Developments in Nepal

The information below is based on the 2009 report of the Secretary General to the Security Council (A/63/785-S/2009/158) issued on 26 March 2009. More information is available in the report.

As of 25 May 2006 2,973 Maoist army personnel were assessed to be under the age of 18, and, at the time of reporting, were still being held in Maoist army cantonments. Following the commitment made by the Prime Minister of Nepal to the Special Representative on 5 February 2009, the Army Integration Special Committee decided to request the Government to immediately release the children from the cantonments. Prior to the formal verification procedures called for in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of November 2006, many children informally self-released, and in some cases, escaped or went absent after official leave. In other cases, children were released after negotiations by their families or members of the country monitoring and reporting task force. Since July 2007, approximately 7,500 children and young people formerly associated with armed forces and groups, and 3,000 children affected by the conflict, have benefited from community-based reintegration programmes in 58 districts.

During campaigning for the Constituent Assembly election held on 10 April 2008, all major political parties either used children or did not prevent children from participating in the electoral campaign. In some cases, Young Communist League (YCL) used children in acts of intimidation. On elections day many children between the ages of 7 and 15 years were observed participating in political party activities, some violent, breaching the election code of conduct which restricts the use of children. The participation of children in demonstrations raised protection concerns when violence by some demonstrators and excessive use of force by security forces caused injury to some children. Children were sometimes given risky roles in these demonstrations, such as carrying flaming torches, burning tires and throwing stones at the police, and there were instances where homeless children were paid to undertake these roles. The creation of militant youth wings with self-declared policing roles, including YCL, the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist (UML) Youth Force, the Madhesi Peoples Rights Forum and the Nepali Congress, are also raising protection concerns.

Abductions, killings, explosions of improvised explosive devices and attacks on schools and teachers by armed groups in the Tarai (southern plains) region continued, with children making up a disproportionate number of the victims. Some Tarai armed groups are alleged to have been recruiting and using children and the United Nations is seeking to verify these allegations.

Parties responsible for recruitment and use of children

Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M)*.

Status: No formal action plan. The release of children associated with UCPN-M who are held in Maoist army cantonments is being addressed within the context of Nepal's Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2006 and the Agreement on Monitoring the Management of Arms and Armies, which commits UCPN-M and the Government of Nepal to the immediate release and reintegration of children associated with armed forces and groups. A draft national plan of action for the reintegration of children affected by armed conflict, including children associated with armed forces and groups, is pending finalization and Government approval for implementation.

During the visit of the Special Representative on 5 December 2008, the Prime Minister of Nepal committed to the release of 2,973 children from the Maoist army cantonments by the end of February 2009. However, this has not been fulfilled up to date.

Parties marked with an asterisk (*) have been on the annex lists for a minimum of four years.

For more information, visit the UNICEF and Watchlist/CAAC websites.

Press Release by the Special Representative: