International Child Rights Day marked

Kathmandu, November 20

The Central Child Welfare Board released a book titled ‘Condition of Children in Nepal, 2073’, a record of data related to children in the country, on the occasion of International Child Rights Day today.

At the programme, issues related to child rights such as education, nutrition, and quality of life were discussed.

On November 20, 1989, the United Nations adopted the Convention on the Right of the Child, a human rights treaty which set out the civil, political, economic, social, health, and cultural rights of children.

Nepal was one of the nations that ratified the convention, binding it by international law to follow the treaty.

Three years after the ratification of the treaty, Nepal formulated Children’s Act 1992. Since then, the Central Child Welfare Board has been recording data related to the status and condition of children in the country.

According to data recorded by the board, nearly 63 children die of various reasons in a day. The mortality rate of children below 5 years of age is 35 per thousand, and that of a newborn is 23 per thousand.

About 30 per cent of children below five years of age are underweight in the country.

About 96.6 per cent of children were enrolled in primary schools, 77.7 per cent in lower secondary schools, 58.6 per cent in secondary schools, and 16.3 per cent students in higher secondary schools.

In the fiscal year 2015/16, a total of 4,264,942 children were in school, 2,165,386 of them female and 2,099,556 male.

The data also showed that 405 street children were rescued from the Valley, and 121 missing children were united with their parents. In the fiscal year 2015/16, 463 children were recorded to be married.

The book also said that 1,090 children were victims of rape, of which 681 were female. Of the total 352 children trafficked, 109 were female.

Organisations, individuals feted

On the occasion of International Child Rights Day, Voice of Children with support from Child Rescue Nepal today feted various organisations with Alternative Family Care Award 2016 for their contribution to raising awareness and promoting alternative family care for children.

Himali Nabin Samaj received cash prize of Rs 300,000 in the institutional category, while Rajesh Sharma, editor of Changa, a child magazine received Rs 200,000 in the individual category.

Similarly, Ajaya Kumar Tamang was awarded Rs 100,000 in the family category. Senior CPN-UML leader and former Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal presented the awards along with felicitation letters to the recipients during the programme organised here today.

As per National Child Labour Report-2012, around 192,000 children are compelled to live away from their families to earn a living instead of going to school and having a proper childhood.

Similarly, a study by Central Child Welfare Board in 2008 stated that out of the total children residing in orphanages, 72 per cent children had living parents.