cry / Child Rights and You

On 'World Anti-Child Labour Day' (June 12), CRY launched a year long campaign to 'Send children to school, not work.' CRY will send out a placard of the same message to supporters on online portals. The invite is to get as many people as possible to pose with the placard in as creative a manner as possible, and get a photograph taken, and send these photos to CRY. The objective behind the drive is to build pressure on government to address the root causes of Child Labour and to implement holistic rehabilitation policies.

All the photo signatures will be part of a short film to be uploaded on the Internet on August 15th. Copies of the photo signatures and the film will be sent to the Labour Commissioner, the Department of Women and Child Department, MPs and MLAs in Mumbai.

"Through a series of such campaigns and on-ground activities, volunteers are looking to make citizens aware of the many schemes available for children and their families that help en­roll children in school," said Puja Marwaha, Director-West, CRY.

"Not a single rehabilitation policy comprehensively addresses all aspects that push children in to labour. It is our duty as citizens to use our voices and our learning to stand up for the rights of children who are forced to work and whose childhood is lost on construction sites, in looking after siblings, in illegal factory settings and in hotels and restaurants," said CRY volunteer, Krishna Singh, an independent professional who has been a CRY volunteer for the past year, campaigning against child labour.

Through the year the citizens of Maharashtra will use various events to build a voice for Child Rights, one event at a time, one person at a time. CRY volunteers will go to bookshops, colleges, schools, Communities, through the months of June and July to encourage people to actively support the right of all children to go to school, not work. For more information and to participate please visit us at www.cry.org