NGOs and Government in National Development

National development is such thing which cannot be done by the lonely effort of anyone either that may be government, non governmental organizations or so on. So, most government of the world has now days realized that the government alone cannot provide all services required for public at large. Possibly, the government machinery may not be able too go to the grass root level, especially in remote, rural and hilly areas.

While NGOs, basically local NGOs could go and see every nook and corner and provide services as per the existing rules and regulations of a given country. In this way the undeveloped areas can be reduced by adopting different ways and such ideas should be taken from the government as well as non- governmental organizations in due time.

For this the government and the NGOs should work in close cooperation and coordination. For national development political determination, policy formation and implementation, public awareness raising programs and people’s participation are highly needed. In such a way the NGOs could support government initiatives on the one hand and play an important role in the country’s development by bringing specialized knowledge, technical expertise, research capacities, local contacts and community support to the process on the other.

Basically, on the whole, NGOs are being classified into two groups namely- National non governmental organizations and international non governmental organizations. NGOs and Ingo’s are such organizations which should work as selfless, voluntary and non profit making organizations.

The services provided by the non governmental organizations should be non- discriminating. Programs should not contradict with the government policies and the laws. NGOs should work and act as the watchdog as well as casting crucial eye over the current events.

Governments and NGOs should carryout awareness and educational programs through publication and mass media. It is well known that with an increased involvement of NGOs and other civil society groups we will be able to improve the quality of our services of the people.

NGOs could implement programs to increase agricultural productivity, expand economic and social opportunities for women, provide health care, build schools and training halls, protect the environment, and increase access of the poor to financial resources through micro credit, poverty reduction and so on.

NGOs have easy access to the grass root level than the government and are able and willing to go door to door. Hence, community people have more trust and narrow gap with NGOs than the government, while government officials think that are the masters not the servant of the public which is truly incorrect.

We must acknowledge that the legitimacy, role, function and significance of the NGOs and government cannot be ignored. These days NGOs share with the government and corporate dominion a social responsibility to address the contemporary burning issues of human rights, disaster, diseases, terrorism, weapons of destruction, education, business, politics, environment, economy, family, and many other fields.

In view of above situation it is vivid that NGOs can bring change in the society and contribute towards sustainable development for which the government should encourage, support and empower them. At the same time cooperation and coordination among the NGOs as well as government must be improved.

Land degradation in Nepal: A menace to economy and ecosystem

Land is the principle resource in the world. Land degradation means the loss in capacity of land to support growth of useful plants on a sustained basis. It is a complex phenomenon. Natural calamities like landslides in the hills, drought in most of the terai have frequently occurred. Most of all, flooding has become the major cause of land degradation leading to the poor socio-economic conditions and the deterioration of the natural ecosystems.

Removal of top fertile layer of soil by water is a critical problem in the mid hills. In the past, the perennial streams of clean water trickling from the hills supported good agriculture in the plains. In less than 30 years, unrestricted tree felling, cutting, overgrazing, random cultivation on steep slopes without proper terracing has aggravated the soil loss. Apart, from the loss of productive top soil it has further damaged the land and water resources due to siltation of dams and deposition of thick and sandy plains of the Tarai Rivers.

Rivers in Nepal have damaged more than 400,000 hectares of productive agricultural lands. The extent and severity of damage have increased year after year due to frequent changing nature of mountain- rivers, farmlands near river bank are washed away by flooding, crops are ruined and width of rivers widen every year during monsoon.

Nepal’s rivers carry around 336 million tons of soil per year to the main river systems entering India. The productive of riverside lands has been seriously affected by silting, flooding, and deposition of pebbles. Furthermore, the river damaged the areas of middle mountains of Nepal suffer from excessive grazing pressures of domestic animals. The natural succession has been inhibited by excessive grazing pressure as well as flash floods during the Monsoon.

In Nepal land degradation has been occurred in all the physiographic regions of the country. Indiscriminate felling of trees and clearing forest areas for agriculture has given rise to the scarcity of the essential needs of rural people such as fuel, wood and small timber. These activities along with populations’ pressure and improper land use patterns have led to serious environmental degradation. In Nepal land degradation includes physical, biological and chemical degradation.

