AMDA Nepal has good knowledge and experience of working with PoCs and host communities to address these gaps/challenges through joint PoC and host community initiatives, including by linking them with governmental institutions in collaboration with local government and other stakeholders, which will be adopted in this project. UNHCR and AMDA Nepal together with the local government have pursued a refugee self-reliance strategy since 2018 and have been continuously making efforts for PoCs’s self-reliance in line with UNHCR’s 2020-2022 Multi Year Protection and Solutions Strategy. In this regard, challenges and gaps exist such as legal restrictions, attitudinal and socio-economic discrimination, climate change impacts and recurrent disaster. The existing capacity of CBOs and Self-Help groups is inadequate to carry out the required roles in attaining self-reliance in social protection, education and health. Many persons with specific needs are still awaiting external support due to their socio-economic vulnerabilities and face challenges to meet their basic needs. Shifting population dynamics in the settlements and their socio-economic impact further challenges to mobilize the community support to person with special needs due to a disproportionately larger elderly population where the younger generation caretakers have departed for resettlement. |