State of the Rights of the Child in Nepal 2004/National Report Prepared by CWIN The State of The Rights of the Child in Nepal 2004 National Report Prepared by On the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Child (CRC) 1 State of the Rights of the Child in Nepal 2004/National Report Prepared by CWIN The State of the Rights of the Child in Nepal – 2004 National Report Prepared by CWIN Prepared by: Gauri Pradhan / Sumnima Tuladhar Assisted by: Sabera Gurung, Sarah Herder, Anjana Amatya, Sangita Pradhan, Numa Rai and Malshree Joshi Layout by: Sumnima Tuladhar Published by: Child Workers in Nepal Concerned Centre Tel: 278064/282255 Fax: 278016 Email: [email protected] URL: www.cwin-nepal.org 1st Edition: 3000 copies / 2004 Supported by: Save the Children – Norway Sources: 52 different newspapers/ CWIN Centres/ CWIN Help-line/ UNICEF / Swasthya Sewa Bibhag/ National Planning Commission/ ILO-IPEC Nepal/ Nepal Police/ TU Central Department of Population Studies/MOE- Education Information of Nepal/ National AIDS and STD Prevention Centre/ UN Human Development Report 2002/ National Federation of Disabled/ Care Nepal 2 State of the Rights of the Child in Nepal 2004/National Report Prepared by CWIN Table of Contents Foreword 5 National Status Report On Child Rights 2004 6 Status of Economic Development 6 Status of Political Development 6 Cultural and Social Status 7 Status of Child Rights 9 Child Development : Goals and Outcomes 9 Poverty and Children 11 Where do children live? 11 The Situation of Dependent Children 12 Child Marriage 13 Economically active children 13 The Situation and Challenges of Child Labour 14 Situation of Girls 14 School and the population of school going children 15 Children affected by armed conflict 16 Child Rights and the Commitment of His Majesty’s Government 16 Child Rights Situation Monitoring 2003 18 Survival 20 Immunisation 21 Child Health 22 Communicable diseases 23 HIV and Children 24 Children and Accidents 25 Children and Natural Calamities 26 Development 27 Birth Registration 28 Early Childhood Development 28 Questions of Adolescents 28 Education for Children 30 Mentally Challenged and Differently able Children 32 Child Care Homes 33 Child Adoption 34 Children with physical disability 36 Mentally challenged children 37 Housing Rights 39 3 State of the Rights of the Child in Nepal 2004/National Report Prepared by CWIN Bhutanese Refugee Children 39 Protection 41 Violence against Children and Domestic Violence 42 Corporal Punishment 42 Child Labour Exploitation 43 Child Migration 46 Street Children 47 Children and Substance Use 47 Housing Rights and Children 48 Bhutanese Refugee Children 48 Child Sex Abuse 49 Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children 50 Trafficking in Children 51 Missing Children 53 Child Suicide 54 Children of Jailed Parents 54 Juvenile Justice 57 Child Marriage 59 Social Discrimination against Children 61 Children in Armed Conflict 63 "Children as Zones of Peace" Campaign 65 Participation 67 Children's World Congress on Child Labour 69 CWIN's action for the promotion and protection of child rights: January- December 2003 71 The State of the Rights of the Child in Nepal National Bi-annual Report: January- June, 2004 73 Armed conflict and children 75 CWIN's support and services for the children at risk: January – June 2004 83 Annexes 85 Child Rights Forum 86 CWIN PRESS RELEASE 89 Children’s National Consultation On Children in Conflict 92 Children's Declaration on Children in Armed Conflict 93 Winter Camp for Street Children 2004 95 Children's Declaration 99 4 State of the Rights of the Child in Nepal 2004/National Report Prepared by CWIN Foreword The issue of child rights is an emerging and dynamic one in today's world. It should further emerge as an even more dynamic issue. Families, communities, and the state should invest more in children's education, health, nutrition, and protection. There's a saying that investing in children is creating a base for secured future. Nepal has many responsibilities as a state party to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and other international treaties and conventions on children. Every state has to evaluate and monitor to see whether these commitments and responsibilities are met or not. There has been no formulation of systematic statistics or monitoring in Nepal as of yet. However, as a state party, Nepal has submitted an initial country report and a monitoring report in 1995 and 2002, respectively, on the progress of implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. It is widely known that CWIN has been presenting annual reports on the implementation and effectiveness on the Convention on the Rights of the Child in Nepal for more than a decade. The reports have long been making public the facts/figures regarding child rights and presenting a true picture on the progress, the