Sunday, December 19, 2010

Tiny Hands On Offer

As I was adjusting my woolen scarf during my regular morning walk, I caught sight of a girl, maybe 8 years old, who was searching in a heap of garbage with a big dirty sack hanging from her left shoulder. I had to take a detour from my usual route because of the street dogs chasing and barking at her.
Nothing unusual! I know it. Yet, I found myself pretty occupied with the sight of that girl, which later prompted me to turn the pages of a recent International Labour Organisation (ILO) report that had been lying on my table since last week. The report reveals that about 1.93 million children in age group 5 to 7 years are involved in child labour in Nepali urban areas; 200,000 in the Kathmandu valley alone. These child labourers typically work more than 65 hours a week and approximately 1.4 million of them work under severely exploitative and unsafe conditions.

Various UN organizations’ reports on child labour have shown that in rural areas children predominantly work in farms, while in cities they are mainly involved in manual labour in domestic household activities, carpet factories, brick kilns, leather factories, transport industries, restaurants, and other such businesses. In recent days, cases of children being forcefully involved in illegal activities have also surfaced. According to a caste and ethnicity disaggregated data set, the majority of the Nepali child labour force belongs to various Janajati groups, a few from Newar community and only 29 percent from Brahmin-Chettri families.

The decade-plus long insurgency has been a major contributing factor in increased numbers of child labourers in the country. Many rural families sent their children to cities out of apprehension of them being targets of Maoist combatants or security forces. Disrupted subsistence livelihoods, illiteracy and extreme poverty also pushed families to send their children to work outside their native villages. As a result, the majority of these children ended up as child labourers or slaves. It is estimated, that more than 80 percent of these children got trapped in the worst forms of child slave labour.

Child slave labour is still so profoundly ingrained in some communities of Nepal that most of female victims are denied even primary schooling. For example, although the Kamaiya system of slavery has been abolished, ex-Kamaiyas and their children are still at a high risk of bondage due to absence of necessary rehabilitation and integration provisions and existing discrimination against female children.

Along with child slave labour, some communities also use children for a religiously approved form of child prostitution. The most alarming and unique of such cultural practices is the Deuki system used in far western Nepal.

The practice of Deuki entails parents offering their female children to local temples to serve the deity in the belief that they will be blessed in return. In ancient times, Deukis were regarded as sacred temple slaves or dancers who after reaching puberty were asked to provide sexual services to male priests and worshippers.

There are reports that this practice has been modernized and contemporary Deukis are even sold to bidders. These girls become extremely vulnerable, not only to exposure to sex at young ages, but also to child-prostitution. Empirical evidence from several African countries has revealed that such exposure leads children towards a vicious circle whereby they are forced to embrace prostitution as a profession for survival. According to a report of Maiti Nepal, Nepal’s largest anti-trafficking non-governmental organization, which also operates a hospice for HIV/AIDS positive trafficking victims and their children, the majority of women and girls rescued and repatriated as sex workers from India test positive for HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

The 1990 Constitution has vowed to protect the interests of children, conferring their fundamental rights. The Interim Constitution also guarantees child interests, protection and rights. Apart from these, the Children’s Act, 1992, and the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 2002, are other key regulations that aim to prevent children from child labour and sexual abuse. It is disheartening to know that despite these measures, the number of Deukis is increasing. According to a UN report, there are now more than 30,000 Deukis in Nepal compared to 17,000 in 1992.

Although Nepal has been one of the first countries to ratify ILO conventions 138 on the Minimum Age for Employment and 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour, the prolonging political turmoil has negatively impacted the development and implementation of national compliance mechanisms, policies and strategies.

Widespread impunity of the slaveholders and children traffickers, lax law enforcement, poverty, disintegration of families, migration, lack of protection to children at risk and ignorance on the part of parents have been crucial contributing factors to the growing demand for young children in the global sex market. Although on-going efforts by many international and national non-government organizations present a hopeful picture, they need to be cautious as the agenda is not as straightforward as it appears. This is mainly due to the fact that it is intertwined with a number of larger socio-economic issues prevalent in our communities. Hence, a coherent and holistic approach has to be followed—perhaps in a consortium mode wherein each consortium member organization focuses on its own specialization area, while working collectively towards the common goal of the elimination of child labour and slavery.

By: BHAWANA UPADHYAY 

Visit Nepal Year 2011

nepal-tourism-year-logo
    Nepal is a country of highly diverse and rich geography, culture, and religions. The mountainous north contains eight of the world’s ten highest mountains, including the highest, Mount Everest.

The fertile and humid south is heavily urbanized. By some measures, Hinduism is practiced by a greater majority of people in Nepal than in any other nation. The natural scenery, high mountains, incomparable cultural heritage and numerous specialties have made Nepal a well-known destination in the world tourism map with a distinct image of its own. However, the development of tourism is limited in number and within the certain areas of the country only. The new government has shown greater concerns about the real value of tourism and its role in contributing to economic growth, poverty alleviation, equity and overall tourism development in the country.
Therefore, the government is placing high priority on the tourism sector in its new economic development policy. As there is a favorable political situation in the country, the government is all geared towards economic revolution in next 10 years for the up-liftment of the masses. In this connection, government of Nepal in consultation with Nepalese Tourism Industry, concerned organizations and experts decided to launch a national tourism campaign "Nepal Tourism Year 2011". This announcement reflects the government’s anticipation to bring into at least one million international tourists in Nepal by the year 2011 and spread the benefits of tourism to the people at large. The national campaign also indicates the tourism industry’s exigency to organize a tourism promotion campaign having wider impact.
With the glittering badge of adventure destination and the adage “Atithi Devo Bhava” (Guests are Gods) that reflects "Atithi Satkar, Nepaliko Sanskar" (Hospitality is Nepalese culture) deeply rooted in our culture, the tourism products of Nepal never cease to mesmerize the visitors. The cultural, geographical, ethnic and bio-diversities of the country allure international visitors to Nepal time and again which truly substantiates the spirit of Nepal tourism brand; ‘Naturally Nepal, once is not enough !
The concept of Nepal Tourism Year 2011 envisions harnessing these opportunities and strengths and bringing together the commitment of the government, expertise and experiences of the organizations like Nepal Tourism Board, aptitude and dynamism of the private sector and communities for further tourism development in the country. Active involvement of the major political parties, members of the Constitution Assembly and Right groups is always taken into consideration in order to make the campaign inclusive and participatory in modus operandi and effective in result. The campaign will also focus on mobilizing the networks of the Non-Resident Nepalis (NRN) communities, Nepalese diplomatic missions abroad, I/NGOs, airlines, and national and international media. Similarly, friends and well-wishers of Nepal, tourism academicians and celebrities will also be approached in order to highlight the campaign internally as well as internationally. This is also called Visit Nepal Year 2011.

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