Introduction - How the MCF is structured:

In keeping with our mission of encouraging the youth to drive the Mountain Children's Forum (and our personal commitment of trying never to tell them what to do), the MCF is structured as a loose network of children's groups (known variously as chapters, PABAMs, bal panchayats or bal sangathans (children's parliaments or groups), or secretariats).

For the purpose of this website, we have organized the chapters by district. We had established one children's group in each district as a lead up to the International Conference of Mountain Children, which launched the MCF. However as the MCF has evolved, the children have tended to form their own groups within a single village or cluster of villages (only natural, since each district covers many kilometers). Some districts have several MCF chapters while others only have one. Since the children drive the MCF, they grow it at their own pace.

The MCF global desk in Dehradun and the MCF partner organizations provide facilitation, support and assistance to these chapters, but in each group the young people decide for themselves what issues they want to take on, and how. Sometimes they participate in programs being carried out by their supporting NGO. At other times, they identify problems within their village or community and tackle it themselves.

During the ICMC in May 2002, young people from Nepal, Himachal Pradesh, Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Tripura, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, and from mountainous areas in Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh came together with those from to form the MCF. As we move the MCF forward, we have focused on the area most within our reach, the state of Uttarakhand, which is located in India's Northwestern mountains. As the world's newest mountain state (Uttarakhand became a separate state in 2000), it seemed a unique opportunity to influence the policies and programs that would affect children. But the young people from those other regions are still very much members of the MCF - we just need to assemble the resources to help them get their chapters up and moving.

back to top

MCF Chapters in Uttarakhand:

To see what the young members of a particular district are doing, click on that district's name in the map below. To see a roundup of recent activities from all the active MCF chapters, please see our activities section.