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The Children...

Children from The Talbot Centre

The street children of Nepal

• 5000 children are living and working on the streets, an estimated 1000 of these are in Kathmandu, some are as young as 4 years.
• At least 40,000 children are bonded labourers.
• An estimated 60,000 children die every year from malnutrition and treatable diseases before the age of 5.
• 2.6 Million children are engaged in different types of child labour.
• There is no government provision for the care of orphaned/abandoned children and no free medical treatment provided.
• Every year approximately 27,000 children die from dysentry.
• Nepal has the number one child disappearance rate in the world.

There are over 60 million abandoned children and infants in the world today and Nepal is home to a large number of them. Over the years, the country has witnessed a big increase in the number of children who have been found abandoned. While poverty and poor financial conditions have led many parents to abandon their children, political conflicts have deprived many children of the custody of their parents.

These children have little choice but to become involved in dangerous situations, some fall victim to child traffickers who take them out of Nepal to work in the sex industry, others are left to sleep on the streets and become involved with drugs, pick-pocketing and other activities that may lead to a lifetime of difficulties. Some children find work at the different hotels and restaurants, but often they are paid small wages for their labour and are not granted the opportunity to receive an education.

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Sleeping children on the streets

Why are there so many abandoned children in Nepal?

Poverty in Nepal is a deeply entrenched and complex phenomenon. Approximately 40 per cent of Nepalese live below the poverty line of US$12 per person/per month. Despite some progress in poverty reduction in recent years and declining rates of urban poverty, the problem remains widespread and most indicators suggest that it is on the rise. About four fifths of the working population live in rural areas and depend on subsistence farming for their livelihoods. In these areas household food security and poor nutrition are still major concerns. Most households have little or no access to primary health care, education, clean drinking water and sanitation services. Rural poor people are generally illiterate, have large families, and are landless or have very small landholdings. Many rural women live in severe poverty, without any means of improving conditions for themselves and their families.

In Nepal, not all children have the luxury of attending school, girls, not considered to be of intellectual value, are often entirely denied the benefits of an education. Poor families are often obliged to send their children to work rather than to school, in this way the poverty cycle is perpetuated into the next generation. It is estimated that about one quarter of the children in Nepal between four and five years old are engaged in some kind of family or wage labour. Nepalese children daily encounter the demoralizing effects of poverty and many children suffer from malnutrition and disease, which affects their health for the rest of their lives.

When one parent dies; or as frequently happens, disappears, the remaining parent is unable to provide even the basic needs of the children and either disappears themselves or seeks the help of a social organisation to care for the child. According to Nepalese custom; when the eldest son marries, his wife moves into his parents home and takes over all the chores for her in-laws. If it is the father that dies/disappears the woman’s in-laws frequently consider her and any children a burden and either throw them out of the home or make life so unbearable that the woman flees, leaving the children behind. When it’s the mother who dies or disappears, the father will take a new wife who often does not want the children and treats them very cruelly, often beating them and not giving them food.

Some of Nepal's Children

The Talbot Foundation operates without U.K. salaries, office rent or benefits, we manage all expenses and payments in Nepal from our U.K. office, assuring our supporters and donors that we are making every effort to reach and serve the most children possible, by the most financially efficient and responsible means.

Details of how to sponsor a child are now online. Please take a look at our 'Sponsor' page for details!

The Talbot Foundation is maintained entirely by voluntary contributions. Details of how to sponsor a child are now online. Please take a look at our 'Sponsor' page for details!