About This Initiative
Creating Awareness for a Child Marriage-Free Community
Every child deserves to grow up in a safe, nurturing, and inclusive environment. We work with children, families, schools, communities, and government institutions to protect children from exploitation, abuse, child labour, and child marriage while ensuring their right to education and healthy development.
Our interventions have enabled approximately 4,500 school drop-out children to return to mainstream education, rescued around 300 child labourers, and prevented 478 child marriages, giving children the opportunity to pursue a brighter future. We have also provided psychosocial support, counselling, and referral services to 197 survivors of child sexual abuse, helping them access protection and justice.
Through sustained community awareness campaigns, around 800,000 people have taken a public pledge not to conduct, support, or attend child marriages, creating a powerful movement to safeguard children’s rights. Together with communities and institutions, we are building a future where every child is safe, educated, and empowered to reach their full potential.
Project Information
PROJECT TYPE
Community Awareness
FOCUS AREA
Child Marriage Prevention
APPROACH
Village-Level Engagement
OBJECTIVE
Promoting Child Marriage-Free Communities
Campaign & Community Activities
Community Awareness
Building Awareness at the Village Level
Awareness plays an important role in addressing social issues at the community level. The Child Marriage Free Village Campaign creates a platform for engaging with people and encouraging greater understanding about the importance of preventing child marriage. By bringing awareness to the village level, the campaign encourages people to recognise the importance of protecting children and supporting their well-being and future.
Community participation is an important part of creating sustainable social change. When people come together and actively engage with an important social issue, it creates an opportunity for greater understanding, discussion and collective responsibility. The campaign focuses on encouraging conversations within the community and building a shared understanding of why preventing child marriage is important for creating a supportive environment for children.
Village-level engagement can play an important role in strengthening awareness and encouraging communities to work together towards positive social change. By involving people at the community level, the campaign provides an opportunity to create greater awareness around the issue and encourage collective participation.
Our Approach to Social Awareness
Child Protection
Promoting awareness around the importance of protecting children and supporting their well-being and future.
Awareness
The MRGS field activities document the active involvement of workers in on-ground work carried out within the watershed development area.
Community Participation
Engaging communities and encouraging collective participation towards positive social change.
Village-Level Action
Focusing on awareness and engagement at the grassroots and village level.
Our work impact
Mother and Child Health
- Number of villages-28, Families-5310, Population-32941
- 2940 pregnant mothers, whose health was below the WHO criteria, were improved.
- HB levels were increased from an average of 7 to 12g/dL.
- The pregnant mother’s weight was gained to the recommended levels between 11.5 to 16 kilograms.
- The Colostrums feeding of new babies increased from 65% to 96%.
- The consumption of nutritious food by pregnant and lactating mothers increased from 70% to 94%.
- The percentage of family using feeding safe and pure drinking water to babies increased from 65% to 90%.
Agriculture&Livelihood
- Districts Covered- 3, Villages Covered-468, Families Covered-43287, Approximate Population covered- 216435 persons.
- 21000 families improved their income through agriculture support from on average Rs 3700 per month to Rs 12000 per month.
- 15,000 farmers are practicing Organic Farming from one 12000 hectare and approximately 4500 hectare were brought under horticulture plantation.
- Approximately 45000 hectare land was brought under the cultivation of pulses
- Approximately 3312 families migration were stopped in the last 5 years, through agriculture and livelihood support.
Environment
- Approximately 12,000 hectares of land in the watershed are afforested, and the same land's soil erosion has been stopped.
- More than 3500 wells deepened and restored for various purposes in approximately 250 villages, water reservoirs desalted. 5 villages made drought-free villages.
SELF HELP GROUPS
- 384 women Self Help Groups were formed and 120 SHGs received loans from banks. Around 170 women started microenterprises, such as pulses sorting, chili powder, small poultry, etc. Because of 170 micro enterprises started by women, the women stopped migrating, thereby securing the exploitation of their children.
Child Education and Sexual Abuse Villages Covered- 450, Districts-13
- Approximately 4,500 drop-out children restored in mainstream schooling.
- Approximately 300 child labourers rescued and approximately 478 Child marriages stopped.
- Approximately 197 Child Sexual Abuse Survivors Supported.
- Around 8 lakhs took part in that they won't conduct any child marriage and would not support and attend child marriages.
- 333 tribal children in the tribal areas are continuing education in Chhattisgarh.
