Ingrid Srinath's Insight into 'Beyond Charity - By Social Sector Organizations'
CRY began as Child Relief and You in 1979. From the 1st of April 2006, it is now called Child Rights and You. One of the most publicly recognized national non-profit organization in India, CRY has been actively working on child related causes since its inception. Then is this name change an indication of a change in focus? And how does it impact the organizations approach to donors?
Interestingly, the CRY website now has a banner stating – “No, we are not about Charity”! And “We are not about temporary relief, or buying sympathy, sweets, blankets, however well intentioned. For 27 years of working with and for children, their families and communities across India, we’ve learnt that permanent change in the lives of children is only possible when we tackle the root causes that continue to keep our children uneducated, hungry and vulnerable.”
Ms. Ingrid Srinath, the Chief Executive of CRY, discusses this new organizational stance and the rationale for the recent change of name to Child Rights and You.
When a young, airline purser called Rippan Kapur founded CRY 27 years ago, driven by the need to do something to change the situation of India's underprivileged children, he started by addressing the immediate and urgent needs he saw around him. CRY's first initiative was support to a shelter for street children in Mumbai, India's financial capital and Rippan's home city. It very quickly became apparent that while this work was critical in alleviating the problems of children here and now, it had limited impact and sustainability. This realisation drove CRY to first involve parents, then the local community, later networks of community groups and finally government systems, in our quest to seek and address the root causes of the monumental crises facing India's children.
As CRY has grown in reach - it has supported over 500 grassroots initiatives directly impacting over 1.5 million children in 2500 rural, tribal and slum communities across 18 Indian states - our conviction that only a rights-based approach - one that addresses the root-causes of poverty, exploitation, exclusion and injustice through community empowerment - can provide sustainable results, has only been strengthened. Our conviction in the approach is grounded in our real-life experience with its success in thousands of diverse communities. In my view, the rights-based approach goes well beyond what you have described as the 'development' approach in that it seeks not only improved economic and social outcomes but a democratic and equitable orientation even at the level of national policy formulation and implementation.
Despite 58 years of independence, 2 decades of unprecedented economic growth and judicial and civil society interventions making education a fundamental constitutional right and mid-day meals mandatory, 51% of India's children are malnourished, 50% of children of school-going age are not in school, 500,000 babies are killed each year because they are girls and 2 million children die before they reach their first birthdays.
India's Constitution does not differentiate between children and adults. It accords children all the adult rights and then some. It's been 14 years since India ratified the UN Convention on Child Rights that promised all children their rights to survival, protection, development and participation. Yet child rights do not receive anywhere near the attention they are due either from policy makers or from the media and the public. Children, are, in fact, often seen as objects of sympathy rather than as citizens with entitlements, perhaps because they do not have the right to elect or dismiss governments. Conversely, they are unfailingly the worst affected whether by poverty, natural disaster, conflict, social and cultural biases or economic policies.
This view of children, we believe, permits us as a nation and a society, to continue to tolerate, and even condone, the constant violation of those rights. Imagine, for instance, the public outcry if 50% of the electorate were to be deprived of their fundamental right to vote! Or a policy were to be introduced that adversely affected 40% of the adult population!
Yet, when it comes to children we are able to sanction an education policy, for instance, that is designed to systematically discriminate against children on the basis of location, income, gender and caste among other factors. Child labour continues to be legal in all but a few selected 'hazardous' industries. Children, who constitute 40% of India's population account for a mere 4% of government spending.
The realisation that band-aid efforts, however well-motivated, cannot achieve impact on the scale necessary, nor have long-term sustainability and that children's issues simply do not receive the priority they are due in policy-making at all levels prompted us to change our name. CRY hopes that the name change will initiate awareness, debate, involvement and action from individuals, organisations across sectors, and those who shape, make and implement policy.
This, we believe, will happen only if India starts to treat her children as citizens with rights at the levels of the family, the organisation, the neighbourhood, the community and society as a whole. It will require all sections of Indian society - parents, teachers, journalists, bureaucrats, legislators, activists, employers, judges, police, students, corporations and NGOs to fundamentally re-examine our perceptions of children and change our attitudes to make children our foremost priority.
Ms. Ingrid Srinath, the Chief Executive of CRY, discusses this new organizational stance and the rationale for the recent change of name to Child Rights and You.
