Rar2010

2010 Annual Report
Bangladesh • India • Sri Lanka

South
Asia
Children Advocating Education for the Phasing Out
for their Rights in Poorest of the Poor of Sri Lanka
Bangladesh in India

CONTENT

4 2 Content

3 Preface Regional Director South Asia

4 About Terre des Hommes Netherlands

8 Highlights 2010

10 The Stories of Liza, Nandini and Pushparanee

13 Terre des Hommes Netherlands in Bangladesh

15 Fundraising for Children by Children

8 10 16

20
Children Advocating for their Rights

Microcredit Success Story in Bangladesh

21 Terre des Hommes Netherlands in India

23 Serving a Goddess: the Exploitative Devadasi System in India

25 30 Years of Volunteering for Terre des Hommes

26 Education for the Poorest of the Poor in India

13 27

28

31
Terre des Hommes Netherlands in Sri Lanka

Rehabilitating Ex-child Combatants one Year after the War

Volunteering in the Terre des Hommes Hengelo Shop

32 Phasing Out of Sri Lanka

33 Financial Overview

35 Projects and Funds

41 Contact Details

21 27
T E R R E D E S H O M M E S N E T H E R L A N D S - A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 10 2 CONTENT

PRE FACE

2010: ANNUAL REPORT
SOUTH ASIA
'THIS IS WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO'

L iza from Bangladesh works as a domestic child labourer.
She started at the age of five, often working for more than
12 hours a day and with no opportunity to get an education.
The Terre des Hommes Netherlands South Asia 2010 Report
presents an overview of the main activities undertaken in the
region with our support. At the same time it provides an account
The life of Nandini, from India, revolves around the handloom of the utilisation of funds and, more importantly, an overview
machine. By weaving sarees she helps her family make ends of the impact of the activities on various beneficiaries in 2010.
meet. Fourteen-year-old Pushparanee, from Sri Lanka, was
sent to an aunt to look after her baby. Instead she was forced I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your
to work in a hostel as a kitchen helper. Arif, seen on the cover contribution to the work of Terre des Hommes Netherlands in
of this report, spends his days making fish and chicken food South Asia.
out of animal skins. For Liza, Nandini, Pushparanee and Arif
Terre des Hommes made a difference in 2010. Like them, there
are still millions of children who need our help in South Asia.
That is why Terre des Hommes Netherlands continues its work
to reach children in exploitative situations. In 2010, we reached
3 744 600 children and young people in Bangladesh, India and
Sri Lanka.

Our project partners played a critical role reaching these child-
ren with much-needed services. They worked on prevention of
child exploitation, protecting exploited children, reducing the
number of school-drop-outs, giving youth a chance for a better
future, providing access to basic health care and supporting
people in building their livelihood. These services comple-
mented those of governments and other service providers by
targeting the poor, marginalized and most vulnerable children
and their families in Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka. Central to
all these interventions was ensuring children’s rights according
to the Convention of the Right of the Child and protecting them Lei Brouns
from violence, abuse and exploitation. We did this by working Regional Director South Asia
with others to respond to children’s practical needs, while also Colombo, 2011
advocating for their rights.

T E R R E D E S H O M M E S - E T H E R LEA N D S G 2 0 10U A L R E P O R T 2 0 10
N JA ARV R SL A - ANN 3 P R E FA C3
E

ABOUT TERRE DES
Who are we? project partners, Terre des Hommes Netherlands also has offices
Terre des Hommes is a development organisation dedicated to in the areas where it is active:
children and is named after a book by the famous French writer
and World War II pilot Antoine de Saint Exupèry. Translated • South Asia with a regional office in Sri Lanka, which is also
in English it means “Earth for Humanity”. Founded in 1965 by responsible for Bangladesh and India
dedicated volunteers, Terre des Hommes Netherlands fights • Southeast Asia with a regional office in Indonesia, which is
for the rights of children and is against child exploitation. The also responsible for Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Philippines and
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child forms Thailand
the basis for our work. In 2010 Terre des Hommes Netherlands • South America with a regional office in Bolivia, which is also
supported nearly three hundred projects worldwide in the area responsible for Brazil and Peru
of education, healthcare and social economic development. • East Africa with a regional office in Kenya which is also
Children living with a disability, children confronted with responsible for Tanzania and Uganda
HIV/AIDS, and victims of child exploitation received special
attention. All projects are conceptualised, initiated and carried Every office employs a regional representative and staff, who
out by local project partners. directly supervise all projects.

Where do we work? What do we do?
Terre des Hommes’ headquarters is located in The Hague. To Terre des Hommes Netherlands improves the lives of the most
facilitate successful and effective cooperation with the local vulnerable children in developing countries without distinction

T E R R E D E S H O M M E S N E T H E R L A N D S - A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 10 4 ABOUT TERRE DES HOMMES NE THERLANDS

