The news of Maggie Doyne winning the ‘CNN Hero of the Year, 2015’ was one of the few bright spots in the otherwise gloomy news coverage that has come to define our mornings – or days if you happen to be inclined to follow the news online. It provided us all a brief respite from the relentlessly depressing features on the prolonged blockade, corrupt administration, incompetent politicians, agitators and men of the moment who seem to be competing with each other to come out with the most farfetched views on the situation.
In the midst of this all, we couldn’t help being uplifted by a story about an 18 year old who had the courage to invest her life’s savings, half a world away to help children in need and persevere with it against the sort of bureaucratic apathy that would be enough to drive the most tolerant of us round the bend. My friend joked that he half expected someone associated with Nepal to win it, given our history of success with previous recipients brought about in no small part by its ‘winner by votes’ format.
All jokes aside, while the award undoubtedly made us all happy for the children and proud of Maggie’s efforts – it should also help to highlight the plight of our country’s children. This recognition should really force us as a nation to take a mirror to ourselves and re-examine our priorities or lack of it towards our children. It is quite telling that all the recipients – Pushpa Basnet in 2012 and including to a certain extent Anuradha Koirala in 2010 (children are one of the worst affected victims of trafficking) – have been recognized for their efforts in child welfare and rehabilitation.
There is just cause for concern in Nepal, because at the end of the day children are the most vulnerable demographic to disturbances, whether they come in the form of frequent ‘bandas’, civil wars, blockades or earthquakes. When it’s not natural disasters scaring and scarring them, it’s our man made differences that leave a mark on their psyches. Whenever we squabble over political gains the effect that this has on the welfare of children is usually the last thing on our minds.
A good example of this is the recent blockade of which there seems to be no end in sight. Children are being deprived of their education which is a violation of their fundamental rights, with even the Director of UNICEF compelled to make a statement saying that the very future of the country is at risk. The irony of the situation is hard to escape – we are jeopardizing their tomorrow while professing to fight for it today.
While we can, in recent history, claim to have taken initiatives towards improving children’s welfare and protection such as being party to United Nations Convention on Rights of the Child (CRC), they remain largely restricted to paper exercises. A much vaunted National Programme for Action for Children from 2004/5 – 2014/15 and the Education for All (EFA) initiatives were flagged off domestically but they have yet to translate to proportionally meaningful changes on the ground. For example, the EFA envisaged that by 2015 there would (should) be universal access to quality basic education but that still remains some way off.
Our lack of action is all the more alarming given that there are no shortage of partners – NGO’s, INGO’s -or funding, in the form of ODA for the government to promote children’s rights, end exploitation (including trafficking) and increase access to basic needs. In fact, were it not for the various humanitarian organizations in the field and people like Maggie Doyne, it would be a lot worse than it already is.
It really doesn’t take David Beckham or for that matter anyone else to remind us of it – it’s visible in the children who peddle drugs in Thamel, work in restaurants and in offices and as domestic help all over the country. To be fair,while empathy for the needs of children may be absent from the state’s consciousness, it still remains ingrained in the public one as witnessed by many of the post-earthquake success stories relating to the rebuilding of schools and shelters for rehabilitating children so that they can get on with their lives.
Social transformation through the principles of equality and inclusion has been the theme of not only these protests but of the entire nation for the last decade. This is only possible if we take care of our assets; the children who will inherit this nation. While our constitution lists a lot of fundamental rights that children are entitled to, your guess is as good as mine on how much of it will actually be acted upon. In the meantime, we welcome all the Maggi Doynes of this world because our kids need all the help they can get. I just wish that we could take pains to lift our fair share of the load too.
gunjan.u@gmail.com
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