Project Completion Report
Project title: Combating Violence against Women and Girls- Creating Awareness
through Forum Theatre
Name of organisation: Shilpee Theatre Group, Battisputali
Project duration: May, 2013 – December, 2013
Report code: PCR
Submission date: January, 2014
Contact person and designation: Yubaraj Ghimire
Artistic Director
Address: Shilpee Theatre Group
Battisputali, Kathmandu
Email:shilpeeetheatre@gmail.com
Tel: 4469621
Abbreviations
GBV
Gender Based Violence
Table of contents
Summary of Results
Project Context and Impact
Results against Project Outcome
Delivery of Project Outputs
Unintended Consequences
Progress against Planned Activities
Deviation in Activities Implemented
Synthesis of Monitoring and Evaluation Findings and their Follow-up
Challenges and Successes
Sustainability and Institutionalisation
Key Lessons Learned
Overview of Financial Performance
Project Performance Self-reflection
Self-assessment of Key Areas of Contribution and Organisational Capacity
Annexes
I. SUMMARY OF RESULTS
The project which lasted for altogether eight months saw the performances of four
different plays in the selected twenty eight districts of Nepal. The districts were selected
on the basis of high prevalence of incidents of gender based violence cases.
Three production based workshops were conducted for the preparation of the plays
which included the issues related to GBV. A separate fifteen day production based
forum theatre workshop was conducted for the artists of 'Jhorahat Theatre Group',
Morang for their capacity building to work for reducing GBV in their area. Altogether
forty seven artists took part in these four workshops. The number of female participants
was twenty four and there were twenty three male participants of the workshop. The
participants of the workshops came from diverse backgrounds and belonged to different
communities like Brahmin, Dalit, Janajati from both hill and terai.
Three forum theatre plays 'Dahitan Dhenki',['Naree' and 'Ke Lagyo Halkaa Le' were
prepared for the performances during the project. All the plays had GBV as the main
theme and these plays were performed for the spectators from five development
regions of Nepal. There were one hundred ten performances altogether of the three
plays during the project period which consisted of thirty performances of 'Dahitan
Dhenki', forty performances of 'Naree' and forty performances of 'Ke Lagyo Halkaa Le'.
The forum theatre workshop provided to 'Jhorahat Theatre Group' prepared the play
'Dhupen ke Dhuiya' which was performed in forty different venues of Biratnagar and its
surroundings.
More than 0.1 million spectators watched the performances. Out of 100000 viewers,
60% were male and 40% were females.
II. PROJECT CONTEXT AND IMPACT
GBV is one of the strongest manifestations of the deep-rooted discrimination against
women. The incidents of GBV against women can happen in the family, outside the
family such as in public places, public transport, workplaces etc. The forms of GBV
range from mental torture to serious physical injuries to deaths. The discrimination and
marginalization of women is so long seated that men and women have internalized and
normalized it. To bring a remarkable reduction in the violence against women it is
necessary to educate general public on GBV issues that are seen by them as normal
events. Therefore, a need was felt for an interactive, contemplative and engaging
medium to break the status quo and to make the women break their silence and raise
their voices. However, GBV also exists because of the typical male psyche that
considers this as something trivial. This patriarchal mentality needs to be changed as
well. Therefore this project was planned to increase the awareness amongst the general
public especially school and college students about GBV, to increase the accountability
of the government service providers and develop collective responsibility among
general public, community groups, women's network and civil society organisations
including media to support women who experience and the report the cases of violence.
The project followed the 'Awareness Campaigns on Zero Tolerance against GBV'
strategy of the 'National Strategic Action Plan on GBV and Gender Empowerment 2012'
implemented by the Government of Nepal. It was successful in creating awareness
amongst the viewers of the twenty eight districts of the five development regions. Not
only the men were sensitized about GBV but the forum discussions also created space
for the women to break their silence and put their thoughts forward. The school and
college level students who are the futures of the nation were also sensitized about GBV
through the project which gives us hope that the future Nepalese society will see
reduction in the number of GBV cases.
