2 Save the Children-PIF study on Communities for Children Selected Good Practices in Improving Children’s Well-being through Community Participation COMMUNITIES FOR CHILDREN 3 About Save the Children Save the Children is a leading independent organisation working to ensure the rights of children in India, and in over 120 countries around the world. Save the Children India (Bal Raksha Bharat) is a member of the International Save the Children Alliance. In India, Save the Children works in 11 states focusing on strengthening child rights in the key areas of inclusive education, child protection, health and nutrition, and emergencies. Through our programmes so far, we have brought about positive changes in the lives of over 3 million children and their families in India. SAVE THE CHILDREN, INDIA | Head Office | 4th Floor, 14-15 Farm Bhawan, Nehru Place, New Delhi - 110 019. Tel: 91-11-42294900, Fax: 42294990, Email: [email protected] Website: www.savethechildren.in About the Public Interest Foundation The Public Interest Foundation has been set up by a group of self-conscious people to focus on issues that concern, and impact the welfare and larger interests of society. The Foundation seeks to actively follow the execution of public policies and programmes with a view to bringing about change in governance and for maximising public welfare. Governing Council of Public Interest Foundation: Bimal Jalan • Naresh Chanda • Tarun Das • Suresh Neotia • Arun Maira • Harshvardhan Neotia • Shyamanand Jalan • Anil Kumar B-32, Greater Kailash – I, New Delhi - 110 048. Tel: 91-11-46517869, Fax: 91-11-41633596, E-mail: [email protected], Website: www.publicinterestfoundation.com © Save the Children India (Bal Raksha Bharat), August 2009 Photo Credits: Cover, backcover, pages 62-63, 104-105 by Nilayan Dutta/Save the Children India All Good Practice photograhs by the respective organizations 4 Contents Forewords - Bimal Jalan, Chairman, PIF 8 - Arun Maira, Chairman, Save the Children, India 9 Acknowledgements 10 List of Acronyms 11 Executive Summary 12 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background 15 1.2 Definitions of Good Practices 15 1.3 The Thematic Areas 16 2. METHODOLOGY 2.1 Identification of Good Practices 18 2.2 Collection of Literature 18 2.3 Selection of Good Practices 18 2.4 Common Good Practices Criteria 19 2.5 Community Participation Criteria 19 2.6 Theme Specific Good Practice Indicators 20 2.7 Preparation of Tools 20 2.8 Desk Review 21 2.9 Field Work and Further Desk Review 21 3. DOCUMENTATION AND REPORT PRESENTATION 22 3.1 EDUCATION Community Based Alternative Education 24 Prayas, Delhi On the Road to Knowledge and Success A Model Inclusive School 28 Loreto Day School, Save the Children West Bengal, Kolkata In the Mainstream of Life Integrated Community Schools 32 Bodh Shiksha Samiti, Jaipur, Rajasthan Learning against Odds Community Based Motivational Centres 36 Mahita, Save the Children, Andhra Pradesh A Weapon of Empowerment Non-formal Education Centres 40 CINI Asha, Save the Children, Kolkata, West Bengal Reaching out to Children in Difficulty Community Supported Pre-school Programme 44 Pratham, Save the Children, Delhi A First Rate Student Alternate Education Programme 48 Digantar, Jaipur, Rajasthan Pedagogy of the Alternate Education Programme COMMUNITIES FOR CHILDREN 5 Participatory School Governance 52 AMIED, Save the Children, Rajasthan Taking the Lead and Showing the Way Holistic Education for Rural and Tribal Children 56 Jyoti Development Trust, Delhi Village Education Committees 60 LAHDC, Save the Children, Jammu & Kashmir Hope for a Better Future 3.2 CHILD PROTECTION Out of Work and into School through Social Mobilisation 66 M V Foundation, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh Coming Together for Children Campaign Against Child Domestic Work 70 Save the Children, West Bengal Saving Childhood, Spreading Happiness Community Based Child Protection in Red light Areas 74 Sanlaap, Kolkata, West Bengal Safety and Security for Children at Risk Creating Child Friendly Villages 78 Bachpan Bachao Andolan, Delhi Leading the Way for a Better Childhood Anti-trafficking Self-Help Groups 82 Apne Aap Women Worldwide, Delhi Emerging from the Shadows Contact Points, Shelters and Outreach for Street Children 86 Salaam Balak Trust, Delhi Sky is the Limit Now Eradicating Child Labour through Education 90 CREDA, Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh Breaking the Bonds of Labour Empowering Communities to Prevent Drug Abuse and HIV 94 UNODC, Delhi Saying No to Drugs and Alcohol Community Empowerment through Outreach 98 STOP, Delhi The Extent of Child Trafficking Community Based Child Protection Mechanisms 102 Save the Children, West Bengal Plight of Child Domestic Workers 3.3 HEALTH & NUTRITION Community