2018 sees the launch of exciting and brand new partner programs for GoPhil!

Over the course of many years working in Nepal, we have met with a large number of very strong NGOs working to tackle the enormous problem of trafficking in the country. However, we also noticed that there weren’t many opportunities for all these NGOs to collaborate and coordinate with each other – something that is such a crucial step towards ending the growing problem of both in-country and cross-border trafficking. Central to GoPhil’s philosophy is that partnerships are needed for systemic change.

At the end of 2017, GoPhil launched our first ever seed grants fund to support pilot projects that promote better collaboration in tackling trafficking. This is a new and very different approach for GoPhil, as we normally develop longer term partnerships with grassroots organizations. However, we were eager to understand the impact that a small grant can make to an NGO keen to pilot a new innovative idea.

First, we spoke to several other organizations who also run similar seed grants programs elsewhere in the world to benefit from their experience and learning in this area. Then we circulated the Call for Proposals widely amongst our networks and received a large number of very strong proposals from a wide range of NGOs across the country, both big and small organizations, many whom we had never met before.

After a very thorough review and selection process, we settled on four very different but innovative proposals. Our four new seed grant partners are:

  • Umbrella Foundation and Forget Me Not – two NGOs working to prevent the trafficking of children to orphanages – are developing an animation film to raise awareness of the risks of volunteering in orphanages in Nepal and the links these orphanages have to the trafficking of children from remote parts of the country. This is an exciting collaboration as it’s the first time these two organizations (both doing very similar and important work) have collaborated on a formal basis.
  • Child Rescue Nepal – a current partner of GoPhil – has developed an interesting plan to build the capacity of an existing network of organizations in Makwanpur district, one of the districts with the highest rates of child trafficking. This network has been working together informally but previously lacked the funds to reach its full potential and become stronger and more effective.
  • Kumudini – a relatively young NGO that has been working on girls’ rights since 2014 – will be collaborating with a small local partner in Nukwakot district to raise community awareness of child trafficking. They will primarily be working through local schools and with the newly elected Village Council members.
  • The Forum for Nation Building – an NGO set up by young Nepalese wanting to build a better country – have developed a plan to work with two other organizations to establish 30 Migration Schools in five districts of Nepal. These will educate communities on safe migration and the risk of trafficking.

We were thrilled that the projects selected all have a different approach to tackling the problem and that they will cover such a broad geographic area. The seed projects all started on 1st January and will be completed within six months. Our next step will be to organize a meeting between GoPhilanthropic and all the participating organizations in July in Kathmandu for us to share the results of the projects with each other and any learning that came out of them. We are very excited to see how this innovative new model works and look forward to sharing the outcomes with you later in the year!

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