The ceasefire has been a short period of respite for children in Nepal and their families. As the war drags into its tenth year, some, like these children in a school in Rukum last week (pictured, right), asked our photographer if the ceasefire would be extended. Many in this classroom were born after 1996 and have never known a period of peace.

With only two weeks left for the ceasefire to end, people across the country are worried about a return to strife-and especially what it will mean to the children. Despite the ceasefire, the forced march of students and their teachers has not stopped. Across the country, the Maoists have closed down schools because of the government's handover of management to local communities.

To mark Universal Children's Day on Sunday 20 November, child rights activists have urged that Nepali children be kept out of the war. They say schools should not be turned into polling stations for the municipal elections.
Says Suomi Sakai, director of UNICEF in Nepal: "We are worried about the ending of the ceasefire because any conflict inevitably hurts children.children need to be able to grow, to learn and to play in peace. Children are the future, and the future of a country becomes threatened when its own children don't see they have a future there. Let's remember the children and put them first."