This year, from May 2 – 18, team members from CIER, Salasan Consulting, and other key groups, journeyed to Kathmandu, Nepal, to participate in an inception mission. This mission’s goal is to co-design and co-develop the Climate Leadership and Action for Indigenous Women in Nepal project, or CLAN for short.

The project team travelled to four remote hilltop villages in Nepal, and met with four rural municipalities (Indrawatii, Balephi, Bhulmu, and Chauri). Over four days, within these communities, the team spoke with four Indigenous women’s groups from two districts to gather support for the initiative and meet the Indigenous Women and Girls (IWGs) who they hope to work with.

The project team listened to the members of the communities, and the IWGs shared some of their environmental challenges: 
 
• Droughts: Sparse water for crops and livestock, resulting in the IWGs hauling water over greater distances. Additionally, these dry conditions result in forest fires.

• Floods: Damages crops and homesteads, creating more hardship.

• Extreme Temperature Shifts: Impacts the growth of crops, resulting in food shortages and unpredictable outcomes. 

Following the field visits, the project team regrouped in Kathmandu to finalize an implementation plan and a work plan for the project. The results of this meeting led to an initiative that will span two and half years with the following goals:

• To train and mentor 50 IWGs as climate leaders;

• To develop four community climate action plans;

• To implement 25 small-scale climate action projects; and

• To empower the IWGs to raise their voices, gather and foster the support of their communities, and work together to impact real climate action.

CIER’s role is to support the project by conducting research on gendered impacts due to climate change and best practices; providing access to resources from project conception to implementation; providing engagement and curriculum development assistance; assisting in the training of mentors who will train the IWGs in their communities; and creating a network with Canadian Indigenous women climate experts to provide advice and support throughout the project.

The CLAN project is a collaboration that includes Salasan-Canada, Salasan-Nepal, National Indigenous Women’s Forum (Niwf), the Indigenous Women’s Upliftment Centre (IWUC), and CIER. This project is generously funded by the Government of Canada.