Basic Information on Nepal:
Information Sources:
· Reuters
· Orphanages:
Destitute and Orphan Children Safeguarding Foundation of Nepal
A list of Nepalese orphanages you can contact is available on Orphanage.org.
Geopolitical Overview and Statistics on Orphaned/Abandoned Children:
· Located between the huge countries of India and China, Nepal is among the poorest and least developed countries in the world with 42% of its population living below the poverty line.
· One in three children drop out of school.
· One estimate states that 10,000 children have been orphaned, and more than a 100,000 forced to leave their villages.
· Unemployment rate: 42% (2004 est.).
· Population below poverty line: 30.9% (2004).
Child Mortality:
· 27,000 children die of dysentery every year.
· Every year sixty thousand children die before they their reach 5th birthday.
Child Labor:
· 2.6 million children are engaged in different sectors of child labor.
· At least 40,000 children are bonded laborers.
· Over 5,000 children are working and living on the streets.
· Half of street children earn a meager living, around NPRs (Nepalese Rupees) 25 per day (US$ 0.3 per day) by rag picking.
· UNICEF 1996: In Nepal there are estimated to be 26,000 children of the street, i.e. those who both work and live in the street. There are an additional 3,700 children on the street, i.e. those who live with their families but spend most of their time playing and working in the street.
· The 1981 census showed that 60% of children in the 10 to 14 age group were economically active, but an altered definition meant that the 1991 census estimated that it was 23% of all 10 to 14 year olds.
· These are the ones in some kind of regular employment (i.e. not lone street children) Children tend to work at least 8 or 10 hours per day, but mostly do not earn more than about NPRs 16 per day (US$ 0.2 per day). Of urban child workers, around one quarter have received work injuries.
Education:
· Less than half of orphaned children are literate; and of those who are, most are barely literate as a result of non-formal education programmes such as the Children’s Feeding Project (one organisation which is supported by the Trust).
· 73% of women 15 years or older are illiterate.
Childcare:
· Out of 2.5 million disabled people, among them 5 % are children.
Healthcare:
· There is only one Children’s Hospital.
· 450 pregnant mothers out of 100,000 die in childbirth every year.
· Only 4% of women are attended by trained health workers during childbirth.
· Nepal is one of more than 20 countries have serious problems of malnutrition and stunted growth as a result of the food crisis that has set back anti-poverty efforts by years- the World Health Organization.
· The first case of HIV in Nepal was reported in 1988. Since then the Nepali government statistics list under 60,000 cases, while The World Health Organization (WHO) actually reported over 200,000 cases of HIV, a much more realistic number. CIA World Factbook Reports 61,000.
Sexual Exploitation / Illegal Human Trafficking:
· Nepal has the number one child disappearance rate in the world.
· Annually 12,000 women and children are trafficked to India.
· 34 % of marriages are children under 15 years of age.
· According to the WHO, Kathmandu is a major center of prostitution.
· There is a far greater proportion of boys than girls among the street children. A major cause of this imbalance is that many girls are duped into sexual exploitation. It is difficult to know how many are involved in this. In 1996 UNICEF estimated that each year, 4,000 to 5,000 girls between 10 and 14 years old are trafficked to India.
