Udupi progresses towards being a ‘Child Rights Friendly’ District: Udupi District Child Rights Protection Protocol 2018
Posted on January 02, 2019
Manipal, 27th December, 2018
On 27th December, 2018, the District Administration of Udupi, facilitated by The Concerned for Working Children, adopted the Udupi District Child Rights Protection Protocol as a District Regulation, thus progressing towards creating a ‘Child Rights Friendly’ Udupi District, setting a precedent for the entire state of Karnataka. CWC has worked in close collaboration with the Udupi district administration to bring the protocol into force. The protocol was adopted as a district regulation at Atal Bihari Vajpayee Hall, Rajathadri, Manipal, released by the Hon. Minister of State for DWCD, Smt. Jaimala, DC for Udupi district, Smt. Priyanka Mary Francis, Member of KSCPCR and in-charge of Udupi district, Smt. Vanita Thoravi and several representatives of the Udupi district administration and member of Children Sanghas and the Bhima Sangha. More than 500 children across Udupi district were present at the event, where children from Children Sanghas and Bhima Sangha of Kundapur taluk presented a play highlighting the issues of safety and protection raised by women and children at the Gram Sabhas. The adoption of this protocol is a huge step towards acknowledging children’s citizenship and their right to participation in local governance spaces.
The formulation of the protocol has been a bottom up process, starting from Panchayat upwards, with active ownership from the children’s sanghas, Makkala mitras and Mahila mitras, Panchayat task forces etc. The district administration, led by the DC herself, has helmed the entire process and has had direct consultations with all of these stakeholder groups, especially with the children. CWC acknowledges the role of the district administration in the entire process. This has been an exhaustive and inclusive process and continues to be a work in progress.
Highlights from the event:
The event began with a procession of children, who created awareness regarding various issues faced by children and the communities. Ms. Priyanka Mary Francis, District Commissioner of the Udupi district, began her speech with a powerful phrase saying that ‘Children are Citizens today’ and that it was important for children’s issues to be heard, discussed and addressed by all of the three tier local governments, i.e the village, taluk and district panchayat. She highlighted that policy formulation needs to incorporate the views of children in making decisions that affect their lives and that the Child Rights Protection Protocol would be the first step in this direction.
Damodar Acharya, Executive Director of CWC, threw light on the need for the development of the protocol and highlighted that it emphasised the realisation of children’s right to protection, provision and participation and that the governance systems are accountable to children. He also threw light on the community led structures with active participation of all stakeholder groups in the community. He further stressed that the protocol will enable platforms for children’s participation in decisions that affect their lives.
The highlight of the event was a short skit by the children of the Bhima Sangha and Makkala Sanghas in Kundapur, bringing out several issues of safety and protection raised by children and their communities. Ms. Jaimala, honourable minister of state for DWCD and the District In-Charge minister for Udupi district, addressed the children at the gathering and expressed her joy on having Udupi district declared as a ‘Child Rights Friendly’ district with the adoption of the protocol. She called for children to utilise the Makkala Grama Sabha platforms to raise key issues that affect the lives of children and their communities, be it child marriage, migration or child trafficking. She also acknowledged the role of CWC in the formulation of the protocol and also agreed to extend support to the implementation of the protocol in its full spirit.
Please find below some salient featured and key highlights of the protocol:
What is the Udupi District Child Rights Protection Protocol?
The Child Rights Friendly Protection Protocol (CRPP) of Udupi district is a comprehensive and a one of its kind policy developed to ensure that all children receive care and protection. The protocol, through various mechanisms to strengthen children’s participation, has enabled children to interface directly with policy makers, officials and representatives from the district level to the local government and to ensure the accountability of the government at all levels to the children.
