CWIN IN 2001

CWIN's Annual Activity Report

1. Introduction

Child Workers in Nepal Concerned Centre (CWIN) is the pioneer organisation on the rights of the child in Nepal. Advocacy and protection of child rights, especially that of children at risk are one of CWIN's primary concerns. CWIN's mission is to work "for children with children". Anyone aspiring to contribute something in the field of children's rights must understand and internalize the true situation and problems of the children. This goal is not possible without working together with the children themselves. To materialize this concept, CWIN has been conducting various community-based programmes. These programmes have been providing services for the protection of children at risk and to ensure their development and social reintegration. Included in such community-based programmes being conducted by CWIN, are socialisation services, night shelters for street children, transit homes for children at risk, health and counselling services, a contact centre at Gongabu bus park for migrant children at risk, educational support programmes and a CWIN hostel. In addition to these services, CWIN has also been providing emergency services, including an ambulance service and a hotline service through CWIN Helpline (Hotline number 271000) in Kathmandu. The service is open for 12 hours daily (from 9 am to 9 pm).

CWIN has been working in eight districts, viz. Sindhupalchowk, Dolkha, Kavre, Nuwakot, Kaski, Kathmandu, Makawanpur and Chitwan, to promote and protect the rights of the child. The main programmes in these districts include, the raising of social awareness on the rights of the child, to help strengthen District Child Welfare Board (DCWB) on the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC) and to promote children's right to participation in society through the Child Rights Forum. CWIN has been working in Pokhara, Kaski for the protection of the rights of the children, especially children at risk since 1996.

In addition, CWIN has been facilitating 240 Child Rights Forums in 22 districts viz. 1. Arghakhanchi, Chitawan, Dhading, Morang, Jhapa, Kavrepalanchowk, Makwanpur, Nawalparasi, Nuwakot, Parbat, Sindhupalchowk, Dolkha, Baglung, Kapilvastu, Palpa, Kaski, Bhojpur, Kanchanpur, Udaypur, Bhaktapur, Lalitpur, and Kathmandu, for the promotion of children's right to participation. These forums have provided a platform for 37,367 children to voice their opinions on child rights.

2. CWIN Support for Children at Risk

This year, a total number of 7566 children received support from different CWIN programmes. The CWIN Help-line (27100) provided emergency services to 2364 children. The CWIN Health Clinic and Counselling Centre provided psychosocial counselling and other health services to 970 children in approximately 5500 cases. Similarly, 566 children were helped through various child health camps.

Likewise, the CWIN Socialisation Centre supported 689 children at risk by providing emergency rescue and shelter. Moreover, the CWIN Centre for Children at Risk supported 304 children, the CWIN Socialisation Centre, in Pokhara supported 532 children and the CWIN Hostel supported 34 children. The CWIN Balika supported 101 children at risk by providing them with rehabilitation services, education, skills, and adolescent education. The CWIN Contact Centre at the Central Bus Park supported 323 migrant children who were at risk. The CWIN Self-reliance Centre provided skill training to 251 young adults, while educational support, under the CWIN Education Support Programme, was provided to 1129 children from underprivileged families, particularly girls and children from Dalit and Slum communities. In addition, emergency assistance was provided to 277 children from various risk backgrounds.

The CWIN Socialisation Centre Organised 27 'on the street' workshops with street children and youths, in order to find out their views and suggestions for future activities and the role of CWIN in working with street children and youths.

CWIN organised 6 different excursions and picnics for children as a part of socialisation, which included visits to the zoo, museums, the post office, to an art gallery as well as educational film shows and picnics on various occasions. Similarly, children staying in CWIN centres celebrated 16 special occasions and festivals.

In addition, CWIN organized a "Friendly Football Match" among street children to build bonds of friendship and to minimise rivalry between different groups of street children.

In the year 2001, 13 Child-to-Child events were facilitated by CWIN between children in Nepal and outside to promote sharing and learning among children.

