International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour

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Child labour situation
Child labour remains a major economic and social phenomenon in Nepal. According to the National Child
Labour Survey undertaken in 1997,
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1.660 million children (26.6 per cent) out of the total 6.225 million
children aged between 5 and 14 years in the country are economically active.
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G Among the 1.660 million economically active children, boys (54 per cent) outnumber girls (46 per
cent);
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G Many of these children do not go to schools (14.54 per cent of the boys and 25.96 per cent of the
girls);
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G The large part (94.7 per cent, 1.576 million) of the economically active children are engaged in the
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Central Department of Population Studies, Tribhuwan University: Child labour situation in Nepal Report from migration and
employment survey, 1995/96 (Kathmandu, 1997), survey undertaken with the support of the ILO.
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'Economic activity' includes both paid and unpaid, casual and illegal work as well as work in the informal sector, but excludes
unpaid domestic services within own household.
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Central Department of Population Studies, Tribhuwan University: Child labour situation in Nepal Report from migration and
employment survey, 1995/96 (Kathmandu, 1997).
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Ibidem.
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agriculture sector, mostly as unpaid family workers and partly as forced labour attached to their
parents under debt bondage or similar other exploitative labour. Besides agriculture, working children
are mainly involved in the services sector (27,000) and communications and transportation sector
(26,000);
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G Based on several studies conducted under the IPEC Time-Bound Programme (TBP),
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it is estimated
that there are 127,143 children working in the worst forms of child labour as bonded labourers,
ragpickers, porters, domestic workers, in mines, in the carpet sector, and being trafficked. According
to the same studies, the children involved in these forms of child labour start working between the
ages of 10 and 14. In addition, more than one-third of them are illiterate, and a majority are school
dropouts, who have been brought to their present workplace by their parents or relatives. It also
appears that they all come from landless and relatively large families. Finally, more than 80 per cent
of children trapped in the worst forms of child labour have migrated for work. With the exception
of children bonded into agricultural labour and children working as long distance porters in the rural
areas of Nepal, the vast majority of children work in urban areas.
Factors that generate child labour in Nepal can be summarized as follows:
G On the demand side, while the society at large is aware of the ill effects of child labour, both to
the individual child as well as to the nation, the existing societal attitude remains largely indifferent
to it. Legal provisions on safeguarding child rights and preventing child labour are inadequate in
enforcement and children continue to be hired as child labourers. In rural areas, children work mostly
in the agricultural sector, while in urban areas, they can be found in almost all kinds of work requiring
manual labour;
G The supply side of this is characterised by illiteracy of the parents, lack of access to as well as low
perceived value of education, disharmony and diminishing family support, subsistence livelihoods that
push families, particularly in rural areas, to send their children to work;
G The civil war is another factor contributing to child labour in Nepal. In rural areas, many families
prefer to send their children to urban areas for fear of them being caught in the cross-fire, or becoming
a victim of the security forces or Maoists. As a result, these children enter the child labour market
and very often end up in the worst forms of child labour.
National legislation and policies against child labour
Legislation
The Constitution of Nepal, 1990, seeks to protect the interests of children by conferring on them certain
fundamental rights and imposing for their benefit certain 'directive principles and policies of the State'.
The State shall make necessary arrangements to safeguard the rights and interests of children, ensure
that they are not exploited, and make gradual arrangements for free education.
Apart from the Constitution, the following three laws make important provisions for the protection and
advancement of the interests of children and child labourers:
G The Children's Act, 1992: This Act was enacted to protect the rights and interests of Nepalese
children and to ensure their physical, mental, and intellectual development. It also contains a number
of provisions on child labour, and it has recently been amended to make the Act more abuse-specific,
especially in relation to sexual abuse. The Act defines a child as a person below the age of 16 years
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Ibidem.
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These include five rapid assessments on five selected worst forms of child labour (children in bonded labour, child ragpickers,
child porters, child domestic workers and child trafficking) that have been completed by the Central Department of Population
Studies (CDPS) and the National Labour Academy (NLA), as well as earlier studies on children in mining and in the carpet sector.
