Childrens home should not aim for profit
āChildrenās home should not aim for profitā
Published: 01:05 am Feb 22, 2016
Kathmandu, February 21 Chief District Officer of Lalitpur Rishi Ram Sharma today said childrenās homes should aim to provide the best care possible for children, and their welfare, safety and needs should be at the centre of their care. Launching a summary report on āAssessment of Residential Child Care Homes in Lalitpurā prepared by the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare in collaboration with SOS Childrenās Villages Nepal, Sharma said many childrenās homes were established with an intention of making money. āThese days, child care homes are being established with the aim of making money. Children should receive personalised care that promotes all aspects of their individual identity and are each treated as an individual rather than a member of a group,ā he said, adding that running a child care home is a social work and those operating such homes should not view it as running a business enterprise. He also warned of action against unscrupulous childrenās homes operators, who take undue advantage of orphaned children to earn money. He also said that some child care homes were found promoting particular religion. He urged the SOS and other involved in preparing the report to identify why parents send their children to residential child care homes. He also directed child care homes to clearly state their objectives. The summary report was based on the report entitled āReport on the Assessment of Residential Child Care Homes in Lalitpurā released in December 2014. In addition, reference has also been made to the compiled report entitled āReport on the Assessment of Alternative Care in Nepal and Quality Care in Residential Child Care Homes in 10 Study Districtsā. Shree Shankar Pradhananga, national director, SOS Childrenās Villages Nepal, said assessment of child care homes was a part of āCare for ME! Quality Care for Childrenā launched by the SOS Childrenās Villages Nepal. He said āCare for Me! Quality Care for Childrenā campaign is a five year global campaign of SOS Childrenās Villages International, running from 2012 to 2016. āThe campaign aims to ensure the rights of child in alternative care settings and attempts to facilitate implementation of UN Guidelines for Alternative Care of Children, 2009,ā he said adding, āIn this background, the āAssessment of Quality Care in Alternative Care in Nepalā was conducted as part of the āCare for Me!ā campaign in Nepal aiming to ascertain the situation of children in residential care as well as the situation of residential child care homes in 10 selected districts.ā He said that a total of 4,365 children (2,152 girls and 2203 boys) are residing in 131 residential child care homes covered in the 10 districts. Similarly, a total of 120 residential child care homes are operational in Lalitpur where 2,847 children (1,324 girls and 1,523 boys) are residing.