National Consultation on Elimination of Child Labour Practice in Nepal: Efforts and Role of Trade Unions to Combat Against all Forms of Child Labour

The South Asian Regional Trade Union Council SARTUC, with support from ITUC-AP, has conducted two days national consultation meeting on 15-16 December in Kathmandu, Nepal with the objective to find out the situation of child labour in Nepal; sharing knowledge and experiences from the trade unions on the situation and progress on child labour and to strategize the roles of trade unions to eliminate all forms of child labour in Nepal. The participants represented the major three national trade unions of Nepal – All Nepal Federation of Trade Unions (ANTUF); General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT); and Nepal Trade Union Congress (NTUC).

https://www.sartuc.org/document/national-consultation-on-elimination-of-child-labour-practice-in-nepal-efforts-and-role-of-trade-unions-to-combat-against-all-forms-of-child-labour/

In the opening session, Mr. Laxman Basnet, General Secretary of SARTUC, Mr. Mahendra Prasad Yadav, Representative of ITUC-NAC, and Mr. S. M. Fahimuddin Pasha, senior officer of ITUC-AP, welcomed participants to the national consultation. Mr. Basnet discussed the objectives of the meeting and stressed the importance of trade union leaders coming together to address child labor in Nepal. He acknowledged the persistence of child labor despite efforts from various organizations and the worsening impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr. Yadav highlighted the declining number of child laborers in Nepal, but questioned the data collection methods. He emphasized the need for updated data post-pandemic and the significance of Sustainable Development Goals and Alliance 8.7. Mr. Pasha emphasized the role of trade unions and the importance of SDGs in eliminating child labor, providing an overview of the situation in South Asia.

Mr. Keshab Prasad Adhikari, Coordinator of the Department of Labour Studies at Tribhuvan University, presented data on child labor in Nepal, particularly in the agriculture sector. Despite Nepal's ratification of international conventions on child labor, the high number of children involved in hazardous work indicates implementation gaps. Dr. Pitambar Bhandari, Coordinator of the Department of Conflict, Peace and Development Studies at Tribhuvan University, discussed the historical crises in Nepal that have affected children, including the armed conflict, earthquake, and COVID-19 pandemic.

Aneesh Poudel from UCEP Nepal facilitated interactive discussions on child rights and labor, dividing participants into groups to address trade unions' role in combating child labor at policy, implementation, and societal levels.

Mr. Bikash Thapa, CEO, CTRaDe, started the session on second day with the self-reflection exercise (meditation for one minute to think positively) and divided the participants into three groups and started group work based on the following topics.

Group ‘A (Bagmati)’: Key challenges to eliminate child labour in Nepal

Group ‘B (Sagarmatha)’ Roles of the trade unions, governments, non-governmental institutions, educational institutions and CSOs for the elimination of Child labour.

Group ‘C (Shanti)’: Sectorial engagement of child labour; major sectors where child labour is high in number. Why; reasons?

Finally, the facilitator divide the participants into three groups according to their affiliated trade unions – ANTUF; GEFONT; and NTUC and asked them to prepare an action plan and presentation to address the issue of child labour in Nepal. He requested them to prepare three possible actions that could be achieved by their trade unions within the given time frame.