Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions her Department has had with its Nepalese counterpart on reports of an increase in child trafficking and exploitation following the earthquakes of 25 April and 12 May 2015.

Following the earthquake, DFID Nepal has been in constant touch with the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare and the Department of Women and Children about the risks of child trafficking and exploitation. Within two days of the 25 April, DFID Nepal had approved the allocation of additional resources to combat the risks to child welfare and the safety of women and children. As part of a pre-existing programme (the £35 million, Integrated Program for Strengthening Security and Justice), UNICEF were authorised to send extra personnel to the worst-hit districts to support government protection agencies.

UNICEF has deployed 14 DFID funded Child Protection Officers in 14 disaster affected districts, to track and report any cases of child trafficking or exploitation. DFID is also working closely with the humanitarian cluster system on this issue. We are funding coordinator positions in both the Child Protection sub cluster and the Gender Based Violence sub cluster to ensure the issue is well managed and dealt with in a coordinated way.