The Rights of the Child Incorporating Child Rights into the 10th Five Year Plan of Nepal

The Rights of the Child Incorporating Child Rights into the 10th Five Year Plan of Nepal

(This paper was presented by Gauri Pradhan in the National Consultation Programme jointly organised by Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare, SC-Norway and UNICEF)

The conception of the Five-Year Planning was first introduced in Nepal in 1956 which was inspired by the then USSR's systematic planning. However, incorporation of the issue of children under the title of "child development" was made only in 1985 in the seventh five-year planning. Likewise, the 8th five-year plan consolidated the promotion and protection of the rights of children under the same title whereas in the 9th five-year plan, issues regarding the protection of exploited children including child labour and street children were addressed. Degree of incorporating the issues of children's rights in the five-year planning is gradually increasing. However, there is a very big gap in translating new ideas into action. For many years, our national development planning had been influenced by welfare based conception for children. Most of the target objectives of the former plans were not materialised in reality. There are several reasons for not attaining the target goals of the planning. However, one of the most prone things for this is the conventional development approach towards children. Our development plannings are generally not child friendly nor they are rights-based, they are guided by the charity-based approach instead. Experiences have revealed that lack of conceptual clarity on the rights of children in the decision making levels has created much confusion and contradiction in the child rights movement. We can also see a big gap between planning and implementation. This has also caused ineffectiveness in the actions undertaken by so many newly created institutions and programmes in past for the rights of children in this country.

Over the years, particularly after the ratification of convention on the rights of the child (CRC) in 1990, Nepal has joined the world community to ensure the rights of the child in the world in general and in Nepal in particular. HMG/Nepal ratified several international and regional conventions dedicated for the promotion and protection of the rights of children. National laws and policy were also introduced in accordance. Besides, Nepal has also declared its time bound programmes for the poverty alleviation, illiteracy eradication, elimination of child labour, decrease in IMR and U5MR and other child health related issues. Some of our target goals were achieved if not all. However, there is a big gap between planning and implementation. Despite strong political commitments of the government, the achievements made in the areas of children are rather very poor. What are the reasons behind this? Who is responsible for such poor performance? How to make the result oriented actions? Don't we need to review and reassess our planning approach while formulating the 10th five-year planning? This conception paper has been prepared to facilitate the forthcoming consultations with line-ministries, NGOs/INGOs and children to be organised by Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare (MOWCSW) in this regard.

The objective of this approach paper is to incorporate HMG/Nepal's commitment on the rights of the child and develop new strategies to meet the declared target goals for children. For this purpose, this paper will advocate the people (child) centred and rights based approach to be followed in development planning for children. Besides, this will also try to urge to think about the existing institutional challenges being faced by the government in the process of implementation of the CRC in action.

B. Comments on the Concept Paper (Child Development) of the 10th Five Year Plan

The concept paper of the 10th FYP has been already published by the National Planning Commission (NPC) for public interaction. Government line Ministries and other concerned agencies including NGOs and civil society organisations are also involved in the interactions and discussions. Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare is the focal point on women, children and social issues. Hence, the Ministry has already started working towards the forthcoming 10th FYP on the issues of its concern. In this approach paper, the Ministry has made its comment on the draft concept paper (title: child development) and proposed for its conceptual restructure.

The concept paper on the child development has stated that the objective of child development is to improve the physical, mental and intellectual development of children and to protect and promote the rights of children. This paper has mentioned that the lack of enforcement of laws regarding child labour, child health related problems such as diarrhea and acute respiratory infection (ARI) are the major causes of child mortality; deprivation from primary education and child labour, making them the major challenges of child development in Nepal. Likewise, the concept paper has developed 8 point strategies to overcome the aforementioned challenges of child development in Nepal. The draft strategies have focussed on the media sensitisation for the personality development of children; co-ordination, monitoring, assessment and institutional development of organisations working for child development; integration of nutrition programmes, child labour elimination programme, local child development programme and incorporation of children's participation in the child development programme.

