The Mountain Children's Forum

From 18-21 May, 135 young people from around Uttarakhand gathered in Dehradun to start the dialog on creating a Child Policy for the state. These are their recommendations:

The Mountain Children’s Forum is an empowered organization of mountain children from the 13 districts of the state of Uttarakhand. Some 7,500 children in the state are working together through Bal Panchayats (children’s groups). The Mountain Children’s Forum was established four years ago on 21st May 2002. From 18-21 May 2006, 135 children gathered in Dehradun to celebrate the 4th anniversary of the founding of the MCF

A month prior to coming to Dehradun, we have been discussing with the members of our MCF groups what our state’s Child Policy—which has not yet been formulated—should look like. For the past two days, we have been sharing those conversations with our fellow delegates at this conference. After discussing each of the issues carefully, we have selected some issues that we would like to place as policy recommendations before the Government of the State of Uttarakhand.

It is the request of all the members of the Mountain Children’s Forum that the Government of Uttarakhand consider these suggestions when formulating a Child Policy for the state. Thank You.

We are presenting these suggestions within the context of the 4 major Rights of the Child:

The Right to an Identity
  • It should be ensured that the birth of every child should be registered at the village level.
  • Children should know the exact date of their birth and have a birth certificate to prove it.
  • All children have a right to be born whether boy or girl, therefore female feticide should be banned.
  • Every child should receive complete immunizations.
  • So that we can have access to health care, quality health facilities should be available at the village level.
  • There should be no kind of discrimination or preference among us. We should all have an equal opportunity to progress.
  • We should get nutritional food.

The Right to Safety
  • We should have a safe family and living environment.
  • We should not be drawn into social or political conflicts.
  • The right to safety should be specially given to girls. To enable them to protect themselves they should be provided self-defense classes in school.
  • Arrangements should be made to provide information for girls about female health and hygiene separately from the boys.
  • There should be a ban on children under the age of 18 driving a vehicle.
  • Neglect of children by their family or other responsible persons should be a punishable offence.
  • In the village we should have some kind of help line available to us so that we can seek help in case of an emergency.
  • Child labour should be banned from our society. Arrangements should be made for the rehabilitation of children who are currently forced to work.
  • During a disaster, facilities should be available to help and support children especially.

The Right to Development
  • Schools should be available even in distant villages. All schools should be equipped with adequate educational materials, sports/play equipment, and computers.
  • We should have the opportunity to advance and progress in our lives based on our individual skills and abilities. Schools should provide curriculums to meet these different needs. Thus if a child has a talent for vocational education, he/she should be provided with that type of education.
  • The quality of education in government schools need to be improved.
  • Children who have dropped out of school should be supported and provided with opportunities to study and gain knowledge so that they too have the right to develop.
  • We should have opportunities and time for play and entertainment as well.
  • The state should provide support and assistance for physically handicapped children.

The Right to Participation
  • We should have the right to participate and share our views in village council meetings.
  • An environment should be established through which we can easily place our concerns before society and the government.
  • We should have the right to take leadership roles in various activities in the community and our children’s groups should be recognized and respected in our communities.
  • When schools have a guardians/parent teacher meeting, children should also be included and allowed to participate in the discussion.
  • We should have the right to participate in our family’s decisions.
  • We should have the right to speak to Government officials and other community leaders.
  • On a governance level, we should always be consulted when policies that affect us are formulated.
  • Our help and support should be enlisted for any activity or social work that is to be carried out in the village or in society.
  • We should have the right to be treated as equals especially in the case of inheritance.

Requested by
The Members of the Mountain Children’s Forum
21 May 2006
Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India

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The Mountain Children's Forum Desk
Phone: 91-135-6532937 Email: mcfglobal@vsnl.net
Postal Address: 5/12 New Vasant Vihar Enclave, Dehradun, Uttarakhand 248001, INDIA