Strengthening community engagement in Nepal during COVID-19: community-based training and development to reduce child labour

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is leading to serious socioeconomic consequences globally. These impacts are disproportionately disruptive to vulnerable groups and low-and middle-income countries. This paper explores the case of Nepal and challenges faced by NGOs and community-based organisations (CBOs) to reduce child labour in brick production, embroidery (zari) and the carpet industry amidst the strict lockdown laws, and industry closure during the pandemic. The case of the Sakriya Project, a child protection initiative headed by World Education Inc. (WEI) Nepal illustrates challenges and opportunities for social work in building capacity to support this vulnerable population during the pandemic.

What Happened to the Prevention of Child Maltreatment During COVID-19? A Yearlong into the Pandemic Reflection

“…The impact of the pandemic extends well beyond the damage done directly to children’s routines. Economic hardship, for example, has resulted in an increase in child labor and the sexual exploitation of children (Larmar et al, 2020 ). Simultaneously, there has been a lack of focus on the impact of COVID-19 on children.…”

“…Additionally, COVID-19 restrictions have caused many parents to struggle in meeting their children’s basic needs (Conrad-Hiebner & Byram, 2020 ). Some families, for example, have resorted to child labor to survive, as their country does not offer unemployment financial aid or social security (e.g., Nepal; Larmar et al, 2020 ). COVID-19 has deepened the existing inequality in other aspects (Akseer et al, 2020 ), such as access to food (Kassa & Grace, 2020 ), education, and healthcare (Katz et al, 2020 ; Molnar et al, 2021 ), all of which could result in higher rates of COVID-19 infection and death tolls (Shadmi et al, 2020 ).…”

“…Additionally, COVID-19 restrictions have caused many parents to struggle in meeting their children's basic needs (Conrad-Hiebner & Byram, 2020). Some families, for example, have resorted to child labor to survive, as their country does not offer unemployment financial aid or social security (e.g., Nepal; Larmar et al, 2020).…”

Connecting Crises: Young People in Nepal Reflecting on Life Course Transitions and Trajectories during Times of Uncertainty

“…Nevertheless, often crises of (displaced) young people are usually documented in isolation of each other rather than presenting connections across crises. There is some developing research that has been starting to make links between crises in Nepal such as Punaks and Lama (2021) who explore child protection in orphanage contexts by comparing the 2015 earthquake and 2020 pandemic; a focus on how the earthquake further affected existing fuel and power outages crises and a strained healthcare system especially in rural areas (Adhikari et al 2017); and exploring connections between displacement concerns during COVID-19 with child and youth labour concerns (Larmar et al 2021). Furthermore, despite social science research often documenting effects on the lives of children and young people in times of crises, more contribution(s) is needed from a focus on how life course transitions are spread out across different moments of one's life in different geographical settings.…”

Keeping families afloat: Foster carer’s parenting experiences during COVID-19 in Ghana and implications for practice

“…Wage and job losses, illness, deepening poverty, social desolation, and heightened caregiving burden are increasing the stress and financial pressures experienced by many families (Cudjoe & Abdullah, 2020; Cudjoe et al, 2021). These factors have created new risks for child maltreatment (Pereda & Julkune Díaz-Faes, 2020; Sserwanja et al, 2020) and enhancing children’s vulnerability to other child protection issues such as child marriage (Cousins, 2020), child labor (Larmar et al, 2020) and child neglect (Abdullah, et al, 2021; Bérubé et al, 2020). Physical distancing and lack of outdoor activities are having a negative result for the mental health of children and adolescents (Clemens et al, 2020; Maalla M’jid, 2020), while the increasing deaths due to the pandemic are leading to many children becoming orphaned (HRW, 2020).…”