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and states that a child who has not attained the age of 14 shall not be employed in any work as
a labourer;
G The Labour Act, 1992, and Labour Rules, 1993, contain specific provisions for the prohibition of
employment of children below the age of 14 years and prohibits admission to hazardous work for
minors (aged between 14 and 18 years);
G The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1999, followed Nepal's ratification of the ILO
Minimum Age Convention (No. 138), and has made important amendments in the Labour Act, 1992.
The Child Labour Act enlists specific occupations as hazardous work and prohibits the use of children
below 16 years of age in such activities. The Act has not yet been enacted.
Other legal provisions restricting child labour and trafficking in the country include: the Citizen Rights
Act, 1955; the Begging Prohibition Act, 1962; the Prison Act, 1962; the Common Law Code, 1963; the
Public Offence and Punishment Act, 1970; the Foreign Employment Act, 1985; the Trafficking Control
Act, 1986, and the Drug Trafficking (Control) Act.
Finally, the Self-Governance Act, 1997, makes important provisions for decentralised action for children
and against child labour. For instance, much of the power for protecting girl children has devolved on
the Village Development Committees (VDCs), which are obliged to give priority to development projects
that directly benefit children.
Nepal is a signatory to the:
G ILO Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (No. 182);
G ILO Minimum Age Convention (No. 138);
G ILO Forced Labour Convention (No. 29);
G UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).
Government policies and programmes
The growing conflict in Nepal has plunged the nation into chaos, with poor people in outlying areas
being profoundly affected. On 21 February 2004, Nepal's Human Rights Commission declared that it
could no longer keep up with the scope and the magnitude of human rights violations and abuses being
committed by the security forces and the Maoists respectively. Abductions, extra-judicial executions,
torture, and rape are now a daily occurrence in Nepal. On 9 March 2004, the Maoists imposed a state
of siege in 13 districts, bringing transportation to a halt and disrupting commerce. The education system
is under assault, with schools being turned into exercise grounds for the security forces, or as
recruitments stations for the Maoists. The work of international development agencies and the UN is
being hindered by fresh demands for payment of fees by local Maoist commanders.
Some positive steps have, however, been taken recently with regard to child labour and policy
development. One of these is the ten-year National Plan of Action for Children, based on the UNGASS
Declaration. The plan has been through several rounds of consultations and is about to be finalized.
The ILO's International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) has been an active partner
of the Government in the development of the plan. Through its rights based approach, the plan differs
considerably from earlier plans and programmes, which were more welfare oriented. Child labour issues
are highlighted in the plan under the chapter on protection. HIV/AIDS is another central issue of the
plan, an issue on which IPEC has taken the lead in Nepal. The Ministry of Labour and Transport
Management (MOLT) and its Child Labour Section assume responsibility on issues concerning child
labour. Currently, the Ministry is coordinating and finalizing His Majesty's Government of Nepal's Master
Plan of Action for the Elimination of Child Labour.
The Master Plan outlines strategies and programmes that are aimed at the elimination of child labour.
The time-frame of the Master Plan has been expanded from earlier drafts, from 2006 to 2010 for the
Worst Forms of Child Labour, and from 2010 to 2014 for all forms of child labour.
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Nepal has prepared a core Education For All (EFA) document for the period of 2004/09. The EFA
envisages that by 2015, there should be universal access to quality basic education. A key measure
to be implemented under the proposed EFA 2002/09 is providing 60 per cent of the education budget
directly to schools. This is expected to increase the net enrolment rate from the current 81 per cent
to 96 per cent, and the literacy rate of those above 15 years of age from the current 48 per cent to
60 per cent by 2009. Also under the EFA is an initiative for five donors to provide financial assistance
that will be spent in bringing 2.6 million new students to pre-primary schools. These various initiatives
are expected to improve the access to and quality of schooling and will hopefully also benefit children
in the worst forms of child labour. Among other important efforts figures the decision taken in July 2000
by His Majesty's Government of Nepal to outlaw the Kamaiya system of bonded labour, under which
debt-ridden rural farmers and their children work as bonded labourers to pay off debts incurred by their
ancestors. From the perspective of child development, the Ministry of Women, Children and Social
Welfare and its Central Child Welfare Committee assume the responsibility for children and their right
to development and protection. The Ministry also leads the efforts to combat trafficking and, with the
assistance of IPEC, has revised the National Plan of Action to include combating trafficking in women
and children for sexual exploitation.
