Children are an important future resource for the overall development of any country. As teachers, doctors, engineers, environmentalists, politicians and social campaigners, they will have a vital responsibility for leading the nation towards the path of progress and prosperity. They will also have to deal with various social evils and anomalies, and development challenges. There is no denying the fact that Nepal is one of the nations in the world to have a significant number of young people. Looking at the country's present demographic structure, we find about 40 per cent of the total population under the age of 18 years. This really calls for making a huge investment in children and adolescents for their development. Children can contribute to the nation’s development only when they are brought up properly and get better education.

Nepal has experienced a decreasing level of poverty and improving status of human development over the years. However, this nation still has a long way to go in terms of socio-economic, human capital and infrastructure development. With the adoption of federal system of governance, the nation has now three-tiers of government at the central, provincial and local levels. A lot of government responsibilities in regard with children have been delegated to the provincial and local levels. As per the devolution of powers and responsibilities, the provincial and local governments seem to be working for the welfare of children. However, much remains to be done when it comes to strengthening the concerned policies, legislation, systems and capacities at various levels to achieve the targets.

The situation of children in Nepal is still not up to the mark. They are far behind their counterparts of the developed nations. In spite of some laws and other measures, many children and adolescents in the country are reeling from vital disparities in terms of wealth, region, language, education, caste, ethnicity, gender, age, disability and income. They are deprived of basic facilities such as education and health due to poverty. Girls often face different forms of gender-based discrimination and violence. They become the victims of various crimes such as rape, murder and acid attacks. They are also vulnerable to trafficking. The COVID-19 pandemic has also left hundreds of thousands of children in the lurch across the country. The contagion has orphaned many children. Since a large number of people have lost their jobs and other sources of livelihood to the current global public health crisis, it has caused food insecurity to children as well.

Schools, colleges and universities have been forced to switch to virtual education due to the virus disease. But many children have failed to go for this mode of education due to lack of access to technologies. Against this backdrop, the government has come forward with the responsibility of protecting and taking care of differently-abled, orphaned and neglected children. Addressing a central assembly convention of Nepal Bal Bandir (Nepal Children’s Organisation) virtually on Wednesday, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli assured that the government would look after the abandoned and other children in need. He said that the country could get the leadership of patriotic and hardworking youths only when today’s children are made physically and mentally strong and academically sound and competitive. For this, the state must come up with suitable plans and policies and enforce them in an effective manner.