DNote Xpress_Issue_15_ June_2015

Issue: #15 | June 2015

LEAD ME FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT

STOP CHILD LABOUR In this issue: Fiinovation Joins Hands with CII for Webinar on CSR

Stand up & look around

Forms of Child Labour in India

Aviva - Street To School

Fiinobservation of National Days

www.ďŹ inova on.co.in

From the

CEO’s Desk With over 13 million children working as labourers, India has its work cut out for bringing a change in a deep-rooted, socially accepted and widespread evil called child labour. The rehabilitation and education of children involved in labour in India is something that cannot be ignored anymore. There is an urgent need to address this challenge, whether in terms of income generation for their sustenance or their education and skill development. India is a young country with 35.3% of the population below the age of 15, and the future of India is in the hands of these children. Apart from directing efforts towards addressing the needs of the street children we also need to make agriculture child labour free.

As part of the social development sector, we understand that it is our duty to help the government bring stringent laws which not only help curb the problem of child labour but also takes care of the rights of the children. There are millions of child labours in India who are working under hazardous conditions with low wages. Not only are they expected to work hard at the tender age, but are also devoid of education and basic facilities that could ensure they reach their full potential. Lack of monitoring has also led to some children being victims of trafďŹ cking and other crimes.

Therefore, I urge governments, corporations and civil societies to uphold the rights of children and promote education for them. Through education, the children will not only secure a bright future for themselves but become a driving force in India's growth story. India is developing rapidly but along with the economy our human development rankings should also improve.

The theme of "Child Labour - Lead Me From Darkness to Light" is our attempt to bring awareness among people about child labour, keeping in mind the potential that these children possesses in ensuring that the future of India is bright. We, at Fiinovation, are ďŹ rm on our stand that the only work that a child should do is home work, asserting that these 13 million child labours in India should be studying. Only education and not work will ensure they overcome the vicious cycle of poverty.

This month, let us all take the pledge towards ending child labour in India.

Mr. Soumitro Chakraborty CEO, Fiinovation (Innovative Financial Advisors Pvt. Ltd.)

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fiinovation Joins Hands with CII for Webinar on CSR

fiinovation New Delhi, 18th June, 2015: With the view to deliberate on CSR & Affirmative Action, CII and Fiinovation came together on 18th June, 2015 for a webinar on 'Corporate Social Responsibility the new understanding and how to promote Affirmative Action'. The session was mentored by Mr. Soumitro Chakraborty, CEO, Fiinovation who shared insights on the nitty gritties of CSR. Apart from CII members, many industry heads, civil society organizations, senior dignitaries and CSR professionals, including overseas dignitaries attended and engaged in the webinar.

The webinar focused on understanding the concept of CSR in the global and India scenario along with providing clarifications of different synonyms of CSR. It also highlighted the Section 135 of The Companies Act, 2013 in detail with clarifications of what will comprise of CSR and what will happen if we do not comply. Apart from this, the webinar provided basic understanding of what affirmative action meant globally and how it is being implemented in India.

While mentoring Mr. Chakraborty clarified the linkage between affirmative action and CSR to the audience, where he suggested that while we implement our CSR activities we can target the SC/ST communities who account for majority of the poor in India.

Finally, the webinar also showed a way forward to the audience, where incorporating affirmative action through CSR and within the business strategy would benefit the corporations in the long run.

The astounding success of the event could be gauged from the enthusiastic response received from the attendees who posed numerous questions on CSR to the presenter.

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&

Stand up look around They say, “The future lies in the hands of the young ones”, but what if those hands are serving food in the restaurants, picking up rags from the garbage, breaking stones in the mines or mopping your house? Our leaders preach about a better future, while that future sells tea somewhere in the crowd. It is a fact that India is the youngest country in the world and it is also a fact that India has the largest number of child labourers.

