Ghurka Hero Joanna Lumley becomes Ambassador for Child Welfare Scheme, children's charity in Nepal
Last updated 12/08/2009 15:52:59
Ghurka Hero Joanna Lumley becomes Ambassador for Child Welfare Scheme
Just months ago she fronted a very high profile and extraordinarily successful campaign to gain UK settlement for Gurkhas. Now Joanna Lumley is to become the ambassador for a small but growing children's charity in Nepal, Child Welfare Scheme.
Joanna - one of our most respected actresses and campaigners - will support the work Child Welfare Scheme (CWS) carries out with disadvantaged and marginalised children and their communities in Nepal.
The charity works with local partners to help over 30,000 children and young people there. This includes those at risk of or who have been trafficked, streetchildren, those involved in child labour and who live in slum and mountain areas with little access to education, health or social opportunity.
CWS also supports work with pregnant women and young children and now collaborates with the Nepalese Government to deliver regional programmes such as immunisation and improved maternal care. It is also, impressively, one of the few western charities which remained in Nepal during the recent conflicts.
It's a new role for Joanna, who's father was an officer in the Gurkha regiment. She was applauded for her tireless work fronting their campaign to gain UK settlement rights.
In May, the government did an about-turn and granted settlement to all Gurkha veterans who retired before 1997, with at least four years' service. Some 36,000 Gurkhas who left before 1997 had been denied UK residency.
With her knowledge of Nepal, Joanna is undoubtedly a fantastic choice as ambassador for CWS. As she explains: "I have been inspired by the work that CWS does supporting some of the most disadvantaged and marginalised children in Nepal. I hope that my involvement with CWS will help to make a positive difference to their lives and future."
According to figures from the Government of Nepal, out of every 100 children in Nepal seven will die before their fifth birthday, 42 live below the poverty line, 48 will be malnourished, 42 will be involved in child labour and 39 won't complete their primary education.
CWS' activities include being the second largest paediatric health provider in the Western region, providing quality primary care to the most disadvantaged in urban, slum and rural areas.
It also provides specialised services for young people, mothers and babies and development of low-cost and improved systems of care.
In terms of education, it offers vocational training initiatives providing long-term practical courses and support at day care centres provides early learning for children in village communities.
CWS provides shelter for ex-trafficked girls, offering a safe haven and support to start a new life. (The current estimation is that 15,000 children are trafficked each year from Nepal).
Its contact centres for street and working children offers a range of services, helping them to survive, improve their lives and move forward into confident adulthood.
For more information on Child Welfare Scheme visit their entry on Optimist Charities
For more information on the Optimist Charity Awards take a look here