Donated for a Cause: Land Transfers in DRILP

The Decentralized Rural Infrastructure and Livelihood Project (DRILP) used a community-driven approach to bring much needed road and community infrastructure to Nepal's hill and mountain districts. It likewise built capacity for centralized governance.

Three years after the project's approval, however, a resident filed a complaint against Asian Development Bank (ADB), claiming that local leaders and project staff coerced their family to sign the land transfer document. They threatened to file a case against ADB and other development partners if the project continues.

In order to bring the project back in line, the Office of the Special Project Facilitator conducted a review and assessment mission, which involved document reviews, group meetings with all stakeholders, and one-on-one interviews with complainants and affected households.  The group and individual meetings provided opportunities to build trust and find facilitated solutions that all stakeholders can agree with.

This issue underscored the need to clarify the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders to prevent possible conflicts of interest and to design a grievance redress mechanism appropriate to the community’s context.

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