In a letter addressed to Nepal Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel, rights groups on Sunday urged Nepal to protect the rights of children by accounting for an expansion of the child grant program in the forthcoming budget. The groups represented a coalition of 24 Nepali and international rights organizations that included the Human Rights Watch (HRW).

Introduced in 2009, the objective of the “Child Nutrition Allowance” program was established to provide support to families with young children. Under the current program, children under the age of five across 25 of the country’s 77 districts and “all” children of the Dalit caste under five across Nepal are covered. A monthly payment of 532 Nepali rupees (US $3.85) for up to two children is provided to each “eligible” family.

The letter acknowledges Nepal’s position as a “pioneer of social protection policy in South Asia in the 1990s,” emphasizing that the country has “an opportunity to further develop world-leading social protection policies that protect human rights” as the fully implemented child grant is “designed to be a universal program that all children in Nepal are entitled to.”

Dr. Rama Sharma, a senior economist at the Nepal Social Welfare Institute, emphasized the value of expanding the child grant program stating:

When 40 percent of Nepal’s population is under 18, your child welfare policies essentially become your national development strategy…We can either lead the way in child welfare and social protection, or watch another generation struggle with preventable hardships. The evidence is clear – the only question is whether we have the courage to act on it.

A 2022 UNICEF budget brief report found that “only 45% of the total population of children under five receive their social security allowances (child grants)” while only 10% of all Nepali children are recipients of the child grant. The letter also refers to a 2021 UNICEF study, which highlights that “Expanding the Child Grant to all children up to the age of 17 by 2035 is feasible for Nepal’s government, costing less than 0.7 percent of GDP a year.” That study projected additional benefits such as a 16.8% reduction in family poverty and improved rates in education, healthcare, and local economic activity.

HRW senior poverty and inequality researcher, Lena Simet, advocated for an expansion of the program stating:

That so few Nepali children currently receive the Child Grant is a denial of their rights and a missed opportunity for Nepal’s development…In the forthcoming budget, Finance Minister Paudel should expand the policy as a step toward universal coverage, which would benefit millions of children and their families, and the entire country.