The Udupi District Child Rights Protection Protocol was commissioned through the initiative of Ms. Priyanka Mary Francis, District Commissioner Udupi District, Ms. Shilpa Nag, Former Assistant Commissioner, Udupi district, and Mr. B. Bhoobalan, Assistant Commissioner, Kundapur Taluk, Udupi district. Drawing from the successful models that The Concerned for Working Children along with the district administration have implemented over the years, the following prominent structures have been incorporated into the protocol:
- The Child Rights Task Force, which is a tripartite collaboration of all the stakeholders, has 60% representation of children of the various panchayats and other children’s collectives, including the Bhima Sangha and Makkala Sangha, along with representatives of district administration, other departmental and government officials, elected representatives of the panchayat, youth, women and other community based organisations, as well as representative members of Makkala and Mahila Mitra The task force will be constituted at all the three tiers, i.e. the village, taluk and district level. This Task Force will be the nodal agency for the implementation and monitoring of the protocol
- The Rapid Response Team which will be formulated by the taluk level task forces, shall be constituted to respond to children in situations of emergency, crisis, natural disasters and civil disturbances in each taluk by the Taluk Panchayat Task Forces respectively and shall be monitored and supervised by them
- The Makkala Sahayavani, which is a successfully established model of The Concerned for Working Children with the communities in Kundapur taluk, is a 24 hours toll-free Child Rights Protection Helpline that will now be scaled to the District administration with the implementation of the protocol. This helpline will be made accessible to children and adults with regard to any support related to children and to address violation of children’s rights across Udupi district
Salient Features of the Udupi District Child Rights Protection Protocol
The Udupi District Child Rights Protection Protocol aims at highlighting and ensuring children’s right to participation and agency in identifying issues that are concerning them as well as developing redressal mechanisms, approaches and systems to address these issues. The protocol that is helmed by the Udupi district administration and The Concerned for Working Children, commits to ensure that children have a paramount footing in all actions and decisions to secure their rights.
The protocol emphasises on the convergence of all the stakeholders in functionality, accountability and ownership at both the vertical level i.e. from the village panchayat to the district administration, as well as at the horizontal level, i.e. by various district level government and departmental structures including the Departments of Women and Child Development, Police, Education, Health, Labour and so on.
Tracing the ‘Udupi District Child Rights Protection Protocol’ journey
The Concerned for Working Children has a long-standing partnership with the Udupi district administration, its taluks, and its panchayats. Over the last three decades, The Concerned for Working Children has worked closely with the Udupi district administration to develop and implement a ‘Child Rights Friendly’ approach in governance. Through its tireless work with the local communities, including the women and children, and with local government bodies over the years, The Concerned for Working Children has established several community led structures and mechanisms to uphold the rights of children in Kundapur taluk, Udupi district.
In 1992, The Concerned for Working Children facilitated the formation of the Bhima Sangha, a union of working children in Karnataka. The Concerned for Working Children’s efforts have also resulted in the formation of Makkala Panchayats, with the Department of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj in Udupi district, which were the first of their kind in India. Similarly, in partnership with the community, especially children, The Concerned for Working Children implemented structures such as Makkala and Mahila Mitras, Makkala Sanghas, Dhudio Makkala Toofan, Makkala Sahayavani, Task force and other such community led structures. The culmination of the community led engagement with the Udupi administration, was a consultation with the District Commissioner of Udupi district and other officials in Korgi Panchayat, Kundapur taluk, Udupi district, where the women and children brought several alarming child rights issues to their notice and also raised the urgent need for all the above successful structures to come under the umbrella of a common regulation that would impact the entire Udupi district.
The Udupi district administration has acknowledged the integral role of these structures in upholding children’s right to protection, provision and participation and to address the issues raised by women and children during the consultation in Korgi and other forums. Hence, it has partnered with The Concerned for Working Children to bring these important mechanisms under an overarching regulation, Child Rights Protection Protocol that is scalable and replicable across the entire Udupi district. Thus the protocol, in its actualization, will be instrumental in recognising children’s right to participation in matters that impact their lives.
Read the English version of the Udupi District Child Rights Protection Protocol here:
UdupiDistrictChildRightsProtectionProtocol2018_English
Read the Kannada version of the Udupi District Child Rights Protection Protocol here:
UdupiDistrictChildRightsProtectionProtocol2018_Kannada
Read the Press Coverage of the Event here:
Vijaya Karnataka, December 28th, 2018
Prajavani, December 28th, 2018:
