FORUM OF COMMUNITIES UNITED IN SERVICE (FOCUS)

6, Tiljala Road -70046

ANNUAL REPORT OF FOCUS FOR THE YEAR 2014-2015

Dear friends & Honorable Members of FOCUS,

I am pleased to inform the audience at the AGM of FOCUS and express our thanks and gratitude to all the members and supporters of the organization for their kind co-operation and regards.

We are submitting audited statement of accounts for the year ended 31st March 2015 along with activities report for your kind approval after consideration.

FOCUS has completed three decades of its community services in the slums and squatters of the city. During the last year we have successfully implemented educational program for the slum children (500 nos. of children) and they have shown good results in studies and there is also insurance of continuation of the study. We have also provided manifold humanitarian services to the urban poor and we always stood by them at the time of emergencies.

The prestigious project for rehabilitation of street children has also yielded results. 138 no. of children have been mainstreamed and permanently placed in the institutional and non institutional care. We have also assisted and facilitated slum people to get their entitlements though this is a challenging task especially for squatter and roadside population. Through networking we have addressed the issues of Fundamental Rights of the people living in difficult circumstances.

Anti – Child Labour project has also been successful and 60% of the children have been admitted in the formal school were they are studying under the provisions of Right to follow up and where strict monitoring has been designed to ensure retention and prevention of drop outs.

During the last year we have also conducted in house and residential trainings for the different level of staffs, functionaries, and volunteers in order to enhance their capacity and efficiency in the delivery of the services to the urban poor. We have approached corporate and individuals for their generous support to the organization. We are in the process of digital power presentation to the corporate for their CSR and generous support.

Overall the organization has strategies to combat new challenges of urban poor and Government roles for the good governance of the NGO’s in tune with new guidelines of Government and concerned donors. We are trying our level best to cope with the emerging situation.

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Anand Paul Education Support Programme:

This project is organized by FOCUS in collaboration with Apeejay Surrendra Group. It takes place in slums and squatters of six different wards of KMC which are 59, 60, 61, 62, 64 & 65. The project aims to provide sustainable education services under Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 to the children of these areas who were dropped out and who have never been to school. The program was flagged off in 2009 in the month of November and this is the fifth consecutive years of FOCUS in serving the downtrodden children under this project.

The Goal:

 Regaining of childhood and sustainable education for children in crisis.

 Empower community towards their rights and entitlements

The program was started with 150 children and till date it has covered 500 children in providing remedial coaching support including all other needs and requirements for continuing their schooling and enjoying their childhood rights. The main motive behind running this project is to provide Right to Education and not just Right to Schooling which ensures retention of the child from being dropped out and providing quality education. Table No.1 School going children in 2014-15 covered under the project Class Total Children V 50 I X VI 95 II 11 VII 82 III 50 VIII 64 IV 89 IX 45 Total 150

X 14 Total 350 Grand Total 500

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Table No.2 Sex wise break of children in 2014-15

Total 500

Girl Child 308 Boy child 192

Table No.3

Class Section No. of student IV - V Primary to Upper Primary 142 VI- VIII Upper Primary to Secondary 213 VIII, IX, X & above Secondary to Higher 64 Secondary

Major activities of the program for 2014-2015 are as follows:

 All 500 children are mainstreamed in Government schools and were given remedial education classes on regular basis in 20 units in Wards No. 59, 60, 61, 62 and 64 of KMC areas as per the action plan of the project.  350 Primary students have successfully transited to Upper Primary classes without dropping out from the education system.  Therefore 150 children are in Primary classes and 350 children are Secondary students in 2015 session out of which 62 students are in standard 8, 9 and 10.  Retention of girl child through our program under which from 500 total students, there are 308 girl students who have grown interest towards education and are now regular in their schools as well as in the remedial education classes.  Health & Nutritional Fair conducted on 14th Dec. 2014 for 500 children at A.M.O. Ghani School with 9 qualified doctors namely; Shahnila Mullick Haque Gynecologist, Dr. P.K. Gupta Eyes specialist, Dr. R. N. Singh, Dr. Ramesh Sharma, Dr. Barkha Sharma, Dr. A.H. Khan Chest specialist, Prof. Dr. Subhashis Ganguly and Dr. Sanjay Goswami Homeopathic and Dr. Md. Nayeemuddin General Physician.  School Kits Distribution Programme arranged for 500 children on 19th and 20th February 2015 for supporting them with stationeries items like; bags, copies of different types, exam board, geometry box, drawing kits, pouch bags, shoes and other related items for preventing them from being drop out for these reasons.

