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OHCHR, UNICEF call for priority to child rights

United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal (OHCHR-Nepal and UNICEF have jointly urged the government and the Maoists to place the rights and welfare of children as key priorities during the peace process.

"On the eve of an historic peace agreement, there is an opportunity to restore the rights of children who have suffered greatly during the long conflict, and to ensure that future generations of Nepali children can grow and thrive in lasting peace," a joint press statement of OHCHR-Nepal and UNICEF issued on the occasion of the 17 th anniversary of the Adoption of the Convention of the Rights of the Child on Sunday said, asking for prioritisation of children's rights.

The statement added, "OHCHR and UNICEF in Nepal remain greatly concerned that even now children under 18 are still being recruited, voluntarily or forcibly, by the CPN-Maoist, in violation of international standards and their own commitments."

The Convention on the Rights of the Child, CRC, which was adopted 17 years ago states that anyone below 18 years of age is a child and is entitled to special care and protection.

Saying that they were working with the government, the CPN-Maoist, child protection and youth organisations to ensure that special needs of children are addressed, the two UN agencies urged the all concerned sides to ensure safe return of children involved in armed forces or armed groups to their families, stop recruitments into militaries and work for their proper rehabilitation.

"Protecting and restoring the rights of children is an enormous challenge," said Dr Suomi Sakai, UNICEF's representative in Nepal, adding, "The conflict has taken a great toll on the children in the country. Their childhood has been snatched from them. Their education has been disrupted and they have been torn apart from families."

Sakai said that even today, when there has been a cessation of conflict, children in Maoist army have not returned home and they continue to be killed and maimed in explosions.

Likewise, OHCHR-Nepal representative Lena Sundh noted that children in Nepal have been among the thousands forced from their homes, displaced by the conflict.

"Boys and girls have been detained and tortured, and even killed. They have been traumatised by being caught in the crossfire of violent conflict. Social and economic rights essential to the development of children have been greatly set back, as grinding poverty affecting millions of children has been exacerbated by the long conflict," the release quoted her as saying. nepalnews.com mk Nov 19 06