In this period, CWIN directly worked with street children, disabled children, children in conflict with the law, rag pickers, child beggars, hotel boys, porters, tempo conductors, carpet workers, domestic helpers, bus cleaners, children from the dalit community, child survivors of sexual exploitation and abuse, trafficking and other children at risk who come from 70 different districts of Nepal.

3. Advocacy and Social Mobilisation on the Rights of the Child

In this year CWIN participated in the Global Campaign for Education as a continuation of the Global March Against Child Labour Movement. CWIN conducted various workshops on the theme of meaningful education. A street drama has been also prepared and performed at various schools and public places focusing on the importance of meaningful education.

As well as this, CWIN and Global March jointly launched the Day to Stop Child Trafficking on 23 August 2001 in Kathmandu. The UN marks 23 August as the day of abolition of slavery from the world. But in reality, hundreds of thousands of men, women and children are still living and working in slavery-like conditions.

Campaign on Tempo Conductor Children
CWIN initiated a Campaign on Tempo Conductor Children jointly with the traffic police, trade unions, entrepreneurs and concerned governmental bodies.
The campaign on Child labourers working on tempoes has formed a joint working committee comprising of CWIN, SWC, the Traffic Police, the Minister of Labour, the Minister of Social Welfare, Women and Children, GEFONT, Trade Union Congress, Micro Bus Business Association, Safa Tempo Business Association and Gas Transportation Business Federation.

As a part of campaign, pamphlets and stickers were distributed to the public and tempo drivers in different routes

Global Campaign Against Exploitation of Domestic Child Labour/May 2001

As a part of a month-long global Campaign Against Exploitation of Domestic Child Labour initiated by the Global March Against Child Labour, CWIN launched a campaign in Nepal from the 1st of May on the occasion May Day, the International Workers' Day against the exploitation of domestic child labourers who are confined within four walls. The ILO Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child labour has defined domestic child labour as one of the worst forms of child labour. The majority of domestic child labourers are often subjected to physical, psychological and sexual abuse and exploitation. Cases of abuse and torture of domestic child labourers, such as being tied with an iron chain, burnt with hot iron, beaten and tortured inhumanely resulting in broken hands and legs including rape and murder have been brought to light as having taken place in Nepali society. Incidences of inhuman torture and exploitation of domestic child labourers is a modern form of slavery. The campaign focused on the protection of the fundamental rights of domestic child labourers along with public awareness raising. Various programmes have been organized this year, such as interactions with school children, trade unions, NGOs, GOs, the Kathmandu Municipality, a poster/sticker campaign, street theatre, dissemination of fact-sheets and true stories, a memorandum to the National Human Rights Commission requesting the introduction of a code of conduct among civil servants, an email and letter campaign appealing to NGOs and INGOs working on children's issues to introduce a code of conduct for their staff to help put an end to child labour exploitation, and a meeting of former domestic child labourers with the Minister of Women, Children and Social Welfare. A 15-member delegation of former domestic child labourers submitted an appeal, which they had prepared themselves. This was the first occasion that survivor children have met with the minister and submitted an appeal. The appeal mentions torture and ordeals of domestic child labourers and demands to put an end to such acts.

Campaign against Worst Forms of Child Labour

CWIN signed an agreement with the ILO's Kathmandu Office in November 2001 to generate public awareness on Worst Forms of Child Labour by setting up about 100 advertising boards in 15 districts of Nepal. Since the agreement permitted third party involvement in the awareness campaign, SC-N joined hands with CWIN and ILO in broadening this campaign. The names of all three parties were placed on the boards, including the local CR bodies such as DCWBs, who are taking the role of maintaining the boards in the future. These boards carried social messages on fighting the exploitation of children and the causes of child labour exploitation, focus especially on the six worst forms of child labour defined by the ILO in Nepal.

Furthermore, on the occasion of the 12th International Child Rights Day, CWIN and the Central Child Welfare Board jointly organised a National Workshop on "Role of Child Care Centres on Protection Child Rights." CWIN also released a book on the "Management of Children's Homes" which CWIN initiated for the national Children's Home Net in order to ensure the protection of children's rights in child care homes.

