Child Rescue Nepal • Nepal
It is estimated that there are nearly 1,000,000 children trapped in forced labor in Nepal – typically working 15+ hour days in hazardous, deplorable conditions, with limited food, no protective gear, and often without pay. In addition, the trafficked children often suffer from physical, emotional and sexual abuse. Child Rescue Nepal (CRN) was created to counteract this extremely dark industry and fight for the rights and futures of all children in Nepal.
The courageous CRN team works tirelessly to rescue trafficked children, provide them with extensive counseling and rehabilitation services, and when possible and safe, reunify and reintegrate them with their families. Not only is CRN on the frontlines rescuing children, they are also actively working to prevent the high prevalence of trafficking by increasing children’s access to education. With 40% of Nepal’s population under the age of 18, CRN knows the best way to create a path for future development is to prioritize both the protection and education of children.
PROGRAM FOCUS
- Rescuing Trafficked Children: CRN is on the ground, partnering with police and government authorities to rescue children from factories, restaurants, hotels and construction sites where they are held captive. Once rescued, the children are welcomed to the CRN Transit Home and provided with medical care and counseling. The next step is tracing their families and safely reuniting them, providing ongoing support when necessary.
- Reintegrating Rescued Children: In most cases, the children are able to be reunited with their families and CRN provides these families with post-integration financial and psychosocial support.
- Providing Care and Support: When it is not possible or safe to reintegrate the children back into their families, they are moved to a longer-term shelter home. CRN’s family style homes are close together so that children can maintain the friendships they established in the Transit Home and each long-term shelter has a maximum of 10 children. The children attend local schools and ongoing contact with their families is facilitated and encouraged.
- Prevention through Education: CRN’s ambitious goal is to put an end to all child trafficking in Nepal. This cannot be done without widespread prevention and advocacy. It is a well-known fact that if a child is in education, their chances of being trafficked are much lower. One of CRN’s many approaches to increasing education is to provide school lunches. By simply providing mid-day meals at a rural school in Dokotar, they increased attendance by 41%!
- Prosecution of Traffickers: CRN also works to pursue, identify and work with authorities to convict and prosecute traffickers. This work is extremely high-risk for the CRN team and many staff members have been threatened and even attacked. However, the CRN team persists and has successfully prosecuted dozens of traffickers, helping to break the vicious cycle of exploitation.
CRN also works to educate the greater community about the ploys traffickers use and ways to protect themselves, through creative mediums like radio broadcasts and street dramas followed by audience discussions. These prevention activities are extremely successful; CRN estimates that their prevention efforts have kept over 50,000 children safe and in school, and reached over 100,000 people each year via anti-trafficking radio broadcasts in three languages.
WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP
GoPhilanthropic Foundation partnered with CRN in June of 2017. Our community of supporters has joined together to support the ongoing running costs of CRN’s Transit Home in Kathmandu. This home is an absolutely essential piece of the puzzle, providing up to 12 children at a time with a safe, healing space to stay for up to 6 months while their families are traced. The children are provided with holistic, individualized psychosocial support, building their confidence and preparing them to move forward. Without funding for this transit home, CRN could not continue rescuing children.
GoPhil’s support for the transit home includes:
- Salary support for skilled staff to provide supervision, rehabilitation and education;
- Food expenses to ensure access to regular, nutritious meals;
- Health, hygiene and medical costs, to ensure access to quality physical and psychological healthcare;
- Facility rental, utility, repair and maintenance costs;
- Funding for education, recreation and outings for the children;
- Clothing, stationary and other resources.
VIDEO: Three Boys Rescued
VIDEO: The Story of Manoj
WHAT MAKES CRN UNIQUE?
The courage, compassion and hard work of CRN’s team cannot be overstated. Many organizations throughout the world focus on the issue of human trafficking, but most concentrate their efforts in one of three areas: prevention, protection or prosecution. CRN has developed robust, integrated programs in all three areas to holistically address the issue of trafficking for the current and future generations of Nepal.
CRN recognizes that when the complicated task of rescuing a child is complete, the work is far from over. The road to recovery through rehabilitation and reunification is long and unique to every child and family. Some of the children can’t even describe their home village, so it’s up to the CRN team to use any clues possible to locate their family. CRN conducts its work with extreme sensitivity and long-term investment, supporting the child and family every step of the way.
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