Article Source : www.hindustantimes.com

Author : www.hindustantimes.com UK Bureau

Date of Issue : Oct 23 200

Title of Article : Meghnad Desai urges Diaspora to help children

Details :

Ingrid Srinath, Chief Executive, CRY (Child Relief and You), addressed invitees at the House of Lords earlier this week on the factors impacting lives of children in India. Lord Dholakia had hosted the talk. Drawing from CRY's 25 year experience in social transformation at the grass roots level, Srinath made a presentation on:

• How globalisation is impacting the lives of children especially the underprivileged
• The need to rethink some of the policy choices underlying globalisation in order to safeguard children's rights and protect their interests

CRY, an independent Indian non-profit, has for the past 25 years worked to ensure the rights of India's children. Over the period CRY has raised £12.5 million and disbursed £6.5 million to hundreds of grassroots initiatives across India working on diverse issues - child labour, gender, caste, child abuse, health and education.

Srinath's presentation highlighted how children experience discrimination on account of their gender, caste, race, ethnicity and class, just as adults do. They also experience a distinctive marginalisation on account of being 'children'. Her presentation brought into focus how children in India are being affected by macro processes, decisions and policies made at the national and international level.

Lord Meghnad Desai, the noted development economist was a guest speaker on this occasion. He spoke about 'Poverty and its Impact on Underprivileged Children'. He felt that the voluntary sector had an important role to play in improving the lives of the poor especially children. He also said the Diaspora should take responsibility of helping the poor.

The invitees included some Peers, important Indian corporate, London based NGOs, academicians and interested individuals.