Standing Together for Children’s Rights

Project period: December 2018 – November 2022
In cooperation with our partner Centre for Coordination of Voluntary Works and Research (CECOWOR)

Every child in the world should have equal rights

India already has legislation to guarantee children’s rights in relation to, among other things, child labour, child marriage, the right to schooling etc. Unfortunately, these laws are often not implemented or complied with in practice, particularly affecting children who already belong to vulnerable communities.

Therefore, the overall purpose of the project is to safeguard the rights of Indian children by creating knowledge and understanding of as well as respect for them.

The primary target group is all children in the Villupuram district between 5 and 21 years old with a focus on children from rural, poor, marginalised and oppressed communities particularly vulnerable to child rights violations.

CECOWOR

Centre for Coordination of Voluntary Works and Research

Cecowor was founded in 1987 and seeks to empower marginalised peoples like lower-castes, gypsies, tribal people and women by making them aware of their rights and of the importance of education as a key to long-term change. CECOWOR is situated a few hundred kilometres south of Chennai.

Three main goals

  • Villagers in 10 villages are actively addressing violations of children’s rights. The goal is that 10 village-based associations have been established and are able to run on their own. Children have increased knowledge about their rights and awareness about how to seek help.  

 

  • Legal duty bearers responsible for children’s rights have improved knowledge on their legal obligations and have been motivated to enforce the existing laws.

 

  • The civil society in the Villupuram district has been equipped to take up issues concerning children’s rights violations in the district. A network of NGOs working with children in the Villupuram district has been established and are running as a resource and advocacy platform.

SDGs aligned with this project

Quality Education 

Gender Equality 

Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions 

SDG