Both the natural conditions and human activities have contributed to the degradation of land. Fragile geological structure, forest fire, avalanches and dry landslides are some of the major cause of land degradation whereas deforestation, overgrazing, farming on the steep slope, construction works and excessive use of chemical fertilizers are some major examples of human induce cause.

Increasing population, fragile economy and sometimes farm policies and fuel to it. In its natural condition land is covered by forest trees and other natural vegetation. Trees leave control the speed of the raindrops and allow them to go down to the land surface slowly, which is the favorable condition for the growth of plants and micro organism in the soil.

When trees are felled and the roots mats are destroyed, the soil is the subject to soil erosion by full force of the rains. Heavy rain removes nutrients by washing away the thin top layer of soil and by leaching nutrients deed into the sub-soil thus making it unavailable to plants roots. Air is as much important to soil quality as mineral nutrients and compacted soil poses serious threat to environment in the form of land degradation.

Forest help to maintain the temperature at a lower level and prevent them from rising. In the absence of forest, the entire heat that is not absorbed by the atmosphere but strike the earth’s surface are reflected by the earth’s surface, leading to a rise in atmosphere temperature. The heavy grazing pressure on grazing lands in the mountain areas has speed up the soil erosion, which led to increased run off and compaction of soil.

Cultivation on steep slope without taking considerations of improved farming such as terracing in steep slope, use of organic manures and so has contributed to the soil erosion which has resulted in high water turbidity, which further leads to the harmful effects to the aquatic flora and fauna including fish species. Development activities such as construction of roads, buildings, dams and so have further added fuel to it.

All these activities have resulted in the poor socio-economic status and imbalance in the natural ecosystems. Decreased land productivity and wash away of agricultural land due to flooding have given rise to the poor socio-economic status of rural people in Nepal. The productivity of riverine ecosystems has decreased.
It is clear that due to the lack of effective implementation of counter measures, the land degradation problem is increasingly becoming a challenge for the economy and natural ecosystems in Nepal.

It is realized that the balance between the land degradation and restoration rates should be maintained so as not to further degrade the land. The effective implementation of land restoration measures with full fledged political and bereaurocratic commitments and sound technology are urgently required.

Early warning systems in disaster risk management

Everyday, people around the globe are threatened by storms, floods, droughts, landslides, earthquakes and other natural hazards and suffer because of their social, economic, geographic and environmental circumstances.

Every year news highs are being recorded for economics looses from natural disasters and the human costs are even greater. Nearly a million over the last decade by disaster caused by storms, droughts, floods and earthquake. The loss of human lives and materials could have been avoided if the proper precautions and measures had been in place.

In case of Nepal, many poor groups were hit very hard by the annual flood and landslides, firstly by the loss of the family and homes and then by the loss of livelihoods. Reducing people’s vulnerability to natural hazards is an essential condition for reducing property and achieving the Millennium development goals. Policy makers are beginning to recognize that preparedness for natural hazards needs to be an integral part of national and international development policies and practices.

Generally it is the poorest people living in the poorer parts of the world who are most affected by national hazards. Disasters risks can be countered through approaches such as public awareness, campaigns, knowledge of hazards and vulnerabilities, community preparedness programs, early warning systems evaluation plans long term land use planning and environmental protection and the application of sound building codes. Through these means governments and communities can help people to become more resilient to hazards and their impacts and thereby reduce the chance that hazards events turns into disasters.

Early warning systems are a major element of disaster risk management and reduction. To be effective early warning systems need to actively involve the communications at risk, facilitate public education and awareness of risks, effectively disseminate messages and warning and ensure there is constant state of preparedness. Early warning systems help for public safety adds the protection of human lives. It is also useful for the protection of nation’s resource base and productive assets.

