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Ensuring Access to School and Protecting Children from Abuse in India

Program

Rise Up

Highlights

Two young women from Rise Up in India, one with her arm raised

PHI’s Rise Up program works in India to strengthen local organizations, lead change, and advance national and local-level impact through improved laws, programs, and funding for girls and women. In 2020, their advocacy won major changes to improve the lives of millions of women and girls.

1.5M women and girls gaining access to vital services including health, safety, nutrition, immunization, education, and referrals

500K girls gaining greater access to education

950K children protected through newly active Child Protection Committees

A cohort of visionary local leaders in India are participants in Rise Up’s Gender Equity Initiative, working to strengthen their organizations, lead change in their communities, and advance national and local-level impact through improved laws, programs, and funding for girls and women. In 2020, their advocacy won major changes to improve the lives of millions of women and girls, including:

  • Establishment and funding of 98 Integrated Child Development Service centers (following the filing of numerous court orders), resulting in 1.5 million women and girls gaining access to vital services including health, safety, nutrition, immunization, education, and referrals.
  • Expanding access to education for nearly 500,000 girls throughout India by ensuring they can attend school free from harassment.
  • Protecting more than 950,000 children through the activation of 170 Child Protection Committees in Mumbai.

Alicia Tauro and her organization, Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action (YUVA), work with children, youth, and women in Mumbai’s informal settlements. With funding and support from Rise Up, Alicia and YUVA protected the health and safety of 951,000 children in Mumbai. Alicia applied what she learned in the Rise Up Leadership and Advocacy Accelerator to create and mobilize Child Protection Committees to protect children from harassment and abuse. When the pandemic hit, Alicia adapted her strategy to include a combination of online and safe community-based activities and successfully advocated for the implementation of Child Protection Committees across Mumbai. 

Childhood is a golden age in life...Every child has the right to a safe and healthy childhood, especially children from low-resource communities and urban poor households. My biggest takeaway from the Accelerator was how to take a systematic and holistic approach to advocacy...Applying the learnings from Rise Up to my advocacy strategy with my incredibly supportive team at YUVA, we achieved groundbreaking success.

Rise Up Leader Alicia Tauro

Learn more about Rise Up’s work in India.

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