On the occasion of the 69th Republic day of India, the child advocates of NINEISMINE | PRATYeK are speaking up for the importance of including children in the working of this democracy and their participation in policy-making around child rights.
They are here to make people aware of the significance of listening to children and their opinions when making laws for them, because without the inclusion of real stakeholders these policies go in vain.
These children are saying, “We are not weak, we can speak.” Children have revolutionary ideas and new perspectives, and it is essential that we capacitate them to channelise these ideas efficiently. This is done by PRATYeK through its Children’s Parliament, and the parliamentarians are on a 16-day mission to let the world know about the work that they have done and prove that they too can take part in decision and policy making.
#CHILDREN4DEMOCRACY is a platform made by them to, firstly, become a voice for all the children who want to realize their full citizenship by taking part in child rights policymaking and Indian democracy. Secondly, it exists to give visibility to the amazing work that they have been doing for their communities, through their Children’s Parliament, at the national as well as the international level.
We have a number of laws around child rights in India, but we still witness a lot of instances of child rights violations. Maybe it has something to do with not consulting the stakeholders in the matters directly affecting them.
The campaign will feature videos of their Parliament’s session, individual videos of 18 ministers of SDGs who are members of this Parliament, and other facts and figures that stand as proof to the fact that children need to be included in processes related to them.
These children came from slum areas in Delhi, and took it upon themselves to tackle the problems being faced by them and their peers.
This Republic Day, let us celebrate children, one of the most ignored sections in the policy-making process of India.