Nepal continues to wrestle with problem of child labour

Nepal is one of the countries which has a very high proportion of child labour, and on the occasion of World Day against Child Labour today, this Himalayan region continues to wrestle with the issue of social security hindering child development.

On Wednesday, various programs are being organized in Nepal to raise awareness and increase activism to prevent child labour.

This year's theme is "human rights and social justice: Let's end child labour", reports Nepalnews.

After the 1990s, the Government of Nepal has been addressing the problem of child labour on a war footing, but is simultaneously aware that in the socio-economic context, it is a difficult and complex issue.

Despite many national and international existing laws that prohibit child labour, the efforts of government, non-government, national and international organizations haven't been very effective.

According to Nepal Labour Force Survey (NLFS) 2008, the child population age between 5 and 17 was about 7.77 million, which is the about 33 percent of the total population of the country.

The survey estimates that about 3.14 million children - about 40.4 percent of the child population in the 5 to 17 year age group may be engaged in works.

The survey also identified that about 0.62 million of 1.60 million child labours are engaged in hazardous work. In the rural areas, children always work till long hours with their parents. Proportionally, engagement of the girls is higher than boys in labour sector.

Nepal's economy is agriculture-based and a majority of children are found working in the agriculture sector followed by service, manufacturing and other sectors. They are mostly informally employed as domestic servants, porters, rag pickers, carpet factory workers and also work in restaurants, tea shops and transportation sector. As the nature of work, they have to work long hours, carry heavy loads and are prone to sexual exploitation.

The government introduced the Child Labour Act 1992 with the provision of three months prison for employing an underage child. And it was amended in 1999 with strong punishment provision.

Nepal has said that it aims to eradicate low class child labour work by 2016 and all forms of child labour by 2020, and to fulfill this objective, the government has been implementing a 10-year National Plan since 2011.