances and pressure groups extending relations with international organizations and networks, thereby expanding its recognition as a confederation. NFN will facilitate leadership development support in order to develop the second-line leadership of NFN and the NGO movement. For this, exposure visits, leadership training and formal and informalexperience sharing sessions will be planned. To accelerate NFN secretariat functions, issue and sector specific human resource will be developed.Relevant training courses at national and international levels,exposure visits and on-the-job training will be provided to upgrade the professional skills of NFN committee members and staff.