Advocate for children's rights

We advocate for change – in policy and practice – to improve the situation of children and young people without parental care or at risk of losing it. Through partnerships, we raise awareness about the issues they face and work towards influencing positive change. We base our work on evidence, expertise and people’s lived experiences. We hold those with the duty to protect, promote and fulfill children and young people’s rights accountable.

Highlights

To initiate a national discourse on quality care in the alternative care sector, the National Child Rights Council (NCRC), a government agency responsible for safeguarding and promoting child rights, and SOS Children’s Villages Nepal are jointly conducting the National workshop on alternative care in Nepal: Contemporary situation and challenges across seven provinces.

This significant event brings together a diverse array of stakeholders and accountable authorities from federal, provincial, and local governments to discuss working papers presented by SOS Children’s Villages Nepal and NCRC.

The workshop serves as a platform for in-depth discussions on the quality concerns of alternative care, fostering care reform initiatives. It focuses on ensuring children’s rights and establishing standardized care governance to enhance accountability among government agencies and stakeholders.

A significant achievement in 2023 was the facilitator role of SOS Children’s Villages Nepal to bring together care leavers, representing various care-giving settings and organisations to amplify their voices and successfully registered care leaver’s network named Alternative Care Youths Society Nepal. This network is dedicated to identifying political, social, and economic issues to advocate for enabling policies and supporting programmes for care leavers in Nepal.

SOS Children’s Villages Nepal was honoured with the esteemed Social Welfare Education Award from the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology, Government of Nepal on the occasion of National Education Day, underscoring organisation’s dedication to offering holistic care, particularly in the realm of education.

We established a formal and strategic partnership with National Child Rights Council (NCRC) to work in the sector of quality alternative care and reform towards enhancing accountability and promoting collaboration for better alternative care governance.

SOS Children’s Villages Nepal and the NCRC have initiated a partnership to bring together relevant government agencies, children and young people under alternative care, care leavers, experts, INGOs, and civil society organisations working for children’s rights. The goal is to promote quality alternative care and necessary reforms in the alternative care standards in Nepal. This initiative also aims to provide quality alternative care and family strengthening for families.

 

Child and youth participation

We advocate for change – in policy and practice – to improve the situation of children and young people without parental care or at risk of losing it. Through partnerships, we raise awareness about the issues they face and work towards influencing positive change. We base our work on evidence, expertise and people’s lived experiences. We hold those with the duty to protect, promote and fulfill children and young people’s rights accountable.

Listening to children and young people

Children and young people are the experts in their own lives. We are committed to providing spaces for their full meaningful participation in all matters that concern them: in their everyday lives, in the programmes that are designed to support them and their peers, and in improving policy and practice.