NGO child-labour eradication programmes in Nepal

In Nepal non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are contributing to the eradication of child labour through education, but support is minimal. Coordination is poor so that the most vulnerable children are not identified and prioritised for support.

Transparency International Nepal and theProfessional Women Support Group – an organisation ofNepali women working to tackle corruption – undertook a study to assess thetransparency and effectiveness of child labour support programmes run by 23NGOs.

An estimated 2.6 million Nepali children belowthe age of 14 work; 1.27 million of these work in the worst forms of childlabour as defined by the International Labour Organisation. Poverty and the lackof job skills force parents to put their children into the labour market.

The Nepali government, donors and NGOs havestarted to focus on the welfare of working children. Government schools areinstructed not to charge fees up to grade five. Parents, however, still have topay for school uniforms, stationery and exams. This helps explain why half ofthose children who enroll don’t complete primary education.

Local NGOs typically provide support to childlabourers in the form of textbooks, stationery, uniforms and tuition fees. SomeNGOs support parents through micro-finance. NGOs also run schools offeringnon-formal education that do not follow the academic year and exist solely forchild workers who don’t have enough time to join formal education programmes.

Donor policies have led to the emergence of alarge number of NGOs offering education to working children. Researchersexamined how children qualified for funding assistance, how the funding wasreceived and spent, whether funds were transparently spent and accounted forand what children thought of the support they received.

The study found that:

• Many donors and NGOs werereluctant to provide information and cooperate with the research team.
• Although legislation requires NGOs to submit annual reports there is no standardised monitoring system and reports are not in the public domain.
• Three quarters of NGOs claim the public have access to their budgetary information, but only 17.4 percent publish financial reports.
• Most beneficiaries report general satisfaction with support received.
• Assistance per child is decreasing as NGOs are keen to increase the number of children they support.
• Many NGOs are also helping children who are not labourers.

NGOs and donors are generally satisfied. There is a perception that children’s awareness has increased and that child labour has been reduced in recent years. Many children have been enrolled in education programmes, developing their confidence and opportunities. However the average level of assistance per primary school child - US$14.10 per year – is too low to keep poor students in formal education.

Transparency International calls for:

• incentives to encourage NGOs to publish financial data
• development of standardised selection criteria for eradicating child labour
• improved cooperation and coordination between NGOs to avoid duplication
• greater consideration of the issue of sustainability
• more intensive monitoring by donors
• improved information flows between NGOs and donors.