Consultation with Children on District Child Rights Protection Protocols

In response to a series of incidents where lapses in the safety and protection of children were observed across Karnataka, and inspired by the Udupi District Child Rights Protection Protocol, the Departments of Integrated Child Protection Services Scheme (ICPS) and Women and Child Development (DWCD) decided to implement the Udupi District Child Rights Protection Protocol in 10 pilot districts of Karnataka namely, Tumakuru, Udupi, Mysuru, Mandya, Gadag, Kalaburagi, Belagavi, Dharwad, Hassan and Chamarajanagar. The Don Bosco institutions in Mandya, Tumakuru, Mysuru, Gadag and Kalaburagi have been selected as nodal agencies to facilitate the consultive process with children for the drafting of district child rights protection protocols. ICPS initiated consultative, participatory and bottom-up processes with children to draft protocols specifically tailored to respond to the crisis situations in the pilot districts, drawing from the Udupi District Child Rights Protection Protocol.

In the first round of discussion on 15 January 2021, the Concerned for Working Children (CWC) facilitated an online meeting with the nodal agencies from the ten districts outlining and finalising the roles and responsibilities of the nodal agencies. The process of drafting of the protocols will be consultive in nature with the District Child Protection Unit (DCPU), children and nodal agencies ensuring participation, paying attention to the issues and recommendations of children in the process of drafting the protocols. The online meeting was chaired by Ms. Kavita Ratna- Director of Advocacy, CWC and Ms. Kripa Bhat- Coordinator, Grama Panchayat Hakkottaya Andolana, Ms. Nishita Khajane- Junior Advocacy Officer, CWC and Ms. TK Geetharani, ICPS-programme manager, were also part of the online meeting. As a preliminary step, the DCPU along with the nodal agencies will conduct a number of consultative meetings with various district departments and children.