When a young, airline purser called Rippan Kapur founded CRY 27 years ago, driven by the need to do something to change the situation of India's underprivileged children, he started by addressing the immediate and urgent needs he saw around him. CRY's first initiative was support to a shelter for street children in Mumbai, India's financial capital and Rippan's home city. It very quickly became apparent that while this work was critical in alleviating the problems of children here and now, it had limited impact and sustainability. This realisation drove CRY to first involve parents, then the local community, later networks of community groups and finally government systems, in our quest to seek and address the root causes of the monumental crises facing India's children.
As CRY has grown in reach - it has supported over 500 grassroots initiatives directly impacting over 1.5 million children in 2500 rural, tribal and slum communities across 18 Indian states - our conviction that only a rights-based approach - one that addresses the root-causes of poverty, exploitation, exclusion and injustice through community empowerment - can provide sustainable results, has only been strengthened. Our conviction in the approach is grounded in our real-life experience with its success in thousands of diverse communities. In my view, the rights-based approach goes well beyond what you have described as the 'development' approach in that it seeks not only improved economic and social outcomes but a democratic and equitable orientation even at the level of national policy formulation and implementation.
Despite 58 years of independence, 2 decades of unprecedented economic growth and judicial and civil society interventions making education a fundamental constitutional right and mid-day meals mandatory, 51% of India's children are malnourished, 50% of children of school-going age are not in school, 500,000 babies are killed each year because they are girls and 2 million children die before they reach their first birthdays.
India's Constitution does not differentiate between children and adults. It accords children all the adult rights and then some. It's been 14 years since India ratified the UN Convention on Child Rights that promised all children their rights to survival, protection, development and participation. Yet child rights do not receive anywhere near the attention they are due either from policy makers or from the media and the public. Children, are, in fact, often seen as objects of sympathy rather than as citizens with entitlements, perhaps because they do not have the right to elect or dismiss governments. Conversely, they are unfailingly the worst affected whether by poverty, natural disaster, conflict, social and cultural biases or economic policies.
This view of children, we believe, permits us as a nation and a society, to continue to tolerate, and even condone, the constant violation of those rights. Imagine, for instance, the public outcry if 50% of the electorate were to be deprived of their fundamental right to vote! Or a policy were to be introduced that adversely affected 40% of the adult population!
Yet, when it comes to children we are able to sanction an education policy, for instance, that is designed to systematically discriminate against children on the basis of location, income, gender and caste among other factors. Child labour continues to be legal in all but a few selected 'hazardous' industries. Children, who constitute 40% of India's population account for a mere 4% of government spending.
The realisation that band-aid efforts, however well-motivated, cannot achieve impact on the scale necessary, nor have long-term sustainability and that children's issues simply do not receive the priority they are due in policy-making at all levels prompted us to change our name. CRY hopes that the name change will initiate awareness, debate, involvement and action from individuals, organisations across sectors, and those who shape, make and implement policy.
This, we believe, will happen only if India starts to treat her children as citizens with rights at the levels of the family, the organisation, the neighbourhood, the community and society as a whole. It will require all sections of Indian society - parents, teachers, journalists, bureaucrats, legislators, activists, employers, judges, police, students, corporations and NGOs to fundamentally re-examine our perceptions of children and change our attitudes to make children our foremost priority.
We are currently testing new communication material for fund-raising that will be a departure from the child-sponsorship schemes we have had upto now to seek support for enabling rights. Of course we are finding it terribly hard to find the appropriate language to communicate this complex message in simple terms.
You may have already seen our new TV commercial on our website. There is also some print advertising in development on those lines.
We're quite sure that the attitude change from 'charity' to rights, especially with regard to children will be a long and slow process and that we will probably also lose some current and potential donors as a consequence. We believe that's a price worth paying for the change in attitudes. Let's hope we're right!
You can find more details of our work and approach at our website www.cry.org. I look forward to any comments, questions or suggestions that these remarks evoke. And to your support in advocating a world of equal opportunity and entitlements for all our children.
INGRID SRINATH
Read Ingrid views on the shift to rights based approach on Info Change.
Link to the post "Beyond Charity - By Social Sector Organizations" on DevelopmenTwist Discussion Den
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