by Brother Royston
VADODARA, APR 18, 2018: 'Child Friendly Vadodara', an initiative aimed at creating awareness among the civil society about the dangers children face, was launched by Don Bosco National Youth at Risk (YaR) forum at O.N.G.C. Auditorium, Makarpura Road, Vadodara on April 16.
Representatives from NGOs, government departments, police, juvenile homes, senior citizen groups, organisations working for differently abled groups, amongst others were present at the meeting.
The Mayor of the city, Bharat Dangar, was the Chief Guest. The District Child Protection Officer- Amit Vasava, the Chief Medical Health Officer - Devesh Patel, the Secretary of District Legal Services Authority - M A Mirza and the Basin Manager of O.N.G.C. - Arun Kumar were the guests of honour.
Father George Miranda, Director of Don Bosco Snehalaya children's home, spoke about the dangers the most vulnerable section of society, the children, face today. The Mayor shared his views too.
During the event, posters and mascots were prepared for the initiative. The Chairperson of the Child Welfare Committee, Bhatt gave the keynote speech. In his speech, he shared his views on the Child Friendly Vadodara initiative.
It was stressed that children are also respectable citizens of India. They are the future. Their rights such as, right to survival, right to development, right to protection and right to participation need to be upheld.
It was also stated that the systems related to child rights, child rights committee, local fund generation for children and its management were the responsibilities and priorities of the local authorities.