Nepal Ministers Pledge to End Anti-Social Practices

In a revolutionary movement challenging Nepal’s age-old anti-social practices, Nepal Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizen (MoWCS) and Provincial Social Development Ministers have decided to put an end to them.

The Nepali Ministers have made collective commitments to put an end to Gender-Based Violence (GBV), child labor, child/early marriage, human trafficking and smuggling, among many others.

The pledge was expressed in a ‘Letter of Commitment’ (LoC) issued in Kathmandu, following the discussions held by the stakeholders on September 17, 2018.

Contents of the LoC

The Letter of Commitment encompasses the following:

• Rescue, rehabilitation and safety of survivors and victims of GBV and human-trafficking
• Establishment and operation of Arogya Ashram (sanatorium) for helpless and physically-challenged and aged people
• Rehabilitation of disabled through collaborative programs organized by the center and province
• Monitoring and regulation of government and non-government child homes
• Rescue, rehabilitation, socialization and family reunion for street children
• As a special initiative, the MoWCS has taken up a special initiative of fulfilling these responsibilities in line with the International Treaty and Commitment and compiling a report regarding women, children, persons with disabilities and senior citizens

Provincial Ministers Involvement

Besides extending their support to the organization of government programs, the provincial ministers have also pledged mobilization of the following:

• Rehabilitation fund
• GBV-prevention fund
• Single-women security fund
• Emergency child rescue fund
• Disabled rehabilitation fund
• Senior citizen fund

Speaking at the occasion, Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizen Under-Secretary, Binita Bhattarai said, “An understanding has been reached by all three-level government to play effective roles, to make activities of center and provinces effective and systematic by holding the mutual discussion regarding role and coordination among all three levels.”

The LoC was signed by MoWCS Minister Thamamaya Thapa and all provinces representatives.

The country is witness to some revolutionary developmental changes in the recent past like the recent introduction of the civil laws. Let’s see how this added commitment will fill the remaining gaps in Nepal’s development success story.

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