Celebration of 34th National Children's Day

A unique event, the Children's Mural on Cloth on the theme of Say Yes for children was organised on the occasion of the 34th National Children's Day in Bhadra 4 (Aug. 20). 150 children coming from different working backgrounds, physically challenged children and school children took part in the mural by drawing paintings on 10 main themes of the Say Yes for Children Campaign. CWIN also collected pledge forms from the public on Say Yes for Children. The programme, which was organised in public caught the eyes of the public and so the message of Global movement for children was able to be spread.

Two CWIN children attended the 2nd World Congress Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation Against Children held in Yokohama, Japan in December 2001.

Consultative Workshop with children on Trafficking, 11-12 October

CWIN organised a National Consultative Workshop with Children on the Review of the National Plans of Action Against Trafficking in Children & Their Commercial Sexual Exploitation in collaboration with the ILO's Kathmandu Office, Nepal from 11-12 October 2001.

Thirty-four children (20 girls and 14 boys) from 21 districts participated in this workshop. The workshop focused on gaining conceptual clarity on the issue of trafficking and on forming national plans of action against trafficking. At the end of the programme, the child participants came up with 25 different suggestions for the national plans of action to be incorporated in the review of the national plans of action, which had been taking place. The programme was conducted in a child-friendly environment with methods such as skits, painting, singing and poems.

The programme ended with Ms. Leyla Tegmo Reddy, Director of ILO-Nepal, distributing a token of love to all the child participants.

Celebration of International Child Rights Day, 20 November

To celebrate the 12th International Child Rights Day, CWIN and Central Child Welfare Board (CCWB) jointly organised a national workshop on the Role of Child Care Homes in the Protection of Child Rights. Forty-five Child Care Homes from 16 districts took part in the workshop. The workshop concluded with the formation of a national network of childcare homes entitled "Children's Home Net" under the convenorship of CWIN. A seven-member core-committee was formed to further formulate strategic planning of the network. The network aims for maximisation of the support system of the homes for needy children and intends to incorporate a rights-based approach into the running of the homes.

Celebration of Children's Day and Campaign on GMC:

CWIN, in association with SCN, organised a unique event of a Children's Mural on Cloth on the theme of Say Yes for children on the occasion of the 34th National Children's Day in Bhadra 4.

150 children coming from different working backgrounds, physically challenged children and school children took part in the mural by drawing paintings on the 10 main themes of the Say Yes for Children Campaign. CWIN also collected pledge forms from the public on Say Yes for Children. The programme was organised in public, so it caught the eye of the public and was therefore able to spread the message of the Global movement for children.

Celebration of CWIN Day, 20 November

On the occasion of the 12th International Child Rights Day and CWIN Day, CWIN organised various programmes with children at risk. On 19 November, a Street Children's Friendly Football Match was organised among children living on the streets. The football match, which was organised for the first time on a public football pitch, aimed to build friendship amongst street children and also intended to promote cooperation between the children. On the same occasion, children staying in CWIN centres organised a Cultural Programme with songs, dances, drama and a karate talent show. All child participants received gifts at this event.

Regional Workshop on Children's Housing Rights, 22-23 November

Habitat International Coalition (HIC) and CWIN jointly organised a Regional Workshop on Children's Housing Rights in Kathmandu from 22-23 November.

Housing rights include not only the right to shelter; they are also the combination of children's rights to proper and adequate housing, where they can develop their potential, have a meaningful education, and where they have the right to privacy, as well as the right to information, coupled with proper love and care. These rights of children are largely neglected in the whole of the South Asian region.

The workshop intensively discussed children's housing rights in connection with issues of Repatriation of Bhutanese refugees, Street children, Displacement of children due to development projects, those affected by conflict situations and Squatter children.

