A joint-NGO stocktaking meeting, was anchored by India Alliance for Child Rights (IACR) in New Delhi on 18-19 January 2017. The purpose was to do a reality check on how children’s human rights were addressed in the year past, and formulate a constructive audit frame in different scenarios for action.

Ms. Lee Macqueen, Manager-Advocacy of Caritas India, drew the attention of the audience on the new settings of Risk, in the context of urban disasters. She voiced the need to integrate DRR measures into the development planning through inter-departmental coordination. Climate change induced migration now, and aspirations for better livelihood have always compelled the underprivileged to enter into cities with their families comprising children, wherein they end up finding themselves occupying the slums and other unauthorised settlements, lacking basic quality services. Forced evictions, fragile livelihood and lack of social security measures, among others, are issues that deprive children from enjoying overall wellbeing and development opportunities, which their parents cannot afford them. These factors expose children from these groups to greater risks to psychological and physical harm, creating conditions for child labour.

Disaster resilience requires disaster mitigation and preparedness measures, which has a life cycle approach. She stressed on the need for strengthening social services and access to basic quality services in the peace times. She stressed on the CSO advocacy for gathering disaggregated data on children getting affected by disasters, for which India still lacks the database. It is also important to apply the lens of equity by analysing the overall pre-existing vulnerabilities of these children by targeting the families living in hazard prone sites, studying WHO THESE CHILDREN ARE? WHICH SOCIAL COMMUNITY THEY BELONG TO?, in order to have targeted programme designs. She concluded with the need for developing national indicators to measure progress made along the Sendai Framework for Action 2015-30 for Disaster Risk Reduction.

Other speakers in the panel were the former Vice Chairman of the Bihar State Disaster Management Authority, Ms. Aditi Kaur of Mountain Children’s Foundation, and Mr. Dunu Roy of Hazard Centre.

In recent years, India has taken public positions in favour of children. A new National Policy for Children was adopted in 2013. In the past year, Caritas India’s Advocacy desk was part of the policy dialogue processes and submitted recommendations and reactions to the National Plan of Action for Children (to be released in Feb 2017); Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill 2016 (http://bit.ly/2k9CJy7) ; and the Draft National Education Policy 2016. It also participated in the diverse CSO process and submitted recommendations on strengthening Social Protection measures focusing Disaster Risks and Management, for the High-Level Meeting of Asian and Pacific governments in late 2016, to affirm our involvement in South-South cooperation for child rights. 

Between now and the 8th February, there may be stocktaking meetings called in Nagaland, Assam, Chandigarh, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and interests to participate can be shared with India Alliance for Child Rights at iacrindia@gmail.com.