As part of our work on online safety for children in Nepal under the SCROL programme, our children and youth advocates raised concerns with Honorable Minister Surendra Raj Acharya who leads the Ministry of Children, Women and Senior Citizens in the country.
As part of our SCROL programme in Nepal, we organised consultation sessions with children and youth to prepare a memorandum to document the required systemic changes in Nepal to address Online Child Sexual Exploitation (OCSE). The following were the major concerns and needed interventions highlighted by children:
On December 27, 2023, a national-level event was organised, during which children and youth submitted their concerns regarding Online Child Sexual Exploitation (OCSE) through the above memorandum to the Honorable Minister Surendra Raj Acharya, Ministry of Women, Children, and Senior Citizen for inclusion in the 16th National Plan of Action.
As there is no specific policy addressing OCSE-related concerns in Nepal, the platform also re-emphasized the need for a Standard Operating Procedure (SoP) to effectively handle cases of online sexual exploitation of children. This SoP was developed under the SCROL project to address OCSE cases and has been handed over to the Ministry of Women, Children, and Senior Citizens which is in the process of endorsement.
Key stakeholders, including the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, the National Human Rights Commission, Nepal Police Cyber Bureau, Civil Society Organizations and most importantly children and youth were present at the event.
Through our efforts, we look forward to seeing the required systemic changes to ensure that the issue of OCSE is addressed in Nepal.