Save the Children, IKEA Foundation Announce Plans to Reach a Further 790,000 Children At-Risk of Child Labour in India’s Cotton Communities.
New Delhi, 2014-6-16 — /EPR Retail News/ — On World Day Against Child Labor, Save the Children, its partners Breakthrough and Pratham, and the IKEA Foundation unveiled a $9.4 million* (Є7million) program to protect 790,000 children living in cotton communities in India. It’s estimated that there are currently around 12.6 million child laborers in India and today’s announcement is the second phase of a long-term program which aims to keep children out of cotton fields, and in classrooms where they can learn, play, grow and develop and be children.
During the second phase, Save the Children, Pratham and Breakthrough will work with panchayat leaders, farmers, teachers, families and Indian state officials in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, to provide children with access to quality education, improve teacher training, develop local child protection committees and school management committees and tackle issues like gender based discrimination.
An independent research study in 2008 revealed that prosperous Punjab has a large number of children working in the agriculture sector with an estimated 25% of them in cotton picking. Rajasthan and Haryana are not far behind, with 23% and 16% of cotton picking labor being children.
Building on success
The expanded program will build on the successes of Phase One which was started in 2009 in more than 1,800 villages in the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat. The major accomplishments of Phase One include:
• more than 600,000 children directly reached through education and child protection programs
• over 150,000 children moved out of child labor and into classrooms
• more than 10,000 migrant children moved back into their home communities
• improved school enrollment rates in participating villages (see Fact Sheet)
• nearly 2,000 teachers trained (see Fact Sheet)
• 1,866 Anganwadi (health, education) workers trained in teaching practices, giving each village in the program a skilled community worker
Improving the situation for girls
This initiative will aim to tackle the deep rooted issue of gender based discrimination which starts even before birth. One of the areas of critical concern is of the declining child sex ratio in the states of Punjab and Haryana which are the lowest in the country – with figures of 834 and 846 per 1000 male children (as per 2011 census), respectively. This initiative will help protect girls from these circumstances by establishing community groups that will champion girls’ rights and awareness of gender based discrimination and ensuring girl’s education.
Better protections for migrant families
Migration of child workers is a major issue in the state of Rajasthan, with children leaving their homes to work in nearby cotton regions. Based on a successful model pioneered in Phase One, an inter-state migration network will be set up to identify migrant child workers and help them move back to their families, homes and communities.
“We know there is no quick-fix solution to ending child labor, but long–term approaches can yield impressive results,’’ Per Heggenes, CEO of IKEA Foundation explains. “The IKEA Foundation, with our partners, has been tackling this issue in India for nearly a decade. This new phase reinforces our long-term commitment and our desire to help millions more children out of child labor and back into the classrooms.”
Thomas Chandy, Save the Children’s CEO in India proudly stated “IKEA Foundation has been an invaluable partner to Save the Children to achieve immediate and lasting change in the lives of the most marginalized children. The expansion of the partnership means that many more children will attain the right to education, protection and development across India.”
*US dollar conversion $1.35 = one euro
About IKEA Foundation
The IKEA Foundation aims to improve opportunities for children and youth in the world’s poorest communities by funding holistic, long-term programs that can create substantial, lasting change. The Foundation works with strong strategic partners applying innovative approaches to achieve large-scale results in four fundamental areas of a child’s life: a place to call home; a healthy start in life; a quality education; and sustainable family income. Currently-funded programmes benefit an estimated 100 million children. Learn more at www.ikeafoundation.org
About Save the Children
Save the Children is the world’s leading independent organization for children. We are 30 national organizations working together to deliver programs in more than 120 countries around the world. Our vision is a world in which every child attains the right to survival, protection, development and participation. Our mission is to inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children, and to achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives.
Media contacts:
Save the Children
Devendra Tak,
National Manager – Media and Communication
Email: d.tak@savethechildren.in Mob: +91-9811168488
IKEA Foundation
Chris Williams
Communications Manager
Email: chris.williams@ikeafoundation.org
Mob: +31 650 21 10 61