Shaasan (Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation)
PROBLEM The solution addresses civic disengagement in Nepal. This problem has two main facets citizens and governments. Regarding citizens, there is widespread political apathy, unawareness about governmental processes and how it affects them, and lack of knowledge about how to hold public officials accountable. Regarding public officials and decision-makers, they lack resources and tools to deal with the variety and frequency of requests they receive, lead an inefficient bureaucratic system, and are unable to implement civic innovation due to inadequate capacity or support.
SOLUTION
Lead: Pratik Kunwar Website: https://ceinp.org/ Type: For-Profit Location: Kathmandu, Nepal. Current Reach: Four locations in Nepal Budget: $5,000-$10,000 USD
Shaasan is a citizen-led movement that bridges this divide between citizens and their elected government. The movement comprises a digital platform and two on-the-ground programs. First, the citizen empowerment programs (CEPs) inform, educate, and shape citizen action towards stronger civic participation and mobilize communities on ways to inculcate accountability through public workshops, public talks and outreach efforts. Second, the representative enhancement programs (REPs) increase the capacity of decision-makers to engage, empathize with, and respond to their constituents through tailored technical and administrative support. Finally, through a mobile app, citizens can report public problems ( e.g., vacant community health- centres, unrepaired roads, among others) to their representatives. These crowdsourced problems are categorized and geotagged for all to see. The representatives are then given a public scorecard based on their response, all in real-time. The combination of both technological and on-the-ground solutions serve to ensure that inclusivity and representation are reinforced.
IMPACT Through various partnerships, Shasaan has shaped the sanitation habits of more than 4,000 citizens, educated more than 500 people on topics such as deforestation, women’s participation, democracy and youth entrepreneurship. Shasaan has educated more than 500 young people on leadership, organizing and storytelling and has contributed to the efforts of distributing PPE during COVID-19 by allocating over 5,000 masks to 30,000 households and charitable healthcare organizations.
ALIGNMENT WITH THE SDGs Shaasan’s digital platform strengthens civic engagement and galvanizes the power to amplify cross cutting action among different SDGs. Citizens can report issues on community safety, (SDG 11.7.2), open defecation (6.2.1), strong institutions (16.6), inclusive civic participation (10.2) and participation of women in the decision making process (5.1).
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