One Heart Worldwide now implements all community-based activities through NGO partners, which requires numerous systems, policies, and guidelines, as well as hands-on support to ensure quality program delivery. The expansion of our program into the local communities relies heavily on the involvement of these NGO partners. Their strong presence at the community level enables effective outreach and engagement.

In 2023, OHW signed official partnership agreements with four more local partner NGOs: 

• Jan Jagaran Youth Club (JJYC), Bara

• Ratauli Youth Club, Mahottari

• Everest Club, Dailekh

• Village Development and Save the Environment Forum (VDSEF), Kalikot

At the start of 2023, OHW hosted two three-day summits for our partner NGOs at our Surkhet and Bardibas cluster offices. The main objectives of the summits were to reconnect, review, share lessons learned, and update everyone on the new policies, guidelines, and systems. A total of 85 representatives from all of our current nine partner NGOs participated in this event which helped create a common understanding and improve communication among the participants.

Over the past year, our team has navigated a significant learning curve in managing and understanding our partner NGOs while enhancing their institutional and technical capacity to effectively deliver our joint program. This experience has taught us valuable lessons in finalizing partnership policies, guidelines, and systems, enabling us to better adhere to financial and programmatic compliances. Although this learning process presents certain challenges for all parties involved, we are extremely pleased with the collaboration, as it is instrumental in developing local champions who will continue advocating for improved MNH service delivery and quality once we transition out of our program implementation districts.