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The World’s Children’s Prize for the Rights of the Child 2002:
Maiti Nepal
portrait Anuradha Koirala
My goal is to make Nepal wholly free from the slave trade in girls, says Anuradha Koirala, the founder of Maiti Nepal.

Nepal is one of the world’s poorest countries. Many children here are forced to work in carpet factories, farming or as household servants. Girls are faced by an additional threat, to be cheated and sold as slaves to brothels in India. Every year 5,000–7,000 girls are sold, the youngest only eight years old. The girls are locked up for several years in brothels. Often they are not released until they’ve become too ill to work. Many girls have by then been infected with Aids.

> Meet Maiti Nepal
Why has Maiti been awarded?
Maiti Nepal received The World’s Children’s Prize 2002, for its fight against the slave trade in girls from Nepal, who are sold to brothels in India. Maiti tries to prevent poor girls from being lured to brothels by educating and informing them. Maiti takes care of and supports girls who have been held in brothels in India. Some of these girls have become Maiti border guards, who stop girl-traffickers when they try to bring girls to India. The award also includes Maiti’s sister organization in India, Maiti Mumbai, whose employees risk their lives to free girls locked up in brothels.
The Hindi Godess Durga riding on a tiger
Durga's Festival
Dashai is a Hindu festival and is celebrated in the name of the Godess Durga. It takes place in the autumn, when the rainy season and the harvest is over. Durga is the biggest celebration in Nepal.

> Go to the festival
portrait Poonam

Poonam watches the border Poonam watches every vehicle that passes the border. She was sold to a brothel in India herself when she was only 14, so she knows just what to look for. Suddenly, Poonam, who has become a border guard, catches sight of something that attracts her attention.

> Meet Poonam


portrait Apsara

Apsara was sold for 1,300 dollars
Apsara’s life has been one long nightmare. First her mother died. Then her father died. Her stepmother poured gasoline on her and lit it. A boy tricked her into going to India and sold her to a brothel. Today Aspara has got her revenge and she wants to devote her life to the struggle against girl-trafficking.

> Meet Apsara


portrait Anita and Sunita Lama
Anita and Sunita's hero
Cousins Anita and Sunita don’t hesitate for a second. What is a movie star compared to a real hero, who at the risk of his own life saves girls from the brothels in Bombay (Mumbai)! It was the girls’ hero, Balkrishna Acharya, who planned the rescue operation while Anita and Sunita were locked up in a dark closet...

> Meet the cousins
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