Morung Express News
Dimapur| November 6
A plethora of social issues of common concern, for civil society organizations in Nagaland were brought to light at the FST (Foundation for Social Transformation) consultative meeting in collaboration with the NEZCC (North East Zonal Cultural Centre), held at NEZCC conference hall today. One of the curious findings that emerged was the startling information that certain politicians from the Mon areas are actually holding 10-20 pension cards meant for the destitute. This was unearthed by an NGO as presented in the day’s session.
FST along with YouthNet, YARD, Prodigals’ Home, Naga Women Hoho, Peace Channel, Bethesda, C-Cerp and several other NGOs based in Nagaland raised issues that are closely marked in Naga society and the need to address them. Apart from the many issues that were brought up, Prodigals Home’s startling data of “209 missing children” shed light on the problem of human trafficking, domestic servants and street children. All these issues were felt to have negative impact on the Naga society and with recent cases of girls being trafficked to places as far as Malaysia, the need to curb human trafficking was stressed upon.
Gender violence also roped in a heated discussion with several representatives pointing out the need to spread awareness on rights and addressing other gender-based issues. Work-related gender bias was highlighted in the discussion. Naga Women Hoho expressed the need for women in conflict resolution and participation of women in policy and public administration.
Drawing attention to the problem of stigma and discrimination, NGOs dealing with HIV/AIDS and drug addiction brought out the problem of fewer acceptances of former drug users into the society and also the lack of support from families.
Organizations like YouthNet and other like-minded organizations focused on the lack of “dignity of labour” amongst Naga youths and pointed out that youth empowerment schemes have failed due to political intervention. They also expressed deep concern for the rate of school drop-outs especially boys. An interesting finding presented by a Mon-based NGO working for the destitute revealed, politicians from that area were holding 10 to 20 pension cards meant for the destitute which was unearthed by the NGO.
Environmental NGO, C-Cerp pointed out that the hunting habits of the Nagas have led to extinction of many animals and bird species. While working against this, the NGO felt the lack of peoples’ cooperation. While issues were raised, suggestions to combat them were also put forward by several representatives. One of the felt needs was for NGOs to have research support documents to address issues and collect hard facts on existing situations.
The need for networking amongst the NGOs for better facilitation and approach to address issues was also suggested. Group discussions on the strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of participating organizations brought out many areas that can be worked upon and views exchanged for better understanding of issues and the solutions to them.