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 Internal evaluation conducted on 18th and 19th March 2015 with the 500 students on Reading and Writing Test which built up confidence of the child to participate in different activities for their growth.  In house training for staffs to improve their knowledge on teaching with innovative methods and practical learning with the help of teaching leaning materials prepared by themselves.  252 class test conducted in all the units for tracking child development which has improved Child performance and regularity in attending school as well as in the coaching centres, grown interest, competitive attitude developed, interaction, sharing and participation skills built up.  12 meetings of Children council conducted through which leadership quality developed within the child, participatory attitude developed, and confidence built up and competing nature grown, enhancement of their knowledge on current events have also improved.  12 CBO’s meeting conducted in which guardians and parents took active participation which shows their growing interest as well as aware community towards education.  On 27th August 2014 more than 250 parents have opened their bank account through our Camp which has been organized to link the community with Govt. Scheme of Jan Dhan Yojna in which bank account was opened with minimum documents and on zero balance.

Awards & Recognition:  Apeejay Karmayuga Awards for best Community Worker is awarded to Mr. Jamil Ahmed who bagged two awards Karmaveera Chakra (Bronze) medal & National Silver Karmaveera Chakra  Apeejay Karmayuga Awards for runners up Community Worker is awarded to Ms. Rubina Qaiyum who was given Karmaveera Chakra (Bronze) medal.

Functional and Vocational Training program for adult women between the age group of 18 and above is also a part of Anand Paul Education Support Program in which basic literacy with some hand skills training have been given to the targeted adolescents. The vocational trades include; beautician, henna art, hand embroidery, zardozi works, qurashia, pot making, glass painting, show piece making with beads, hand bags, purse, mobile covers, wall hanging etc. training have been given to the adults. Along with all these hand skills some Livelihood skills have also given to them so that they get empowered to handle daily hurdles of life. We are also linking with National Urban Livelihood Mission and Skills Development schemes of Central Government which has been flagged off by honorable Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi.

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The Goal:

 Improve the condition of adults and women in the society.

 Opportunity for unemployed to get employed through hand skills.

Along with this some other activities of the program of the program are given under:

 50 adults get enrolled every year in Functional Literacy and 50 adults get transferred in Vocational Training class for hand skills this process makes them independently strong.  Awareness program with Adult women and adolescents between the age group of 16 – 55 years of age on 6th and 11th June 2014 on “Stages of Women Life and Related Health Issues”.  An exhibition has been conducted at Apeejay House on 10th Sept. 2014 to marketwise the hand made products of our vocational students so that they can gain knowledge of market price and other information regarding sale.  Exposure visit for Adult learners and Vocational learners took place in the Handi Craft Mela on 20th January 2015 to develop their knowledge on production, distribution, and rates and demands of handmade items.  International Women’s Day celebrated on 18th and 19th March 2015 at Life Welfare Society and Auddy Bagan Centre with adult learners to encourage their interests towards learning and getting education.  Participatory session conducted to enhance their freedom of expression and sharing skills with different Life Skills training like ice braking, debates, decision making, role play and others.  Generate awareness on other rights and sensitive issues like early marriage, child marriage, domestic violence, abuses of different types and others for their empowerment.  Formation of Self Help Groups (SHG) and other community group struggling themselves for the better future.

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Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS)

This project is a Central Government Sponsored scheme of the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of , implemented in partnership with the state Governments and Civil Society Organizations (CSO). It is running successfully by FOCUS from April 2011 in Ward no. 59 at our Open Shelter Home in South Tangra. ICPS aims to establish a system that will efficiently and effectively protect children, based on the cardinal principles of “Protection of Child Rights” and the “Best interest of the Child”. Along with this establishing safety nets of the children at contact points and identify children in extreme misery and crisis. The program should ensure Child Protection at community level and family units.

