Monthly Archives: January 2014

The daredevils of Kolkata

The ‘Daredevils’ youth group in Kolkata changed the future of their slum. Discovering that their homes did not appear on Google maps they sought out to make themselves visible. Watch the impact of the youth’s voice in driving change.

The child-driven education

Dr. Sugata Mitra’s ‘Hole in the Wall’ experiment shows that in the absence of formal teaching, children can teach themselves and each other. This experiment can prove to be a revoluntionary learning for India, where access to basic education, quality teachers and technology in the classroom is an ongoing challenge.

When school is not enough

The ambitious RTE gives immense hope to children in India. However, challenges of caste, gender and class inequalities are deep rooted in our education system, not living up to the ‘free education for all’ nature of this enactment. ‘When school is not enough’ highlights the need for innovative private-public partnerships, affordable interventions and the setting up of models that fulfill the needs of poor children.

India’s child labour problem

India’s Mines Act of 1952 prohibits anyone under the age of 18 years from working in coal mines, yet, the presence of children in Mines across India is no secret. While we have great laws in our country, lack of enforcement of these laws leaves children bereft of their basic right to protection. ​

Child brides in Bangladesh

Adolescent motherhood is most often not a deliberate choice. It is a consequence of little or no access to school, quality information and adequate health care services. This photo narration is a reflection of most child brides across the world, 40% of whom live in India.

It’s Hard To Speak About These Things In Public. So He Drew This Instead

Over decades, the rampancy of child sexual abuse in India has given birth to adult survivors who suffer memories of childhood horror. Unable to speak of his experience, Dean Trippe, narrates his story through a comic strip, as a victim of CSA.​

Sectarian Offspring

Using imagery, Kanika Nagpal documents Muharram in an attempt to scratch the surface of conventional traditions and practices in India that expose children to the demands of their religion, often violent in nature. Many acts in the name of religion set the tone for brutal outbursts, religious violence and extremism.

In Pictures: 13 Ways 2013 Failed The Indian Child

As the years stack up, the struggle grows stronger; 2013 and its incessant calls for change are testament to this fact. Yet even as crowds turned out in droves to demand justice and public empathy/ media activism on children’s issues increases India continues to witness significant child protection violations everyday. Under no circumstances should this ever be acceptable but for a country that shelters the largest number of children in the world, this is a veritable state of emergency. We subscribe to the belief that honest chronicling of the calamities that rocked the Indian child this year may not incite immediate change but it might just force us to open our eyes.
From repeated disasters, conflict to the debate on the age of juvenility, Leher takes a look back at those very instances where our children were sacrificed for the lack of a protective system; even as one year rolls into the next.

The Phailin effect

Children praying and shivering due to the disaster

Children evacuated from their villages In Berhampur are taken to shelters during Cyclone Phailin
In one of the largest emergency evacuations in India, at least 6 million children were affected. Not just by the loss of their families and homes, but also the loss of a carefree childhood. How long shall children bare the brunt of environmental neglect?
Read more: http://bit.ly/1dTWTCX

Our Girls, Strewn Aside?

In Pictures: 13 Ways 2013 Failed the Indian Child | Leher NGO in India | Child Rights Organization

Dongria Kondh children, a tribe affected by the Vedanta mines, swing from a tree in Niyamgiri, Orissa
Vedanta’s mining operations have displaced and poisoned thousands of families. Their activities have deprived hundreds of girls of their families and basic security. Yet, they launched ‘Our girls, our pride’ a campaign in the name of corporate social responsibility. Campaign after campaign, how much have we achieved in nurturing our girls?
Read more: http://bbc.in/1ereoWc

Children a blind spot?

In Pictures: 13 Ways 2013 Failed the Indian Child | Leher NGO in India | Child Rights Organization

A child plays on the dias, soon to be a stage for the aam aadmi party hunger strike
Even as the country eagerly awaits a radical change in the political ecology of India, the attitude towards the protection of children remains a stone unturned. Mustn’t the sheer number of children make them a priority on political manifestos?
Read more: http://bit.ly/19YEmik

Çhildren in conflict

A young boy crying

Feroze breaks down after hearing his parents talk about his younger brother who died in the Muzzafarnagar camp
Child refugees in relief camps at Muzzafarnagar succumbed to the harsh winter. Each and every day, one child continues to lose his life or is simply left bereft of his basic rights. When will the state step up to protect its children?
Read more: http://uni.cf/MiQfLg

How safe is the school bus?

