Nepal RUGMARK Foundation was established in December 1995 as a result of joint collaboration among carpet entrepreneurs; child-right NGOs; and international development organizations, viz. UNICEF, the German Agency for Technical Co-operation (GTZ), and the Asian American Free Labour Institute (AAFLI).
Nepal RUGMARK Foundation is an active member of RUGMARK International e.V. The Foundation has proven RUGMARK to be a viable initiative to effectively address the child labour problem in Nepal, giving a meaningful alternative to the carpet children. In its 7 years' of operation in Nepal, RUGMARK has been able to bring over two-third of the carpet industry capacity on board i.e. nearly 65% of the production capacity. This effectively means maintaining child labour free environment in the factories while preventing thousands of children to enter the factories, often dropping out of schools. On the other hand, about one thousand child labourers have been removed from the carpet work so far and about half of them got enrolled in RUGMARK rehabilitation programmes. The Foundation is gradually directing more resources to preventive programmes in carpet factories.