Help Save Children in India

We provide support to needy children through a holistic approach to child development that helps children to become fully mature in every aspect of life – emotionally, physically, spiritually and financially. Home to some of the oldest living civilizations, today’s India is the world’s largest democracy and a rising economic power. But it is tackling major social, economic and environmental issues, including a widening gap between the rich and those living in poverty.

While India has more wealth than ever before, and significant progress has been made, this has not fully translated into health care and nutrition, education or better protection for all, especially for India’s most marginalized and deprived children.

Challenges for Children in India

While India continues to grow as a driving force in the world economy, tens of millions of children are left behind. Children from the most vulnerable communities, including those from the lowest castes and tribes, religious minority groups and girls, do not have an equal opportunity to succeed. Many children are stunted due to severe malnutrition. Child marriage, child labor and poverty are persistent challenges.

  • 1 child in 27 dies before their 5th birthday, 5 times the U.S. rate
  • 35% of children suffer from stunting due to malnutrition
  • 20% of children are out of school, with 28% engaged in child labor
  • 16% of girls (ages 15-19) are married, and 34% of girls (ages 15+) struggle to read and write
  • 22% of people live in poverty

Our Results for Children in India

Thank you for giving to people like you, our work for children in India is making a difference – including over 742,000 children in India last year. This includes helping to reduce child mortality and stunting as well as reducing child labour, child marriage and teenage birth. Together, we are changing the lives of children – and the future we share.

  • 85,000 children healthy and nourished
  • 211,000 children educated and empowered
  • 361,000 children protected from harm
  • 86,000 children lifted from poverty
  • 88,000 children aided in crisis

Our Work for Children in India

Save the Children, a leading charity for children in India, believes that every child, irrespective of their origin, deserves the best chance for a bright future, and we are committed to ensuring that children Their rights should be realized, their voices heard and their needs met, given top priority.

For more than 50 years, we have worked tirelessly across India to ensure children’s survival and better health, their access to education, their protection from harm and their rights to development and participation.

We provide strong health and nutrition benefits to children from the most marginalized and disadvantaged communities – in fact, health and nutrition work comprises nearly half of our programs in India today. We help India’s children start and stay in school. When children are forced into child labour, abused or trafficked, we work to protect them and keep them free from violence.

In disaster-prone India, when children and their families are affected by storms, floods and other devastating events, our trained teams mobilize them to help them recover quickly and restore their lives, dignity and livelihoods. Necessary assistance is provided.

When Cyclone Fani made landfall in 2019, it was one of the strongest cyclones to batter India in decades, causing widespread damage in some of India’s poorest and most remote communities in Odisha State. Save the Children responded with prepositioned supplies and rapid relief, as well as a long-term recovery and resilience-building.

The opportunity to learn

  • We are helping children with limited means with their creativity and skills under the guidance of trained teachers.
  • From organizing school management committees to running urban education centres, we are ensuring that even the most marginalized girls and boys can learn.
  • Through sponsorship, we worked with communities to identify the most marginalized people, so that we can provide elementary and basic education for children.
  • We are working on holistic development of children in schools and communities so that they can gain better knowledge, attitude and practice towards nutrition and healthy lifestyle.
  • We’re helping school children become aware of climate change, including what they can do to reduce plastic waste, start kitchen gardens, and recycle.

Protection from harm

  • We are in the most disadvantaged communities, educating adults about children’s rights so they understand that children are in school and not work.
  • Through children’s groups, we are helping girls and boys work on solutions to help themselves and each other and ensure their rights are respected.
  • We are identifying out-of-school children, street children and those involved in child labor and facilitating their movement to schools through enrollment drives.
  • We continue to reach marginalized youth through New Horizons, a skills training program that builds financially viable skills among adolescents vulnerable or attached to exploitative work.

Emergency response

  • Today, as the rise in COVID infections is causing record numbers of deaths, overwhelming the healthcare system and threatening the safety of millions of children in India, we are working tirelessly to promote public health initiatives and protect children from harm. are. Our teams are distributing oxygen concentrators and planning to provide medical assistance like quarantine centre, ambulance, food and psychosocial support to the children.
  • We continue to help children and families be better prepared to deal with emergencies and more resilient to disaster shocks.