Representatives from Lumanti, SC Alliance INHURED, RRN & AHURA Bhutan YUVA & HAQ Center for Child Rights participated in the workshop. Young people from children's clubs in Bhutanese Refugee Camps and clubs in squatter areas also shared their views on children's rights to adequate housing.

SAHA-SRIJANA, Children's Participation in Children's Literature, 13 October 2001

CWIN organised a unique programme to promote children's participation in literature for children. 24 renowned litterateurs and children's writers along with 26 children from 16 districts created a new form of art. The poets and writers created literature on the paintings made by children on various topics. This new initiative has given the poets and children a chance to understand each other's aspirations and art.

CWIN president Mr. Gauri Pradhan presented a paper entitled "Children's Participation in Literature for Children". He emphasised the need to respect children's views while creating literature for children and stressed the importance of breaking with traditional forms of literature where children are seen as objects, and the writers try to influence children's thoughts by conferring moral education upon them.

Celebration of MEENA Day, 24 September

CWIN, in collaboration with UNICEF-Nepal, organised a stage show to celebrate MEENA Day with the launching of the 14th episode of MEENA on Domestic Child labour and to sensitize the public on the issues of girls through the MEENA cartoon series.

Fifty children from different backgrounds performed a talent show on the theme of the MEENA Communication Initiative (MCI). Children staying in CWIN centres performed a drama depicting one of the Meena series. The programme included sharing MEENA's success story. This communication initiative, the Meena Talent Show saw the launch of a new episode of MEENA: "Meena in the city". Mr. Stewart McNab, the representative from UNICEF, gave away certificates and a token of love to all child participants.

More than 35 schools, 55 organisations and government institutions, 16 media organisations and hundreds of individuals all took part in this programme.

Media Campaign:

CWIN, as an advocate organisation for child rights, carried out several media campaigns this year to highlight the issues of child rights in the media. Press releases were issued during the Action Week of Global Campaign for Education, the Global Campaign Against Domestic Child Labour Exploitation and to welcome the government's decision to ban the sale of liquor to children under 18.

Furthermore, the CWIN president and other members of staff gave interviews to various national and international media on different aspects of the child rights movement in Nepal.

4. Community Support Programme

In order to promote and empower communities to work for children, CWIN has been undertaking a community support programme since 1993. During this year, CWIN worked with volunteer groups and communities in the construction of a school building in the Dolakha district. CWIN has been working with the community in order to promote child development, and strongly advocates child-centered development practices.

5. Research and Information

CWIN also published its regular newsletter Bal Sarokar, a book on the management of Child Care Homes and other various advocacy materials such as posters, stickers and booklets on child rights and child labour for massive dissemination.

CWIN has also been developing an effective information system for the dissemination of information on children and related issues. Every year hundreds of scholars, researchers, journalists, social workers and students benefit from the CWIN Resource and Information Centre. To encourage people to make the best use of the available information, CWIN has a user-friendly set-up at the resource centre, which has helped the centre's visitors tremendously. To meet the visitors' needs, CWIN has wide collection of books, periodicals, audio-visual material and CD ROMs on varied issues such as child rights, human rights, women's issues, trafficking, development, health, environment, etc.

CWIN reaches out to a larger audience through it's website at www.cwin-nepal.org. In the year 2001, CWIN set up its site in Nepali and German. The CWIN website recorded 5000 hits this year.

The use of IT (Information Technology) in the rights movement is also gaining momentum as it has been proved to be a very powerful tool for advocacy and information sharing. In this respect, CWIN is also maximising the use of IT in order to make more efficient it's work, advocacy, information dissemination, human resource development as well as for the benefit of its focus groups.

National Research Report on Alcohol and Drug Use in Nepal

CWIN released a research report on "Alcohol and Drug Use in Nepal: With Reference to Children" during a function in Kathmandu. This research is the first comprehensive national research of its kind, and covers about 2,400 households in 16 districts representing both rural and urban areas, as well as all ecological and development regions. This year CWIN also hosted the International Consultation of Forut Local Action against Alcohol and Drugs.

