Government Cost-Sharing Partnership
A critical component to our programs is local buy-in. This is why direct partnership with local government and communities is an intentional cornerstone to our Network of Safety model as we seek to connect and engage local stakeholders to impact long-lasting change.
Following the recent decentralization of the Nepali government, OHW has initiated a new cost-sharing partnership with our local government partners. One of the primary opportunities of Nepal’s new federal system is that it places much more funding authority at the municipal level, where local needs are most visible. This shift is crucial for OHW, as our entire work is based on impacting long-lasting change in direct partnership with the communities where we work.
As part of our scale-up strategy in Nepal, we encourage local communities to co-fund the program and ultimately prepare them for post-implementation ownership.
Since 2018, local municipalities have contributed $473K to advance the well-being of mothers and babies in Nepal, $201,000 in 2020 alone, representing 10% of our program expenses in Nepal that year.
In 2021, 100% of our municipal partners financially co-invested in BC renovation with contributions ranging between 35% and 50%.
This increased participation has the potential to be a game-changer in terms of our scale-up strategy. Until recently, most of the cost-sharing components were centered solely around the BC upgrades. But in 2019, we began to see the beginning of a shift in other areas as well. Over the past year, OHW has been working with the local government to increase their awareness of MNH. All of our municipality partners have started prioritizing MNH by setting aside budgets specifically ear-marked for this purpose. We are beginning to see the local government considering cost-sharing components of our program including training and medical equipment provision.
Local buy-in of a program, particularly to this extent, is a nearly unheard-of achievement and a strong indicator that our program is not only desired by the communities we serve but worth investing in by the communities we serve. We hope to continue building trust in the coming years and eventually increase the government’s cost-share contribution to 50% across all municipalities where we work. Ultimately, this is not only about resource maximization, but a celebration of a successful complementary partnership focused on fostering long-term sustainability and impact.
