A digital hub for Nepali migrants
Adapted from a UNESCO Chair in ICT4D page which first appeared on 27 September 2023.
Pardesi.org.np is by Nepali migrants, for Nepali migrants helped by people from abroad
Swarna Kumar Jha (NNSM – National Network for Safe Migration)
Introducing pardesi.org.np
The UNESCO Chair in ICT4D‘s work package on digital technologies and inequality within the MIDEQ Hub has focused explicitly on working with migrants to learn about how they use digital tech, and then facilitating them in developing digital interventions with local tech developers and others that will help to improve Nepali migrants’ lives. One of the interventions that migrants and migrant organisations considered would be most valuable is a trusted online platform that brings together links to all the existing support for migrants in a single place: pardesi.org.np.
Below are short videos in Nepali, Maithili and English by returned migrants and those working for migrant organisations sharing their views on why pardesi.org.np is the go-to place for Nepali migrants and their families. Some of the videos also make reference to a second element of our work in Nepal which has been the development of training resources on the importance of safe, wise and secure/private use of digital tech, which are now available in six Nepali languages.
Platform launch in Nepal
On 10 December 2023, the team launched their digital interventions in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, to eighty participants from government, civil society, private sector, international organisations and digital tech students. The two key interventions that Hari Harindranath, Tim Unwin and Maria Rosa Lorini had contributed in created were presented: the pardesi.org.np portal and resources that can be used to train migrants in the safe, wise and secure (or private) uses of digital tech, which have been designed to be especially useful in the Migrant Resource Centres.
Following this launch the team headed to another major Nepali city, Pokhara, for a second launch event. Twenty-six participants from local government, civil society, the private sector, media and digital tech students attended. More details can be found on the UNESCO Chair in ICT4D website.
Hitting the airwaves: community radio
MIDEQ WP9’s training resources for Nepali migrants and family members (on the safe, secure and wise use of digital tech) are being converted into Public Service Announcements (PSAs) in the Nepali language. Collaborating with the Association of Community Radio Broadcasters Nepal/Community Information Network (ACORAB / CIN), the PSAs are being broadcast through their community radio network of 300+ stations reaching over 6.7 million people across Nepal and live on CIN’s Facebook page. The first broadcast went out on 12th January 2024 during CIN’s popular daily news bulletin Sajha Khabar and live on Facebook.
The PSA starts at 10.57 minutes into the broadcast at https://fb.watch/pwuPquxAlK/
Videos on pardesi.org.np
Videos in Nepali
Shyam Lama
A returnee from Saudi Arabia
Videos in Maithili
Swarna Kumar Jha
NNSM – National Network for Safe Migration
Videos in English
Priyasha Shrestha
