Save the Children’s work is underpinned by a commitment to making children’s rights a reality that was first set out by the organization’s founder over 75 years ago. Education is not only a right in itself, but an “enabling right”- a critical instrument for bringing about “social, economic and political inclusion and a durable integration of people, particularly those ‘excluded’ from the mainstream of any society”

To address this challenge, Save the children has adopted the strategy of facilitating the creation of ‘Inclusive Learner Friendly Environments’ targeted at 3-18 years within diverse educational settings to meet the challenge of addressing diverse and heterogeneous needs of children.

7 million children in India under 14 years do not have access to quality education and approximately 50% of all children drop out before they complete their elementary education.We are working to create quality, inclusive, learner-friendly  environments for all children to ensure that the Right to Education Act, 2009 is implemented.

We work towards developing inclusive and equitable education policies and practices, thereby ensuring a quality education for all children, regardless of their gender, class, caste, ethnicity and religion. Other aspects of our work include a focus on Early Childhood Development, the promotion of child-centered approaches, training teachers and helping communities to develop close linkages with schools.

The focus of our approach is based on a three pronged strategy involving intervention in three domains of the education system;

-Organisation of Schools

-Instructional Dimension

-Community Involvement

We plan to develop 'model inclusive schools' across at least five States of India. This will be implemented through developing a core group of master trainers consisting of eduction personell as well as SCERT and DIET/SIET faculty, who in turn will train teachers in pre-schools and schools. We will work with selected schools/Anganwadi centres and pre-primary classes over the next five years to intervene in all the three dimensions to make them model Inclusive Learner friendly Schools.

Our aim is that these models of ‘Inclusive’ pre- primary and primary environments are able to demonstrate the efficacy addressing individual needs of children belonging to the most disadvantaged backgrounds through creation of ‘schools for all’, thereby realizing the dream of achieving Education For All.

What we Do:

-We promote learner friendly inclusive environments by effective community participation and active learning methodologies.

-We work on collaborative models between Ministry of Women and Child Development and Ministry of Human Resource Development, so that children are provided stimulating learning environments and receive quality basic education.

-Implement the Right to Education Act, 2009 so that children of the most marginalised sections of society receive an education.

-Create sustainable programmes by building capacity within the education system and using our projects as pilots to demonstrate ‘best practices.’

The key focus of our Education interventions is to ensure that the Right to Education Act, 2009 is implemented.  We promote access and retention to quality inclusive education in government schools and aim to strengthen the capacities of existing government schools and their governance. Our programs aim to improve participation of children, their parents and the community in education planning and improve learning levels and reduce drop out rates of children.

India is the largest contributor to the annual global tally of deaths of children under five years old - nearly 2 million. Save the Children is working to help India reach Millenium Development Goal 4 on reducing child mortality by 2/3rd by 2015.

The approach which Save the Children follows in these intervention models is to strengthen the demand on the supply side. Our primary focus is on triggering a community level mechanism which enables every community and each and every family to understand the importance of all basic essential care and services related to maternal, new born, child health and nutrition. This also includes developing coordination between sectors like Integrated Child Development Services Scheme, Department of Health and Family Welfare and Panchayat Raj Institutions. To strengthen the supply side Save the Children is working on enhancing the capacities of grass-root level health workers in the programme area to deliver maternal, newborn, child health and nutrition services with improved quality.

The focus of our Newborn & Child Survival programmes is on demonstrating the replicability of proven high-impact models of care for maternal and newborn child health and nutrition in order to provide an evidence base for the national health system, and to thereby influence policies and programmes to bring about a significant improvement in mortality and under-nutrition rates. We support the public health and nutrition delivery system while directly reducing neonatal, infant and child mortality rates in areas of operation.

Our objectives of our Newborn & Child Survival programs are to increase the chances of survival of children between the ages of 0-5 years, to reduce levels of malnutrition in children & to improve new born and maternal health. We aim to steer the behaviour of communities towards better child health and nutrition practices.

