Kathmandu, June 2: Child NGO Federation Nepal today organised a symposium to collect inputs from child rights activists on the proposed bill drafted to amend the Children Act 2048. The proposed amendment bill is presented by the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare.

President of the Federation Upendra Keshari Neupane said that state should shoulder all the responsibilities to ensure that a child’s rights are not violated in any circumstances. He also emphasised that a child’s right to citizenship should be established by the virtue of his birth in the country. He asked for legal clauses that would allow to issue citizenship certificates to orphans in recommendation of children homes the child is brought up into.

Neupane also demanded that the amendment to the Children Act should clearly outline the procedure under which the crimes committed against children and crimes committed by children are tried in the courts. He demanded that provisions should be created for establishment of special benches in the appellate courts and the Supreme Court to look after cases related to children. Presently only district courts have such provision.

Neupane further demanded that a major portion of fines collected from children for their crimes should be invested for betterment of the young ones. While, the compensations paid to a child for a crime committed against him should be high enough to ensure the victim’s development. Neupane also demanded strict legal provisions and serious punishment against sexual abuse and sexual harassment inflicted to minors.

Child rights activist Sharad Sharma said that the Children Act should be able to stop child soldiering and admission of children into other harmful works. He also demanded strict laws to monitor adoption procedure and whereabouts of children given to foreigners for adoption. He also said that the amendment bill should incorporate clauses that would be effective in making Central Child Welfare Committee and Child Reform Centres established by government.

Another child rights activist Gauri Pradhan opined that the biggest challenge today is the weaknesses in implementation of the existing laws to protect children from exploitation and abuse. In order to ensure children’s right to participate, he said, the government should be open to register organisations initiated by children for their own development and betterment.

According to him there are about 1000 clubs and organisations operative in Nepal that are initiated by children themselves. He also demanded strict monitoring mechanisms to check on situation of children given away to foreigners for adoption. He also said that stricter laws should be introduced to check exploitation against children that is going on in numerous children homes scattered across the nation.