 SDC has chosen to work with child laborers because their situation is one of the worst in the world.. According to one estimate by the International Labor Organization (ILO) there are 2.6 million child laborers in Nepal. Most of these children are working as household workers. Many are employed in brick kilns, transport, mines, factories and other extremely risky businesses. Often they are paid much less than adult workers, though their work is more difficult. Other children are enslaved as kamaiyas* and other traditional forms of slavery. Though the government of Nepal has banned child labor and reportedly ensures child rights these laws have never been implemented . 52% of the population is under 18 ad 44% are under the age of 16.
According to statistics, 15% of children never attend school and 75% of school going children drop out before completing their primary education.Most of these children end up as child laborers.They come from remote parts of the country and from the dalit ** or the underprivileged castes.
These children lose the opportunity of getting an education. Consequently, as adults they do similar kinds of work. These people end up having no say in their government or the policies concerning their lives.
Child Labor Facts:
- 32,000 children are involved in stone quarries, 72,000 are working in restaurant/teashops
- 46,000 are serving as child porters and 30,000-60,000 are employed in brick kilns. 55,655 are domestic servants.
- Child-laborers working in Industry- 4,227
- Street Child-laborers (street children)- 4,000
- Children involved in trafficking ad illegal business- 12,000 per year.
SDC plan to gradually improve the situation of these child laborers. The long term goal of SDC is to empower child laborers through education and bring them into mainstream society. |
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Notes:
* Kamaiyas are people who are bonded laborers. This is a traditional form of slavery still existing in Nepali society. If a person is unable to pay his loans to a creditor, then he as to work in the creditor's field to pay off the loans. And if he is not able to do so in his life, then his children will be forced to work in the same fields to pay off an old age loan. In this way, many children are slaves right from their birth. This system still exists in many remote places in Nepal.
** Dalit: The dalit children are untouchable children. Nepali society, classifies people according to caste or birth. People from higher caste do not mix with the people of lower castes. The dalits are the people from the bottom strata who are not even touched by the higher caste people, so they are called untouchable or dalit. |
The concept is to have the children document their lives as child laborers in the brick yards. 
