Child labour is a prevalent social evil in India. This practice is detrimental to the physical, mental, emotional and social well-being of a child. What actually constitutes the act of child labour is clearly defined by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) as well as the International Labour Organization (ILO).
They define the age of a child as being below 18 years of age. Millions of children around the world are engaged in acts of child labour which are harmful to them. This should be prohibited as there are several consequences of child labour. Child labour is actively employed across the country’s cities, villages and slums. High rates of poverty in India is one of the major reasons why children are forced into child labour every year. Most of the children who fall prey to child labour often belong to socially and economically backwards families. Due to difficult financial circumstances, engaging in child labour becomes necessary for them to survive. Socially evil practices like child labour not only destroy the childhood of these children, but also take away the opportunity to create a better future from them. Eradication of child labour is necessary for the future progression of our country. Save the Children is one of India’s most trusted NGOs fighting for the rights of children. We work actively to create awareness about the plight of children who are employed as child labourers. We publish reports and take initiatives to engage with people on the issues we work on. Save the children runs various on-ground programs to eradicate child labour in India. Our efforts involve educating communities on the evils of child labour and discouraging them from involving their children in child labour. We drive our efforts towards increasing their enrollment rates in school and improving the quality of education. An important part of this is rehabilitation and counselling as well. With the help of our donors, sponsors, partners and volunteers we have transformed the lives of millions of underprivileged children in need. Save the Children has also partnered with numerous ministries for several programs dedicated towards the upliftment of impoverished children. In India, child labour is regulated primarily through the Child Labour (Prevention and Regulation) Act, 1986. This act stipulates that children under the age of 14 are prohibited from employment. As a nation, we have learned to accept the cruel practice of child labour and the consequences of child labour in India. We have turned a blind eye for too long to the practice of children being denied of their rights and being used as cheap labour.
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Every girl deserves the chance to learn. Every girl deserves a bright future. A life without education unfortunately remains a reality for many girls in India. Therefore it is always helpful when people donate for girl child education.
Girls all over the country face discrimination, as societies tend to favour the male child. Many girls in rural India are still denied the right to education, and end up getting even less opportunities due to extremely limited resources and access. Unfortunately due to social evils such as dowry, many families think that educating girls is an unnecessary financial burden. They prefer to educate the male child and invest in his future earning potential. As per the 2011 census, the literacy rate of India is 74.04%. The male literacy rate is 82.4% and the female literacy rate is 65.46%. There is less emphasis on the education of a girl child, and they are often married off at an early age by their families. Educating the girl child can positively impact her life drastically. An educated girl has better chances of growing up healthy, safe and empowered. She is also more likely to ensure that her female children in the future get equal opportunities to study and grow. Education plays a key role in women empowerment, and helps put a stop to gender based discrimination. It also makes young women aware of their rights and gives them the confidence to express themselves. Therefore educating the girl child has a positive effect on both the economy and the society. It is necessary to understand the importance of education for girl children. Girls are often the targets of various social evils such as female foeticide, child marriage, child labour and sexual exploitation. Through education, every young female has the best chance for a bright future. Therefore, it is imperative that you donate for girl child education. You could be changing the course of their lives and the future of their communities. Save the Children aims to reach and support the most vulnerable children in the world, a large part of them being girls. It is our mission to empower girls by improving their access to quality education. Education allows girls to become skilled employees and workers when they grow up. They can also become better role models for their future generations. The government has also initiated several educational initiatives such as the ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ programme and the ‘Sarva Shikhsa Abhiyan’ programme to increase the participation of girls in elementary education. This involves ensuring free education, free textbooks, free uniforms etc for students. There are also several financial incentives from the government to encourage the education of young girls. In order to improve the welfare and survival of girls, as well as the disturbing Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB), the government has made provisions for Conditional Cash Transfer (CCTs) programmes, which have been implemented in various states. NGOs like Save the Children strive to provide survival, safety and education to the girl child. Donate for girl child education to bring about a big change in society. Your contribution will go a long way towards empowering the girl child and will also give you an immense sense of satisfaction. India's geographical factors make the nation one of the most disaster-prone areas in the world. Unfortunately, India suffers a serious loss of lives and devastation of property due to a lack of proper disaster infrastructure. These disasters trigger poverty, by compromising the capability of communities to get back on their feet. In such situations, international NGOs like Save the Children can work actively with the government to deliver humanitarian aid and around the clock support. Disaster relief donations go a long way when it comes to rehabilitating the affected.
