17 year-old Bipana Sharma submits memorandum to PM Oli to make Child Friendly Nepal
Kathmandu, July 3, 2016: On Sunday morning, Prime Minister was taken by surprise when a teenaged girl came to meet him at his residence in Baluwatar requesting him to play a substantial role to establish Child-Friendly Local Governance (CFLG) in Nepal.
Being impressed by the dreams and positive vision of PM Oli, Bipana Sharma from Nawalparasi had submitted memorandum to the PM KP Oli asking him to work on having child-friendly local governance in the nation.
After listening to her, PM said that he will surely try to work on making Nepal child friendly in his own tenure. “Nepal is already a kind of child-friendly. I will surely try to work further on availing them with basic services like receiving of health, education and other state facilities easier and make the authority to her their concern,” he said.
“On analyzing the present situation and future needs, though we have experienced and gone through the painful past that has badly affected the economic situation and development in our nation, we still have the positive and development-centered thoughts; we have dreamed to make Nepal prospered in a way you have shown the paths; we have started to feel like your leadership would take the country ahead in the path of development and take shape,” she said to the PM.
She mentioned how making of CFLG in Sunwal Municipality in Nawalparasi was possible with support from all the people concerned there. “At the age of 11 years, I had dreamed to make my village child friendly, which is now achieved. Now, I have dreamed to make whole Nepal child-friendly. And, this is the main goal of my life,” she said in the statement.
In the letter, Sharma mentions her hope to see the all the Tuins (wire bridges) replaced with foot bridges so that none of the children have to risk their lives to go to school.
“The prime necessity now is to invest in children. We cannot be sure about the future of the country until and unless the future of the children is not ensured. And, because of your initiations, we have felt the presence of the first child-friendly Prime Minister,” reads her statement to the PM.
“To raise the children in child-friendly environment is the prime necessity today because we have still heard the news about child-marriage, child-labour, drug abuse, sexual violence, trafficking among others on a daily basis. Issues that impact the physical and mental development of children have still been happening on a regular basis,” she explained to the PM. “In lack of child-friendly social environment, many children have been burdened to the nation by opting to criminal activities, drug abuse and similar other bad habits. Their future has been dark. It’s not only the children who are responsible to bring the results like this, but the environment and situations they received and groomed with.”
The government has already formulated the national strategy on Child Friendly Local Governance in the year 2012, which has already been implemented in many villages and municipalities availing the children with the services necessary for them and ensuring of the services and improving the status of children.
Acting on the strategy of Community Friendly Local Governance, Sunwal Municipality of Nawalparasi had been declared the first Municipality in the nation having child-friendly local governance.
“If we honestly work on 36 indexes and 16 steps mentioned in the CFLG strategy, it won’t take time to make the prosperous Nepal we dreamed,” says the statement. “The CFLG is the issue of common concern since provided all the indexes are completed, a place will be open defecation free, fully literate, child-friendly, health, and drinking water among other ultimately making the society more capable and empowered. If one gets child-friendly environment from the time of mother’s womb to getting grown up, he will surely change the face of the nation. Thus, child-friendly needs to be the concern of all.”
After submitting the letter, Sharma expressed her happiness to get a very positive response about ensuring the concept of Child Friendly Local Governance all over the country. “I found him very friendly,” she said. “He showed great concern to my statements in the letter.”
Bipana Sharma had won the Teen Hero Competition conducted by Glocal Khabar last year.
