Editorial
Miles to go
CNN heroes highlight the plight of women and children in NepalOn Tuesday, Maggie Doyne, a young American girl from New Jersey, was named 2015 CNN Hero of the year for her exemplary social work in Nepal. Doyne had come to Nepal in 2006 and decided to stay back after witnessing the poor condition of children and women during her travels. She spent all her savings of $5,000 that she had earned babysitting to build the Kopila Valley Children’s Home, a school and a women’s centre in Surkhet district with the help of the local community. Today Doyle’s school imparts education to more than 300 children. And there are 50 children living in the children’s home.
CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute is an award to
honour individuals who make great contributions to humanitarian aid. The award was instituted in 2007 and has acknowledged three indivisuals for their work in Nepal so far. In 2010, Anuradha Koirala received this honour for her work against human trafficking. Koirala is a co-founder of Maiti Nepal, an NGO working to save women from trafficking which she started
in 1993 by renting two rooms in Kathmandu. Now, the organisation works in 29 districts. As of 2013, Maiti Nepal has rescued and rehabilitated over 20,000 girls and women. Once again in 2012, Pushpa Basnet from Nepal received the award for her work in child rights. Basnet is the founder of the Early Childhood Development Centre, a residential home for
children who are forced to live with their convicted parents in prison.
Although these women should be applauded for their efforts, there is only so much they can do. These recognitions show that much needs to be done for women and children in the margins of our society so that they can enjoy decent living conditions. Unfortunately, women and children continue to face problems. Women and girl trafficking increased to 29,000 in 2012/13 from 11,000 in 2011 according to a report of the National Human Rights Commission, titled ‘Trafficking in persons, especially on women and children in Nepal’. According to the International Labour Organisation, there are 2.6 million child labourers in the age group 5-14 in Nepal. And girls aged between 10 and 14 years perform double the work their male counterparts do in the same age group. These are tremendous challenges that can only be addressed through concerted efforts of both the government and non-governmental actors. Even though it is the primary responsibility of the government to remedy the situation, we hope that these awards will inspire more Nepalis to do social work and help improve the conditions of fellow citizens.