Nepal: Prime Minister launches Child Marriage Free Nepal campaign with civil society and survivors

On 31 December 2024, the Government of Nepal launched the nationwide Child Marriage Free Nepal campaign, supported by civil society organisations Just Rights for Children Nepal and BASE Nepal.

The launch commenced with Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli meeting senior representatives from the civil society organisations which will support the campaign, including Bhuwan Ribhu, the founder of Just Rights for Children, the organisation which delivers the Child Marriage Free World campaign. Survivors of child marriage also attended the meeting with the Prime Minister.

Sunita is one of the survivors of child marriage who took part in the meeting with the Prime Minister. She was married at the age of 5, and was sent to live permanently with her husband and his family when she was 14 years old. She dropped out of school, and became a full-time domestic worker in her husband's family home. She first became pregnant at the age of 15, and the pain of early childbirth still haunts her today. "I don’t want this story to repeat with anyone like mine; I don’t want anyone to feel the same pain as I did.” Now aged 35, Sunita has returned to school and is soon to complete her education.

Concluding the meeting, Prime Minister Oli took the pledge to end child marriage at the official Prime Minister's residence at Baluwatar (main image).

The launch continued in Lalitpur, organised by the National Child Rights Council (NCRC), which will lead the campaign on behalf of the Nepali government.

Nepal's Minister for Women, Children and Senior Citizens, Nawal Kishor Sah Sudi (image right), stated: "Until there is coordination between the three levels of government, it is very difficult to implement any law... Therefore, I have a clear opinion on this: until there is a coordinated policy at all three levels, it is not possible to be prosperous."

Critically, national, provincial, and local governments have all committed to delivering the campaign, with representatives including the social development ministers of Nepal's provinces participating in the launch event.

Following a packed day of support to end child marriage in Nepal, survivors and activists closed the proceedings with a candlelit vigil.