Program monitoring and evaluation in the Western Region of Nepal

The Livelihood Education Development Society (LEADS) in Nepal manages a mental health and development program in partnership with BasicNeeds. The program focuses on improving access to community mental health services in two districts, Baglung and Myagdi, in the Western Region of the country. With support from the Department for International Development, the program has been operating since 2010.

Steve Fisher of Community Works conducted a monitoring visit to Pokhara, Nepal in April 2012 and worked with the team of LEADS to assess progress. He visited program partners and participants and reviewed the documentation for the program. Many individuals and families have benefitted from the work of LEADS including Mrs. Sunar, who lives on the fringes of Baglung in Nepal, on one of the hillsides overlooking the city.

Mrs. Sunar has faced many challenges and is working to overcome them. She works on a part-time basis doing light agricultural labour. She expressed a desire to start a small enterprise rearing chickens. With support from LEADS, she bought 23 chicks to keep around her house. Six months later, they are mature and she is benefitting from the sale of eggs, which the chickens produce at a rate of around ten per day, and chicken meat. Already she has built up a small fund that she keeps in a savings account to enable her to buy more, as well as to cover the costs of the upkeep.

The monitoring and evaluation process enabled LEADS to reflect on its work and plan for extending its activities to other districts. The needs for community mental health and development services in regional areas are very large. The work of LEADS and BasicNeeds makes an invaluable contribution to policy and practice.