A Story of Female Community Health Volunteers

In this video from the HERD International team in Nepal we explore the lived experiences of Female Community Health Volunteers (FCHVs).

FCHVs are an integral part of Nepal’s healthcare system, working closely with the community to improve the utilisation of healthcare services. They play a crucial role in providing community-based health education and counselling on safe motherhood, family planning, nutrition and immunisation. They also play a vital role in the promotion of community outreach activities. The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated their importance during shocks, especially in a shock-prone context such as Nepal.

However, the women’s lives are not easy and they encounter many problems and challenges while providing services to their community. In this video, we take a close look at their contribution to society and the challenges they confront. The conceptualisation, execution, direction, and cinematography of this video were all undertaken by the FCHVs themselves, with technical support from the HERD International team.

The FCHVs’ video is followed by a short ‘behind the scenes’ piece which offers a glimpse into the women’s experience of producing their film.

Further information

Presentation: A video presentation on the production and subsequent impact of the FCHV film

Blog post: Sulata Karki talks about the HERD team’s experience working with FCHVs on the production of the video – read the article here.

Project: Close-to-community providers addressing gender norms and power dynamics: participatory action research in fragile and shock-prone settings – more on this study here.

Project: Nepal’s FCHVs were also involved in an earlier ReBUILD study – The gendered experience of close-to-community providers in fragile and shock-prone settings: implications for policy and practice during and post COVID-19 – more here.