Nepal Country Context on Child Labour:

There are nearly 1.1 million children in child labour in Nepal, accounting for 15% of the population of children aged 5-17 years according to the preliminary findings of a Child Labour Report based on the dataset of the Nepal Labour Force Survey 2017/18.  Out of them, 222,493 are in hazardous work exposing them to unsafe and unhealthy working conditions. The second National Master Plan (NMP-II) on child labour has unveiled 17 different sectors with high potential of child labour. Out of these 17 sectors, occupations related to agriculture, domestic work, brick-production, entertainment, transportation and construction are considered to be the ones with the highest prevalence of working children. A recent survey conducted by ILO in collaboration with Central Bureau of Statistics unveiled that nearly 17,000 child labourers are involved in in brick-making  in the country, mostly seasonal migrant workers from different rural parts of Nepal and India.

The implementation of the ARC Programme in Nepal is designed to support the government’s efforts in the eradication of child labour, particularly its worst forms by 2022 and all forms by 2025 as its contribution to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 8.7.  Nepal Government has already shown its commitment in SDG 8.7 by becoming one of the Pathfinder Countries. The ARC Programme will collaborate with Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security (MoLESS) to highlight its Pathfinder Country initiatives in achieving SDG 8.7 targets. It will focus on developing the capacities of actors doing advocacy and awareness, monitoring and law enforcement to address child labour. The activities involve research and knowledge sharing, and the piloting of interventions using the integrated area-based approach towards the creation of child labour-free zones, including improvement of law enforcement and enhancement of public awareness. It will work with governments to ensure that policies on child labour are aligned with relevant ILO conventions and build their capacities to strengthen implementation of national and local Plans of Action against child labour.

Programme Objective:

The ARC Programme will work with ILO’s constituents and other stakeholders towards the following objectives:

•    building a credible knowledge base on the causes and drivers of child labour and effective interventions to address them;
•    aligning legislation and policies with international conventions on child labour, forced labour and trafficking in persons and enforcing and implementing them; and
•    developing and applying a holistic approach to eradicating child labour, particularly its worst forms, in selected regions of each country.

Key areas of interventions:

The project intends to organize interventions in the following areas in Nepal:

•    Production and sharing of data/statistics and knowledge on child labour in Nepal;
•    Working with media and child right advocates for sharing knowledge on causes and effects of child labour;
•    Review and amendment of laws, policies and action plans to end child labour in line with Nepal’s Constitution and International Standards on child labour and child protection;
•    Capacity enhancement of stakeholders including government and social partners for effective implementation of the second National Master Plan (NMP-II) on Child labour;
•    Enhancing collaborative efforts to achieve SDG Alliance 8.7 targets and
•    Contribute to local/community level efforts in monitoring child labour and providing livelihood support to families/communities that are vulnerable to child labour.

Implementing partners:

•    Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security (MoLESS)
•    Department of Labour (DoL)
•    Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens (MoWCSC)
•    National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)
•    National Child Rights Council (NCRC)
•    Workers’ and Employers’ Organizations
•    Media and Civil Society Organizations

Target beneficiaries:

Nepal component of the ARC Programme will build the capacities of governments, trade unions, employers’ organizations and the civil society organizations at federal, provincial and local levels to accelerate action against child labour in the areas of knowledge-generation and sharing, policy enhancement and strengthened implementation, and integrated delivery of services.  Interventions will focus on protective and preventive measures in targeted communities, like Dalits, indigenous communities and other dis-advantaged groups in selected province/municipalities.

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