The scheme targets the following categories of children: Street children; Working children; Trafficked children; Abused children; Children in conflict with law; children in contact with law; affected by disaster; HIV/AIDS infected and affected children; children engaged in substance abuse; children from families at risk; differently able children; orphaned abandoned, destitute children; missing lost and found children.

The Goal:

 Create and promote preventive measures to protect children from situations of vulnerability, risk and abuse.

 Primary responsibility of the family and other stakeholders is protection of the child to whom loving and caring family is the best place.

ICPS program works with three outreach centres in different pockets of Kulia Tangra, Tiljala and Park Circus in the local clubs namely; Shanti Sangha, New Tilajala Community Centre and Asian Boys Welfare Society. The process is that targeted children were filtered out in these areas after which they were enrolled in Home for residential care if there is no other way out for protection of the child or the children who are coming under our criteria were enrolled in our Home after the consent of their parents and the family of the child because a child home is the best place for their security and not any other place.

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Table No.1 No. of children under the ICPS program 2015-16: Area Residential Care Day Care Service Open Shelter Home 25 25

Shanti Sangha - 30

New Tiljala Community - 32 Centre Suharwardy Asian Boys - 26 Welfare Society Total 113+25=138

Major activities of the program for 2014-15 are as follows:

 All children are mainstreamed in Govt. schools, coaching support given by the educators, Monthly Test to record students performance have been followed.  Special graded reading material which includes manuals, graded reading cards/books, word charts etc are used as Teaching Learning Materials (TLM) as a new method of learning.  Weekly Health Checkup has been followed for children of Home for their proper growth and development. Promoting healthy habits among the children includes regular bath, regular hair and nail cutting, washing hands before and after meal.  Extra activities allow the children to enjoy their learning process. Computer Training, Drawing, Dancing, Yoga are some of the extracurricular activities of the home. All these activities improve their participation level also.  Participating in drawing competitions and getting prices forms one of the major achievements of our children.  Outdoor activities like cricket, football, badminton are practiced. Participating in sports of different types helps in the development of the child and makes them strong. They show interest and joy in taking part in these activities.  On 12th March 2015, ICPS children went for their exposure at Science City were they have enjoyed very much. These kinds of exposure visits allow the child to develop their thinking level.  Celebration of different occasions namely, 15th Aug., 26th Jan., Children Day, Teachers Day, Swami Vivekananda Birth Day have formed an important activity in which children took special participation.  Building partnerships for child protection at all levels and strengthening linkages with other bodies and institutions. Strengthening knowledge base, awareness and advocacy practicing. 7 FOCUS-Annual Report 2014-2015

CHILD LABOUR REHABILITATION cum WELFARE PROGRAMME

This is the 14th consecutive year of National Child Labour Project running by FOCUS which was implemented by The Ministry of Labour & Employment at Kulia Tangra. Child labour refers to the employment of children in any work that deprives children of their childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, and that is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful. Under the Project, children were rescued/withdrawn from work are enrolled in the special schools, where they are provided with bridge education, vocational training, nutrition, stipend, health care, etc. before mainstreaming into formal education system.

The Goal:

 Rescuing the child from hazardous work and mainstreaming them into formal education system

 Empowering the community towards the rights and entitlements of a child

Poverty and lack of social security are the main causes of child labour. The increasing gap between the rich and the poor, privatization of basic services and the neo-liberal economic policies are causes major sections of the population out of employment and without basic needs. This adversely affects children more than any other group. Table No.1

No. of Sex Age Group children M F 50 19 31 8-14 years

Fifty child laborers are selected under the scheme and provided with the following facilities:

 Non-formal/formal education: The rescued/withdraw children from labour force were trained with non-formal education after which they were given formal education training in the centre. They were then enrolled in Government 8 FOCUS-Annual Report 2014-2015

Schools under Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009. The children are also getting coaching support from the centre. Record keeping of students performance, Monthly Tests, Assessment Tools, tracking the child for absenteeism and for drop out in school, maintaining regular attendance have been followed in the centre.

 Skilled/craft training: All the children were provided with hand skill training/ vocational training such as; bag making with crystal beads, show piece making, candle making. These trades will rescue children from hazardous work and help them to get engage in this kind of work from which they can earn something for themselves.

 Supplementary Nutrition: Nutrition has been provided to each and every child in the centre with meals such as; soya bean, khichudi, dal, sabji, rice, egg, chicken etc. so that the children should get attracted to come to the classes in the centre. This will also help the child to improve their health with this nutritional support.