The census of 2001 revealed that India had 13 million children working under the age of 14. Ever wonder what those 13 million must be doing in 2015? The Census survey 2011 said that India had only 4.98 million child labourers, we hope that these numbers decreased because of improvement in their condition and not by the fact that most of the child labourers in 2001 became adults in 2011, hence they can't be categorized as child workers.

Not every chai wala can become the Prime Minister and not every slumdog can become a millionaire in a country where the resources are so centered. Poverty drives children out of schools, the age of learning becomes the age of hardships and labour. Tender palms become stone-like after hours of breaking rocks. It all happens in front of our eyes, we know the law, but we rarely take action to enforce it.

We cannot start blaming the Government here (even though they can do much better with the surveillance system). Let's talk about us. What do we do? Why do we turn blind eye when a kid serves us food in the restaurant, cleans our table, pulls rickshaw in the blazing heat. As citizens of India we also fail to fulfill our social responsibilities. We feel proud when Kailash Satyarthi wins the Nobel Prize for fighting for child rights, but when the time comes to be a part of the same cause we withdraw ourselves. Those children on the streets need help, however more than them we need help to rise over the culture which is making us so cold hearted that we don't even bother to look at their miseries and the busy life which has left us with less empathy for the victims of such evil. Instead of lifting them up we treat these children like scum of the society. Let's be more sensitive towards the victims of child labour and help them get out of the adverse situation, to set their childhood free for laughter and joy. We have to be the protector of our future generation.

If you are reading this article then congratulations you belong to a niche percent of the population, who can actually read and write, and one which has access to a computer and internet. We have the resources to access the aids which can help these children. The power of knowledge is immense and as they say "With great powers comes great responsibilities". We should take little time out of our busy lives and do something to improve the conditions of these underprivileged children. There is a lot we can do to help these children.

We can start it from our own houses; never employ a child as servant and make sure that the society or locality you live in also does the same. Report the cases of child labour as much as you can (remember it is a crime so don't hesitate to take action). You can also contact a number of NGOs and government officials to help these children get out of the adverse condition.

These are little steps which can play a big role in eradicating child labour from India. Let's take actions now so that the evil of child labour can be eliminated completely.

-Karan Pundir

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Forms of Child Labour in India The total number of child labour in India, aged 5–14, to be at 4.35 million, out of the total child population of 259.64 million (Census, 2011). According to the statistics provided by Child Rights and You (CRY), in India, there are around 10 million child labourers. Children continue to engage in child labour in agriculture and in the worst forms of child labour in the manufacturing of a number of products in the informal economy.

Child Labour sector wise Ÿ

Farming, including producing rice and hybrid cottonseeds, picking cotton, and harvesting sugarcane

Ÿ Ÿ

Quarrying and breaking stones Manufacturing matches, bricks, locks, glass bangles, fireworks, footwear, garments, hand-loomed silk fabric, silk thread, leather, embellished textiles, and brassware Polishing gems, diamonds Weaving carpets Rolling cigarettes (bidis) and incense sticks Spinning thread/yarn, embroidering, sewing beads to fabric stiching soccer balls Mining Mica, Coal

AGRICULTURE

INDUSTRY

Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

Working Children Aged 5-14

18% 13% 70%

Working in hotels, food servce, and certain tourism-related occupations Working on the street selling fgood and other goods, repairing vehicles and tires, scavenging and rag picking Ÿ Construction, actyivities unknown Ÿ Domestic Service Ÿ Ÿ

SERVICES

Child Labour sector wise

> 4,50,000 > 2,54,000 > 75,000 > 29,000 > 4,500 > 50

J&K

H.P.

Punjab

Chandigarh Uttarakhand

Haryana Delhi

Arunachal Pradesh Sikkim

Rajasthan

Uttar Pradesh

Assam Bihar

Nagaland

Meghalaya Manipur Tripura

Jharkhand

Gujarat

Madhya Pradesh

W.B.

