Government of Nepal Allocates Millions of Dollars
for Girls Sold Into Servitude

Collaboration with California-based nonprofit to provide education
and vocational training

(KATHMANDU, NEPAL, August 11, 2009) — Every year in rural western Nepal, thousands of girls, some as young as six, are sold by impoverished families into bonded servitude. Many are abused, and some are never heard from again. The buying and selling of girls was a widely established tradition that was conducted openly before 2000, when the Nepalese Youth Opportunity Foundation (NYOF) began a widespread campaign to eradicate the practice.

After lobbying by NYOF, for the first time, the government of Nepal will provide funding for aid for bonded girls. US$1.6 million has been allocated for this year, and similar amounts are expected annually.

The Nepalese Youth Opportunity Foundation is a nonprofit organization based in Sausalito, California that provides human rights, health care, education, and loving support to some of the most vulnerable children in Nepal. NYOF rescues girls from indentured servitude, brings them home to their families, sponsors their education, and gives each family a piglet or goat to replace the money they would have received for selling their daughter. This is complemented by NYOF’s vigorous awareness campaign to inform people about the plight of girls in bondage and the importance of education for women. The organization has saved over 4,000 girls to date.

NYOF has presented the Ministry of Education with a comprehensive proposal for implementation of the funds, which will be finalized in upcoming weeks. The funding will support education in local schools for many of the rescued girls. Older girls who have never attended school and would feel uncomfortable beginning in early grades will be given a range of opportunities for vocational training, such as tailoring, teaching, making furniture, and starting small businesses.

Since the government funds are not adequate to eliminate the custom of bonding in Nepal, NYOF still needs donations to free and educate indentured girls. “NYOF will continue to liberate girls, provide goats and piglets as incentives, and implement our awareness program. It looks as though we will reach our goal of eradicating the bonding practice sooner now,” says Olga Murray, NYOF’s founder and president.

The Nepalese Youth Opportunity Foundation (NYOF) is a nonprofit organization based in Sausalito, California that is devoted to bringing hope to the most destitute children in the beautiful but impoverished country of Nepal. NYOF liberates girls from indentured servitude, rescues children from severe malnutrition, manages loving homes for orphans and abandoned youth, and provides psychological counseling, vocational training, and a wide range of scholarships. For more information about NYOF, visit www.NYOF.org.