SOS Children’s Village-Nepal has been working to uplift the lives of children in Nepal for several decades now. They have reunited children with their families, and given them families when they had no one. ApEx talked to Dereje Wordofa, president of SOS Children’s Village International, about their work in Nepal. Could you tell us about the work SOS Children’s Village International-Nepal has done so far? SOS Children’s Village was established in Nepal 80 years ago and since then, our work has been to uplift the situation of children in Nepal. Our priority has always been to reunite children with their families, be it through financial or other assistance. We want them to have a home, and someone to call them their parents, which means us working to uplift the overall lifestyle of the family and not just that of a child.

In case that’s not an option, we give them a home where they have people they can call their own, a family to be precise. Beyond that, we try to advocate the importance of child rights and education, especially in rural parts of Nepal, where children are still suffering.

What  is the main goal of the organization?  Our main goal right now is to work on reaching the goal on the agenda (Children’s rights and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development) set by the United Nation (UN) in terms of child rights, not just in Nepal but countries all around the world. The agenda sets a goal to help every country realize the importance of child rights, as well as help them with the right’s revision in case it's necessary. We want to make sure that no child will have to give up education, have families with better economic standards, as well as have a chance to lead a good and independent life. How is the progress so far?  The progress, in Nepal’s context, has been going well, although we hit a small snag during the Covid-19 pandemic, which slowed the work down. There were around 500 children who lost their parents and needed assistance. We have helped them continue their education and get back on their feet. It was a traumatizing time for everyone, but even worse for these children. But I am sure that we will be able to get back on track with our goal by 2030 soon enough. The work has been going on rapidly. What difficulties do you have faced while working in Nepal?  The biggest obstacle for us has always been the geographical structure of Nepal. It is not easy to reach every rural part of the country because most of them lack proper infrastructures, especially in the Himalayan region. There isn't enough road access to reach those parts of Nepal, making it difficult for our human resources to reach those areas. We have improved over the years, and have reached out to several parts of the country, but that’s still not enough. What do you think Nepal currently needs in terms of child rights?  If you talk about Nepal’s policies on child rights, they’re good. But I believe what we currently need is its proper implementation. We are working closely with the Nepal government, who has recognized the need to improve on the implementation, as well as is committed to fulfilling the 2030 Sustainable Development Goal set by the UN. So, I would like to believe that the country is heading on the right track.