Minister urges collaboration for girls' rights

Minister for Women, Children and Senior Citizens, Surendra Raj Acharya, has stressed the need of cooperation and collaboration among the three-tier government for the improvement of child rights.

In his address to a porgramme organised by the National Child Rights Council marking the International Day of the Girl Child here today, the Minister pledged more investment in the promotion of the child rights to address pressing issues in the relevant sector such as sex-selective birth, missing of the girl child, risk against them, child marriage and so on.

He urged the three-tier government and non-government organisations to implement the Convention on the Rights of the Child, national act, and rules and the policies about child rights.

Ministry secretary Suman Raj Aryal, vowed to strengthen the cooperation and collaborations among the government and non-government bodies in the effective implementation of child rights.

UNICEF's Nepal representative Alice Akunga announced the UNICEF cooperation in the efforts for protection, promotion and advocacy of child rights.

Council Vice-Chair, Bam Bahadur Baniya, insisted on the combined actions among the governments at the federal, province and local levels to promote child rights.

Under-secretary Roshani Devi Karki (Ministry of Health and Population), said the government has formulated a strategy aiming to end gender-discriminations by 2030. She said the government has implemented a policy to discourage the sex-selective birth.

Other government under-secretaries Pratibha Gautam (Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security) and Durga Kandel (Ministry of Education, Science and Technology) called for all-side support and cooperation to end violence against women and prevent child labour.

Director of Department of National ID and Vital Registration, Devi Pandey Khatri, said adolescent girls-friendly atmosphere would be created in the management of national ID and vital registration.

Adolescent girls who attended the event as representatives from all seven provinces highlighted dowry, child marriage, child labour, chhuapadi, girls trafficking, online sexual harassment, hurdles to access to free education and justice, lack of girls-friendly physical infrastructure, lack of sufficient investment in the promotion of the rights of girls and gender-based discrimination against girls as challenges in the promotion of the rights of girls. They urged the State and the government to take the issues seriously and address them.

October 11 each year is observed as the International Day of the Girl Child and the theme of the Day for this year is "Invest in Girls' Rights: Our Leadership, Our Well-being".