Contents
- Education and Awareness on Child Rights
- Consultations
- Representation at UN Meetings
- Networking
- Collaboration with the State Government
- Pre and Post Election Advocacy
- Question Hour Analysis
- Budget Analysis
- Child Friendly Gram Panchayats
- CR Clubs
- ChildLine - 1098
- Disability and Child Rights
- KCRO
- Studies and Evaluations
- Newsletters
- Awards
- Documentation and Publications
- Publications and Audio-visual Materials
Since its inception in August 2002, CRT's activities have been wide-ranging. Synopses of these are given in this section.
Education and Awareness on Child Rights
Workshops and Training Programmes:
CRT conducts a wide range of workshops and training programmes from brief one-hour and half-day orientations to three-day workshops. These include a comprehensive coverage of all aspects of child rights and emerging child protection issues designed for officials of various government departments, NGOs, teachers, lawyers, colleges and students of social work, police, railway police, children and parents.
TOT [Training of Trainers on Child Rights].
Training of trainers is one of CRT’s ultimate objectives in order to extend training outreach on Child Rights widely and rapidly.
Certificate Course on Child Rights: This course is meant for those concerned about children and activists working closely with children. It spans over a phased period of a year
Sensitisation
Spreading awareness among the public on child rights using mass media – a series of radio plays on child rights, presently being aired by the IGNOU, Gnanavahini (FM) channel, and a series of articles on Child Rights which is being published as a regular feature column in the Kannada daily ‘Vidyarthi Sangathi’ meant for students. Periodically also, interviews and talks on other radio channels. Posters, reading material, papers, articles, brochures, training manual, newsletters, pamphlets and booklets are other means used to enhance awareness on the issue among field practitioners and the general public.
Public Forums
In an attempt to develop awareness among development workers and the general public, CRT has attempted to organise Public Forums in different parts of the state and has initiated discussions on varied subjects of child rights. To organize such public forums CRT networks with local organisations and networks.
Consultations
CRT has organized several consultations and workshops each year on key topical child rights themes.
CRC Consultations
One major thread is a recurring focus on reviewing the state or the country’s progress towards CRC mandates and norms The World Fit for Children [WFFC] or the Millennium Development Goals [MDGs].
This focus began with a South India Consultation for NGOs and movements from the four Southern states in 2003, as the United Nations International Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNICRC), on the occasion of India's first periodic report submission to it. The purpose was to to review the progress of the country's realisation of CRC. The outcome of this meeting was fed into the 2003 Alternative Report to the UN on the implementation of Child Rights, and submitted to the International Committee on the Rights of the Child through a national report coordinated by IACR.
India's second periodic report is due in 2008. To prepare well ahead for the alternative report again, several state and regional consultations were held between April 2007 and January 2008,The series began with a regional (South India) consultation in mid- 2007. This was followed by other consultations in Karnataka and in the other three southern states, for which CRT provided resource support. In each, representatives of NGOs in each state took part and shared their views and suggestions on the progress or lack thereof on CRC realisation in their own state. To wrap up the series of consultations, a second South India meet was held in January 2008. The reports, presentations and papers generated in these consultations were shared with IACR for the national report. The outcomes of all these deliberations will be fed into the forthcoming Alternative Report to the UN on the implementation of Child Rights. The national collective process towards this has ongoing.
Consultations on the theme that the UN ICCRC chooses for each year's General Days of Discussion are also important events leading to inputs to IACR's submission to the Committee – these have included topics such as Children without Parental Care, ECCD, etc.
Consultations on the theme that the UN ICCRC chooses for each year's General Days of Discussion are also important events leading to inputs to IACR's submission to the Committee – these have included topics such as Children without Parental Care, ECCD, etc.
Other Themes
CRT has also held regional, state-wide and district consultations each year, with variations on the themes as required. Some key meetings and reports were on the National Plan of Action for Children (NAPC), the State Plan or SPAC, the issue of developing strategies to influence political parties to have child-centered issues in their election manifestos and also to develop strategies to draw the attention of the National Government to take up Child rights issues in the Eleventh Five Year Plan. The conclusions of this last mentioned meeting were sent to both the Planning Commission directly and to IACR to include them in the national submission to the same entity.
Just before the UN session on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the 2005 South India consultations deliberated upon the impact of these goals, as well as of other global and regional resolutions such as those of Beijing+10, Habitat IV, SAARC, and CR4WSF.
Representation at UN Meetings
CRT participates as part of the IACR team at international meetings such as the deliberations of the UNICCRC, WSF Asia etc.
Networking
CRT networks with many child rights and child development organisations all over India.
As the south India chapter of the India Alliance for Child Rights (IACR), CRT has become the hub of a south Indian network of child rights organisations with child rights activists in the region feeding the network with information and drawing attention to forthcoming events and opportunities in order to contribute to Child rights advocacy, monitoring and reporting.
