The members of the SCL Campaign/India Platform are organisations who have long standing experience and expertise in addressing the issue of child labour in different intervention areas. Partner organisations were working in different industries/sectors, namely, textile, natural stone quarries, agriculture, etc. Organisations also were engaging with different stakeholders from the concerned industries where they intervene. There was no inter-sectorial collaboration within projects, before being introduced to the SCL Campaign/ India Platform. Organisations were working with special focus on the sector where they work and collaborate only with the stakeholders in the sector.
The SCL Campaign/India Platform is formed with an objective to develop the local partner organisations as resource organisations themselves who are proficient to train and share their experiences with more stakeholders and thus create a multiplier effect in the prevention and remediation of child labour. The platform brought together organisations who are working on addressing the issue of child labour in different sectors and geographical locations. The platform facilitated gathering experiences of different partners working on different sectors. The capacity building programs, experiential sharing and exposure visits organized, improved the skillset of the personnel associated with the implementation of CLFZ projects in different intervention areas.
The platform, through its capacity building initiatives for its members, brought more clarity to the goals of the ‘Stop Child Labour/School is the best place to work’ (SCL) coalition programme. The inter-sectorial collaboration brought more avenues of cooperation to the member organisations working on different sectors and move towards the aim of eliminating all forms of child labour and to ensure quality fulltime education for all children. This helped the partner organisations in developing multi-stakeholder cooperation in the intervention areas to address the issue of child labour.
The testimonies from members of the partner organisations show that the capacity building programs have changed the perception towards the CLFZ program and built their capacities in different areas which may contribute positively towards achieving the aim of CLFZ program. The video interview with participants from platform members explains the same.
Experiences of different partner organisations of the platform like BWI, ICCO, Manjari and SAVE and also of the knowledge partner MV Foundation help the member organisation to widen their knowledge and resources and thereby address the issue of child labour in a collective and inclusive manner. BWI has shared that the field staff have been capacitated in different areas. The staff members mentioned that the capacity building programs changed their perspectives towards the program and started approaching it with a holistic view rather than mere activities.
The aim of forming SCL Campaign – India Platform was to develop the local partner organisations as resource organisations themselves who are proficient to train and share their experiences with more stakeholders and thus create a multiplier effect in the prevention and remediation of child labour. The feedback from the implementing organisations on the improved capacities of the staff members and there by the organisation portray that the platform is moving towards achieving the goal of the platform. Exposures to the intervention areas of the partners give onsite learning to other members in the platform and thereby broaden their knowledge and skills.
