FairPlanet.Support
| tags: | #India, #street children |
|---|---|
| located: | India |
| by: | Yair Oded |
Whether due to violence, abuse, poverty, hunger, or neglect, millions of Indian children escape their homes and attempt to reach big cities via trains.
Alas, once they arrive at the railway stations, many of them lose their way and fall prey to exploitation, kidnapping, substance abuse, and hunger.
It’s been reported that every five minutes a child arrives alone on a platform in India, and that as many as 11 million children live on the streets across the country.
Railway Children is a nonprofit which advocates for and protects street children around the world, as well as in India.
In India, the organization operates on three levels: In the streets—where they tend to the immediate needs of street children and help them finds a safe space; in communities—where they work to increase the visibility of street children and their needs, through, for instance, prevention interventions and the establishing of ‘safety nets’ for children; and in government, where the organization lobbies on behalf of street children and urges policy makers to make their plight a legislative priority.
Railway Children report that last year they reached and protected 8,338 children in streets, government homes, and local communities.
Please visit their website to learn about their volunteer opportunities, events, and campaigns.
Image credit: Ondrej via Flickr
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