Lending Children an Ear
BEST CHILD CARE/ SUPPORT
WINNER: World Vision India
WHY IT WON: For working towards the welfare of children and providing them support and care in the areas of health, nutrition and psychological wellbeing
WITH A PRESENCE IN 25 states, World Vision India prioritised working for children during the pandemic. Among the most vulnerable, children have been impacted, psychologically and physically, in a big way by the virus, and the organisation recognised the need to reach out to them.
Since Covid’s outbreak in March 2020, World Vision India, headquartered in Chennai, has reached out to 1.68 million children with services in the areas of healthcare, nutrition, education, water, sanitation and hygiene. Apart from these, they have also been giving children psycho-social support and working to protect them from child trafficking and sexual abuse, instances of which increased manifold during the pandemic. World Vision India also launched a tele-counselling line for pregnant women and mothers of infants with a special focus on nutrition, health and hygiene.
The organisation worked with ChildFund India, Save the Children India, Plan India and SOS Children’s Villages of India to encourage the Centre to start a tollfree number (1098) that children can use to seek help in emergencies. World Vision India also played a big role in creating vaccination awareness by engaging communities, young people, religious leaders, social activists and prominent persons of society. About 30 million people were covered and mentally prepared for inoculation.