Prior to the establishment of Juvenile Correction Home (JCH) in Nepal, juvenile delinquents used to be sent to the central jail which is meant for the inmates. After being a signatory of UN Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 (CRC), provisions of the convention seemed mandatory for Nepal. The Children’s Act 1992 is the special legislation in this regards. Section 42 of the act states that, ‘the government shall establish JCH as required’. Children’s Regulation, 1994 set forth the activities of the JCH in Nepal and ensure the right of the children deprived of their liberty which was done to standardize the international practice.
Following this declaration, operation of JCH started with one convict from Banke District court at Sanothimi, Bhaktapur in 2001 which was established by Government of Nepal in 2001 and managed by Underprivileged Children’s Educational Programs (UCEP), Nepal. It is currently implementing correctional facilities for children who are in conflict with law in four districts of Nepal that includes namely Bhaktapur, Sar Kaski ,Morang and Nepalgunj.
In this way, the international as well as national instruments have realized that even in period of deprivation of their liberty the best interest of the child shall be paramount and children should be treated in a holistic manner considering their rights to survival, development, participation and protection.
Following the International convention, Children falling under three categories reside at Bal Sudhar Griha:
- Children who violated the rule of law and/or in conflict with law.
- Children who accused the rule of law and/or in conflict with law.
- Children who are under investigation for violating the rule of law
.Currently four correction homes are managed by UCEP Nepal for Nepal Government
| Juvenile Correction Home | Date of establishment | Total area (in sq. ft) | |
| Sanothimi, Bhaktapur | 2002 | 43,808 | |
| Sarangkot, Pokhara | 2012 | 27,830 | |
| Biratnagar, Morang | 2013 | 36,018.19 | |
| Asmanpur, Banke | 2018 | 3,20,000 |
As of September 2024, 860 juvenile delinquents are residing in four correctional homes that offer formal education, counseling, moral education, healthcare, personality development, vocational training, and family reintegration programs. UCEP Nepal, in collaboration with the Ministry of Women, Children, and Senior Citizen as well as the Secretariate of the Central Child Justice Committee, is working to expand residential facilities.
OBJECTIVES
- Strive for holistic development of children through education, vocational training and personality development.
- To promote physical & mental well being through psychosocial counseling, recreational activities & individual care.
- To protect the Children in conflict with law.
- To protect them from association with the hard-core criminal.
- To protect them from permanent stigmatization /brand of crime.
- To help them realize the consequences of the act they have committed.
- To support for rehabilitation, restoration and reintegration.
- Prevent them from re-victimization.