In addition, His Majesty's Government of Nepal has formed a number of commissions and bodies,
including the Child and Women Development Section in the National Planning Commission and the Social
Welfare Council, which is responsible for monitoring social welfare activities in the country. Under the
coordination of the chief district officer, District Child Welfare Boards have been set up at the district
level. These agencies are responsible for coordinating policy planning and for formulating action
programmes related to the welfare, development, and rehabilitation of children working in difficult
situations. Juvenile benches have also been established in district courts.
However, all these efforts are currently threatened by the current conflict involving the Maoist insurgency
and the Government of Nepal. Since a state of emergency was imposed in November 2001, the security
situation has been deteriorating. Maoist attacks have intensified in urban areas as well, including in
Kathmandu. In many parts of the country, there is no semblance of local government and schools have
been closed. The implementation of IPEC programmes has been profoundly affected by the current crisis.
Besides security concerns, many children are displaced from rural to urban areas, where they often
become child workers. National mobilization against child labour is also decreasing as security concerns
prevail.
As a result of the growing armed conflict in Nepal, IPEC has redefined its priorities and programming.
More than anything else, in order to remain relevant, IPEC has ensured that its development strategies
are dictated by humanitarian principles. For example, IPEC Nepal has worked closely with UNICEF Nepal
and other agencies to design land mine education materials that will be widely distributed by its respective
implementing partners. IPEC Nepal has developed focused mini programme interventions for internally
displaced children in urban areas, who have ended up in the worst forms of child labour, such as the
ragpickers working in Chitwan district.
IPEC action
In February 1995, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between His Majesty's
Government of Nepal (HMG/N) and the ILO to the effect that: "The aim of such cooperation (between
the HMG/N and the ILO) will be to promote conditions to enable the HMG/N to progressively prohibit,
restrict and regulate child labour with a view to its ultimate elimination; and increase awareness in the
national and international community of the consequences and solutions to the child labour problem."
In May 1995, the Ministry of Labour constituted a National Steering Committee, which has worked jointly
with the ILO on the nature and scope of IPEC activities.
Since its inception in 1995, IPEC has been able to place the issue of child labour prominently on the
national development agenda. A legislative framework has been formulated and strategic alliances and
forum for coordination created in collaboration with IPEC's partners. The experience of IPEC in Nepal
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has indeed shown that it is only possible to create an impact in the battle against child labour if the
specific interventions for working children and their parents are part of an overall framework for action.
In line with the experience of IPEC at the global level, IPEC Nepal has successfully moved from targeted
action in one specific sector (a sector based approach) to targeting all forms of child labour in a well-
defined geographical area (an area based approach). As the area based approach has proven to be
very successful in eliminating child labour, it has been incorporated as one of the basic strategies of
the Time-Bound Programme (TBP), which is currently in Phase I.
The IPEC Core TBP is predicated on Nepal's Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), Tenth Plan,
and His Majesty's Government of Nepal Master Plan on Child Labour, both of which incorporate
decentralization as a fundamental strategy. Decentralization is equated with good governance. IPEC has
assisted in establishing District Child Labour Coordination Committees (DCLCCs) in 18 districts. The
DCLCCs are set up under the District Development Committees, which are the main local level
administrative bodies. The DCLCCs represent a broad range of community interests, including policy
makers, employers, trade unions, service clubs, local NGOs, women's groups, and youth groups. The
main objective of the DCLCCs is to provide inspired and informed leadership at the community level
on the issue of child labour. Approximately 10 of the DCLCCs have drafted plans of action against the
worst forms of child labour.
