Action for Children [AFC] Programme | India

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Action for Children

An Act for Positive Impact

`Stand up and make a difference.’

Because you can……..
Make a difference to those hundreds of thousands of disadvantaged children in whose hands lies the future of the country.

Because, to quote Rabindranath Tagore….
“Children are living beings - more living than grown-up people who have built shells of habit around themselves. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary for their mental health and development that they should not have mere schools for their lessons, but a world whose guiding spirit is personal love.”

That’s what Action for Children (AFC) is all about -- an innovative programme designed to create a world filled with love and care.
. A programme aimed at sensitizing people about the plight of underprivileged children.
. A programme aimed at making people `Act’ to make a difference in the lives of these children.

Currently being implemented in three developing economies of the world – Brazil, South Africa and India, AFC is a development programme for children, initiated by the consortium of three Dutch organisations, namely Wild Geese, Net4Kids, and Kids Rights, with the support of the Dutch Government.

In India, Smile Foundation is the nodal organisation chosen to promote this programme by the Dutch International Development Ministry of Government of the Netherlands.

A people’s issue

Action for Children (AFC) is based on the concept that ‘Development’ is a people’s issue and not the government’s concern alone. It aims to sensitize people through advocacy on child related issues. The programme further seeks to involve them in mobilization of resources for projects targeted to bring about a qualitative change in the lives of underprivileged children. AFC is aimed at encouraging the privileged to stand up and to `Act’ to make a difference in the lives of the disadvantaged.

The Indian context
The programme permeates from the context that:

the situation of children in India leaves much to be desired
fund raising in India needs to be more broad based
public support for the cause of children and its socialization is required to be strengthened

How bleak the Indian scenario is becomes evident from the stark contrast in realities across the spectrum. The contrast between the top and the bottom – at the top of the spectrum are 53 of the world’s 500 top billionaires, and at the bottom is the world’s highest number of underprivileged.

The scene at the top

India has 53 billionaires, that is the highest in Asia and the fourth highest in the world, behind USA (469), Russia (87) and Germany (59).

Among the world’s 10 richest persons, four are Indians.

Together, these billionaires have a combined net worth of $340.9 billion

The scene at the bottom

17 million children in India work as child labourers

At least 35 million children aged 6-14 years do not attend school

53% of girls in the age group of 5 to 9 are illiterate

2 million children die before their first birthday due to lack of immunization and medical facilities

More than 50% of India’s children are malnourished

Clearly, the benefits of economic development are yet to percolate to the grassroots level. It’s a process that can be expedited if development organisations like ours and people like you join the government in this herculean task of minimizing the difference between the top and the bottom.

The Programme
‘Action for Children’ is a step in the right direction with the aim to:

Deploy strong advocacy instruments for the benefit of children through the media.

Sensitize and encourage individuals and various civil society groups, trade, industry and professional associations, schools, colleges, youth clubs, youth wings, corporate employees and others to undertake innovative fundraising events and activities for child-focused projects in their local area.

Initiate the process of making local organisations for children, self-reliant and reduce their dependence on the government or other sources of funds.

Build the capacity of these organisations to ensure their sustainability in the long run.

Encourage and support local actions, which raise funds for child-focused projects, contributing towards realization of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and helping in promotion of child rights.

An innovative approach

The AFC programme is targeted towards creating awareness among the masses regarding issues concerning children. It seeks to motivate people to mobilize resources for child-focused projects through innovative fundraising activities and events. The icing on the cake is that the net funds raised shall get doubled through Smile Foundation’s matching grant support.

Building the momentum

Under the AFC programme, a series of innovative activities have been designed to:

Catch them young!

Kids XL is a school exchange programme where a privileged school is networked with an underprivileged school through special interactive activities. The interactions between the privileged and underprivileged children brings them closer and makes them sensitive towards each other’s needs thereby reducing the social disparity between the two. It also inculcates a sense of responsibility among children towards their society.

Bring together like-minded individuals, groups and institutions!

Local Action is a unique concept that brings together individuals, groups of people and institutions in the conduct of an event or activity with the objective of raising funds for project focusing on children.

Advocate children’s rights!

‘Action for Children’ disseminates information on child related issues to a wide audience through a range of innovative campaigns, events and programmes. The underlying objective is to sensitize and stimulate the privileged section to act for safeguarding the interests of underprivileged children.

"Coming together is a beginning
.Keeping together is progress.
Working together is success."

--- Henry Ford

Come - Join hands to spread a few Smiles....

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For any queries:

E-mail to: afc@smilefoundationindia.org

Head Office
V-11, Level – 1, Green Park Extension, New Delhi – 110 016
Phone: +91-11-41354565, 41354566 | Fax: +91-11-41354454
Website : www.smilefoundationindia.org
Regional Offices
Mumbai: 102, 'Sheraton Classic', Ram Mandir Road,
Vile Parle (East), Mumbai - 400 057. Phone: +91-22-26104106

Hyderabad: G-9, 1st floor, Bharani Residency Complex, Minister Road,
Secunderabad – 500 003. Ph. +91-40-40200894, 27847081

Bangalore: 71, Dickenson Road, Bangalore – 560 042

Kolkata: 53/1, Central Road, Jadavpur, Kolkata – 700 032

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To know more about programme, fundraising and project guidelines please contact afc@smilefoundationindia.org