Selected Child Labor Measures Adopted by Governments
| Ratified Convention 138 5/30/97 |
X |
| Ratified Convention 182 1/3/02 |
X |
| ILO-IPEC Member |
X |
| National Plan for Children |
|
| National Child Labor Action Plan |
X |
| Sector Action Plan (trafficking) |
X |
Incidence and Nature of Child Labor
The ILO estimated that 40.8 percent of children ages 10 to 14 years in Nepal were working in 2002.[2870] The majority of economically active children participate in the agriculture sector, while others work in the service sector, transportation, and communication.[2871] Throughout the country, children carry heavy loads as short-distance and long-distance porters.[2872] Over 10,000 children are estimated to work in stone quarries.[2873] In Kathmandu alone, an estimated 21,000 children under 14 years old are domestic servants. Children scavenge for plastic, metal, and glass to recycle. To a lesser extent, children are engaged in brick making. Children make up an estimated 2 percent of the workforce in the export-oriented carpet industry, though more are estimated to work in family-based weaving operations and smaller factories.[2874] According to ILO-IPEC, most working children do not receive wages.[2875] They often work under exploitive and hazardous conditions.[2876]
The government has reported a range of estimates for the number of child trafficking victims. Some 5,000 to 12,000 girls may be trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation annually, and as many as 200,000 trafficked Nepalese girls are estimated to reside in Indian brothels.[2877] Girls as young as 9 years old have been trafficked. In 2001, a local NGO recorded 265 cases of girl trafficking victims, of which 34 percent were below 16 years of age.[2878] While trafficking of children often leads to their sexual exploitation, there is also demand for trafficked boys and girls to work in the informal labor sector.[2879] A 2001, study found 30 percent of commercial sex workers in Kathmandu were below 18 years old.[2880]
A Maoist insurrection continues throughout Nepal with violence directed at government, security, and civilian targets. There are reports that Maoist insurgents use children as soldiers, cooks, and messengers.[2881] There is anecdotal evidence that unaccompanied children are fleeing areas of civil unrest and migrating to urban areas because of economic hardship and to avoid recruitment by Maoist insurgents. There is concern among government officials and NGOs that these children are much more vulnerable to labor or sexual exploitation, or living on the streets.[2882] A network of NGOs that monitor violations against children in armed conflict have documented cases of insurgents destroying schools and using school premises to abduct and recruit tens of thousands of students and teachers from schools, creating an atmosphere of fear and violence.[2883] Schools have been battle zones for both the insurgents and the Royal Nepal Army.[2884]
Education is not compulsory in Nepal. The Constitution states that it is a fundamental right for each community to operate primary schools and educate children in their mother language. It is government policy to raise the standard of living of the population through development of education and other social investments, making special provisions for females, economically and socially disadvantaged groups, and by making gradual arrangements for free education.[2885] Primary schools commonly charge non-tuition fees to pay for other school expenses,[2886] and families frequently do not have the money to pay for school supplies and clothing.[2887] In 2001, the gross primary enrollment rate was 121.6 percent. There are wide disparities between primary school enrollment rates of girls and boys. In 2001, gross enrollment rates were 112.9 percent and 129.8 for girls and boys respectively. Net primary enrollment rates are unavailable for 2001. In 2000, net enrollment rates were 66 percent and 74.6 percent for girls and boys respectively.[2888] Gross and net enrollment ratios are based on the number of students formally registered in primary school and therefore do not necessarily reflect actual school attendance. In 2000, the gross primary attendance rate was 116.9 percent and the net primary attendance rate was 73 percent.[2889]
Child Labor Laws and Enforcement
The Labor Act of 1992 and the Children’s Act of 1992 set the minimum age for employment at 14 years.[2890] The Child Labor Prohibition and Regulation Act of 2000 (Child Labor Act) consolidates child labor provisions in the Labor and Children’s Acts and lists different occupations in which children below 16 years cannot be employed, provides for penalties for those who do not comply, and calls for establishment of a Child Labor Elimination Committee and Child Labor Elimination Fund. Children can work up to 6 hours a day and 36 hours a week, between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. [2891] The Child Labor Act only covers formal sectors of employment, leaving the majority of child laborers who work in the informal sectors without legal protection. The Child Labor Act imposes a punishment of up to 3 months in prison, a fine of up to 10,000 RS (USD 145) or both for employing an underage child. Employing a child in dangerous work or against their will is punishable with imprisonment for up to one year, a fine of up to 50,000 (USD 725) or with both.[2892] The Labor Act also allows for a fine to be levied against employers in violation of labor laws.[2893]
The primary anti-trafficking law is the Human Trafficking Control Act of 1986.[2894] The Kamaiya system, a form of bonded labor, was banned in 2000, and the Kamaiya Labor (Prohibition) Act came into effect in February 2002. The Act outlaws keeping or employing any person as a bonded laborer and cancels any unpaid loans or bonds between creditors and Kamaiya laborers.[2895] The Constitution of Nepal prohibits the employment of minors in factories, mines or other hazardous work.[2896]
The Central Child Welfare Board and Child Welfare Officers have the responsibility of enforcing child rights legislation.[2897] The Ministry of Labor and Transport Management’s Child Labor Section and Labor Offices are responsible for enforcing child labor issues.[2898] Despite legal protections, resources devoted to enforcement of child labor laws are limited and the Ministry employs too few inspectors to address the problem effectively. There are 14 labor inspectors located in 14 offices in Nepal, who are responsible for conducting inspections of 20,000 corporations registered with the Ministry of Labor. Last year, the Ministry of Labor carried out 500 inspections; according to a Ministry official, no instances of child labor were found.[2899]
Current Government Policies and Programs to Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labor
In February 2004, the Ministry of Labor and Transport Management of Nepal revised a national Master Plan on Child Labor for 2004-2014. The revised plan calls for eliminating the worst forms of child labor by 2009 and all forms of child labor in by 2014. It identifies 16 worst forms of child labor; the IPEC Core Timebound program will target seven worst forms of child labor in 35 districts of Nepal in two phases (totaling seven years). Targeted children are porters, rag pickers (recyclers), domestic workers, laborers in the carpet industry and in mines, bonded laborers, and children trafficked for sexual or labor exploitation.[2900] In November 2004, the Child Labor Prohibition Act of 2000 was formally enacted, enabling the government to enforce the act’s provisions.[2901] The government has a National Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking and has established a 16-member National Coordination Committee with a National Task Force that provides policy direction and coordinates activities on child trafficking.[2902]
The government continues to take action in order to rescue and rehabilitate freed bonded laborers and has established a Freed Kamaiya Rehabilitation and Monitoring Committee to promote this work at the district level. In 2000, USDOL funded a project that is on-going to support former child bonded laborers and their families.[2903]
With funding from USDOL in 2000, the Government of Nepal and local partner organizations continue to implement a comprehensive ILO-IPEC Core Timebound Program.[2904] World Education and its local partner organizations also continue to implement a child labor educational initiative program that was funded by USDOL in 2002 that works closely with the ILO-IPEC Core Timebound Project.[2905] Nepal continues to be a part of an ILO-IPEC regional project to combat trafficking in Asia.[2906]
In July 2004, the World Bank approved a USD 50 million credit that will be pooled with about USD 100 million in grant funding from other donors to support the Government of Nepal’s Education for All program to finance basic and primary education expenditures over the next 5 years.[2907] The Seventh Education Amendment was passed in 2002, which began the government’s commitment to decentralization of the education system.[2908] The Community School Support Project received funding in 2003 from the World Bank in support of the government policy of providing communities incentives to take over the management of government-funded schools.[2909] The Basic and Primary Education Project has been underway since 1993 and works to improve quality, access and retention of students, and institutional capacity.[2910] The Primary Education Development Project has been underway since 1992 and prepares new primary school teachers and constructs schools.[2911]
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