Overview of ongoing projects
Supporting the Time-Bound Programme in Nepal: The IPEC Core TBP Project
Time-frame Donor(s)
Duration: 3 years US Department of Labour (USDOL)
Starting date: September 2001
In response to international calls for action and to the commitments made by His Majesty's Government
of Nepal, IPEC and its partners in Nepal have developed the Time-Bound Programme (TBP). It has
been designed within the framework of the new ILO Convention No. 182.
The IPEC Core TBP Project is the main pillar of four supporting US Department of Labour funded
initiatives,
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which have been designed for the elimination of the worst forms of child labour. All these
form part of the first phase of the overall Time-Bound Programme, where the specific goal of the IPEC
Core TBP Project is to contribute to a reduction of children trapped in intolerable and inhuman
circumstances by 42 per cent.
Of the 127,143 children estimated to be working in bonded labour, mines, carpet factories and as porters,
ragpickers, and domestic labourers, the IPEC Core TBP Project targets a total of 15,000 working children.
It also targets 8,000 children at risk of entering into these worst forms of child labour, together with
6,000 families in 22 districts severely affected by the problem.
The development objective of the IPEC Core TBP Project is to contribute to the master plan for the
elimination of child labour, which is about to be finalized. Combining sector wise, area based and thematic
strategies, the IPEC Core TBP project takes a two-tier approach to eliminating the worst forms of child
labour:
G On the one hand, the aim of the IPEC Core TBP Project is to create, at the national level, an enabling
environment for the elimination of the worst forms of child labour. The main elements of this strategic
component is to strengthen legislation and its enforcement, to produce new pro-poor as well as child-
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The three other initiatives are the forthcoming education initiative and the ongoing trafficking and child bonded labour projects.
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friendly labour, social and poverty alleviation policies, to make education effective in preventing child
labour, and to raise awareness against the worst forms of child labour;
G On the other hand, the IPEC Core TBP Project aims to reduce the incidence of children trapped
in seven selected worst forms of child labour. Specifically, interventions have been designed in the
areas of access to education, basic healthcare, recreation and legal protection, in addition to reduction
of economic vulnerability and social mobilization.
In consideration of the nature and magnitude of the Nepal overall Time-Bound Programme, a high-level
inter-ministerial committee on the elimination of child labour composed of high-level representatives of
various ministries, as well as representatives from FNCCI (Federation of Nepalese Chambers of
Commerce and Industry), trade unions, and the ILO has been established at the national level. The
project team responsible for the implementation of the project is based in the ILO office in Kathmandu.
Initiatives funded by the US Department of Labour and existing before the establishment of the TBP
are integrated into the IPEC Core TBP Project. These are:
G The IPEC/Declaration Project on Sustainable Elimination of Bonded Labour in Nepal: This
Project contributes to the IPEC Core TBP Project by working to eliminate child bonded labour in
the Kamaiya system of bonded labour. Since this project already targets 16,000 children in one of
the seven selected worst forms of child labour, the IPEC Core TBP Project will prioritise action to
combat trafficking as well as to eliminate the remaining five of the seven selected worst forms of
child labour in Nepal;
G The IPEC Project for Combating Child Trafficking for Labour and Sexual Exploitation (TICSA
Project): Trafficking is a process that in most cases leads to the worst forms of child labour. The
IPEC Core TBP Project aims at withdrawing 1,000 children who have been trafficked, but it has also
been designed to reach thousands of children vulnerable to trafficking and the worst forms of child
labour. The trafficking component of the IPEC Core TBP Project is managed by the existing staff
and according to the existing framework of the TICSA project in Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka,
Pakistan, Thailand and Indonesia.
