PROJECTS | Nepal

Brighter Futures for Child Labourers

Rural Environment & Empowerment Centre (REEC)
REEC is a local grassroots NGO which was established in 1998 by a group of self-motivated local residents to provide support to some of the most marginalised people living in Myagdi District, West Nepal, including child labourers, former child soldiers, women, and families from lower castes and ethnic groups. 

Beni, the regional commercial and administrative centre of Myagdi District, is home to a large number of child labourers.  Many children forgo their education to earn meagre wages in exploitative work without legal or regulatory protection.  Working as porters, domestic servants, labourers and sex workers, these children are at risk of extreme physical, sexual and emotional abuse.  The majority of these children are from lower castes and ethnic groups and have little or no education.  REEC estimates that there are approximately 850 child labourers currently living in this area and about 1,200 children who are at risk of leaving school for hazardous or exploitative work.

In 2009, in partnership with ICT, REEC established Brighter Futures for Child Labourers, a project which aims to prevent child labour in Myagdi District, while providing support to those children who continue to work.