CRT has maintained close contact with the social work and sociology departments in colleges and universities in the state.
UN Collaboration with the State Government
CRT has assisted the Karnataka Government in developing the State Plan of Action for Children – SPAC 2003-10 and the State Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking of Women and Children. As a follow up of these two major state plans of action, CRT has had several rounds of consultations, dissemination workshops and campaigns in several parts of the State with GoK and UNICEF support.
CRT has been entrusted with the coordination of CACL, Bangalore Chapter and the Trust also assists in the functioning of the advocacy wing of CACL–K. CRT also supports CACT (Campaign Against Child Trafficking) by providing training and research inputs.
Election Advocacy
Starting with the national and state elections of 2004, CRT, along with IACR and CACL-K, has spearheaded pre-election advocacy on the inclusion of child rights in all party manifestos. As follow up in 2004, various party manifestos were analysed to understand where the child figured in their promises to the electorate. Candidates were also lobbied both by CRT itself and by collaborating NGOs to include child rights issues specific to their constituencies in their promises to the people. Most of them held children 's consultations in their own areas to provide their view on key needs to be fulfilled. Voters were campaigned through a major leaflet distribution process throughout the state, with the help of Public Affairs Centre [PAC].
A year later, some local MLAs in a few of the constituencies were invited to share their plans to realise their promises to children. Unfortunately many elected representatives turned a deaf ear to such invitations. This year also saw local Ppanchayat elections being held in the state and again numerous consultations and campaigns were initiated by CRT , which provided technical and training support to local NGOs.
With Karnataka returning in 2008 with a new set of representatives to elect, we again mounted a consultation and invoked all sections of society to lobby with the parties and the candidates to give weight to child rights issues. We will soon have to conduct a massive campaign in a few months' time.
CRT and its partners in the state have initiated election advocacy at the Gram Panchayat level as well. The Election Advocacy idea has firmly taken root in some NGOs of other states too, and CRT has been invited as a resource group by some of them.
Question Hour Analysis
This project is ongoing for the past three years. It is an attempt to try and link the legislators' promises and their commitment exhibited in the form of questions raised on children by elected representatives on the floors of the legislative assembly and the legislative council, the answers given by the ruling party and the impact of all these as reflected in the policies and programmes of the government. The Question Hour Analysis will be continued in consultation with children by forming children’s parliaments and by taking issues and subjects of concern to children to the legislature for debates and discussions.
Budget Analysis
During the 2004 elections, CRT attempted a quick analysis of the state budgetary allocations for children’s education and health, from the child rights perspective, with interesting results. This ongoing process will aid in probing into comparisons of children's needs with government schemes and budgetary allocations, as well as the utilisation of allocated funds and bringing out the lacunae in both allocations and utlisation. We are hoping to take this as an ongoing process to aid in child rights lobbying exercise with various departments of Government.
Child Friendly Gram Panchayats
In a bid to base its resource strength more firmly on its own experimental work, CRT carries out a field project in 15 panchayats of Kudligi, Hagari Bommanahalli and Bellary Taluks in Bellary District aiming to sensitize and empower Gram Panchayat (GP) members and the public on child rights and to support them in their efforts to enable children to realize these rights. The project included compilation of all child related data in the Gram Panchayats and the presentation of the same to the panchayat members. In this we used a variety of methods to train GP members and local NGOs: Data Collection from primary and secondary sources; analysis and sharing of information on child rights and the situation of children in the concerned panchayat, workshops, public forums, frequent meetings with not only the GP but also local CBOs (Community Based Organisations) and others, Child Rights Clubs, Melas, Street Play by children on child rights issues and involvement of the media.
The project is developing into a model for local organizations. This is an eye-opener to several NGOs and the govt. This approach acts as a monitoring tool for indicating the status of children, such as the true picture of working children in the area. It is also a supplementary planning instrument for the GPs and local NGOs, thus helping realise the dream of developing the concept of Child Friendly Panchayats.
The results of CRT's experiment in 15 Panchayts at Bellary was shared with the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department of Government of Karnataka. On the instance of CRT, RDPR issued a circular to all Grama panchayats to conduct Special Grama Sabhas every year to review the situation of children in their area and take up affirmative actions to uphold Child rights. CRT is providing both technical and material help to RDPR through training and consultations.
CR Clubs
The organisation has trained and helped the Department of Education to initiate Child Rights Clubs in several government schools in the state. however, this programme is not being implemented vigorously by them. In an effort to spur the progress and also to show the benefits of these clubs, CRT has just started a project in Bellary district to cover about 150 schools, with the support of ASHA, Berkeley.
ChildLine (1098)
From June 2007, CRT has been given the responsibility to coordinate the ChildLine (Toll free Child Helpline Telephone no. 1098) activities in Bangalore as a City Nodal, by the ChildLine India Foundation a project under Ministry of Women and Children, GOI.