challenges, and the opportunities in the child rights sector. In this context, the State of the Rights of the Child 2004 has been published for public information. This report has incorporated the state of rights of the child in the last 18 months, including January to December 2003 and the first six months of 2004 – January to June 2004. The information, facts, and figures mentioned in this report are based on the Population Census 2001, research reports, and more than 16,000 cases of child rights violations recorded by CWIN. The information in this report also includes the progress and achievements in the child rights sector, the cases of violations of child rights, and the problems and challenges persisting in the child rights sector in Nepal. Moreover, while talking about child rights in Nepal, the report has unveiled the child rights violations in the education sector and challenges in establishing ‘Children as Zones of Peace.’ The information and facts and figures included in this report are just a reflection of the children’s reality in the country. There might be many areas related to children that could not be incorporated during study and research. We shall be gradually incorporating the areas left out by this report in the next status reports. I anticipate constructive criticism and suggestions from all to improve this report in the future. Lastly, may the ongoing armed conflict end as soon as possible. May all kinds of violence end. May sustainable peace prevail. May children no more be devastated by killings and violence in the coming days. Let us hope that there is no interference from anyone in their survival or their right to an education. Actually children are symbols of peace. Let us convert this saying into a reality. Thank You! Gauri Pradhan President CWIN-Nepal 5 State of the Rights of the Child in Nepal 2004/National Report Prepared by CWIN National Status Report On Child Rights 2004 The world is ever evolving. Our society is on the move. All human beings aspire to seek positive changes in their lives. The majority of the population wishes that there were no disparities, exploitation, and injustices in our society. Nevertheless, a handful of people, or the class who has control over the resources, power, and authority (satta), always try to crush the movements for progression. If the available resources and materials are fairly distributed perhaps people wouldn’t have to bear poverty, hunger, and disparity. Apart from this, if at least people could have a life free of bondage and slavery, so much frustration and agony wouldn’t prevail. It is due to this existing exploitation, disparity, and authority that there have been wars and movements against unfair systems for ages. Nepal has become a burning example of this phenomenon. Status of Economic Development Nepal is a rich country in terms of its natural resources. The languages, culture, traditions here are not only diverse, but are truly elevated. The geography of this country is also diverse. But why is this country with rich resources, culture, and full of hardworking people still poor? Why do poverty, inadequacy, disease, and hunger still rule over the general masses here? Why do disparities, exploitation, and unfair systems widely prevail here? It has been more than 235 years since the beginning of ‘Modern Nepal’, yet this country remains in the list of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in the world. According to the World Bank, the per capita income of average Nepalese is only US$ 230. The HDI index of Nepal stands at 143rd among the 175 countries in the world. According to the study of 175 countries Nepal is one of the least developed countries in terms of human development and in South Asia Nepal falls behind all countries except Pakistan. The labour force of Nepal is expanding with the population growth of 300,000 persons (2.45%) per year. But due to lack of productive education and training opportunities, unemployment and displacement of rural population to urban areas has escalated. Similarly, there has been decline in the agricultural growth rate from 10.8 % to 5.9% in the fiscal year 2001-2002. The economic growth of the tenth national plan initiated to achieve ground-breaking changes has also been negative (-0.6) in the year 2002-2003. Nepal faced such a set back for the first time in 19 years. The 10th National Plan in implementation has planned to bring down the current poverty status from 38% to 30%, targeting the socially and economically deprived communities. But only the future will tell whether the targets will be achieved. Moreover, our national achievement will not only be negative but will be on the constant decline if violence, killings, and political chaos continue. Status of Political Development The current political situation is going to be the most painful course of time in the history of Nepal.