INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
KATHMANDU, AUGUST 5The Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration has developed necessary resources and
materials to facilitate the implementation of child-friendly local governance so as to ensure that children's rights are protected and
promoted at the grassroots level.
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The MoFAGA said resource materials were developed inline with the
existing Child-friendly Local Governance Implementation Guideline.The core basis of the guideline revolves around four aspects of children's
rights - save the child, child protection, child development and child participation - to address various legal and policy provisions
enshrined in the Constitution, Children Act, Criminal and Civil Code Act, Local Government Operation Act, Fifteen Plan, Child
Labour(Prohibition and Regulation) Act and various national and international instruments related to children.
The MoFAGA
said the resource materials would help declare all 753 local levels 'child-friendly zone' by 2030 and adopt strategies like mainstreaming,
policy advocacy and awareness, institutional development, capacity development, promotion of collaboration and partnership, community
mobilisation, social accountability and transparency, equitable programmes, behaviour change and monitoring and evaluation, among others.The
government has set various indicators for the local level to be eligible to be declared as a child-friendly zone
Some of them include prenatal and postpartum care of women, access to anti-tetanus vaccine and iron pills for pregnant women, exclusive
breastfeeding for six months, full immunisation of children, ARV prophyaixis for children born from HIV-infected mothers, use of iodised
salt, significant drop in the number of stunted and underweight children, end of acute malnutrition, access to basic drinking water to all
households, use of toilet by each household, among others.Similarly, the local levels should ensure birth registration of children below
five years, end worst form of child labour, reduce cases of child marriage to zero, reduce cases of violence against children and
trafficking, establish community-based child protection network, eliminate social practices like chhaupadi and kamlari, rescue
street-dependent children, make the school free of corporal punishment, reduce dropout rate, equip schools with necessary infrastructure and
form child clubs.The government aims to mainstream the issues of children into governance and improve indicators of health sector, guarantee
fundamental rights of children and help maintain coordination among government agencies
It is mandatory for each local level to spend certain amount for construction and management of child-friendly infrastructure out of the
budget allocated for children.A version of this article appears in the print on August 6, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
This article first appeared/also appeared in https://thehimalayantimes.com
