Bala Raju Nikku

Gopal Khadkha

Most academic research on international adoption focuses on either psychological or pedagogical aspects of adoption. This research project aims to investigate the social paradigms informing practices of adoption in Nepal. It is crucial to study the ways in which international adoption is institutionalized especially when there is a huge criticism about international adaption practices in Nepal. Central in this process are adoption agencies, Child Care Homes and legal institutions. Increasingly, they have become the brokers of adoption, mediating between birth parents, orphanages, adoptive parents, and various state agents from sending and receiving countries.The general objective of the study is to review the legal procedures and gaps regarding inter and intra country adoption procedures, study the status of child care homes in the Kathmandu Valley and to identify the people's perspective on domestic and international child adoption.The main findings and recommendations are: 1. Though the current study is located within the Kathmandu valley the results will have implication for the Nepalese policy on both domestic and intercountry adoptions. 2 .From the Public Perceptions study, it is clear that in Nepal a large majority of the general public are not fully aware of the intricacies of adoption policy and processes, hence leading to misconceptions about adoptions, especially with intercountry adoptions. 3. Public perception suggests that laws and policies should be made transparent, and monitoring body is to be formed to ensure the safety of the child. The child should not be adopted until the prospective adoptive parents prove that they have sound economic condition or financial security and are committed to the child's future and well-being. 4. The child care homes that are involved with adoption services were not very open to share their work with others, They were not entirely transparent and worried about the future of the sector. 5. The children who are currently kept at the so-called child care homes and are ready for the intercountry adoptions legally may not be real orphans. Some may be 'paper orphans.' Hence the government should further investigate the facts and make necessary legal and social arrangements to protect the rights of the children. 6. The international agencies that are involved in intercountry adoptions are also showing inhibition when it comes to sharing views and details of their work in Nepal. This may be due to their unclear role, uncertainties involved with the law and policy at the time the study was carried out. 7. The adoption policy is heavily contested by the different interest groups (The Hague Conference on Private International Law, Government bureaucrats, NGOs, INGOs, Law makers, Media, Embassies Child care homes, Academic and research institutes) in Nepal and hence the policy is an outcome of push and pulls factors. 8. The evidence suggests that 35 percent of respondents opined that they do not pay attention to caste, while 16 percent of the respondents remarked that categorization (age, sex, caste or religion) does not make any difference to them. It is very encouraging and the government policies should further encourage domestic adoption in Nepal. 9. There are ample opportunities to encourage domestic adoptions but this is not yet fully explored both by government and non governmental institutions. A useful approach could be to start with foster care families and progressively encourage domestic adoption practices in Nepal. Domestic adoptions based on only social On the basis of the results this study strongly recommends that Nepal should ratify the Hague Convention as soon as possible and make rules for institutions involved in adoption to follow the Convention and other international ethical standards and practices. 11. This study shows the evidence that there are lacunas in the adoption policy formulation in the country. The majority of the respondents interviewed stated that they are not aware of the current policies and were not consulted or involved in the policy making. This suggests that the policy making is guided by self interests of few stakeholders and hence may not work in the best interests of the child. 12. There is a need for trained human resources ( trained social workers and child psychologists) to work in the child care/orphanages as the study found that the staff working in the current homes are not trained in general and not skilled to work with children with difficulties. 13. The study strongly recommends that no child should be placed outside his or her family unless it serves the child's best interests. The institutional care/model to address the issue of orphans (especially in the case of double orphans) also needs further investigation and policy dialogue in Nepal. 14. Further academic research in this area is urgently needed to provide inputs policy making process in the country and also to provide alternative approaches to intercountry adoption.

Mythologized, Misunderstood and Mobilized

Adoption in Nepal

Makiko Kondo

Empathy Study

This paper discusses the evolution of social work education in Nepal. The history of social work education and training in Nepal is rather nascent. Imparting social work education and training is a challenging task in Nepal due to the ongoing political instability, multicultural issues and lack of social work educators, and the lack of a professional association, in addition to the lack of government recognition for the social work profession in the country. The paper is divided into four sections. After a general introduction, Section 2 discusses the evolution of social work education in the context of the development of higher education in Nepal. The paper describes Nepal and its changing social context, the challenges for social work and how social work education is meeting these challenges. Nepal's efforts to realize indigenous and international practices of social work education are discussed in the third section. The paper indentifies these gaps and a Nepalese model of social work is presented in Section 4. The paper is written on the basis of the author's personal narrative of many years' work in Nepal in order to start a discussion on indigenous and international social work perspectives along with challenges for social work education in the context of the current global climate of social, political and economic changes in order to draw lessons for Nepal and South Asia.

