Social Mobilization - From grassroots to State level

While community awareness programs are a way for an NGO to reach out to the community and inform and highlight issues of common concern, tangible output and successful outcome of community based projects are only possible through direct community involvement through which a sense of local ownership and social responsibility is developed. WATO owes most of its success so far to its focus on social mobilization and combined community efforts initiatives. The local youth, professionals, and ordinary dwellers including children are all sought for to participate in regular activities organized by WATO. Community dwellers are included in major decision making issues that directly affect their respective community through regular interaction programs and meetings. At the same time, the involvement of the local ward and municipal officials in activities is also a major aspect of social mobilization efforts to develop community-local government relations.

Social mobilization work has been a part of all of WATO's activities.

This includes representation in WATO's activities at all levels- be it through the involvement of community youth in community driven, community cleaning programs, park painting, and alley construction to higher level multi-stakeholders meetings on the significance of addressing the issue of industrial pollution.

WATO takes pride in its ever-increasing social networks and while the community level awareness programs have sought to build awareness among people in the community level, WATO also organized a number of multi-stakeholder meetings involving representatives from various ministries (Ministry of industries, environment and Department of small and cottage industries), together with municipal, local and ward level government officials, NGOs, and representatives from different industries in the Dhobikhola region. The main objective of such meetings was to create a linkage between government policies and support for non-governmental initiatives such as the Cleaner Production approach being proposed by WATO as a remediation strategy in mitigating industrial pollution. At the same time, such meetings allowed for WATO to introduce the concept of Cleaner Production to the owners of various industries in the Dhobikhola area in order to seek their commitment to initiate and undertake the entire process of CP approach in their respective industries. Such multi-stakeholder meetings also allowed WATO to enhance its networks within the government in pursuant to the final goal of the project which entails recommendations to the government on the issue of industrial pollution.

The meetings were successful in generating a lot of discussions among small-scale industry owners who not only availed themselves of the opportunity to be aware of prevalent government rules and regulations on pollution and environment protection- they also became familiar with the CP approach and the benefits of applying the approach in their respective industries. At the end of the meetings, a number of industries showed their interest to cooperate with WATO to undertake the CP approach in their respective industries.

Such interested industries expressed their commitment by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with WATO to commence CP work in their industries. This has therefore been a successful example of united efforts at establishing social mobilization activities through developing networks. Such multi-stakeholder meetings also allowed WATO to enhance its networks within the government in pursuant to the final goal of the project which entails recommendations to the government on the issue of industrial pollution. The meetings were successful in generating a lot of discussions among small-scale industry owners who not only availed themselves of the opportunity to be aware of prevalent government rules and regulations on pollution and environment protection- they also became familiar with the CP approach and the benefits of applying the approach in their respective industries. At the end of the meetings, a number of industries showed their interest to cooperate with WATO to undertake the CP approach in their respective industries. Such interested industries expressed their commitment by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with WATO to commence CP work in their industries. This has therefore been a successful example of united efforts at establishing social mobilization activities through developing networks.