Save the Children is committed to reducing the vulnerability of children during such emergencies. We endeavour to ensure their right to survival and development after an emergency, and provide the support that they and their families need to quickly recover and re-establish their lives, dignity and livelihoods. In the event of a large-scale disaster, it is unlikely that the Indian government will call for international assistance. However, the central and state governments are generally open to receiving assistance from international donors, NGOs and the UN. Save the Children executes emergency responses that are timely, at an appropriate scale, effective and efficient. In addition to this, we also provide disaster relief donations. Our mission is to increase the preparedness of children and their families for emergency situations in the aftermath of natural disasters. We do this through child-centered and community-based approaches. The NGO works with governments to not only manage disasters better, but to minimise their impact on communities in disaster prone areas. Save the Children has put in place an Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan (EPP) to guide all Save the Children employees and implementing partners while preparing for and responding to emergencies. Food aid, water and essential items and rehabilitation resources are rushed to disaster sites. Since 2008, Save the Children’s disaster relief work has reached about 98,000 children in 275 villages across India. Through our efforts, children are able to continue their schooling, even after disasters. They are kept safe from harm, and their psychological and safety needs are met. Save the Children also does their best to make sure that survivors don’t become victims of commercial sex work and child labour. Through our disaster relief donations, we ensure that the rations shipped to relief sites, include meals with the right nutritive value that growing children need. These include a complex blend of protein, fat, carbohydrates and essential minerals. The NGO also runs child-centered and community based preparedness programs across vulnerable communities. Save the Children allows access to tax benefits for people who donate to our various programs. With the help our generous donors, we strive to make this world a better place for children in need. In 2018, Save the Children provided humanitarian relief to more than 87,954 children in India. We focused on building the leadership among children and enabling their participation in Panchayat-level decision making. You can check my other blog here - Effects of child abuse Every child deserves the right start to a promising future. However due to various undesirable circumstances, millions of children worldwide do not get the opportunity to reach their full potential. Sponsoring a child can help bridge this gap and help them establish a brighter future for themselves. Save the Children is one of the best child sponsor organizations in India.
Children make up more than half of the world’s population of 22.5 million refugees. They encounter war, deprivation and fear on a daily basis. Most of these children do not have access to proper education, and face a great deal of risk to their lives and future. Child sponsorship is one of the most cost-effective ways of eradicating child-poverty. The best child sponsor organizations ensure that a child’s immediate needs are met, it also builds their self-esteem and preserves their sense of dignity. Through monthly financial support, sponsors can directly invest into the lives of children living in extreme poverty and hardship. Save the Children believes that every child has the right to a safe and secure future. Through our sponsorship program, you can change the lives of children in need all around the world. This initiative makes a colossal impact not only on the lives of these children, but on the future of their communities as well. Save the Children’s sponsorship program provides these children with education and essential aids to improve their well-being. With your steady support, many such underprivileged children can actualize a better future for themselves and their families. For millions of children living in poverty, your contribution can go a long way towards transforming their lives. Save the Children provides newborns with a healthy start, young children a strong foundation in education, and teenagers with the resources and skills they would need in order to improve their lives. Through our Child Sponsorship program, the donor can select a child whose story has touched them in a special way, to sponsor. Over the course of months- or even years- your sponsorship will continue to make a positive impact on the child and his or her community. As of 2016, Save the Children and the sponsors we are lucky to partner with, have worked to benefit over 2.5 million children worldwide, in over 43 global communities. Together we have contributed over $70.7 million to enrich the lives of children in need all over the world. We are one of the most reputed child sponsor organizations in India. Thanks to our network of generous sponsors like you, we’ve been able to help treat 418,000 children for parasitic infections (often due to unclean, unsafe water in their regions), and make sure that their childhood is as healthy and happy as possible. We have also been able to equip 37,000 parents with the necessary tools required to support their children’s early development. We’ve been able to successfully train around 6,000 teachers in order to give children in impoverished parts of the globe the education they need to build a better life. You can become a child sponsor and change the life of a child for about $1 a day. Your contribution can give your sponsored child access to life-changing benefits such as medical care, proper education, necessary life skills and job training. As a sponsor, you'll be able to see your impact firsthand through letters and photos from your sponsored child. You can maintain correspondence with them and even visit them. As per the 2011 census, India is home to approximately 8.2 million child labourers. These vulnerable children have to sacrifice their childhood in order to earn a livelihood. Employing child labour not only deprives young children of an education, but also negatively impacts their physical, mental and emotional well-being.
