TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS

different policy initiates were undertaken by the Ministry of Labor and Employment (MoLE) aiming
to protect the rights of the female migrant workers. Key migration actors in Nepal are public and
private actors. Nepal has signed one bilateral agreement and two memorandums of understanding
(MoUs) for temporary labor migration with governments in the Middle East: Bahrain, Qatar, and the
United Arab Emirates. NHRC Nepal has entered into Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the
National Human Rights Committee in the State of Qatar on November 16, 2015 to protect the rights
of the Nepali migrant workers in Qatar.
Key challenges in relation to regularization of foreign employment and prevention of TIP emerged
the following: maintaining the information/data about the undocumented migrants; conducting a
representative household survey that shows the linkage between migration and trafficking;
discouraging the foreign employment for those who are unskilled workers; monitoring of a range of
public and private actors; ensuring all migrant workers with access to effective complaints;
introducing package programs to increase women cases of complaints; ensuring the right to mobility
of women; conducting MoU with the major destination countries; introducing and expanding the
alternative employment opportunities of the returnee WMWs.
On Monitoring of Anti-Trafficking Policies, Programs and Activities
Nepal has been reminded in Tire 2 over the last 5-years. Nepal has been remained in Tier 2 mainly it
is because it cannot fully protect its migrant workers from slipping into forced labor situation in
destination country.
The Government of Nepal in collaboration with different UNs, I/NGOs has initiated and implemented
different policies and programs to combat the TIP. The GoN has developed an institutional
mechanism for controlling TIP. The Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare (MoWCSW) is
the leading Ministry in this direction. It has been realized that TIP is a multi-pronged problem, and
thus, it requires mobilization of a range of line agencies, constitutional and political bodies, including
civil society organizations. It is also conceptualized that multi-layered of organizations role is equally
important in addressing the issues of TIP. The GoN adopted NPA against Trafficking in Persons 2011-
2021, taking into account the new trafficking patterns such as those associated with foreign labor
migration. The NPA identifies five broad areas for interventions: prevention, protection, prosecution,
capacity building, and collaboration and networking. For reinforcing the prevention and control of
trafficking in women and children, a separate NPA has been implemented since 2011 and the GoN
has also prepared the Implementation Action Plan of NPA.
The GoN has been making national budget more gender responsive. The proportion of budget
allocated for programs directly gender responsive increased from 11 percent in FY 2008/09 to nearly
22 percent in the FY 2014/15. The MoWCSW has been allocating annual budget to the Eight NGOs.
Government budget of Rs. 8 million to Rs. 10 million each fiscal year for providing rehab services to
the trafficked survivors. Budget has also been allocated Nepali Embassy to India, Consulate General
Office of Nepal in Kolkata and Nepali Embassy to Thailand in recent fiscal years. The GoN has
allocated budget for the District Committee on controlling human trafficking for all 75 districts.
Looking at the annual budget spent in the FY 2014/15, majority of districts in hills and mountains
spent Rs. 42,000 and in Terai, Rs. 57,000. The District Committees have also the some balance
amount in Emergency Rescue Fund by the end of April 2015. The average amount in the Fund comes
out to be 101,980 with the range of no balance amount in Rupandehi district to Rs. 396,975 in
Makwanpur district.
The MoWCSW has already formed District Committees in all 75 districts in the country. Some of
District Committees like Morang and Sunsari have also formulated Five-Year District Plan of Action
(2015-2019). One of the advantageous of these districts Plan of Action is that they are formulated
with the wide engagement of key stakeholders. The Department of Women and Children has been
carrying out a number of women’s empowerment programs. A large number of women’s groups
xiv