NEW DELHI, June 7, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --
A Nationwide Campaign Against Child Labour by Communities and Children Where World Vision India Works
World Vision India along with its various stakeholders launched the "Let's clean up the mess" campaign today across the country. The campaign aims to raise awareness and stir up action to address the issues of child labour in our country.
While literally "Let's clean up the mess" refers to the typical chores that child labourers are made to do every day. It is also an analogy; a call to action and an advocacy ask statement that can refer to the mess we as a society have created by making children work for us. It also indicates how despite legislation child labour thrives in our nation, and that is the "mess" we, whether we are individuals, or corporate or the Government, ought to "clean up".
A live Panel Discussion and Chat with former child labourers will be organised on 11th June 2013 from 3 to 3.40 pm on Google Hangout (www.bit.ly/WDACLhangout). Former child labourers will be taking live questions from viewers online via text chat. World Vision India invites all our Facebook supporters, Twitter followers, supporters across the World, concerned media, our sponsors/donors and many other audiences to join the live chat. Audiences will be given opportunity to ask questions via text chat.
Rallies and various other events like panel discussions will be organised in various parts of the country. World Vision India's child labour elimination strategy calls for prevention, restoration and advocacy. Through various public engagement platforms and tools, we aim to share our experience of working in India amongst marginalized people. Strategies that have worked and children who have overcome the problems will lead the campaign and strive to bring hope and solutions to many a mess we can easily clean up.
India has a huge resource of 122 million children in the age group 15-19 and there is not much information to show how many of them are out of school. However, considering the number of child labourers below 14 and the drop-out rates after elementary education; it could be assumed that a huge population of children below 18 enter adulthood unprepared for a dignified livelihood and future.
This critical population of children in the age group of 14-18 years is always missed out in most responses. The most recent amendments to the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act bans all forms of child labour till 14 years, however it allows children in the age group of 14-18 to work in non-hazardous industries. The NCLP1 Scheme, the only large scheme to effectively 'eliminate' child labour, is poorly funded as reflected in the Union budget each year, resulting in children continuing to work.
Reni Jacob, Director for Advocacy, World Vision India, opines, "Any child out of school is a potential child labourer and we need to have an Act that completely bans child labour below 18. There cannot be hazardous and non-hazardous child labour. All labour is hazardous for the child there cannot be worst forms and good forms of CL."
As the country is working towards skill development (ref investments made in Union Budget 2013) of the youth in a big way and also provides legal mechanisms to eliminate child labour, World Vision India will focus on the need to take stock of the status of children who were working.
World Vision India's approach and advocacy calls:
- Strict enforcement of existing laws on child labour especially employers.
- Effective implementation of Right to Education Act with adequate funding.
- Development of alternative education options and training schemes for child labourers especially for children in the age group of 14-18 years.
- Mobilizing all children against child labour.
- Enhance economic security of families of all child labourers.
- Ensuring participation of child labourers in decisions that affect them.
- Enforcement of standards that eliminate child labour even in the supply chain or outsourced jobs by all industries, corporates and businesses.
About World Vision India:
World Vision India is a Christian humanitarian organization working to create lasting change in the lives of children, families and communities living in poverty and injustice. World Vision serves all people regardless of religion, caste, race, ethnicity or gender. Spread across 174 locations in India, World Vision works through long-term sustainable community development programmes and immediate disaster relief assistance. www.worldvision.in
Primary Media Contact: Impuri Ngayawon, [email protected], 91-8800605557
Secondary Media Contact: Theodore Sam, [email protected], 91-9677133877
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