III. RESULTS AGAINST PROJECT OUTCOME
The project was carried out to eliminate the injustices faced by the Nepalese women.
The society we live in is patriarchal and indifferent to the sufferings of women. May be
because they are not the one suffering it is not possible for them to comprehend the
problems of womenfolk. However, when the performances were carried out and the
forum discussions were held they accepted that the issues included in the play can be
found in their households and societies. After the performance they expressed their
commitment to fight against such injustices.
Earlier the women used to be kept in the sheds. It was part of our custom.
Personally, I think that even though it is customary this system of keeping women
in the animal sheds during menstruation is not good. I will try my best to remove
this system from my village.
Gopal Mijar, 30, Pakari V.D.C, Doti
I know that it is difficult to react when a girl is travelling alone in the public
transportation. She might not be sure how others will react and whether or not they
will support her but she has to understand that everybody will help her if she
speaks up. I will definitely speak up and do something to help.
Sujan, Phikkal, Ilam
Taking dowry is like bribe; taking money for marrying their daughter. When I get
married I will not take any dowry. I will convince my parents too. If I am self-reliant
why should I take any dowry?
Rajat Thapa, Mahendra Chowk, Jaleshwor, Sarlahi
Even though there were fewer performances at government locations, the service
providers like District Administration Offices and other organisations such as local
NGOs working for improving the status of women, schools, and colleges were also
were positive about working towards providing a better living situation for women. The
forum discussions also made its female spectators realise that they themselves have to
speak up against the injustices happening to them. They will have to be strong in
intellectual, social and economical aspects then they will be able to create a better
space for themselves in the society. It is hoped that the sensitivity and awareness
brought by the play performances will play vital role in creating a better living conditions
and opportunities in the society for Nepalese women.
IV. DELIVERY OF PROJECT OUTPUTS
The first output that the project had to deliver was 'three ready-to- be shown context
specific plays based on GBV'. In order to prepare those plays three different 15 day
forum theatre workshops were organised for the local theatre groups from five
development regions of Nepal. First workshop prepared the play 'Dahitan Dhenki',
second workshop gave 'Naree' and the third workshop came up with the play 'Ke Lagyo
Halkaa le'. These three plays included the issues like dowry, domestic violence resulted
by alcohol, discrimination between male and female child, Chaaupadi, women accused
of being witches, child marriage etc.
The project also had to sensitize 28,790 target audiences about GBV to promote
individual and collective actions to combat violence against girls. Altogether one
hundred and ten theatre performances were done during the project timeline and the
number of spectators of those performances has exceeded the targeted number of
audiences. The total number of viewers which included the members from our Primary,
Secondary and Tertiary targeted beneficiaries group has reached over one lakhs out of
which 60% were male and 40% were female.
A booklet titled 'Gaau ma Rangamanch' (Theatre in the Village) has been published as
a part of the project. This booklet includes the experiences of the artists about the
workshop and the forum theatre tour. It also has the articles of those who were in the
audience like local journalists, forum theatre artists and others describing their
experience of the performances and its impacts. This booklet has been published in
Nepali and English language with the pictures of the project. Total two thousand copies
of booklet have been published in Nepali and English language.
Similarly, an impact video of the same name i.e. 'Gaau ma Rangamanch' (Theatre in
Villages) has been prepared as well. Besides the forum theatre discussions and the
interaction that happened after the performance, this documentary follows the five
selected spectators from the performances and documents the changes that occurred in
their thoughts and lives. It is hoped that the booklet and the documentary will be helpful
in inspiring and educating target groups, stakeholders and others to take necessary
actions to address the problem of GBV.
More than twenty thousand leaflets of three different designs were published in Nepali
language for the three theatre performance tours. The leaflets contained the information
about the legal provisions available in the cases of GBV and the places where an
individual can go to report the cases of GBV if they come across one.
V. UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES
The project provided an excellent opportunity for the partners of ESP to work together.
