Peer-reviewed article
Orphanage Trafficking and Child Protection in Emergencies in Nepal: A Comparative Analysis of the 2015 Earthquake and the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic
Martin Punaks, Samjyor Lama ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This peer-reviewed article compares how two major emergencies in Nepal—the 2015 earthquake and the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic—affected child protection, particularly risks of orphanage trafficking and child institutionalisation. It examines how each emergency impacted children without parental care or facing family separation, and the roles of government, international actors and civil society in response. The analysis shows that while emergencies increase risks of harm and exploitation, they have also driven innovation in child protection practices including family preservation and reintegration programmes.
Key points
- Both the 2015 earthquake and 2020 COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal increased the risk of harm and exploitation for children and families
- Key protection concerns include orphanage trafficking, voluntourism, and child institutionalisation during emergencies
- Emergencies have driven innovation in child protection practices, particularly reintegration, case management and family preservation programmes
- Response effectiveness differed between a localised emergency (earthquake) and a global phenomenon (pandemic)
- Disaster preparedness, Nepal government policy, international community engagement and civil society roles all shaped protection outcomes
Limitations
The document is a comparative analysis and does not provide quantified data on trafficking cases, reintegration outcomes or programme effectiveness. It cannot tell us the scale of harm, the precise impact of specific interventions, or which responses were most effective in protecting children.
Abstract
This article compares and contrasts two humanitarian emergencies and their impact on Nepal: these are the Nepal earthquake in 2015 and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. It explains how each emergency has impacted children without parental care or at risk of family separation, with specific reference to orphanage trafficking, voluntourism, child institutionalisation and family preservation. In relation to each emergency, the article considers the role of disaster preparedness; the roles of the Nepal government, the international community and civil society; and the significance of one emergency being localised, while the other is a global phenomenon. It also shows that while these emergencies have increased the risk of harm and exploitation for children and families, they have also driven forward innovation in child protection practices, particularly through the use of reintegration, case management and family preservation programmes.