FNCCI opens childcare facility at Green Home in Kailali

KATHMANDU: A childcare facility, a first-aid centre and a breastfeeding room have been opened at Green Home in Godawari Municipality-6, Kailali district. The initiative was led by Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI).

The Empowered Women Prosperous Nepal programme, run by FNCCI with financial and technical support from the International Labour Organization (ILO) Nepal, funded the facility with an investment of about Rs 1 million. The centre is intended to allow female employees to care for their children during work hours and is equipped with nutritious food provisions, play materials and a facilitator provided by the industry.

The facility has been established on the premises by Dinesh Lamsal, General Secretary of Kailali Chamber of Commerce and Industry, amid concerns that many female workers were leaving jobs because they could not find time for childcare. FNCCI supplied the necessary internal materials for the room, and the industry provided the physical structure for the childcare centre, breastfeeding room and a dressing room.

Inaugurating the centre, FNCCI Treasurer Bharat Raj Acharya said the move supports broader goals, including sustainable development and workforce stability, while easing the burden of unpaid care work. “As part of the private sector's shared commitment to the care-economy, the childcare centre has been established at the workplace for industry employees, especially women. This will support working parents and promote gender equality. Other industries should also follow this practice,” Acharya opined.

Industry operator Dinesh Lamsal said the centre was created to provide a good environment for the children of experienced female employees, noting that childcare problems were increasingly forcing women to leave work. He said the industry currently employs 92 female and 32 male workers.

FNCCI Assistant Director Hari Paudel said female workers are enthusiastic about being able to care for their children within the workplace, and that children’s learning through play will progress in the new childcare centre.