Mizoram

Chhattisgarh Orissa Maharashtra

Telangana

Goa

Andhra Pradesh

Karnataka Lakshadweep Tamil Nadu Andamans & Nicobar Islands

Kerala

Child Labour sector wise (Work Participation Ratio)

Census 1991

Census 2001

5.7% WPR

5.1% WPR

5.1% WPR

4.9% WPR

5.4% WPR

5% WPR

Census 2011 4.8% WPR 4.2% WPR 4.5% WPR

India remains a source, transit, and destination country for minors trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labour in domestic service, agriculture, and activities such as begging, brick making and to serve as soldiers by extralegal armed groups in conflict zones.

Sources: Census of India 1961, 1971, 1981, 1991, 2001, and 2011.

Data from 2008, published by UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2014.

Understanding Children's Work Project's analysis of statistics from NSS Survey, 2009-2010.

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AVIVA - STREET TO SCHOOL Aviva India is a joint venture of Dabur Group of India and Aviva plc of United Kingdom. The former has a 74% stake while Aviva plc has 26% stake in the joint venture. Aviva's Street to School is an initiative to help those who are mostly excluded in our society, i.e. the street children. The original goal of the British multinational was to help 5,00,000 children by 2015, however, they have already achieved more than that.

With the belief that every child has the right to basic education, in India, the global insurer has partnered with NGOs such as CRY (Child Right and You) and 'Save the Children' to facilitate education for underpriviledged children.

India is believed to have the largest number of street children in the world, with Delhi and Kolkata being their hubs. They have set up nine educational activity centres for the street children in these two cities providing education for one year before they are mainstreamed into government schools. The children are facilitated with food, alternative education, arts and crafts, music and dance, recreational activities, medical care, life-skill workshops and counseling. Mobile learning buses were developed in India as children were not able to get to a fixed school.

Save the Children's survey suggested there are about 51,000 street children in Delhi with some 500 in and around Nehru Place where it's corporate office is situated.

The target was to help 700 children have access to age-appropriate formal education and vocational opportunities. By August 2011, they have covered 90% of their set target. The Rang Birange Sitare, an education and activity centre came into existence in 2010 under Aviva's S2S programme. It carries out the following activities: Providing life skills education to children through sessions and workshops Providing remedial education prior to linking age-appropriate schooling Providing counselling support for trauma and drugs/substance abuse Providing services e.g. food, water, clothes, toilet and facilities for bathing etc Working with target schools and teachers, and equipping them with inclusive learner-friendly teaching-learning skills through regular training Ÿ Carrying out regular health check-ups and linking children to medical support Ÿ Forming and strengthening an advocacy group on the rights of street children Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

'Street to Children' has also supported CRY's and Jago Foundation's work since January 2011, covering 45 villages in Jharkhand's Koderma and Giridih districts.

The programme identifies specific issues affecting children belonging to Dalit community. The initiative raises awareness about child rights, encourages provisions of new government services and facilitates access to existing ones. It is working directly with 228 children in 45 villages and also touches 9,630 children in 51 other villages.

Apart from this, the Aviva Great Wall of Education generates publicity and creates a mass participation experience for the public. It has collected over 10,00,000 books for underprivileged children and charities since launch, and entered into the Limca Book of Records 2011.

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Tweets of The Month You Child Rights and @CRYINDIA #ChildLabour of children 2 violates the rights childhood & to education, joys of mental h normal physical & irud n a t a h en developm rich irud

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Food for Thought...

Hear the Influencers Speak...

Ÿ According to the ILO, 168 million children worldwide

Ÿ

are engaged in child labour as of 2013. Ÿ Agriculture accounts for 60 percent of child labour

according to the ILO.

Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ The sub-Saharan African region has the second

highest number of child labourers in the world; about 59 million in 2012. Ÿ Child labour among girls fell by 40% since 2000,

compared to 25% for boys.

Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ Asia and the Pacific still have the largest numbers

(almost 78 million or 9.3% of child population), but Sub-Saharan Africa continues to be the region with the highest incidence of child labour (59 million, over 21%).