Apart from the above-mentioned projects, the Italian Social Partnership Initiative (ISPI) against child
bonded labour (Community Action Project for the Elimination of Child Bonded Labour from Exploitative
and Hazardous Work Phase III) has been mainstreamed into the TBP. Approaches undertaken by
this project are now being taken over on a larger scale through the IPEC/Declaration Project on
Sustainable Elimination of Bonded Labour. In order to avoid duplication, the community action project,
in its third phase (July 2003-June 2006), has developed new interventions for addressing the issues
of some other forms of debt bonded labour relations such as Hali, Harwa, and Charwa, which are not
covered by the Kamaiya Labour (Prohibition) Act, 2001, while also targeting children working under
exploitative and hazardous conditions in stone quarries, brick kilns, as well as in hotels and teashops.
World Education International has been contracted by the US Department of Labour to provide
educational services to the same children being reached by the IPEC Core TBP Project. IPEC and World
Education International work very closely together to develop complementary strategies that make the
best use of their resources, and have developed a common tracking system and data base for all
beneficiaries. As much as possible, IPEC and World Education International work with the same
implementing partners, which is particularly important when reaching children in conflict affected regions.
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Sustainable Elimination of Bonded Labour in Nepal (SEBL) IPEC/Declaration
Project
Time-frame Donor(s)
Duration: 69 months US Department of Labour (USDOL)
Starting date: December 1999
Completion date: August 2005
The joint IPEC/Declaration Project aims to rehabilitate bonded adult and child labourers and to prevent
them re-entering exploitative forms of labour. The intervention strategy consists of:
G Direct action targeted at ex-Kamaiyas, their families and children in order to secure their effective
release from bondage and to sustainably reduce their poverty through training and education,
livelihood improvement, and service provision;
G Capacity and alliance building among key actors the Government, workers' and employers'
organizations, and civil society for policy development and programme formulation at the national
and district levels;
G Awareness raising campaigns among ex-Kamaiyas, their landlords and society at large. Another
important component of the project is to ensure sustainability through data collection, research, and
the implementation of a tracking system.
The direct beneficiaries of the project are ex-Kamaiyas and children under the Kamaiya system and
those still de facto in debt bondage or at risk of falling into bondage in the eight districts of western
Nepal Banke, Bardia, Dang, Kailali, Kanchanpur, Nawalparasi, Rupandehi, and Kapilvastu. Since
women and girls are at high risk of bondage due to the prevailing gender discrimination norms in these
communities, priority target groups are Kamaiya women and girls aged under 18 years.
Since June 2004, the project has been working in close collaboration with the ILO subregional Project
on Preventing and Eliminating of Bonded Labour in South Asia (PEBLISA) in Nepal, which focuses on
prevention of bonded labour through various strategies, including micro finance.
The project has been successful in:
G Providing the Out of School Programme (OSP) to 2,812 children (1,537 girls and 1,278 boys) and
formal schooling to 6,116 children (2,934 girls and 3,182 boys);
G Preventing 9,984 children (2,060 girls and 5,015 boys) and withdrawing 153 girl children from
exploitative work;
G Convincing almost all former Kamaiyas to send their children to school;
G Providing basic literacy to 3,512 adults (2,849 women and 663 men), vocational/skills training to 641
(185 women and 456 men), and income generating activities to 17 (11 women and six men);
G Establishing vigilance committees of freed Kamaiyas in many villages by DECONT, GEFONT, and
NTUC under the action programmes to monitor implementation of labour standards and monitoring
incidence of bondage and child labour. These committees have been strengthened through training
to discharge their roles and responsibilities effectively in the communities;
G Raising awareness on the Kamaiya Prohibition Labour Act as well as raising awareness on issues
such as minimum wages, gender, education, and micro enterprises;
G Initiating joint action with other agencies working in the field in the construction of a water supply-
cum-irrigation project at Lalmatiya in Dang district, as well as for the rehabilitation of former Kamaiyas
in five Kamaiya prone districts.
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Other initiatives against child labour
There are a host of organizations working for the elimination of child labour in Nepal, including community
based organizations (CBOs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), international donor agencies, and
the Government. Major players include UNICEF, GTZ, World Education International, and Winrock
International.
In the case of trafficking, the UN Joint Initiative, which is complemented by the Inter-Agency Donor Group
on Trafficking, is an example of how UN agencies collaborate against trafficking.
Documented in November 2004