NITI Aayog and AVA join hands to improve children's education in 73 districts and declare 15,000 villages child marriage free

New Delhi. NITI Aayog and Association for Voluntary Action (AVA) have joined hands to educate, protect and empower children in the most backward areas of the country and declare 15,000 villages in 104 blocks of the country child marriage free in the next one year. A letter of intent (SoI) to this effect was signed in New Delhi. Under this, in the next two years, a protective circle in the form of safe children's villages will be created for the children of economically weak families of these villages in the aspirational blocks of 73 districts who are vulnerable to exploitation, oppression, child labor or child marriage. Will be developed. This initiative is in consonance and synergy with the Aspirational Districts Program (ADP) launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018, which aims to bring transformational change in 112 most underdeveloped districts across the country.

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Under the two-year SOI, a holistic and comprehensive strategy will be implemented to empower girls and strengthen the education ecosystem in the most underdeveloped and sensitive areas of the country. To monitor and prevent child marriage and child trafficking, registers will be maintained at the Panchayat level in all target villages to record details of movement of people and marriages. Out-of-school children will be linked to education and skill development opportunities, while marginalized individuals and families will be linked to government welfare schemes.

AVA is a partner of Just Rights for Children (JRC), a network of over 200 civil organizations working in 416 districts across 26 states to combat crimes against children and empower communities to free themselves from exploitation and child marriage. An overall strategic framework has been developed. AVA will establish safe children's villages following this strategic framework.

Speaking on the occasion, Dhananjay Tingle, Executive Director, Association for Voluntary Action said, “Today we are proud and grateful to take an important step towards the empowerment of the most vulnerable sections of the society. With joint efforts, we aim to make these blocks child marriage free by the end of 2025 and set an example for others. This partnership is a testament to our shared commitment to protect every child's right to safety, education and dignity, and to end crimes like child marriage. The goal of child protection can be truly achieved by working together and making joint efforts between government bodies, communities and civil society organizations at all levels such as state, district and block.”

NITI Aayog will collaborate with State Governments, Central Ministries and other key stakeholders at the district, block and village levels, while AVA will collaborate with district administration, State Governments and Central Ministries to identify vulnerable families, in real time for timely intervention. Create a robust database to track progress towards relief to every child and family facing hardship. The Association for Voluntary Action will work in close collaboration with the District Administration on key indicators related to child education and protection including child labour, child trafficking and child marriage in the selected districts/blocks.

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The initiative will also be partnered with India Child Protection, a sister organization of the Association for Voluntary Action, which has expertise in monitoring and preventing online sexual exploitation and trafficking of children in cyberspace. India Child Protection will support this project through strategic interventions such as research, training and monitoring.