Action Research on Child Sex Abuse in Nepal

CWIN and SC-N jointly carried out active research in to child sex abuse in Nepal with the aim of identifying the magnitude of sexual abuse amongst school children and children in especially difficult circumstances. The study also aimed to identify the effect of sexual abuse on children and their level of understanding on the issue.

The research covered 4000 boys and girls in the 6 to 18 age group. The methodologies used were child friendly focus group discussions, pictorial questionnaires, story telling, etc. The children's best interests were taken into account during the entire research.

This is the first such research on the issue of child sex abuse in Nepal which has studied child sex abuse in broader terms, defining all kinds of child sex abuse and looking into children's understanding on the issue.

The research not only aimed at studying the issue in depth, but also at addressing the needs of children who may require counselling and support, especially if they have faced child sex abuse at any point in their life.

The research begun in September 2001 and, once all the information has been collected, a research report will be published for public knowledge. The outcomes and recommendations from the research will be applied in future, for the designing of plans of action and in addressing the issue at the national level including measures for the social reintegration of survivors of child sex abuse.

The research team comprised of four researchers who had experience in research and in working with children on the issue of child sex abuse in Nepal. CWIN and SC-N provided much needed support in the research process.

6. Strengthening of Government & NGO Institutional Development

As a member of CCWB, CWIN has been regularly supporting and lobbying for the formulation and mobilization of child rights bodies of HMG. CWIN is actively involved in lobbying for the formulation of policy, in preparation of a rights based approach paper in planning for children in the 10th five year plan.

7. Human Resource Development

CWIN conducted 60 different training and orientation programmes which were organised during this period for important stakeholders like teachers, political party members, police officers, trade unionists, social workers, students, journalists, government workers, etc to build on human resource development in the field of child rights.

CWIN also provided conceptual clarity to its staff members on issues like child labour, child participation, trafficking, and gender.

A review and assessment of programmes of action were also carried out with the participation of children and staff.

A three day Training Workshop was organized on child rights and child participation for teachers and facilitators of child clubs in the Sunsari and Morang districts.

Similarly CWIN also organised a follow-up training to the National Workshop and Training on "Medico Psycho-social Counselling for Sexually Abused and Exploited Children and Youths" in cooperation with UNESCAP.

8. Participation in Programmes

As usual, CWIN children and staff participated in different local, national, regional and international meetings, workshops and conferences on child and related issues. In the year 2001, two children staying in CWIN centers took part in the 2nd World Congress Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children held in Yokohama, Japan.

9. Networking

CWIN is an integral part of various networks and alliances in the sector of child rights, women's rights, trafficking and human rights. CWIN is an active member of international networks such as the South Asian Coalition Against Child Servitude (SACCS), Child Workers in Asia and national networks like ALLIANCE for Human Rights and Social Justice, the Alliance Against Trafficking in Women and Children in Nepal (AATWIN), National AIDS Network Group, Network on Violence Against Women and Women defend Pressure Group.

CWIN believes that to achieve common goals for children, we need to develop and work in network groups and alliances of like-minded groups and organisations. CWIN also believes that children's issues should be integrated in all development and human rights issues, hence CWIN has been playing an important role in initiatives of alliances and network building. CWIN is an integral part of various networks and alliances in the sector of child rights, women's rights, trafficking and human rights.

CWIN is involved in the peace talks aimed at finding solutions for the arm conflict through the human rights alliances such as the Peoples Committee for Peace-Dialogue (Janastariya Santi-Barta Samiti) and the Movement to Save the Democratic Rights (Prajatantrantrik Adhikar Jogaun Abhiyan). As a member of the human rights community, CWIN is actively involved in defending human rights in the country. During the state of emergency, CWIN has been keenly observing the situation and is raising its concerns for the protection of fundamental human rights for all.

CWIN is also involved in NGO alliances and in joint NGO movements. Currently leading the NGO Federation of Nepal, it is making an effort