TOP 20: MISS NEPAL

Miss Unibarse NEPAL 2008
National Director: Marco
Non-Profit Agency of Choice: STREET CHILDREN of NEPAL

Welcome to The Street Children of Nepal Trust



The Street Children of Nepal Trust is a UK registered charity that raises funds to support projects and initiatives in Nepal. We focus on helping those organisations that help both children who live and work on the street and those from the poorest families.

The aims of the charity are:

* To relieve hunger and improve nutrition amongst destitute street children
* To support education of both street children and children from the poorest families
* To provide basic healthcare for children in need
* Assist in providing shelter for children who have nowhere to live

About Nepal

Nepal is a country of soaring mountains, beautiful valleys and subtropical jungle. Its steep terrain, lack of natural resources and inaccessibility has meant that it has remained one the very poorest and least developed countries in the world with 24% of the population living on less then US $1 a day.

The UN’s Human Development Index (2005) ranks Nepal 142nd out of 177 countries and shows a life expectancy of 62.6 years, adult literacy rate of 48.6% and a GDP per capita of US $1550. However these figures mask major differences between the majority who live in the countryside and those who live in urban environments as well as very significant gender and income inequality.

UNICEF report that:

* More than 50,000 children die annually in Nepal, with malnutrition as the underlying cause in more than 60% of those deaths

* Half the children in Nepal are underweight

* Only 35% of the population have access to adequate sanitation facilities

* The literacy rate for 15 – 24 year olds is 81% for males and 60% for females

* Only 3 out of every 100 have access to a phone

* 31% of children aged 5 to 14 are involved in some sort of child labour

Although the majority of the population still live in rural areas and derive their livelihood from agriculture the pressure of change including population growth, declining fertility of farmland and the pressures of globalisation has seen a significant and rapid rise in the numbers living in cities.

Currently an estimated 38% of the population is aged under 14 years and the pressure of change falls heavily on this age group and this has resulted in significant levels of child migration. Children move away from their homes for a variety of reasons including the death of one or both parents, poverty, illiteracy, domestic abuse and the perceived attractions of city life. Many of these children find themselves living on the streets in urban areas and attempt to earn money in marginal economic activities such as collecting rags, shining shoes, dishwashing in hotels, pulling carts and rickshaws and begging. Street children are highly vulnerable to exploitation and sexual abuse.

Trafficking of children also occurs with children being ‘recruited’ often for an exchange of money. These children will often then be used for domestic labour, carpet weaving and a variety of other jobs. They and their families are lured by promises of good employment but the reality is very different with very low pay, if any at all, and harsh living and working conditions.

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