Country Report-Nepal

Many people will say about Nepal- the Himalayas or perhaps Mount Everest. Others will talk of trekking in terraced foothills. English people often think of the Gorka soldiers that have been part of their army for about 100 years.

All these images are true of Nepal, but it is also one of the poorest countries in the world, in which the GNP is less than US$200. The total area 147181 sq. km. Of a total population of 22 million, 35.9% are literate ( 7.8 million are can not sign their name UNESCO 1998). 52% of the people are under the age of 18. 79% of boys and only 60% of girls enroll in school and of these, 42% drop out after one year or repeat it. 2.6 million children are engaged in child labor and 63% of children are malnourished. 80% of the population lives in rural communities but the urban population is growing, mainly around the capital Kathmandu and large towns such as Pokhara.

Many INGO, NGO and Government agencies are working to improve the life of the people through literacy, but their approaches of serving people are top down.

CHILDREN- Nepal was established in 1995 by a group of Nepali volunteers working in the fields of education, health and social services who were concerned about the number of children living on the margins of society and not reached by existing social institutions.

CHILDREN-Nepal works towards strengthening the capacities of such children and their families so that they can meet their basic needs, in a way that will be sustainable in the future. We work directly with children and also with their families, helping them to break away from discrimination based on caste, disability, gender and social status. By facilitating processes that empower families, they can assume an active and decisive role in addressing their own problems. We aim avoid creating dependencies amongst those with which we work and act as a catalyst for genuine and lasting social change.

To know more about CHILDREN-Nepal and its educational/literacy activities, please see A Case from Nepal.