During the tour, ESP Nepal’s local partners like HUCODAN, HUSODAN, VCDC and
others coordinated and helped Shilpee Theatre Group by selecting the performance
venues and making other necessary arrangements. These different NGOs are ESP
Nepal’s partners just like Shilpee but there had not been any exchange of information
so far but because of this project Shilpee got to know about different areas in which the
other NGOs are working and they got to know and watch how Shilpee has been working
to fight GBV. The project is all about combating the GBV but it was also helpful in
bringing together two different partners for a common purpose.
One additional production based workshop was organized for the members of Jhorahat
Theatre Group, Morang. This activity was not included in the original project proposal
but realizing their potential and inclination to combat GBV it was decided to provide
forum theatre training to them. There were altogether twelve participants of the
workshop. This workshop trained six male and six female participants on the methods of
forum theatre. The participants of were various cultural and ethnical backgrounds like
Newari, Janajati (Terai), Brahmin etc. The workshop came up with the play 'Dhupen ke
Dhuiya'. The play includes the GBV issues along with the problems invited by migration.
The play was performed in forty different venues of Biratnagar and its surrounding area.
Total 100 forum theatre shows were planned in the original project document but later
from our experiences we realized that Far western region is more vulnerable to the GBV
issues. Therefore, additional 10 shows were implemented in this region to cover bigger
area. It proved to be effective to aware the people about GBV and make them
committed to combat the issues.
Also, we realised that besides creating the awareness about the GBV issues this
project also provided a significant contribution towards the inclusion and promotion of
the local languages in the theatre. Throughout the project Tharu, Awadhi, Maithili,
Tamang and Doteli language were used in the three plays along with Nepali. The
usage of those languages was particularly pleasing to the native speakers of those
languages. They were pleased with the fact that their own language had been used in
the play which created the feelings of ownership and increased the effectiveness of the
play. It was not given much consideration before the start of the project but the project
was really helpful in the preservation and the promotion of the local language.
VI. PROGRESS AGAINST PLANNED ACTIVITIES
SN Output-wise planned
activities
1
15 days duration Forum
theatre workshops to the
local theatre groups of
Kapilvastu, Bardiya, Doti,
Janakpur, Sarlahi.
Cumulative progress since the beginning of the project
2
Hundred theatre
performances in five
development regions of
Nepal.
Hundred and ten theatre performances were done in the
five development regions of Nepal. Ten performances
were added to the original hundred performances in the
last quarter of the project.
3
Design and printing of
leaflets
More than twenty thousand leaflets in Nepali were
printed and distributed amongst the spectators of the
performances. The leaflets contained the information
about the legal provisions and other help available to
curb the GBV issues.
4
Film shooting by the
videographer to document
the changes on family,
friends, neighbours and
community after the
performance.
The videographer captured the performances and then
selected few spectators whom he followed to their
houses to know more about the impact of the play in
their lives. It has been converted into a documentary
which will act as the documentation of the project and
can be useful as a learning tool in the future.
Three workshops of fifteen days duration were organised
for the theatre groups of Kapilvastu, Bardiya, Doti,
Janakpur, Sarlahi along with the artists from Kavre and
Dadeldhura. Besides these workshops, an additional
forum theatre workshop was organised for the artists of
Jhorahat Theatre Group, Morang for their capacity
building.
VII. DEVIATION IN ACTIVITIES IMPLEMENTED
SN Major Activity
Reason for Deviation
1
The 'Nepal Bandh' and
transportation strike called by
Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)
made us take a detour and hold the
performances in Baitadi.
Theatre
performance in
Baitadi district in
the place of
Baglung in the
third quarter of the
Level of hindrance
(High/Medium/Low)
High
2
3
project.
Inclusion of
Tamang language
speaking artist in
the second quarter
of the project.
Fewer
performances in
government
locations.
Makwanpur, Kavre, Panchthar and
Ilam which are basically non-tharu
and Maithili language speaking
districts were added to the project
towards the end by ESP. The
inclusion of the Tamang language
speaking artist who sometimes
switched to Nepali language was
necessary to connect more with the
audiences who spoke or understood
neither tharu nor Maithili language.
Medium
Difficulties in coordination.
