ON THE eve of Children’s Day, Plan India - a child centered development organization with an India presence since 1979, launched an online petition under its ‘Learn without Fear Campaign,’ a campaign to advocate against all kinds of violence inflicted on children in schools.

Support the cause ‘STOP VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN’

Make a difference and sign the online petition - http://learnwithoutfear.in/2009/10/stop-violence-against-children-your-support-will-count/

The aim of the petition is to universally declare and condemn violence against children from all levels of society and advocate “safer schools.” The petition is a platform where larger participation by civil society can create an impact on the relevant authorities; help them to take adoptive measures and steps to create a healthy environment for learning for children.

On November 20, 2008, under “Learn without Fear” – a signature campaign was launched across seven states – New Delhi, Uttrakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa and Rajasthan. Since the last one year, the campaign has reached out to over two lakh children and has currently accumulated 40,000 signatures.

Plan India, to multiply the magnitude of support for the petition will reach out to the masses through social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Orkut, LinkedIn and “Learn without Fear blog” - a successful platform which captures the voices of children across the country as they share their experiences of undergoing various forms of violence in school.

The Petition and the signatures will be a strong platform, to create awareness on the issues faced by children. Plan India’s Children Advisory Board will submit the offline and online signatures to the Prime Minister and Minister of Human Resource Development on 24 January 2010.

Children’s Advisory Board (CAB)

Children’s Advisory Board (CAB) is a unique endeavour of Plan India to promote child rights by ensuring participation of children in development programmes. Children’s Advisory Board was first set up in the year 2006 and today comprises of 20 members from different and diverse backgrounds in the age group of 12 to 18 years who are working towards meaningfully contributing to developmental programmes and promoting child rights by essaying the role of child rights ambassadors.