NGO Federation Organizes An Event To Discuss The Impact Of Covid-19 On CSOs KATHMANDU, 26 July 2021: NGO Federation Nepal (NFN) organized a virtual discussion on the report on impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on civil society organizations (CSOs) on Monday 26 July 2021. The report prepared by a team led by Dr. Dipendra KC discussed the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in Nepal, especially on social organizations and CSOs across the country. The study focused on understanding CSOs’ response to the pandemic, their perception of the response of the government during the pandemic, and illustrating their perspective on the state of freedom of expression and the freedom of association during Covid-19. The study covers the situation during the first wave of Covid-19 in 2020. As per the report, 87% of the CSOs reported a reduction in their ability to deliver programs and services. With an improvement in the pandemic’s situation, the organizations also reported a slight improvement in their ability to provide services. Moreover, even with some improvement in the capacity, 58% of CSOs still reported a decline in their ability to deliver regular programs. Similarly, 14% of the organizations reported a complete halt to their programs and services. The finding was itself alarming when approximately 1400 CSOs were reported of not being able to deliver their programs and services for nearly a year Similarly, the report states that advocacy-oriented organizations reported a slightly higher impact on their ability to deliver regular programs and services. Covid-19 affected the registration of new CSOs as well. There was a decline of 89% in new registration in 2076/77 as compared to that of 2075/76. Similarly, new project approvals saw a decline of 8%.Meanwhile, the report has raised a few concerns as nearly 6 out of 10 CSOs expressed their worry over not being able to meet the registration/renewal deadlines. Similarly, 4 out of 10 CSOs were moderate to severely concerned about having to lay off their employees for a long period and half of the organizations were concerned about not being able to cover their operational expenses. Almost half of the CSOs were concerned about not being able to cope up with an increase in demand for their services as well as not being able to meet face-to-face with the community they serve. CSOs responded that they contributed approximately USD 30 Million during the first wave of the Covid-19 outbreak. Over 400,000 volunteers actively contributed during the pandemic whereas 50,000 paid staff laid their role in response and recovery during the first wave of the pandemic. CSOs contributed approximately 157,000 PPE sets and other sanitary kits during the first wave of the pandemic. According to them, their top three response activities included the distribution of sanitary kits, awareness generation, and sensitizing communities. 8 out of 10 CSOs served people from the Dalit communities while 6 out of 10 CSOs provided support to indigenous people. In general, CSO leaders were not found to be satisfied with the government’s measure to contain the Covid-19 spread. The satisfaction score was reported to be 2.74 on a 1 to 5 scale, which indicates a relatively low level of trust and satisfaction in the government. CSOs in Province 2 reported the lowest level of satisfaction while those from the Karnali Province expressed a comparatively better level of satisfaction. CSOs expressed a relatively better satisfaction with the effort of the local government when compared to that of the province and federal governments. At the discussion event, Puskar Khati, Member-Secretary of Social Welfare Council said that they were trying to address key concerns of CSOs, including problems they faced during this crisis. "It is our responsibility to collectively handle the crisis situation through mutual coordination. CSOs in Nepal have done a great job in crisis response in Nepal and will continue to do", he stated. Likewise, the Join-Secretary of the Ministry of Women, Children, and Senior Citizen, Krishna Prasad Parajuli assured Ministry will always support these kind of studies deemed very important for the organization . He admired the role of NFN in organizing meaningful events and discussion programs during the Covid pandemic. Similarly he also stated the importance of CSOs in every walk of life and acknowledged that the pandemic had impacted every sector. He assured of the government's co-operation and support to the civil society organizations so that they can further better their services to the society and people. "We should plan our programs to effectively fight against Covid and the ministry will provide adequate support and collaboration", he added. Similarly, CSO leader Shanta Lall Mulmi said that CSOs and the government should coordinate with each other during the crisis. Similarly, he also mentioned that youths have played a crucial role, through different initiatives during this crisis and this needs to be highlighted. Assistant Professor Dr. Dipendra K C, who is also the Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs, Thammasat University, School of Global Studies, mentioned that CSO leaders, in general, are not very satisfied with the government on their covid containment measures. On a scale of 1 to 5, the mean satisfaction score was 2.74, indicating a relatively lower level of satisfaction, as per him.
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