In 2008, Save the Children initiated health and nutrition projects to evaluate interventions within existing large-scale delivery systems (NRHM, ICDS). The project will play a catalytic role within the national health sector, providing helpful insight and guidance into  the government health system and the community-based actors who deliver health and nutrition services in India.

On October 5 2009, Save the Children India launched a Newborn & Child Survival campaign, with the aim of waking India up to its alarmingly high level of child mortality, and announcing the start of our five-year mission to make a significant contribution to Millennium Development Goal 4 (a reduction by two-thirds of under-five child mortality by 2015). The launch generated widespread media coverage both in India and around the world, new political and advocacy opportunities and the support of 100, 000 people across the country. We have developed a five-year popular mobilisation strategy for India which sets out the overall vision, goals and objectives for the campaign, and listing key considerations. Over 5 years we will generate public pressure and visible expressions of support for the issue by mobilising 5 million people, including youth (urban and rural) and children, to take action and create a political and social environment to achieve MDG 4.

Our overall strategy is based on the premise that we can and should help to save children’s lives through our direct work.

What we Do:

- Analyse local situation to assess health needs and existing gaps in newborn and care for children under five years.

- Strengthen community involvement and role of civil society partnerships with India’s health systems through advocacy and capacity building.

- Facilitate coordination between the Department of Health and Family Welfare and DWCD to ensure effective delivery of Government’s health and nutrition delivery systems.

- Capacity building of community health workers on maternal and child health nutrition.

Currently Save the Children has Newborn & Child Survival projects in the following states :

- Delhi and Maharashtra - Urban Health

- Bihar, Rajasthan and West Bengal - Health and Nutrition

- Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand - Technical assistance on newborn care through MCHIP (Maternal and Child Health Integrated Programme)

Emergency response has always been at the heart of Save the Children’s mission.

Save the Children is committed to reducing children’s vulnerability to emergencies, ensuring their right to survival and development after an emergency and providing the support they and their families need to quickly recover and re-establish their lives, dignity and livelihoods. The Every One campaign, launched in October 2009, reaffirms the central importance of emergency response in our fight to reduce child mortality.

Our goal is to mount emergency responses that are timely, at appropriate scale and scope, providing high quality programming, efficiently, effectively, safely and securely for the most vulnerable children and their families. Our aim is to increase preparedness of children and their families for emergency situations in the aftermath of natural disasters through child-centred and  community-based approaches. We also aim to manage disasters better, minimise the impact of natural disasters to communities in disaster prone areas and build child-centred resilient communities.

Save the Children has put in place an Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan (EPP) to guide all Save the Children employees and implementing partners while preparing for and responding to emergencies.

DISASTER SCENARIO IN INDIA:

India is the most populous democracy in the world, consisting of 28 states and 7 union territories. It has a quasi-federal structure in which the centre and states share financial and decision-making powers, with the centre having overall prominence. Certain areas of India remain highly politically sensitive, including Kashmir, the North-Eastern States, areas of Maoist activity in Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh and the refugee camps in Tamil Nadu.

In the event of a large-scale disaster, it is unlikely that the Indian government will call for international assistance. However, the Central and State governments are generally receptive to assistance from international donors, NGOs and the UN in disaster preparedness and response.

We respond immediately to families affected by natural disasters with food aid, water and essential items and also work towards rehabilitation of affected families. We work to ensure that children and their families are better prepared to cope with emergencies and that preparedness programmes at community level are child-centred and community based.

Since 2008, we have reached approximately 98,000 children in 275 villages. We focused on building the leadership among children and enabling their participation in Panchayat-level decision making.

EMERGENCY RESPONSE & CHILD CENTRED DISASTER RISK REDUCTION:

- Education: We ensure that children are able to continue with their schooling by providing them with a safe space to learn in the aftermath of disasters.

- Child Protection : We distribute relief supplies during emergencies and assist with long term  rehabilitation efforts. We operate child friendly spaces  supporting children’s psychological needs as well as carrying out nutritional and healthcare assessments. And we protect children from being trafficked for commercial sex work and child  labour.

To see our recent work in India click here.