Ÿ Ÿ

"Child slavery is a crime against humanity. Humanity itself is at stake here. A lot of work still remains, but I will see the end of child labour in my lifetime.”

-Kailash Satyarthi "Some girls cannot go to school because of the child labour and child trafficking.”

-Malala Yousafzai "There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children." -Nelson Mandela "All the problems of the world - Child Labour, Corruption - are symptoms of a spiritual disease: Lack of Compassion."

- Tenzin Gyatso (14th Dalai Lama) “Few human rights abuses are so widely condemned, yet so widely practised. Let us make (child labour) a priority. Because a child in danger is a child that cannot wait.”

-Kofi Annan, Former UN Secretary-General

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Fiinobservation of International Days World Environment Day

World Day Against Child Labour

World Desertification Day

5 June

12 June

17 June

The environment provides essential material assets and an economic base for human pursuit. Almost half the jobs worldwide depend on fisheries, forests or agriculture. The non-sustainable use of natural resources, including land, water, forests and fisheries, can threaten individuals as well as local livelihood along with national and international economies.

Chhotu – “Chai Dena”, Gudiya- “Paani Pila”, how often do we come across these instances in our daily lives.

Chances are – everyday. Of course living in cities we are inundated with everyday images of child labour, from the street side acrobat trying to draw our attention, to the scrawny hands trying to separate the tyre from the wheel of our vehicle in a puncture kiosk, or the little boy putting the glasses in front of us in a dhaba, they are all there.

The emerging environmental issues of dead zones in coastal waters, resulting from excess nitrogen seeping into the water, presence of plastic debris in the mid ocean or the polar regions, chemicals entering our food system should definitely be an eye opener.

However, restricting development is not a solution; rather, it is important to ensure that it proceeds in the right direction causing minimal impacts on the environment. Moreover there has been a current trend of businesses that have adopted green technologies or people looking for simple ways to save the earth and do their bit for the planet.

On May 13, 2015 the Cabinet approved a ban on employment of children below 14 years, with a caveat that children can pursue family businesses, entertainment and sports activities after school or in vacations. To put it bluntly, children who work, fail to get necessary education. They do not get the opportunity to develop physically, e m o t i o n a l l y a n d i n t e l l e c t u a l l y, ultimately limiting their ability to contribute to their own well-being as well as to the community they live in.

Desertification combined with climatic changes i s one of t he great es t environmental risks today. Increasing risk due to desertification in vulnerable part of the world is making the situation even more miserable. Activities of the past decades, mainly human interventions and unsustainable practices have led to desertification at an alarming rate, resulting in reduction of land productivity and threatening livelihoods of immediate stakeholders.

Rural households which are dependent on dry land agriculture are most vulnerable to drought because of low adaptive capacity, higher sensitivity and exposure to climatic stresses.

Desertification phenomenon is not just confined to the desert areas. Since a large part of the country is undergoing the process of degradation and desertification, there is an urgent need to check and combat these challenges.

If we do not manage our land in a sustainable manner in the next few decades, there will be a billion or more people with little choice to sustain their livelihoods.

About Fiinovation Fiinovation, a research based organization, is an integrated solution enabler in the CSR and sustainability domain. It is focused towards enhancing quality across organizational value chain through meaningful innovation thereby ensuring sustainability. It is Asia's first proposal research laboratory wherein research is focused primarily on four sectors, which include health, education, livelihood and environment. The practices CSR Portfolio Management (CPM), CSR-CSO Partnership, Initiative Design, Initiative Management, Monitoring and Evaluation, Impact Assessment and Sustainability Reporting help provide simple solutions to their partners.

Fiinovation 24/30, Ground Floor, Okhla Industrial Estate, Phase III New Delhi - 110020 Phone: 011-42332200 | Fax : 011-42332205 website: www.fiinovation.co.in | Email: media@fiinovation.co.in