Children from Kalikot have issued a nine-point declaration demanding an end to cyber violence and abuse against children through social media.

The participants of the District Children's Gathering, which began in Manma on Saturday, have demanded that the stakeholders stop cyber violence against children due to misuse of social media, even though it has facilitated the exchange of information.

'There is a tendency to chat on Facebook and Messenger and play with the emotions of children and misuse them,' said Rozna Sarki, who participated from Raskot. 'The police should be more active to prevent cyber crimes and violence through social media.'

Although the state has declared child marriage a social and legal crime, the children drew the attention of all stakeholders to stop child marriage, stating that early marriage has a negative impact on the protection, education and nutrition of children in the society.

The gathering, which began with the slogan 'Investing in Children, Starting a Golden Future', pledged to raise their voice through the Kalikot Declaration for reducing violence against children, including a special policy to end child marriage.  

Children from local levels including Narharinath, Sannitriveni, Raskot, Tilagufa, Shubhakalika, Mahabai, Khadachakra and others who came to the district headquarters Manma identified the issues through a gathering and issued the Kalikot Declaration, said Dilip Kumar Shahi, District Manager of the Human Rights and Environment Development Center. ‘Physical and mental violence against children was already happening. The increasing use of social media is a matter of concern,’ he said. 

Rubina Bishwakarma, a participant from Narharinath, said that the slogan of the National Children’s Day to increase investment in children was not implemented in practice. She said, ‘Free and quality education is also limited to slogans and propaganda. If quality education is provided in village schools, the number of children who drop out of school and get married early and drop out of school for wage labor will decrease.'

Empowered Girls Project Coordinator Padamraj Hamal said that the District Coordination Committee coordinated the gathering with the support and facilitation of NGOs including Plan International, Hurendek, Kiddak Nepal, and SADA. 

The two-day gathering, facilitated by Lalit Jung Shahi, Associate Professor of Midwestern University, stated that Kalikot has the highest problem of child marriage and demanded that stakeholders formulate a plan to prevent, reduce, and end it.

The first point of the manifesto states, 'Considering the fact that child marriage and the Chhaupadi system are still prevalent in Karnali, since child marriage has an adverse impact on the education, health, and development of children, we have drawn the attention of all local levels to make the slogan of '20 years of marriage' meaningful and end it.  Special program should be announced.'

Similarly, the gathering has made demands in the manifesto, including ensuring quality, inclusive and free education for all children, ensuring a child-friendly learning environment to reduce the school dropout rate, improving the health and nutrition of all children, providing safe drinking water in the community, and providing psychosocial counseling to parents to keep them away from drug addiction.