Child labor in Nepal

Generally speaking today the issue of child labour is being one of the major issue around the globe. Human beings, known as social animals do have their own personality and stages which are generally divided into three stages or categories: child, adult and man or old age. According to the definition of UN general convention on the rights of the child, a child is one who falls below the age of eighteen years. If we evaluate Nepalese act relating to the child defines a child as a person below the age of fourteen, which age is taken as a very sensitive age which needs well-cared and protective environment. But due to the different circumstances/ means/ or causes like lack of awareness, poverty, ignorance of society, conventional dead values situation of children is different in all developing countries like Nepal, by which children are employed as labour in various dangerous and unhealthy works. There is no doubt that the issue of child labour is taken as gross violence of human rights, which has become a common phenomenon in Nepal as well as in other developing countries. When we are about to evaluate the status or circumstance of child labor in Nepal, according to the population, first of all it is better to know the population of child in Nepal. According to the population census 2001 the total population is 22.7 million, in which the ratio of child population is very high and is increasing in each period. The big chunk of population under the age of 14 years is getting no proper education and care which results Nepal facing serious problems of uneducated and unskilled mass of human resources.

Among the 6,225,000 population if children the percentage of school going children is only 36.7%. where the work participation of child comes to hit 41.6%.. The percentage of both working and schooling is 25.5% while only working not schooling is 16.1% . generally 95% of the total population of child work in the rural areas of Nepal. Which comes to reveal that high mobility of child population for work in urban areas of Nepal.

Working children comprise of two types, those working in their own household and those working for others or waged child. Among them most of the children are working in agriculture. Among total percentage of child population 94.7% of them involve In the agricultural work while other remaining child work in service and in technical work i.e production, construction, transportation, and communication.

Another issue about child is that among the total population of child working child comprises 36.8% male and 45.1% female child, which shows that female working percentage is higher than male. The percentage of working female children in urban areas is 21.0% and in rural area is 48.0% whereas the percentage of working male children in urban is 17.9% and in rural areas is 39.3%. It also shows the clear picture that in both rural and urban areas female children are working more than male children in case of Nepal and almost all developing countries around the globe.

So child labour, mostly in developing countries like Nepal is increasing. For the eliminating of child labor government sector, central level, district level, local level, private sector, family, community and community based organizations etc. should be aware.