Emergency funding is needed to prevent children returning to child labour. ACE (1997) withdraws children from hazardous labour in the cotton fields of Telangana, India, so that they can receive a quality education, enjoy their childhood and secure their independence. Due to the global pandemic, schools and vocational training centres are closed. We are offering the most vulnerable families with financial support and children with home educational materials and food, to safeguard their future.
Since schools are still closed, some children have been taken back to the fields to work and make up for lost income. The pandemic has even pushed some children who were previously in school into child labour for the first time. Other families have kept their children at home but with the complete loss of their living, are doubtful they can afford to send them back to school when they re-open. Most children do not have the materials to study at home. Going online is not an option.
Considering the urgent and long-term impact of the pandemic on these communities, we are providing ration kits with basic necessities covering several months. We support local villagers to get the aid they need to survive, and maintain basic hygiene and infection prevention measures via masks and sanitisers. We will also be providing home education kits for children to study at home, food supplies, and micro-loans for the most vulnerable families.
We offer systemic solutions to ensure all children in a village receive a quality education and feel capable of shaping their own lives and building a society they want to live in. To date, we have helped all 428 children identified as child labourers in three villages in Telangana State escape child labour. Our projects empowers children, provides financial management training and aid to families, and mobilises communities to protect the rights of children and youths.
