Kathmandu, December 29

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Women, Children and Social Welfare CP Mainali today stressed the need for cooperation and coordination between government agencies and non-governmental organisations to protect and promote child rights.

Speaking at a book launch organised by Children and Women in Social Service and Human Rights, a non-governmental organisation working for the rights of children, DPM Mainali said all organisations working to promote child rights need to join hands to achieve greater targets.

“Formulation of laws is significant, but implementation of those laws is far more important,” he said.

Stating that children were worst-hit by the recent earthquakes, Mainali added that the ongoing protests in various parts of the country have violated the basic rights of children.

During the programme, he released a book ‘Nepalma Bal Adhikar’ (Child Rights in Nepal), published by CWISH. The book has documented the achievements of Nepal’s child rights movements.

Ranju Jha, chairperson of the Women, Children, Senior Citizens and Social Welfare Committee of the Parliament said many children were separated from their families with false assurances of education or other facilities. She urged the government to control such activities.

“The constitution has guaranteed all rights,” she said, “The constitutional provisions should be implemented effectively by formulating appropriate child-friendly laws,” she said.

Right activists Gauri Pradhan, Krishna Subedi, Bijaya Sainju and Kumar Bhattarai, Central Child Welfare Board Executive Director Tarak Dhital and DIG Mingmar Lama, among others, had discussed the achievements and challenges of child rights movement in Nepal.

As many as 45 campaigners, activists and stakeholders have discussed the progress made by Nepal in the child rights sector and the challenges it faced in the last 25 years in the book.

Editor of the book, Jyotilal Ban, said the authors conducted a one-and-half-year long study before writing the book.