Lumanti | Enabling Communities for Socio-Economic Transformation through a People-Led Development Process in Nepal

Enabling Communities for Socio-Economic Transformation through a People-Led Development Process in Nepal

This project, “Enabling Communities for Socio-Economic Transformation through a People-Led Development Process in Nepal,” is a multi-year initiative (December 2023 – November 2026) working with urban poor and marginalised communities in Jeetpur-Simara (Bara), Kalika (Chitwan), and Sundar Haraicha (Morang).

The project aims to improve the socio-economic conditions of urban poor families by strengthening community resilience, ensuring access to safe housing and basic services, and enabling communities to prepare for and respond to climate-related risks and disasters. At its core is a people-led development approach, where communities actively identify their needs, shape solutions, and engage with local governments and stakeholders.

The project works at three interconnected levels. At the policy and governance level, it strengthens municipal disaster management systems, supports climate-responsive local policies, and promotes collaboration through city-level citizen action alliances and youth-led information resource centres. At the community level, it empowers men, women, youth, children, and elderly people through Community Resilient Groups (CRGs), capacity-building trainings, awareness campaigns, and participatory planning processes. At the household and service level, the project mobilises technical, financial, and social resources to improve housing, water and sanitation facilities, community buildings, and preparedness for emergencies such as floods, fires, earthquakes, and health crises.

By combining community mobilisation, gender and social inclusion, youth leadership, partnerships, and cost-sharing, the project strengthens the ability of communities and local governments to work together. Community Action Plans guide local priorities, while partnerships with municipalities, civil society, and the private sector help translate plans into action.

Through this integrated approach, the project contributes to safer housing, healthier living conditions, stronger local institutions, and more resilient communities—ensuring that people most affected by climate change and urban poverty are not just beneficiaries, but leaders of their own development.