Incorporation of the child rights issues into the planning does not mean only to convert the "Child Development" into a "Child Rights" chapter. Important question is how to make the whole planning process based on the principles of the child rights. We have already experienced what happened to our planning when they were not guided by the rights based approach and not child friendly. In past, most of the national planning and programmes were made by a group of experts after fulfilling some formalities. And most of the people remained uninformed about what happened to the planning. We need to challenge this type of the conventional planning process. Unless there is an active participation of people in need to the planning process, success of the planning always becomes a question mark. In order to make the planning a participatory process, the MOWCSW has decided to organise consultations with its partner organisations including children and their organisations.

In the last 10 years, Nepal has ratified a number of national, regional and international conventions on the rights of the child. UN Convention on the Rights of Child (CRC) is the main reference for this and the same could be a resource base also for the 10th FYP in Nepal. The CRC provides basic principles and approaches for the formulation of the national plans and programmes. As we are aware, CRC has four major principles viz. non-discrimination, protection, development and participation and none of the planning and programme whether they are at the national level or at local level should forget these principles. Most of former five year development plannings were guided by the welfare philosophy. The rights based approach could be rather a very new approach for many of us. However, if we wish to reflect the spirit of the CRC in the forthcoming 10th FYP, we need to understand and follow the basic conception of the rights based approach in the planning as well as in the implementation process.

Expressing the fulfillment of children's needs within a framework of rights in the 10th FYP will do a lot to reinforce the child rights movement in Nepal. Resourcing the CCWB as children's development/rights institutions and creating the necessary linkages with line ministries and civil society institutions in the coming 5 years will strengthen the process of change more than anything else.
The rights based approach is basically a process oriented participatory action that could be followed every where from planning process to implementation and evaluation. In this process, children (people) in need or focus groups are regarded as partners rather than objects. Their empowerment and participation in the whole process from the point of planning to implementation and evaluation are exercised. The CRC makes sure that every unit from the level of VDC to central government, and civil society including NGOs working for the promotion and protection of the rights of the children be engaged in this process. Only centralised planning and the central government could not achieve the declared goals. The MOWCSW is only a focal point for coordination of planning, implementation and follow-ups, but most of the activities for the promotion of the rights of the child are under taken by other agencies such as Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, Nepal Police, Juvenile Justice Administration and others. We have Central Child Welfare Board (CCWB) in the national level for the policy guidance whereas we have District Child Welfare Board (DCWB) in the district level for co-ordination of the child rights activities. Similarly, VDCs and DDCs are also equally responsible for undertaking the village level and district level activities for the rights of children. Besides, we have NGOs in grass-roots and national level that are working for the enhancement of the rights of the child in Nepal. While making strategies for the 10th FYP for the rights of children, we should not forget these key stakeholders and the partners of the rights of the child movement in Nepal.

CRC provides a strong background and knowledge for planning, not only for child development issue but also for the child friendly national development planning. The principles underlying the convention should be applied as a set of practice standard filters by all line agencies throughout the process of developing the 10th FYP:

Children have a right to a childhood, to be children, and to be considered within a different conceptual framework to adults. They are not mini-adults; they have been singled out as human beings in every special part of their life, and deserve special protection and special rights. Their best interests should always be a "primary consideration" in all decisions affecting them. They have to have special consideration in Nepali development priorities. This should be established as a fundamental principle that provides the means to single them out as a very special development priority essential to the development of a good and sustainable future of Nepali society and future generation of children.
No child should be discriminated against for reasons of caste, gender, ability, creed, religion and geographical regions. Monitoring of progress by all ministries should endeavor to identify who is "missing out" and find ways to overcome any discriminatory practices that contribute to exclusion.
Children have a right to be protected from abuse and exploitation, protected against the negative things that adults do to them in their years of relative vulnerability. Where social norms allow adults to get away with doing harm to children, they should be challenged as affronts to society. The government has a responsibility to make sure that these changes are happening. Making sure that the people who work with children use the framework and principles of the convention, and are equipped with the relevant skills is critical. Wherever any professional contact with children is required curriculum and training needs should be considered for all strategic stakeholders including teachers, social workers, judiciary and police. All line ministries should be considering their internal training needs against the standards set in the CRC, and identified in the various reports available through the CRC monitoring system.
Children have a right to express their opinions and have them taken into account; they have to be recognised as development actors in their own right. Making space in what are presently adult orientated institutions to make sure that children's perspectives are also considered as both an important contributor to understanding the realities of children's lives and the problems they experience, and an important democratic principle in its own right. They are citizens of the present as well as of the future.

