Details of HAQ: Centre for Child Rights's Annual Report Years 1999 - 2000. HAQ: Center for Child Rights B1/2, Ground Floor, Malviya Nagar New Delhi - 110017 Tel: +91-26677412,26673599 Fax: +91-26674688 Website: www.haqcrc.org FaceBook Page: https://www.facebook.com/HaqCentreForChildRights

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HAQ: Centre for Child Rights
Activity Report
1999 to 2000
HAQ: Centre for Child Rights is a not-for-profit organisation, started in October 1998 and
formally registered under the Societies Registration Act, in June 1999.
HAQ seeks to recognise, protect and promote child rights, and believes that there is a need for
realisation of human rights of children through policy, law and action.
The recognition, protection and promotion of three rights form the cornerstone of HAQ’s
work. They are: Right to Survival, Right to Childhood and Right to Equal Opportunity.
For HAQ, these rights form the basis of every other right. We believe that by ensuring these,
can the other rights of the child be assured.
Though of recent origin as an organisation, HAQ and its work have emerged from the long
involvement of its founding members and Governing Body in issues concerning children and
their rights. Consequently, HAQ has the composite experience and support of several
committed individuals behind it.
Existing NGOs and other institutions interested in, and working on children's issues in
different parts of India, focus on certain specific issues and categories of children, e.g. child
labour, bonded child, street child, girl child, juvenile offenders, sexually abused child,
handicapped child, young child etc. It is as though ‘issues’ and 'categories' divide today's
child. There is a need to look at the CHILD in an integrated manner and fill the conceptual
and practical gaps, making crosscutting linkages between different categories of children and
issues affecting them. To be able to do this, there is need for consolidated information and a
source from which it can be tapped. At HAQ we believe that there has to exist a resource
centre on children and children’s issues, which would not only provide information and
referral service to individuals and groups dealing with children at every level, but also build a
movement for child rights. The Centre, therefore, has been instituted to serve as a resource
base as well as a support group.
RESEARCH and DOCUMENTATION
CHILD LABOUR
Review and Documentation of child labour projects in Uttar Pradesh. 1999-2000.
HAQ: Centre for Child Rights has undertaken a review and documentation of 10
organisations working on child labour in Western Uttar Pradesh on behalf of the UNDP. All
these organisations are CRY partners. Before undertaking the fieldwork for the review, a
meeting was held with all the 10 organisations in Allahabad on 12 October 1999. The review
was undertaken in two phases. In the first phase five organisations were covered and the
Area of work

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review and documentation exercise was undertaken between October and December 1999.
They were:
• Gramiya
• Jan Shikshan Samiti
• Centre for Education and Rural Technology
• Sankalp
• Shikhar Prashikshan Sansthan
In the second phase of the review, five other organisations were studied and the
review was undertaken between February and March, 2000. The organisations
reviewed in this phase were:
• Doaba Vikas Evam Utthan Samiti,
• Garima,
• Gramin Vikas Kendra,
• Gram Swarajya Samiti, and
• Akhil Bhartiya Yuvak Kalyankari Samiti.
This project helped in documenting the work of organisations working in the far-
flung and interior villages of Uttar Pradesh. Simultaneously, it helped the
organisations in identifying the areas that they needed to develop and concentrate on
in the course of there future work so as to be able to address the issues of child labour
and education in a more effective manner. Some of the common issues confronting
these organisations in relation to the child labour project are as follows:
• Most of the working children fall under the unorganised sector; it requires
interventions at a war footing. Child labour needs immediate intervention
because it is inextricably linked with the overall need for social change, land
reforms and alternative models of development.
• To relieve young girls off the burden of taking care of their siblings, which
also deprives them from going to school, the organisations need to think in
terms of working out gender sensitive alternatives such as crèche facilities
within the village.
• For a more effective impact and sustainable alternative, a holistic approach
and understanding of current economic trends is essential.
• All the groups need more information on the Child labour Act and the CRC
and other children related laws and policies.
• They need to build upon their child rights and gender perspective.
• For future sustainability and empowerment, a more detailed local resource
mapping and effective strategies for access and control over them is required.
• All the groups will have to widen their outlook to see and learn from the
experiences of Kerala, where the per capita income is much lower (Rs.3389/-)
compared to Punjab (Rs.7081/-) but the rate of literacy is much higher (91%)
whereas Punjab has only 57% literacy rate. Also, Kerala has a Match Industry
with 800 units but no child labour is employed there.
• Savings are still considered mainly a responsibility of women. Men also need
to be sensitised to inculcate this good habit within them.
• Though education is the best form of investment, to keep up with the fast
changing highly technical world, the inputs in this field will have to have a
wider vision and a different set of capacities.

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TRAINING
ORGANISATIONAL STRATEGY AND BUILDING A CHILD RIGHTS
PESRPECTIVE
HAQ facilitated training on Strategy Development for Kargil Development
Programme, an NGO based in Kargil, working on community development and
helped incorporate a comprehensive child rights perspective in their ongoing
work. October 1999.
CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD (CRC).
In March 21, 2000, HAQ: Centre for Child Rights organised a half day workshop
on the Process following India's Ratification of the Convention on the Rights of
the Child (CRC) in association with the land and Housing Rights Committee of
the Habitat International Coalition. In this meeting information was shared with
several organisations and professionals working on children’s issues on the
process following India's Ratification of the CRC and, the Concluding
Observations of the Committee on the CRC following examination of Indian
Delegation on India's Compliance to the CRC India process.
ADVOCACY
RIGHT TO EDUCATION
Following the launch of the Public Report on Basic Education (PROBE) in India
by Professor Amartaya Sen, Nobel Laureate in December 1999, and HAQ was
part of the organising team for the public hearing on the right to education held at
the Gandhi Memorial Hall, New Delhi. Several individuals, teachers,
educationists and children spoke about the situation of the education system and
the problems faced by them and the country. This public hearing served to
highlight the need for free and compulsory education for all children.
Since its inception, HAQ has been a part of various networks such as the Campaign
for Right to Education, the Campaign against Child Labour, Forum for Crèches
and Child Care Services and People’s Bias (Budget and Analysis Services).
(Ongoing). Through these networks and alliances on various issues, HAQ attempts to
bring the issues concerning children into the forefront of national agenda and debate.