Some of the activities of the Nodal is to coordinate the partner organizations working in Bangalore City (currently there are two ChildLine organisations in the city, i.e. APSA and Bosco). We are conducting training, workshops and sensitizing activities to police, teachers, students, NGOs and media at various levels. ChildLine also gets involved in rescuing children from various working situations, from railway stations and bus stands, as also those who are begging in the streets. ChildLine receives telephone calls from the public and some times from children and provides counseling help, material and legal help, if needed. ChildLine also assists CWCs (Child Welfare Committees) in providing justice to children.
Disability and Child Rights
Along with organisations targeting child disability rehabilitation, CRT holds regular workshops and training courses for youth activists aligned with APD, ADD and other organizations who work in the field of disability development and child rights, self-development, communications and disabilities issues. Theatre - both street plays and proscenium plays - are used as a means to reach out to the trainees and the masses, thus initiating discussions on the infrastructure and services available, and the need for taking care of children from the rights perspective. The activity has reached out to about 60 youths directly and more than 5000 villagers. The experience has been very enriching for both CRT as well as the trainees.
KCRO
The Karnataka Child Rights Observatory (KCRO) was set up on CRT's initiative in mid-2008. It is run by a consortium of NGOs & academics with Child Rights Trust as the coordinating organisation/secretariat. The project is an omnibus one with a number of sub-projects that together converge to provide the data, analysis, publicity and pressure [as needed] for both Government and Civil Society to act in the best interests of the Child. It will follow, analyse and document the progress of child rights realisation in the state over time; the collaborating organisations will use the findings and materials to strengthen their advocacy and actions. Spot surveys and case studies, compilation and analysis of local secondary data, field observation and reports of discussions and consultations will be used to fill out the child rights realisation and violation scenario at the ground level. Periodic reports on specific themes, Media Analysis, Question Hour Analysis, budget analysis are some of main projects under KCRO.
Studies and Evaluations
CRT has built up a Data Bank on the Situation of Children in India, Karnataka and other South Indian states with comparative analysis in a reader-friendly pdf format. these give one a vivid picture of the situation, problems and some insight into attempted and needed solutions that can be used for briefing, discussions and lobbying. They are also valuable as yardsticks for studying trends.
The organisation has conducted a study on Life Skills-based Education in the state for ILP. It has also carried out evaluations of a couple of field based NGOs working in the field of child rights organisations at the request of some donor organisations. At the request of SOS, a study was conducted to find out the situation of children of farmers who have committed suicide in selected villages of Hassan and Chickmagalore District. Another study for SOS was done to map the situation of orphans and destitute children in North Karnataka.
CRT helped Karnataka Election Watch in its quick field study on RTI with translations, field training and data analysis.
Resource Centre
CRT aims to evolve into a Centre for Research, Documentation and Evaluation on Child Rights and as a support organisation on child-focused plans, programmes and projects. This aim is being gradually realized, with the available and growing documentation being accessed by increasing numbers of NGOs, Government, students and other individuals.
CRT's trustees are called upon as resource persons by a number of government departments, NGOs and academic groups. At the national level, one of them is on two committees, one to review the progress on CRC and the other, to review the implementation of NPAC.
Interns and students of social work and law come for short term placements in CRT.
Newsletters
As part of KCRO a newsletter on the activities of KCRO and other related activities of CRT is being circulated among the network members. (The soft version of the newsletter can be obtained by others too).The organisation is bringing out a newsletter in Kannada on Child Protection issues targeting the functionaries of the Juvenile Justice System. This experiment is first of its kind in the South. The ultimate aim of this newsletter is to develop a forum to discuss juvenile justice issues with the Government, NGOs and the public.
Awards
In 2004, one of the trust members received the state award for his excellent work in the field of child rights and protection. The cash prize of Rs. 50,000 and other donations received has been set aside to support individuals/organizations, the Kannada daily ‘Vidyarthi Sangathi’ .
Who need support to document their innovative methods to uphold child rights.
Another trustee was awarded the title of “Desa Snehi” in 2008 by the India Development Foundation. The cash prize has been donated to CRTs activities. .
Documentation and Publications
CRT feels that the documentation of developmental work is invaluable. In order to enable better understanding of the issue of child rights among the public and various stake-holders, it has brought out posters, reading material, papers, articles, brochures, training manual, newsletters, pamphlets and booklets.
Publications and Audio-visual Materials
Child Rights Trainers Manual (Kannada and English).
Games to understand Child Rights (Kannada and English).
Child Rights for Children-a Booklet (Kannada and English)
Stop Child Trafficking. (Kannada)
Are there Children in Vidhana Soudha? (Kannada and English)
Are You/We Violating Child Rights?
Audio- visual materials on data, training inputs, etc.
