Regardless of who they are and where they live, every child has certain rights by birth. Yet, every day we see these rights being violated and no one bats an eye. It was to tackle these unaddressed issues that Hatemalo Sanchar was established over two decades ago and since then it has been relentlessly working for the promotion and protection of child’s rights.
“We are a non-profit organization, solely devoted to the recognition of children’s rights in the country. We work with a dream of creating an inclusive society where children’s rights is respected and adults are committed to meet their responsibilities towards their juniors,” says Nupur Bhattacharya, president of Hatemalo Sanchar.
Hatemalo Sanchar came into being when a group of radio journalists came together to initiate South-East Asia’s first ever child-to-child radio show to highlight the issues of human rights violations and rights of disabled children. The program went on to be highly appreciated by listeners and it became quite popular. As they held more talk programs on various issues, they realized radio programs alone weren’t enough. While the program did raise awareness about some issues in some people, they felt they were not operating in full throttle. So, the team decided to go beyond radio programs and Hatemalo Sanchar was officially established.
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According to Bhattacharya, since the day of its inception, Hatemalo Sanchar has been working in three different areas of child development. The first one is Hatemalo Research Center. “The aim of our research center is to create a hub of knowledge and information entirely related to children and their rights in Nepal,” she says. The center has been publishing self-designed conceptual manuals, guidebooks and flipcharts for children, teachers and parents to understand the importance of the child rights and its protection.
Under the same program, Hatemalo Sanchar, in collaboration with the Department of Education and Save the Children, has been providing training sessions for teachers and parents to learn about non-violent child rearing and teaching methodologies. The main aim of these sessions is to bring an end to corporal punishments in households and schools. Likewise, it has also been offering various capacity building courses to many youths and adults alike. Leadership training, forum theater performances, public speaking, and journalism are few courses on that list.
Meanwhile, the organization is also bringing children together through their child club. The club has children from different schools in the valley, from marginalized communities, and disabled kids as well. Here they engage these kids in creative activities apart and not just limit them to studying their course books.
The second main program is Research and Study. Under this, they conduct action research and run surveys on issues of children in Nepal. All the projects of Hatemalo Sanchar are modified according to the updates of these reports and surveys.
The final one is Advocacy and Networking for child rights. So far, it has acquired membership and collaboration opportunities with many relevant networks working with a similar goal. Bhattacharya mentions that they have also been able to develop a good network with concerned governmental authorities as well. She confesses that the organizations and authorities also fund their projects.
Bhattacharya says that though the society, their attitude, and mindset about acknowledging children’s voices have not changed completely, they can at least witness a few positive changes through their movements so far.
“The government has made many reforms for the protection of children’s rights. Also, schools are adopting healthy and modern teaching practices. The process of teaching societies about children and their rights can be tiresome yet very meaningful at the same time,” she concludes.
