As part of its long-term plan of building CCHs in all five development regions, Central Children Welfare Board (CCWB) is constructing one such home in Biratnagar and another in Pokhara. [break]
“After completion of these two CCH, we will start constructing more homes in other regions,” Dharma Raj Shrestha, Executive Director of CCWB, told myrepublica.com. “We are presently looking for land in mid and far western regions.”
The construction of two more CCHs is expected to address the problem of space crunch in the country´s only child correction home. Despite ratifying Child Rights Convention (CRC) almost two decades ago, the country has managed to set up only one CCH so far.
The only CCH, situated at Sano Thimi in Bhaktapur district, has fallen short of rooms. The existing CCH, which has the capacity of accommodating up to 50 delinquents, has been forced to house as many as 80 juvenile offenders.
Recently, a police post set up inside the Sano Thimi CCH had to be shifted so as to create more space for children. In spite of attempts to make the Sano Thimi CCH more spacious, it has always remained over-crowded owing to the government´s apathy towards implementing Juvenile Justice System (JJS) in line with CRC.
The new CCH being constructed in Biratnagar will have the capacity of accommodating 50 children including 10 girls. Various donor agencies, including an Italian NGO called NAAA, has pledged financial assistance for the construction of the two correction homes.
According to Shrestha, NAAA has provided five million rupees for the CHH, which is under-construction in Biratnagar. “We have been assured more assistance from the government and NAAA,” he told myrepublica.com. The Biratnagar CCH is estimated to cost Rs 9.6 million.
In Pokhara, CCWB has decided to repair and redesign an abandoned building, which belongs to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). According to Shrestha, the building, originally constructed as a half-way home for women escaping human trafficking, has already been handed over to CCWB. “We just need to repair it,” Shrestha said.
NAAA has provided two million rupees for repair works. “This money will be used for fencing the building with barbed wires and repairing and painting damaged walls, widows and roofs,” Shrestha told myrepublica.com.
Meanwhile, Underprivileged Children´s Education Program (UCEP), which runs the Sano Thimi CCH, is all set to expand the only existing child correction home. UCEP is repairing one of its abandoned homes in Purano Thimi with support from CCWB. The extended CCH will be able to accommodate 40 more child offenders.
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