High
VIII. SYNTHESIS OF MONITORING AND EVALUATION FINDINGS AND THEIR
FOLLOW-UP
We believe that monitoring and evaluation is very important to evaluate the success or
the failure of any project. Shilpee takes the M&E part seriously and has been doing it for
every task taken in hand. M& E was done for this project as well. A reporter was
present during every performance to keep track of the discussions and the feedback of
the spectators after the performance. This helped in keeping the records of the
performances, venues and the number of the spectators present among others.
Besides the reporter, a camera person also captured the forum discussions, the
interactions that happened after the performances and followed some individuals from
the spectators to evaluate the impact of the performance in their lives.
Main purpose behind the M & E was documentation and the evaluation of the project.
The reports that were prepared on the quarterly basis were helpful in keeping track of
the progress made during that period and analyse the cumulative progress as well.
They will also be the record of the accomplishments achieved during the project which
could be helpful in the future if anybody wants to know about the effectiveness of forum
theatre in creating awareness on different issues.
M & E helped to measure the actual performance of the project against the initial
standard set for the project. When the actual performance was matched with the set
standard it helped in identifying our shortcomings. The realizations of our shortcomings
led us to take corrective actions to overcome them. This way M & E helped us in
maintaining the quality of the project
.
IX. CHALLENGES AND SUCCESSES
The challenges that we had to come across during the implementation of the project are
as follows:

Women are naturally shyer than their male counterparts. It was a challenge for
us to make them take part actively in the forum discussions. It was a challenge
for them as well to speak and put their opinions in the mass. However, the plays
had picked up issues so close to them that they actively took part in the
discussion. Their sufferings gave them courage to overcome every kind of taboos
inflicted upon them by the society.

Culture shapes a person's mentality. The culture in which we all grew up is not
women friendly at all. In that context, it was difficult to make the oppressors
realize that their behaviour towards women is wrong. After the forum discussions
some of them admitted that they had been wrong and that they will try to change
their attitude towards women in the future.

There are so many forms of violence based on gender which have to be brought
forward for the general public’s notification but it is difficult to put them all in one
play. If we try to include all of them in a single plot then there is risk of the play
being too lengthy and not much effective. Therefore, only the pressing issues of
the selected districts were incorporated in the play. This way the project
managed to not only sensitize the local public and the concerned authorities on
the burning issues of their area but also maintained the effectiveness of the play.

The challenge of successfully including the government service holders persisted
throughout the project. It is difficult to invite them to the performance venue
because of their time schedule and other responsibilities and even if they come it
is difficult to get the desired co operation from them. Therefore, the performances
were done where possible. The number of performances throughout the project
cannot be considered as the most satisfying ones but considering the difficulties
that come across while bringing them; they will have to be given credit.
X. SUSTAINABILITY AND INSTITUTIONALISATION
Shilpee Theatre has been advocating about the equal rights for women and the end of
all kinds of gender based violence faced by women even before the start of the project.
This project will be a new feather added to its cap. This eight month long journey will be
valuable to us in the future as well. The project has been such an eye opening one that
the issue of violence against women and gender based violence will always be close to
our hearts. Shilpee will continue working on it in the future too through its productions.
Shilpee has always believed that the society can be reformed using theatre so through
its proscenium plays, street plays and other forum theatre plays; it will give continuity to
its fight against Gender based violence.
XI. KEY LESSONS LEARNED
The project was eye opening in many senses. The field visits gave us the actual picture
of the problems which helped us realise the depth of the problems. The individuals who
were involved in the project team have felt the change in their attitude and thoughts.
Some of the valuable lessons learnt through this project are as follows:

Forum theatre is a different but an effective tool to sensitize the general public on
the issues like gender based violence. It is a platform where both the oppressor
and the oppressed get to put their views and plan their actions if such kinds of
situations occur in their life in reality.

Most of these gender based violence incidences are happening because of the
attitude of the men towards women. Because they are not the one suffering and
because they are the actual oppressors in most of the cases, they are
indifferently facing the problems faced by women. Therefore, it is necessary to
change the male psyche so that they can be more open to the sufferings of the
women and take measures to resolve the problems.