Major Opportunities and Abundant Challenges

Social Work Education in Nepal

Ravi Karkara

With Particular Emphasis on South Asia

An Annotated Bibliography on Child Rights

Irna van der Molen

In this article, we will explore how local politics of policy, in the interaction with governance mechanisms, have produced specific polity outcomes in the irrigation sector of Andhra Pradesh. The water sector of Andhra Pradesh, which has been struggling within inefficiency, poor performance, deterioration, and lack of participation as elsewhere in India, has undergone substantial reforms aiming at Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM). Previous research has indicated how reform policy choices were contested and mediated by relevant actors and how this affected the outcome in key areas of irrigation management. This is referred to as the politics of policy. We will look at multi-level governance in a situation where different tiers represent different institutional basis, and argue that the politics of policy at multiple levels of governance can be perceived as a form of support and/or resilience by actors to new governance mechanisms/arrangements.

Reshaping Realities in the Andhra Pradesh Irrigation Reforms

Conflict, Resistance and Alliances In a Multi-Governance Setting

participatory irrigation management in Andhra Pradesh

The politics of policy

Major canal system commands require huge investments and human resource to maintain them. Governments are increasingly failing in allocating the huge budgets required for the system maintenances and hence transferring the management to the user groups is an alternative solution to avoid the system decay and increased user participation results in better results in achieving production, efficiency and equity. The reforms are aimed to bring changes in both control and management of the canal water. The book, based on a PhD research, presents an in-depth understanding about the reform policy process and implementation in the state of Andhra Pradesh, a south Indian State. The main focus is to study the policy process of reforms (evolution and implementation) in irrigation sector in the State of Andhra Pradesh. The aim of the thesis is to contribute to the understanding of policy processes. The books central questions would be: How have the reforms in irrigation sector evolved and implemented? What the role of stakeholders in shaping the policy? What are the implications of the reform policy on system rehabilitation, access to canal water and viability of user organisations? The findings suggest the there has been changes in the irrigated acreage that are significant. But the claims of the state are clearly exaggerated. With the improvements in the irrigation infrastructure and maintenance access to water has been increased to the head reach farmers, the middle experiences some improvements, the tail reaches continues to have problems of irrigation assurance, reliability, quantity and time. The user associations have remained as implementing agencies rather than acting as the autonomous bodies. The quality of works in general improved but the sense of ownership was not cultivated among the users. The involvement of politics is evident. Policymaking in this book is argued as a political process. Different actors and their power interactions have played a crucial role in shaping the policy and implementation.

Irrigation Governance in a South Indian State

Politics, Policy and People

Devendraraj Madhanagopal

This book argues that climate justice is an urgent and defining global challenge with long-term implications for poverty reduction, livelihoods, community well-being, and sustainable development. It provides a thorough overview of both fundamental and new directions of knowledge and policy directions in this less debated area within environmental social work. The chapters of this book offer both global and cross-country perspectives via case studies from India, Nepal, Ukraine, South Africa, and the USA, providing greater understanding, evidence, and strategies to achieve the resilience of vulnerable communities based on climate justice principles. It will be required reading for all scholars, students, and social work professionals as well as those working in sustainability and community development.

International Perspectives

Social Work and Climate Justice

Christopher Todd Beer

André J. Pelser

This book approaches environmental, climate, and social justice comprehensively and interlinked. The contributors, predominantly from the Global South and have lived experiences, challenge the eurocentrism that dominates knowledge production and discourses on environmental and climate [in] justices. The collection of works balances theoretical, empirical, and practical aspects to address environmental and climate justice challenges through the lens of social justice. This book gives voice to scholars of the Global South and uses an interdisciplinary approach to show the complexity of the problem and the opportunities for solutions, making this book a powerful resource in teaching, research, and advocacy efforts. The innovativeness of this approach stems from the use of narratives, scientific explanation, and thematic analysis to present the arguments in each chapter of this edited book. Overall, each chapter of this book acts as a powerful resource in teaching, research, and advocacy efforts. This book fills a gap in the Global South production of environmental, climate, and social justice. It provides in-depth knowledge to the readers and raises their critical thinking about key elements/discussions of justice issues of environmental conflicts and climate change. The book is a useful read to a general audience interested in the topic of climate, environment, and development politics.

Perspectives and Practices from the Global South

Environment, Climate, and Social Justice

Bala Raju Nikku

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