Led Initiatives for Child Survival 108 Aga Khan Foundation, Delhi VCC as a Social Franchisee Mitanin: Community Health Volunteer Programme 112 State Health Resource Centre, Chattisgarh Women as Community Health Workers 6 Integrated Nutrition and Health Project II 116 CARE India, Delhi Agents of Change Home Based Newborn Care 120 SEARCH, Gadchiroli, Maharashtra The HBNC Intervention Package Mainstreaming Behavioural Change Communication 124 Catholic Relief Services, Patna, Bihar The Seven Change Makers Universal Birth Registration Campaign 128 Plan India, Delhi Eliminating Female Foeticide and Infanticide, Promoting Birth Registeration Reducing Incidence of Low Birth Weight 132 Krishi Gram Vikas Kendra, Ranchi, Jharkhand Public-Private People’s Partnership Anchal Se Angan Tak: Community Involvement to Improve Child Nutrition 136 ICDS, Rajasthan The Life Cycle Approach Dular: Reducing Childhood Malnutrition through Local Resource Persons 140 ICDS, Jharkhand Local Resource Persons: Making a Difference Kano Parbo Na: Positive Deviance Approach for Better Child Nutrition 144 ICDS, West Bengal Ami Nischay Parbo (We can certainly do it) 4 FINDINGS, OBSERVATIONS, AND LEARNINGS 4.1 Findings 148 4.2 Observations 151 4.3 Learnings 153 5. REFERENCES 5.1 General References 154 5.2 Sources of Information for Good Practices 154 6. ANNEXURES Annexure I: Screening Form for Selecting Good/Promising Practices 159 Annexure II: Common Criteria for Community Participation 160 Annexure III: Theme Specific Core Indicators for Education 160 Annexure IV: Theme Specific Core Indicators for Child Protection 160 Annexure V: Theme Specific Core Indicators for Health and Nutrition 160 Annexure VI: List of Practices for which field work was conducted 161 Annexure VII: Inventory of Good Practices in Education collected for the Study 163 Annexure VIII: Inventory of Good Practices in Child Protection collected for the Study 166 Annexure IX: Inventory of Good Practices in Health and Nutrition collected for the Study 168 COMMUNITIES FOR CHILDREN 7 Foreword BIMAL JALAN, Chairman, PIF The Public Interest Foundation (PIF), which was launched on Republic Day 2008, aims to bring a change in governance and seeks ways and means to create the right social environment within which public programmes can be executed for maximum common good. It has been the experience in child development programmes that chances of success improve significantly with the active participation of the community which brings about a sort of community trusteeship over the programmes meant for children and results in better management and efficient delivery of outcomes. I am happy that ‘Save the Children, Bal Raksha, Bharat’ has undertaken this study, with support from PIF, to document ‘Selected Good Practices in Improving Children’s Well-being through Community Participation’. On behalf of PIF, I offer my compliments to the study team for this well-researched documentation. It is our hope that the findings, observations, and lessons from this study will encourage others to adopt similar good practices. 8 Foreword ARUN MAIRA, Chairman, Save the Children, India Children are the future of humanity. According to economists, India’s huge numbers of children are expected to be the resource that will propel its economy to rank with China and the US amongst the three largest economies in the world. However, the condition of its children is also India’s biggest problem. India has the largest number of malnourished children in the world. A significant percentage of its children are not even in school. Unhealthy and uneducated children cannot be a resource; they are a liability. Therefore, the country must devise and implement solutions to deal with this massive problem more effectively than it has been able to so far. The UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that were adopted by the nations of the world in 2000 require rapid improvement in the condition of people and the environment by 2015. Improvement in the condition of children is one of the principal objectives of these goals. Sadly, progress has been very slow against these goals. Last year, the World Economic Forum brought together experts from around the world into several Global Agenda Councils to assess the situation and devise more effective solutions. They concluded that new approaches are needed. They said, ‘While a global model is needed, solutions are ultimately local and should engage the community as the central driver of the solution.’ There are many inspiring examples of local solutions, from India and around the world, to inter-related problems of income generation, education, empowerment, health, and environmental care. The challenge is to ‘scale up’ and rapidly multiply such successes in India, and indeed across the world. In the