A bus collapsed on the river and people surrounded

A school bus falls into a pond as the driver loses control in Andhra Pradesh
41% of child deaths in India are due to lack of road transportation safety – the highest in the world. With over 700 reported school bus accidents in India, states like Maharashtra have adopted the school bus policy for the safety of their children. Why then are most of the other states still unequipped with similar progressive policies?
Read more: http://bit.ly/1fbcQmR

“The saint and his taint”

In Pictures: 13 Ways 2013 Failed the Indian Child | Leher NGO in India | Child Rights Organization

Women and children stage a protest against the godman Asaram Bapu
When a teenage girl accused religious leader Asaram Bapu of rape, it was not for the first time the 72 year old godman had courted controversy. Will political clout of religious leaders silence the justice system for children?
Read more: http://bit.ly/1fpJDmy

A million bellies to fill

In Pictures: 13 Ways 2013 Failed the Indian Child | Leher NGO in India | Child Rights Organization

Poor children have their first meal in 3 days
India has the notorious reputation of being the world’s hunger capital. One third of India’s children under five suffer from malnutrition, and thousands die each year as a result of the condition…The only silver lining is the country’s recently introduced Food security Act, 2013, but will it truly make the difference that our children need to see?
Read more: http://on.wsj.com/JD0B6Q

Unclaimed children of disaster

In Pictures: 13 Ways 2013 Failed the Indian Child | Leher NGO in India | Child Rights Organization

A mother carries her child to rescue after the cloudburst in Uttarakhand
More than 1,200 children went missing, 250,000 were out of school, and an unknown number of orphans remain vulnerable to trafficking and other trauma. The Uttarakhand floods sounded an alarm bell. For how long will children be denied access to emergency services in a country unequipped for disaster?
Read more: http://bit.ly/1e2hmpb

Malice of the Mid-day meal

In Pictures: 13 Ways 2013 Failed the Indian Child | Leher NGO in India | Child Rights Organization

Distraught parents cry at the loss of their children after consuming the mid-day meal in a school in Bihar
22 innocent children lost their lives due to flaws in one of India’s most ambitious schemes— a feeding program that reaches 120 million children in schools. Who is to blame for the poor implementation of schemes available to children?
Read more: http://bit.ly/1cvlRFy

India’s young prison population

In Pictures: 13 Ways 2013 Failed the Indian Child | Leher NGO in India | Child Rights Organization

A young protester sits in front of a banner during a protest against the Delhi gang rape
Post the horrific case of gang rape in Delhi many ask a pertinent question—should children who commit serious crimes be tried as adults? Reducing the age of a juvenile in India would potentially impinge on the lives of thousands of children. The state cannot take away childhood before it creates a protective system for its children.
Read more: http://bit.ly/1iI3q5j

Lost and never found

In Pictures: 13 Ways 2013 Failed the Indian Child | Leher NGO in India | Child Rights Organization

A distressed child yells for help amongst the crowds at the Kumbh Mela
The child featured above represents a stunning epidemic of missing children in India. Every year, 60,000 children are reported missing and as many as 22,000 are never found which forces us to beg the ubiquitous question—where do all our children go?
Read more: http://bit.ly/M2zJ1O

India shamed. Again.

In Pictures: 13 Ways 2013 Failed the Indian Child | Leher NGO in India | Child Rights Organization

School children in Jammu hold a candle-light for Guddiya
The rise in cases reported on child sexual abuse reflects only the tip of the iceberg that exists beneath society’s cold, murky waters. How many more children will be abused before a justice system is put into action?
Read more: http://bit.ly/KspYbH

Protectors turn predators

In Pictures: 13 Ways 2013 Failed the Indian Child | Leher NGO in India | Child Rights Organization

After the tragic death of Arushi Talwar numerous candle marches were organized in Delhi
In one of India’s most highly controversial legal battles, the parents of Aarushi Talwar, a 14-year-old schoolgirl, have been found guilty of murdering her and their domestic helper. Is family really the safest place for children, if not, is there anyone left to protect our children?

Read more: http://aje.me/1cSVRTf

Prisoners of a dream

India’s love affair with Bollywood is almost a religion. Many children runaway from home because the magic of Bollywood holds hope. Unfortunately today, Bollywood has no time even for its most ardent followers- a clear indication of the divide that exists in society. With increasing urban poverty and lack of social protection, the dreams of the country’s street youth remain unfulfilled.