It is important to make the members of the society realize the impact of their
thoughts on the lives of the women around them rather than preaching them.
Telling them that they should do this thing only might make them wanting not to
do that thing at all and vice versa. Only when the realization comes from deep
within them, they will follow those principles in real life. Therefore, our activities
should focus on reaching to their thoughts and beliefs.
XII. OVERVIEW OF FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE
Budget Heading
Planned Budget
Actual Expenditure
Budget Utilisation
(%)
Programme costs
Nrs. 8653265.75
Nrs. 8661602
100.096%
Overhead costs
Nrs. 447848
Nrs. 433082
96.70%
Total
Nrs. 9101113.75
Nrs. 9094682
99.92%
Comments on financial performance: Above given data show that 99.02 % of the total
budget was utilized throughout the project period which clearly indicates the cost
effectiveness of the project. Allocated budgets were spent in an effective way because
of which it was possible to deliver all the proposed outputs of the project. This project
has given the finance department of Shilpee an exposure to the mechanisms of
Financial transactions with an INGO. The financial capacity building training provided to
the project staffs has given insights into how the internal financial system can be made
more systematic and effective which has been one of the major learning of the project.
In order to strengthen the financial effectiveness in the future, Shilpee will be
implementing the lessons learnt from this project about cost effectiveness. It will work
on strengthening its internal finance system as well.
XIII. PROJECT PERFORMANCE SELF-REFLECTION
Effectiveness: The performances were successful in creating awareness about GBV
amongst its spectators. They found the issues included in the play close to their lives
and participated actively in the forum discussions. We encountered difficulties in
reaching to the government authorities but there were plenty of performances in the
schools and colleges so we could reach to our primary beneficiaries. We managed to
reach to the spectators from all the five development regions. Their feedbacks have
convinced us about the effectiveness of the project.
Equity: The problems of Gender based violence were found in almost all the places
where the performances were held even though the people did not admit it totally that
those kinds of problems could be found in their areas. The primary beneficiaries of this
project were adolescent boys and girls of schools and colleges as well as the
government service providers. There were plenty of play performances in the schools
and colleges of the selected 27 districts. However, there were only limited number of
performances in the government locations mainly because of the lack of enough
cooperation and coordination from their side. It can be said that the project was
successful reaching to its targeted primary beneficiaries as well as other secondary and
tertiary target groups such as community groups, general public, civil society
organisations, media etc.
Efficiency: Within the time span of eight months, many things were achieved:
conducting four forum theatre workshops, three theatre tour covering the selected
twenty seven districts from all five development regions, one hundred and one play
performances with over 100000 viewers , a booklet and a documentary . Therefore, it
can be said that the project was carried out in an efficient way.
Economy: All the expenses were done following the guidelines provided by ESP. The
products and services were bought or hired from the correct sources and if the
expenses for them exceeded Nrs. 25000/-, then they were bought or hired after
comparing three different quotations from different suppliers. With 99.92 % of the total
budget utilization and all the proposed outputs delievered it can be said that the project
was cost effective.
XIV. SELF-ASSESSMENT OF KEY AREAS OF CONTRIBUTION AND
ORGANISATIONAL CAPACITY
SN Area
Self-assessment
1.
Contribution to state policies and programmes (including implementation)
a.
Contribution of project to effective,
Significant
accountable state policies and
programmes
b.
Contribution of the organisation to the
Exceptional
project (in terms of financial and human
resources, technical support, overall
level of effort etc)
Brief justification: Shilpee prepared three different plays on GBV issues. The
issues included in the play were selected according to the regions because of
which the plays became even more effective. The spectators who witnessed the
performances became aware about the GBV issues which we believe in will help in
strengthening the status of Nepalese women.
2.
Assessment of dialogues (interactions, workshops, formal delegations,
conferences, etc)
Total number of dialogues in the quarter: N/A
How many events with
a.
Behaviour of state institutions and
political parties
1. Presence: x
2. Participation: x
3. Contribution: x
4. Commitment: x
How many events with
b.