 Economic Rehabilitation and Sensitization of the parents: This project has facilitated the child with a stipend of rupees one hundred every month. All the children are having bank accounts and their books are maintained regularly. Additional information given on making of Birth Certificates, ID cards, BPL cards, Aadhar cards.

 Strengthen Health component: Monthly Health Checkup for the children, discussion on healthy habits with parents and their children, records keeping of Health Cards of the children are included. Moreover information given on Diseases like Dengue, Malaria, HIV/Aids , Tuberculosis, Asthma, Skin Diseases, Birth Control Policies have been discussed with them on regular basis

 Awareness Generation: Anti-Child Labor campaigns in the local area, awareness about their rights such as Right to Free and Compulsory Education, Child Right and Child Protection, Child Marriage for their knowledge.

Networking:

Networking is an efficient tool for the exchange of knowledge and information among NGO’s it should be based on their needs and their motivation to face challenges. FOCUS is itself a networking body which is a unique feature of our organization. It is comprised of various micro level initiatives and CBO’s working at the grass root level. We maintain regular contact with the local Govt. offices, local Police Station, Hospitals, brother NGOs and social organizations, KMC, local Primary and

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Secondary schools for smooth running of our child based programs. FOCUS has played an important role in zonal networking of NGO’s working for the empowerment of Street and working children. FOCUS is a member of City Level Programme of Action (CLPOA), Kolkata NGO forum for Street and working children. FOCUS has been a secretariat of popular campaign against child labour known as Campaign against Child Labour (CACL). FOCUS is also a member of Griha Adhikar Manch and State Education Chapter fighting for the forced eviction, Rights of BPL and other challenges faced by socially excluded populations. FOCUS is also a member of National Level alliance building a voluntary action against Government anti-poor policies, VANI-India, NHRC, VELMOC etc.

Resource Mobilization:

Resource mobilization is actually a process of raising different types of support for the organization. Resources can include many different things, not just money. Apart from money, raising support from volunteers; one can also receive material donations for the NGO; or get in-kind contribution from your own community. FOCUS is engaged in mobilizing resources with Netwoven Pvt.Ltd., Goindigo, Coca Cola, . It also receives volunteers cum students from Hong Kong University, IGNOU, Rabindra Bharati University, Jay Prakash Institute.

FUTURE PLAN

 To institutionalize and de institutionalization for very vulnerable children living in extreme misery and circumstances.  To expand and strengthen the existing services to Integrated Child Protection Scheme children in the field of health, education, recreation livelihood.  To setup infrastructure open shelter home for day care services and short stay home particularly night shelter for street girls.  To expand the areas of operation in Kolkata metropolitan including Howrah slums.  To consolidate, coordinate and strengthen the social movements for physically and mentally challenged populations.  To consolidate coordinate and strengthen the social movements for physically and mentally challenged populations.  To organize special program on solid waste management and socio-economic organization of the waste pickers.  To plan for launching a social movement on right to education bill 2009, Right to food, Right to micro credit, Right to livelihood etc.  To create data base, knowledge base and status report on violation of human rights, particularly for child protection services.

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 To strengthen co-operation among NGOs and city network for child protection at family and community level. This networking will also launch social campaign on housing rights, micro finance, schemes for BPL another sensitive issues for upholding of basic principles of constitution of India and democratic rights.  To popularize and politicize the issues of human survival, dignity and minor children engaged in hazardous occupations through public awareness and sensitization of the key players in the society.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We express our gratitude to all of you who have been helping us over the years to allow us to serve disadvantaged and destitute women and children living in slums and squatters and on pavements of Kolkata. We hope you will continue your support in the future too.

 Apeejay Trust  Mr. Karan Paul  Mrs. Shikha Mukerjee (CEO)  Ministry of Women & Child Development, Govt. of India  Ministry of Labour, Govt. of India.  Kolkata National Child Labour Rehabilitation cum Welfare Society  Labour Commissioner, Govt. of  Department of Vagrancy, Govt. of West Bengal  Tollygunge WIN  Kolkata Police  Wards Councillors (Ward No. 59, 60, 61, 62, 64, & 65)

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