Conversely by reducing the impact of disasters a government avoids the financial and political burden of massive rehabilitation costs. Investing in early warning and other measures of disasters reduction is neither simple nor inexpensive but the benefits of doing so the costs of failing to are considerable.

The reduction of environmental losses can if properly managed and publicized, have both long term benefits to the economy and short term benefits for the administration in-charge. In many parts of the world, communities do not have effective early warning systems for the hazards they experience. Early warning systems need a strong scientific and technical basis. They can be linked to bring efficiencies and economics of scale to help secure the sustainability of systems for rare hazards.

In fact people centered early warning is a system, not a technology. Warning allows people to act in order to present hazards from becoming disasters. Effective early warning saves lives, reduces economic loss, reduces disruption in society and instills confidence and a sense of security in the public. It is also an important component of the foundation of a sound economy. Effective early warning system requires strong technical foundation and good knowledge of the risks.

They must be strongly people centered with clear message dissemination systems that reach those at risk managers and the public. Although natural disasters are not precisely predictable, they are most often generally foreseen able. In other words, there are many areas where the occurrence of floods is likely; one doesn’t necessarily know exactly when, but one knows they will occur sooner or later.

Many natural hazards can be foreseen of anticipated from past experience, the analysis of current patterns of land use or population distribution. Early warning systems as well as other disasters reduction application needs to new motivated and based within government responsibilities, especially since response to disaster may require exceptional executive powers for a specific period of time but it success cannot be accomplished without the benefits of widespread decision making and the participation of many others.

One of the effective ways of mitigating the impact of natural disasters is through the provision of state of the art warning services which enable communities to prepare for the approaching storm, flood or other natural hazards and to take those measures necessary to avert the loss of life and minimize the damage caused to property and the environment.

Although government is responsible to protect its citizens to the best to the best of it’s ability; they cannot do it alone; all sectors of society must contribute. Generally in case of emergency the private sector offers complementary resources and necessary infrastructure that are needed for disseminating warnings; civil society provides social infrastructure at the grassroots.

The use of already existing capacities is not only effective but ensures the continuity and maintenance for the system. The cost of the government of implementing nationwide warning systems is significantly less when other stakeholders contribute to the costs for maintenance, management and service. It is also important that there be adequate oversight of the performance of the vital functions associated with an early warning systems; this can only be provided when multiple players are involved.

Despite the improvement in early warnings technology and communication systems, natural disasters still cause death in a massive scale year after year. There are already many indications that the scale of disasters around the world is likely to increase further in future.

Relevant causal factors include global population growth the concentration of people and valuables in large conurbations, settlements in and industrialization of extremely exposed regions such as flood plains, the increased susceptibility of modern societies and technologies to natural hazards and above all global environmental and climate change.

Major issues of child labour in Nepal

So far the child labor in Nepal is concerned, poverty is the main cause of worst form of child labor. Rural people are mostly suffered from larger family size and small land holding problems which make them main supplier of child labour. It is also estimated that four children out of five are trooped in the worst form of child labour.
The child being a very innocent illiterate and unknown person is exploited very much by the society and this is also one of the vital causes for worst form of child labour. The degree of exploitation from different ways can be listed below.
62 % children enter the work force between the age of 10-14 years.
Girls are more exploited then boy that is why they start working earlier than boys. This is reflected in the findings from different reports that 28.9% of girls in the worst forms of child labour are in the age group of 5-9 years compared to 1603% of the boys of the same age.
While working only 17.8% of the children mostly boys are allowed to attend school.
Among 38.4% of the domestic child workers are paid salary but in 59.3% of the cases parent collect the wages. This practice is more prevalent among girls children where parents collect the wages of 78.6% of the working girls.
31.6% of the boy left their workplace for another work due to low remuneration and 52% of the girl children reported that harassment was the most important reason for learning.

In many cases the salary paid to the children especially girl children in the worst forms of child labour is very low and most are not paid at all.
Though the children are exploited in every activity like above, they are now still leaving home as child labour due to the lack of love, care , proper guidance and inadequate health and food. They work between 11-15 hours a day and hardly had rest time.