(ANS – New Delhi) – As the international community observes the 25th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, a four-day workshop on child rights was organized in New Delhi by PRATYEK in collaboration with UNICEF & Nine is mine Campaign from 17 to 20 July 2014. On this occasion the “Rice Advocacy and Justice Award” was presented to Master Bharat Kumar from BOSCO, Bangalore, for his contribution to society as an activist of child rights.
The work shop is titled emphatically as “Make Real my Rights.” Its objective is to train children to do a social audit in their own places across India and to collate these reports and send them to the UN for the Universal Periodic Review of India. In this way they will tell the UN body to what extent India has succeeded or failed in implementing the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the recommendations that were given in the previous Universal Periodic Review in 2008.
120 children and 40 Coordinators attended the workshop conducted at Don Bosco, Okhla, New Delhi from 17 to 20 July. The children represented 22 federal States and 3 Union Territories of India.
The workshop was centred on child rights and made the participants realize how children are treated unequally across India. They were also taught how the social audit could be conducted. There were sessions on how children could claim their rights through various art forms like dance, music, painting, puppetry etc.
Nelson Mandela day was celebrated on 18 July by 1500 children and officials from UN Consulate, ILO and UNICEF. The children pledged to make poverty a bygone history by beating drums.
On 20 July officials from UNICEF were present for the valedictory during which children performed various art forms elucidating the four major rights of the child.
The highlight of the campaign was the presentation of the “Rice Advocacy and Justice Awards”, a National Justice and Advocacy honour. Children from across India were eligible for the award for their outstanding contribution in promoting justice and advocacy. Bharath Kumar H. R. from BOSCO Bangalore, representing the CREAM (Child Rights Education and Action Movement) network was among the five selected from twenty candidates whose names were nominated for this prestigious award.
Bharath, a student of St. Joseph`s Kannad Medium School Bangalore, was recognized for his active involvement in KCRO & CREAM network initiatives in various campaigns, as well as his involvement in the child parliament in BOSCO Vikas, and community involvement during vacation in creating awareness regarding child rights. He was awarded with a citation and Rs. 10,000/- for his social activities.
Published 24/07/2014
