Government Committed to Strengthening Child Rights: Minister Shrestha Assures CZOP on Key Recommendations

Kathmandu, 23 December 2025 — The Children as Zones of Peace (CZOP) National Campaign met with Honorable Minister Shraddha Shrestha at the Ministry of Women, Children, and Senior Citizens today and presented a detailed attention letter outlining key recommendations for strengthening child rights in Nepal.
A nine-member CZOP delegation submitted the letter emphasizing the need for policy, programmatic, and budgetary reforms to ensure the protection, promotion, and strengthening of child rights and child protection systems.

During the meeting, CZOP highlighted 31 key recommendations, including:
Designating children and schools as zones of peace
Implementation of child-responsive budgeting
Ending child marriage
Strengthening the child protection system
Establishing child rights committees and child welfare officers at the local level
Declaring a street children-free Nepal
Developing online child protection procedures
Building child-friendly infrastructure
Strengthening child courts and related mechanisms

Receiving the letter, Minister Shraddha Shrestha reaffirmed that child rights protection and promotion remain a high priority for the Government of Nepal. She assured that the Ministry would seriously review CZOP’s recommendations and take steps for their effective implementation. The Minister also emphasized the Ministry’s readiness to work collaboratively with civil society to achieve policy and institutional reforms for meaningful child rights outcomes.

Inspired by the impact of the armed conflict on children and schools, CZOP has been advocating for the concept of children and schools as zones of peace since 2001. The campaign has worked consistently since 2003 to make this principle a national agenda in Nepal.
CZOP reaffirmed its commitment to continued advocacy and collaboration with the government to ensure the rights, protection, and holistic development of children in the coming years.