Nepal's child rights challenges fall into two categories, those which are associated with rights of commission, things that need to be put into place and require mobilisation of resources, and those associated with the rights of omission, things that require something bad to change into something good, sort out what is socially acceptable and what is not, and which have little or no financial cost associated with them. The 10th FYP should ideally try to be holistic and provide guidance in both of these areas.
Apart from the challenges of resource mobilisation, challenges of institutional capacity building of the government institutions has hindered in the materialisation of child rights practices.
Lack of coordination and cooperation between the line ministries and government agencies is another challenge to overcome.
Another major challenge is the lack of proper vision and infrastructure within the government system to translate it's own commitment, law and regulations work in practice.
Overcoming prevailing unfair and discriminative social and labour relations, ensuring people-child-centered development approaches at all levels would be one of the crucial challenges in the realisation of children's right to survival, development, protection and participation.

E. Restructuring Concept Paper from the "Child Development" to the "Rights of the Child"

Conceptual Restructure

The concept of the child development programme in the planning was conceived long time before by HMG/Nepal. Incorporation of these approaches helped protect the lives of many children of this country, however the question of survival, protection and development of children of Nepal is still threatening. Experiences have taught that child rights can not be materialised only through the conception of the "child development" which is mainly focussed on the physical, mental, intellectual and social development of children. Unless we shift the welfare-based approach to the rights based approach; we can hardly attain the rights of the child through the development planning.

Objectives:
To ensure the children's right to survival, development and protection, effective measures will be undertaken to end all kinds of discrimination and exploitation of children in society; and promote children's participation everywhere to this direction.

Step-wise concrete planning and policies will be made to transform government's national, regional and international commitments into action.
Ministerial line agencies will be sensitised and conceptually clarified through a positive action.
A specific task force will be formed to monitor and follow-up the Time Bound Programmes (TBP) such as Education for All by 2015; Elimination of Worst Forms of Child Labour by 2005 and Child Labour by 2010 and other child health related issues.
Civil society organisations including NGOs, CBOs, Teachers' Associations, Movement-based organisations such as trade unions, women's groups, federation of oppressed communities and indigenous and ethnic minority groups will be strengthened for their active role as change activists for the rights of the children.
A concerted effort will be made in the institutional capacity building, infrastructure development, human resource development and strengthening of concerned government agencies and line ministries including CCWB and DCWB on the rights of child issues.
A separate budget will be allocated to the local governments like VDCs, municipality and DDCs to encourage them for the planning, monitoring and evaluation of child centered development and to work for the rights of the children.
An effort will be made for the partnership and co-op mechanism between the NGO community and the government for the promotion and protection of children's rights.
Children's active participation will be ensured in the process of planning, implementation and evaluation of development programmes, particularly child rights in all levels, from the village unit to the national planning commission.
Progressive law and regulations will be formulated, amended and reformed as per need and law-enforcing agencies will be sensitised and activated for the protection of children from harm and exploitation.
10.Media from the government sector, private sector and community will be sensitised and encouraged to play important role in advocating and raising awareness on the rights of the children. Media will be influenced to publicise child centered and child friendly programmes with children's own participation.