Strategies and Options for Scaling Up and Enhancing the Child Grant Nationally in Nepal

The objective of this study is to offer to the Government of Nepal (GoN) a set of reflections and options regarding the continuation, scale-up and enhancement of the Child Grant (CG), a cash transfer program for children under the age of 5 introduced by the GoN in 2009. While the original intention was to cover all children nationally, the first phase of implementation was geographically targeted to all children in five Karnali districts, which are the poorest in the country, and to under 5 children from poor Dalit families across the country. The context of this paper is the National Social Protection Framework, which the GoN is in the process of finalization. This framework uses the life-cycle based social protection floor approach, and posits a right to social protection for all. CG is integral to this approach as it covers income security and social protection for children and families.