Kathmandu, March 21

The three-day pre-event workshop for the Nepal Girl Summit-2016 has kicked off in Budhanilkantha-based Park Village Resort from yesterday.

Nepal Girl Summit-2016 is going to be held on March 23 in Kathmandu.

The summit will focus on ways to mitigate child marriage in the country as 1.3 million adolescent girls (aged between 10 to 19) in Nepal are at risk of being married when they are children.

Approximately 60 adolescent boys and girls from 15 districts have been sharing their experiences and striking messages from district consultations and inter-generational dialogues organised in their respective districts in the past couple of months.

They also talked about action for change and roles that various people such as parents, teachers, religious leaders, political leaders, service providers and others can play to change the situation.

The 15-districts include Morang, Saptari, Udayapur, Makawanpur, Rautahat, Kapilvastu, Rupandehi, Nawalparasi, Kalikot, Banke, Dailekh, Surkhet, Bajhang, Baitadi and Doti.

These districts were selected by the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare and UNICEF because there was high prevalence of child marriage there.

According to UNICEF, they will draw certain conclusions after consultations lasting for three days and put them forth in the main Summit regarding the challenges, learning and way forward for mitigating child marriage that is prevalent in the Nepali society.

British Royal Prince Harry, who is on a five-day visit to Nepal, will also address the Nepal Girl Summit 2016.

The summit is expected to grab the attention of national as well as international sectors.

President Bidhya Devi Bhandari is slated to inaugurate the Nepal Girl Summit- 2016.