Increasing Pressure

A recent study reveals that on going conflict is increasing pressure on Children’s homes

By THAKUR AMGAI

As violence escalates, children are falling victim to it many ways. Thanks to the conflict related reasons, large numbers of children are being displaced from their communities. A study on the children of children’s homes of Nepal , conducted by New Era, a well research organization, showed that about one-third of the children admitted to the children’s homes in the last twelve months were displaced because of conflict. Interestingly, most of these children had one or both of their parents lost in the conflict.

The study also found out that new children homes were being established to withstand the pressure of the displaced children. The study was conducted in eight locations of Nepal over the last three months. Based on the information collected from 335 children’s homes and the population of about 8,821 children living there, the report is first of its kind analyze all different aspects of child home. One of the missing parts of the report is that there was very little information about the children’s available.

According to a study, about nine per cent of the children living in these homes reported reasons related to conflict as the cause of their displacement. “Of about 800 such children, almost half were admitted in the last one year,” said report.

The problem of the increasing pressure in children homes is being addressed by the opening of the new homes. The study shows that more than half of these homes had opened in the past four years. “It shows that the increasing pressure of admission is being addressed by the establishment of new homes than admitting more students in the existing homes,” said Dr. Bal Gopal Baidya, project advisor of the study.

While, most of the homes were concentrated in Kathmandu valley, the trend of opening new homes was higher in the western and far western region of the country. These regions are more affected by conflict.

According to the study, the most of the children in the homes outside Kathmandu were found to have lost one or both of their parents lost during conflict. Many of these children were found to be psychologically traumatized.

“While all the children staying at children’s homes have one or the other reason to be psychologically traumatized, the conflict-affected children were found more traumatized,” said Dr. John Quinley of USAID, the organization that had supported the study. “While nine per cent children displaced from their communities due to conflict affected reasons were found to be psychologically traumatized as compared to three per cent of those displaced due to non-conflict reasons.”

However, very few children’s homes had the privilege of a professional psychological counselor.

According to the report, the overall physical condition of most homes was good. Interestingly, it was found that the nutritional status of the children in children’s homes was better than the average Nepalese children. However, it showed that only about 40 per cent of these homes provided safe drinking water making the children prone to water-borne diseases. And about five percent of the homes were in poor condition.

It is estimated that there are about 400 to 450 children’s homes and about 13 to 14 thousand children in children’s homes across the country. The data of the last two years shows that the admission of children rises at the rate of 15 per cent per annum. More than one third of the new admissions are children displaced due to conflict related reasons.

Almost one-fifth of the children’s homes were not registered with any government agencies and most of the children’s homes largely depended on individual foreign donors. While, many homes mentioned ‘lack of fund’ for inadequate facilities, the pressure of the children seeking admission in the children’s homes is bound to increase in the coming years. With only individual charities, the sustainability of the homes remains at stake. Chaired by Shyam Sunder Sharma, many other representatives from various children homes also expressed their opinion on the report.

Minister for Women, Children and Social Welfare, Durga Shrestha informed that the government had a policy to rehabilitate the children displaced by conflict and that the report would be a guideline to do so.