Protection and Reintegration of Street Children in Kathmandu

Context

Official Report:

How many?

According to a 2002* study related to the Children's Rights in Nepal , the number of Street Children is estimated at 5,000.

Almost all (96%) are boys, from rural areas (65%), confronted with difficulties mentioned below. All come from very poor families. Only 49% have attended school.

* Source: The "Trafficking and sexual abuse among street children in Kathmandu " study which was executed by the ILO (Internationl Labour Organization) within the framework of IPEC (International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour) published in March, 2002.

Why?

•  Many Street Children, who have lost a mother or a father (deceased or disappeared) are rejected by their step-mother or step-father and expelled from the household or mistreated to the point that they prefer to run away. Others make the choice to leave to escape the violence of their own families, pulled into the infernal cycle of extreme poverty and/or alcoholism (even if most Nepalese parents are generally very loving to their children).

•  Nepal has a widespread tradition of child labor among the most impoverished families. Sent to the cities to work, often as rag workers or cheap labor in workshops and factories, they begin the process of separating from their families. Exploited, they end up preferring the streets and other groups of children, among which they feel safer.

•  The political troubles that have shaken the country over the past few years have accentuated the problem by encouraging certain families and children to flee to the cities to escape reprisals or indoctrination.

The dangers of the street

These children suffer from hunger, lack of hygiene, disease, the cold, loneliness, drugs, physical and sexual violence, crime, illiteracy, lack of perspectives for the future. They survive -if they can- by begging, collecting plastic bags from garbage cans, which are sold for a few cents a kilo, making small drawings that are sold to tourists, selling drugs, stealing, being sexually abused in exchange for food..

Nepal has recently been suffering from the backlash of the displacement of the "pedophile movement" from South-east Asia towards the Indian subcontinent. Pursued and expelled in countries such as Thailand and the Philippines through NGOs and active legislation, pedophiles have descended upon countries like Bangladesh and Nepal where, despite signing and ratification of the United Nations Convention on the rights of Children in 1990 and the Convention of the International Labour Office on the worst forms of child labor in 1999, there is no national law protecting boys against abuses and exploitation of sexual nature (in the Nepalese legislation, the laws regarding sexual assault on children are aimed essentially at protecting girls).

Objectives:

•  Fight against sexual abuses by making the national and international community more sensitive to the problem of abused children;

•  Improve the quality of response to the needs of Street Children in Katmandu and their families;

•  Develop and reinforce the organizational capacities of our local partner;

Location:

NEPAL , City of Kathmandu and surrounding districts of Lalitpur and Bhaktapur

Beneficiaries:

+ Street Children between the ages of 4/5 and 18 and, as a priority, sexually abused boys: about 100 are taken into care each year.

+ Families of Street Children: about 45 families

+ Hotel owners, police officers, teachers, journalists, teachers from other local associations, Social Welfare Council and Justice Ministry staff: about 500 people informed and .

+ Staff of local partner association: teachers, social workers, ..., around 30 people

Local Partner:

Voice of Children (VOC)

Duration of the project:

E&D's support for Voice of Children began in July 2001 and will continue, provided that financing requirements allow it.

Financing: European Union, Private funds

Staff:

In Nepal :

The project is put into place by the staff of the organization Voice of children (administrative and support staff, educational staff, educational tool conceptualist), comprising 39 full-time employees and 1 E&D expatriate coordinating the project on the ground.

Technical consultants:

The project is supported by E&D internal human resources, providing Nepalese educators and social workers with specific technical support (theory and practice).