Accountability Lab Nepal (ALN) and Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF) are collaborating to promote youth engagement in democracy in Nepal and Bangladesh, respectively. The goal is to build and strengthen diverse and pluralistic networks of youth leaders through targeted support, collective learning and shared best practices to strengthen democracy. 

This blog is based on a joint reflection between the program implementation teams during a learning exchange visit from Nepal to Bangladesh and summarizes the value of meaningful collaborations.This blog also highlights how young people from Nepal and Bangladesh uniquely catalyze their role to strengthen democracies, advance social changes and support innovation. 

Why are regional collaborations important?

Regional collaboration establishes partnerships between organizations of two or more countries in the same region to support and amplify each other’s work. Belonging to the same region, we often face similar challenges and limitations. Collaborations help us leverage resources and expertise to address challenges that transcend national boundaries by sharing best practices and learning from each other’s successes and failures. 

However, regional collaborations also have their own limitations and challenges. Organizations with different goals, values, and contextual experiences must work together toward a similar vision. Here are five ways to make regional collaborations meaningful and effective. 

1. Finding common ground 

MJF is a non-profit organization which aims to improve the well-being of poor and marginalized communities. Similarly, Accountability Lab is a translocal network trying to build a world where resources are used wisely, decisions benefit everyone fairly, and people live secure lives. 

Out of the different approaches that MJF and ALN use to reach their goals, one is to strengthen youth networks and engage them to push for accountability on issues ranging from gender and equity to climate change and indigenous rights. The work towards creating a fairer and more equitable society and the approach of engaging and supporting the youth aligns with both organizations’ larger goals. 

For the collaboration to work, it was essential to find this common ground where both organizations could live up to their values and goals and build on already established approaches. This has helped both organizations relate to each other’s work while continuing to build on their own unique identity. 

2. Learning from each other’s strengths 

ALN engages at the individual level targeting young people to support and expand their civic engagement initiatives, build their organizational capacity and profile, and connect them with other young activists or community leaders through different platforms and networks. MJF takes a different approach by targeting more extensive youth networks to strengthen youth-led local organizations. There is a lot to learn from each other’s approaches.

MJF is replicating ALN’s approach to convening youth by creating platforms for them to engage and create synergies. “We work in isolation, and the platform MJF is providing us is helping us connect to other organizations,” explained one leader of a local organization MJF is supporting. “There is a lot of scope for knowledge sharing, learning, and collaboration. We didn’t have such platforms before.”

Similarly, ALN is inspired by the youth organizations in Bangladesh promoting good governance through their innovative approaches. Brighters Society Bangladesh, a youth-led organization in MJF’s network,  has been voluntarily advocating for climate justice since 2016. Later, they formed a Youth Coalition For Climate Justice with the government. The idea of youth collaborating directly with the government can be a best practice for youth and organizations working with ALN to emulate as a best practice. 

3. Incorporating feedback and new perspectives  

One of the valuable aspects of regional collaboration is the opportunity to generate conversations that bring new ideas and third-party perspectives into our work. Both teams leverage their experiences and knowledge to offer valuable feedback and essential comments to each other. This approach adds significant value and ensures diverse perspectives that might have been overlooked. 

For instance, ALN provides insights on effective communication and outreach of the products developed by MJF and other youth-led organizations through different social media platforms. Similarly, the MJF team provides an alternate approach to narrowing down democratic themes concerning youth. 

For instance, Nonditasurokkha, an organization in Bangladesh working for women’s empowerment, was determined to advocate for cyber security issues as it is one of the most important emerging concerns of youth in Bangladesh where the rights of different groups, including women and LGBTQI communities, are violated. 

They have provided real-time stories from the ground to the government to help them understand the issue’s urgency—the approach of bringing issues related to the youth differs from ALN’s approach of using thematic youth-group consultations. 

4. Sharing knowledge, skills, resources and networks

Regional collaboration opens avenues for sharing knowledge, skills, and resources. ALN’s experience working on accountability and governance issues has helped provide insights to MJF on diverse ways of engaging and building trust with the government. 

Similarly, MJF’s work with youth-led organizations is helping the Nepal team understand ways to engage and build trust with youth-led organizations so they can play a role in advancing democracy in their communities. The collaboration is not only limited to the two organizations but also brings forward the opportunity to promote networking for both the teams and individuals associated with each organization. 

There can be a lot of learning exchanges and collaborations among the youth networks of MJF and ALN – be it Travelettes of Bangladesh, who are empowering women through travel in Bangladesh, or the digital movement such as Untold Period Stories promoting dignified menstruation in Nepal.

5. Learning from failed stories, struggles, and challenges

ALN and MJF teams engage regularly to share and discuss updates, but also take this time to discuss challenges, learnings, and struggles. The interactions have created a safe space for both organizations to understand the challenges, address them, and provide a pathway for change. 

For instance, while the two organizations work in different contexts, the challenges of working with youth are the same. With the growing interest of young people in digital platforms, engaging youth through such platforms is essential. However, young people also need creative, innovative ways to keep their attention and interest on contemporary socio-political issues. This challenge exists in both countries. MJF’s idea of utilizing social media influencers to motivate young people to create content on democracy is commendable. 

On the contrary, ALN primarily engaged individuals from technical backgrounds to provide similar content creation training. Although these training sessions were practical, they had a different impact than MJF’s approach. It became apparent that teaching young people skills through individuals who inspire them and whom they admire serves as a powerful motivator to keep them engaged.

Prekkshya Bimali and Soni Khanal