Preparation of the above dialogues by
the organisation
1. Unplanned: x
2. Some planning: x
3. Informed positions: x
4. Strategic positions: x
Brief justification (max 2-3 sentences): x
3.
Organisation and engagement capacity of beneficiaries (groups, networks, clubs
etc formed by the project)
Total number of groups/networks/clubs formed or mobilised in the quarter: N/A
How many groups with
a.
Engagement with duty bearers by
groups/networks/clubs formed (if not, by 1. Not at all: x
the organisation itself)
2. Limited: x
3. Occasional/On demand: x
4. Structured/Regular: x
How many groups with
b.
Responsiveness to rights of citizens by
duty bearers
1. No acknowledgement: x
2. Acknowledgement: x
3. Partial response: x
4. Full response to demand: x
Brief justification (max 2-3 sentences): x
4.
Space for dialogue (between civil society, political parties and state institutions):
a.
b.
5.
a.
b.
6.
a.
b.
c.
7.
a.
b.
8.
a.
b.
N/A
Select a category
Consideration of diversity reflected in
design, implementation and governance 1. None/ 2. Some/ 3. Reasonable/ 4.
of the project
Exceptional
Select a category
Availability of space created for or by
target groups to dialogue with state
1. None/ 2. Occasional/ 3. Regular/ 4.
institutions and political parties
Strategic
Brief justification (max 2-3 sentences): x
Strategic areas of engagement with the state institutions (analysis, identification
and support): N/A
Select a category
Identification of areas of strategic
engagement with the state institutions
1. Absent/ 2. Limited/ 3. Good/ 4.
Exceptional
Select a category
Support for strategic engagement with
the state institutions
1. Absent/ 2. Limited/ 3. Good/ 4.
Exceptional
Brief justification (max 2-3 sentences): x
Working with state institutions to strengthen gender equality and social inclusion
(GESI) in policy making, implementation and statistical analysis: N/A
Select a category
Support for policy making - Extent to
which the project helped the state
1. Absent/ 2. Limited/ 3. Good/ 4.
develop good GESI policies
Exceptional
Select a category
Support for implementation - Extent to
which the project helped state put GESI
1. Absent/ 2. Limited/ 3. Good/ 4.
policies into practice
Exceptional
Select a category
Support for statistical analysis - Extent
to which the project helped the state
1. Absent/ 2. Limited/ 3. Good/ 4.
analyse progress in GESI
Exceptional
Brief justification (max 2-3 sentences): x
Quality of information products and effective dissemination (information products
include research reports, IEC materials, radio/TV programmes, manuals,
review/learning documents and video documentary)
Type & number of information produced in the quarter: : N/A
Select a category
Extent to which project’s information
products meet quality standards
1. Low/ 2. Medium/ 3. High/ 4.
Exceptional
Select a category
Extent to which project’s information
products reach the right audiences
1. Missed target/ 2. Reached some of
target/ 3. Met target/ 4. Exceptional
Brief justification (max 2-3 sentences): x
Organisational capacity in mainstreaming gender equality and social inclusion
Policies and mandates – Awareness
Some
and motivation to respond to
consequences of inequality and
exclusion
Analysis drives action – Understanding
Awareness
of power relations and actions to
address them
c.
Monitoring system – Observation of
Awareness
change from equality/inclusion
perspectives & sharing lessons
d.
Structures and human resources –
Awareness
Inclusive behaviour
Brief justification: Shilpee believes in providing equal opportunity to everyone
regardless of their caste, ethnicity, gender etc. This project has strengthened its
belief further. This project has brought positive changes in the mentality of its
members so it will try to be even more inclusive in the future.
9.
Organisational capacity in applying value for resources approach: N/A
Select a category
a.
Grants, finance and admin
management, including systems and
1. Limited/ 2. Under development/ 3.
procedures
Developed/ 4. Exemplary
Brief justification (max 2-3 sentences): x
10. Organisational capacity in M&E and lessons learning: N/A
a.
Frameworks and systems –
Understanding
b.
Use of information – Action and
reflection practices
c.
Capacity improvements – Approach and
plan
Brief justification (max 2-3 sentences):
XV. ANNEXES