NGOs like Save the Children have been working tirelessly for decades to stop child labour in India. Through various projects directed towards eradicating the same, Save the Children is working to rescue young children from a life of exploitation. Between October 2017 and September 2018, we were instrumental in rescuing 10,899 children from the clutches of child labour. In addition to our efforts to remove children from exploitative working situations, we also mobilise public opinion and demand policy and legislative action to abolish child labour in every form. The main contributing factor to child labour is drastic poverty. Over population, illiteracy and debt traps are some of the common causes which are responsible as well. Children from impoverished backgrounds often have no other choice but to work in order to support themselves and their families. They live hand to mouth and do not have the privilege of going to school, or even live in a proper house. There are many laws set up to prohibit the practice of employing child labour, yet they are not implemented as effectively as they need to be. According to the 2017 statistics, India has a shocking 33 million population of child labourers employed in various forms of labour. As understood from UNICEF data, an estimated 150 million children are involved in child labour worldwide. UNICEF has categorised child labour into three categories: 1. Within the family- Here children are engaged in domestic household tasks without pay. 2. Within the family but outside the home- This includes agricultural labourers, domestic maids, migrant labourers etc. 3. Outside the family- This concerns commercial shops in restaurants and jobs, prostitution etc. Some of these are even hazardous jobs like working in fireworks factories. Children are employed because they can be easily exploited. By considering various causes of child labour, we can formulate strategies to curb and stop child labour in India. Save the Children endeavours to make child labour a socially and culturally unacceptable practice. We work with state authorities and local organisations to free children engaged in labour. We have also been instrumental in the creation of a national child protection system. Education is paramount today in a world that is competitive and moving at pace faster than ever. With so many children deprived of this right to education, many individuals today are restricted to doing menial labour that requires no formal education, cutting off their chances of being successful. Here is how you can help when you sponsor a child in India:
Education can ensure a child’s healthy development The development of an individual is not only restricted to the physical well-being but also one’s mental health, social skills, and more that collectively help build an identity. For many, this chance is hard to come by. Children abandoned by their parents, or the ones from backgrounds that are unable to support the growth of a child are deprived of a normal childhood where education is key. By becoming a donor for charities and NGOs, you can sponsor a child’s education in India that will ensure the development of their mental health by providing a positive environment as well as a healthy social environment where they are able to interact with others. Education can help children hone the right skills Educational institutions make it a point to teach children not only the concepts that most of us are now familiar with but also teach them skills that can be useful as adults. Interacting with peers and teachers can help children learn social skills that are vital to succeed in life. With children who are deprived of their right to education, lack of social skills is a glaring defeat. Further, many of the positive characteristics we have such as tolerance, sensitivity, etc. are imbibed over time the more we socialize with others. Education can help prepare children for a better future Today’s children are the future for us. Without proper education, children are bound to be unprepared to lead their next generation. With numerous children denied of education according to statistics, the future does look bleak for many. With every employer looking for qualified candidates to hire, children who grow up without receiving proper education are unable to see themselves on par with those who have received formal education. When you sponsor a child’s education in India, you can give him or her a chance at a better and brighter future. Education can give children the confidence they need Compared to children who receive proper education, the ones deprived of education are often unable to see themselves as successful compared to other educated individuals. By sponsoring the education of an unprivileged child, you can help them gain the confidence needed to reach out for success. By being a sponsor for a child’s education, you can be the change they are yearning for and help in preparing the children of today for a successful life tomorrow. |