$ 4M US aid for children’s education programme

By A Staff Reporter

Kathmandu, Apr. 10: US is to provide Nepal with US$ 4 million grant to implement education programme for children removed from or at risk of entering the worst forms of child labour in Nepal.

US Secretary of Labour Elaine L. Chao, announcing the grant on Monday in Washington said the grant will supplement funding that the Labour Department has already contributed to the International Labour Organisation’s International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour for projects in Nepal.

World Education, the grantee, will work on the education component of what is known as a Timebound Programme.

The timebound approach has been spearheaded by the ILO and specific countries, including Nepal, as a means to eliminate the worst form of child labour within a defined period through a set of integrated and comprehensive activities. As part of the timebound programme, the government of Nepal and ILO/IPEC, identified forms of exploitative labour from which children will be removed.

According to ILO survey, it is estimated that there are 2.6 million working children between the ages of 4 and 14 in Nepal. The number accounts for more than 40 per cent of the country’s 6.2 million children. An estimated 40 per cent of children who work do not attend school, and the remaining 60 per cent combine work with school.

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