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| Kathmandu, Friday March 21, 2003 Chaitra 07, 2059. |
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Media urged to raise voice
against domestic child labour
Post Report
KATHMANDU, March 20 : Minister for
Communications and Information Ramesh Nath Pandey today remarked the country was getting
plenty of money for social services from international and donor communities but the fund
was not reaching targeted groups hindering desired results.
"We are getting much money in the name of
social service and the government wishes proper use of the fund to meet the targeted
groups," Pandey said.
He made the remarks while delivering an
inaugurating speech at a workshop on ‘Child Domestic Workers and Media’s Role’,
organised here today by the Children Women in Social Service and Human Rights (CWSHR), a
non-government organisation.
Underlining the active role of media to
eradicate domestic child labour in the country, the Communications Minister urged to
address the root causes forcing children to become domestic child labours.
Children in the country constitutes one-fourth
of the population and nearly 2.46 million children are forced to become child labours.
According to the National Child Labour Academy, there are 77 thousand domestic child
workers in the country. In the Kathmandu Valley alone, 21 thousand children work as
domestic labour.
Speaking on the occasion, Helen Sherpa of the
World Education urged journalists present at the programme to constantly follow child
labour issues. "Media should play the role of a watchdog to end exploitation of
children," she said.
Child rights activist Gauri Pradhan remarked
that media should bring out both success and negative stories of child labours, stressing
on awareness programmes. He even stressed making arrangements for education fit for
domestic child labours.
Peter Dalglish, chief technical advisor of the
International Labour Organisation Time Bound Programme, said that the media should be at
the centre of campaign against domestic child labours.
"Respectable people in the society, people
with good positions, people of respectable families and religious people are equally to be
blamed for domestic child labours", said Valter Tenderholt, Regional Representative,
Save the Children Norway.
Tirtha Koirala, editor of Nepal fortnightly, a
sister publication of The Kathmandu Post said the grim situation of domestic child labour
would not be addressed until the upliftment of the poor takes place and the level of
awareness of employers increase.
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