Munuwa VDC located at south eastern part of Kailali district. A total of 1961 households, almost indigenous community Tharus have been living and many people are poor and landless. Majority of illiteracy, they have less access to government services including micro-credit services and no aware on their rights. Due to less entrepreneurship culture, nobody engaged in income generation activities and adopting traditional agriculture practices.
In last year 2014, The Lutheran World federation (LWF) Nepal’s implementing partner Digo Bikash Samaj (DBS) implemented ‘Peoples Actions for Community Empowerment (PEACE)’ project under Nepal Development Program for the purpose of socio-economic upliftment and community empowerment. Since beginning of the project implementation, the field staffs facilitated to form cooperative namely Melmilap Saving and Credit Cooperative Ltd by uniting eleven groups. The project supported in diverse areas; cooperative management, leadership development, capacity building on book keeping, facilitate to develop policies, bylaws and providing grants of NPR 50,000.00 as revolving fund for pro poor members. Because of awareness raising on government services and local planning process and helped them to empower for systematically claim their rights. As a result, their confident raised to submit proposal to Munuwa VDC for income generating activities and Agriculture Service Center for vegetable marketing items. Once after the proposal submission and series of lobbying in various forums, they were succeeded to endorse their plan in DDC council at Kailali and received 85 crates from agriculture service center as well as office space from VDC. Out of the total crates received, they distributed 50 crates to group members and rest will be used at collection center managed under the cooperative. In the same time, the Munuwa VDC provided NPR 5000.00 to celebrate earthquake day through cooperative.
Now, 225 group members are the shareholders at the cooperative which is increasing order and accumulated NPR 356,269.00 and mobilized NPR 325,000.00 in productive sectors. Similarly, they are coordinating concerned stakeholders to increased access to governmental services, tapping resources and create awareness to their members on human rights, advocacy through organizing different empowerment campaigns, day celebrations, encouraging everyone for income generating actions.