The government has not done any preparatory work on the child rights situation in Nepal for the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child hearing in January next year, an advocacy organisation warned this week. Nepal was almost two years late when it submitted the last periodic report to the world body last February, Child Workers in Nepal Concerned Centre (CWIN-Nepal) said in its half yearly report.

In the first six months of this year, CWIN found that children had a slightly easier life thanks in great part to the January ceasefire. Unfortunately, the ensuing chaos in education, resulting from a rift between the king and political parties, ruined what little progress there was. CWIN warns the confrontation and violence between the student wings of political parties and educationists is likely to negatively impact the psychology of children. The organisation's report also says child labour, racial and caste discrimination, gender and social discrimination, and sexual abuse continue unabated in Nepali society.