HOMMES
as to race, nationality, caste, creed or political opinion. By rea- How are we organised in South Asia?
lising children’s rights, Terre des Hommes Netherlands stops Terre des Hommes Netherlands started its work in South Asia
the exploitation of children and helps underprivileged children in 1971 by providing emergency relief to Bangladeshi refugees,
find a brighter future. lingering in camps in West Bengal, during the Liberation War.
After Independence, Terre des Hommes Netherlands com-
How do we work? menced its operation in Bangladesh. In 1974 the first project
Regional offices in the four continents are charged with the partner in India was supported and in 1975 the first project
responsibility of monitoring, overseeing, reviewing and evalu- partner in Sri Lanka and Pakistan. In 1988 an MOU was signed
ating the projects that are initiated and implemented by local between the Government of Sri Lanka and Terre des Hommes
partner organisations. Direct aid has our greatest attention. We Netherlands wherein permission was granted to Terre des
strengthen local project partners (capacity building) through Hommes Netherlands to establish a regional office for South
knowledge and expertise and by setting up informative cam- Asia in Sri Lanka.
paigns. We influence policies with the goal to create awareness The Terre des Hommes Netherlands Regional Office in South
and conformance to children’s rights (advocacy). By actively Asia supports 73 projects in Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka
cooperating, transferring knowledge and financial support, we which are planned and implemented by 62 local project part-
make sure that local project partners’ work is result-oriented ners. As a result of this, the projects are well attuned to the
and brings about positive change. challenges of the local population. The three Country Offices
assist and work closely with local project partners, by moni-
toring the partners’ activities and expenditures as well as by


building their capacities through providing training on child ring system in place to check on expenditure and budget. Every
protection, establishing networks and training on finance and quarter a project monitoring report and project financial report
programme issues. are forwarded to Terre des Hommes Netherlands.
Once a year the partners conduct an internal evaluation of their
What are our concentration areas? project. This evaluation involves all staff and other stakeholders
The operational area of the Terre des Hommes Netherlands and takes into account activities, results, resources, methodo-
Regional Office in South Asia is limited to certain geographical logy, management, aims and objectives. The findings are used
areas. The projects are concentrated in specific regions within to improve implementation and project planning. If necessary,
Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka in order to improve the ability the staff of Terre des Hommes Netherlands participates in this
of the Country Offices to monitor, control, assist and manage internal evaluation.
the projects as well as the ability of the partners to cooperate Six months before the end of the project support period a Joint
and work together. Concentration areas are defined based on Evaluation is conducted. Management and staff of the organisa-
historical grounds, coupled with local needs, baseline studies tion, beneficiaries and other stakeholders and staff of Terre des
and context analyses. In Bangladesh we focus on Central and Hommes Netherlands carry out this evaluation. The objective of
South Bangladesh, in India we concentrate our efforts on the this evaluation is to find out whether the project has achieved
five southern states and in Sri Lanka on poor areas in the East, what it aimed for, whether strategies were appropriate, whether
South, West and Central provinces. resources were appropriate and utilised optimally and whether
any unforeseen circumstances occurred during the preceding
How do we monitor and evaluate our projects? period. The outcome of this evaluation is used in the preparation
Terre des Hommes Netherlands carefully monitors the results of the plan for the next period. Occasionally, a team of external
and impact of activities and projects. Each project has a monito- experts evaluates large projects.


In 2010 the South Asia office of Terre des Hommes Netherlands:

• supported 60 226 children to go to school
• provided access to preventive health care to 885 374 people
• organised 56 652 parents and youth in 2590 self-help groups
through which they had access to micro credit services
• protected 11 244 vulnerable children from exploitation and res-
cued 1493 children from an exploitative situation
• raised HIV/AIDS awareness among 20 465 people and supported
727 HIV infected or affected children
• enabled 5190 children with a disability to access (special) edu-
cation and health care

• Bangladesh • India • Sri Lanka


HIGHLIGHT

Group work during Annual Project Partner Workshop on Resource Mobilisation in Bangladesh

New Direction: Focus on End Child Exploitation partners came together to discuss what is meant by resource
The children’s rights treaty of the United Nations, the treaties mobilisation, and the various kinds of resources that could be
138 and 182 of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) explored. They shared ideas for potential donors by looking into
about the “worst forms of child labour” and minimum age and the full range of resource providers. Though the word resource
achieving the Millennium goals are key to Terre des Hommes mobilisation was not new to most of the partners, this training
Netherlands. In 2010, the decision was taken to further incre- was useful in that it gave the participant ideas of identifying
ase our focus on ending child exploitation. The main points ways of analysing, researching and collating information about
of attention are child prostitution, child trafficking, child sex resource providers and ideas on how they could systematise and
tourism and child slavery and child abuse. The strategy is prioritise their resource mobilisation work within their orga-
threefold: Prevention, Protection and Prosecution. Regarding nisational work plan to ensure that their resource mobilisation
prevention, this involves education, professional training and work is focused and targeted.
socio-economic development of vulnerable groups in society,
children in danger of being exploited. Part of protection is Terre des Hommes Netherlands Projects on Television
activities to provide psychological support to children to help In November 2010, the Netherlands television show Kanjer
cope with their negative experiences. Prosecution comprises, van Goud was broadcasted featuring several of our projects in
among other things, legal aid to victims of serious forms of Sri Lanka. The programme was financed by the Netherlands
child labour and strengthening the bonds with the police and National Lottery Fund and contributed towards awareness of
prosecutors in the countries in question. Even though most the situation of children in Sri Lanka and raised our profile in
countries have adapted their legislation based on international the Netherlands. 588 000 people in the Netherlands watched
treaties, the enforcement of those laws and upholding them is the show.
unfortunately still lacking.
Decrease of Funds from Netherlands Government
Annual Project Partner Workshops November 2010 was a difficult month for Terre des Hommes
In Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka Terre des Hommes Netherlands as our grant application to the Joint Finance
Netherlands organised Annual Project Partner Workshops. In Framework of the Netherlands Government was rejected.
all three countries the theme of the workshop was Resource Fortunately, after a successful appeal, a four year subsidy has
Mobilisation. The objectives of this workshop were to explore been granted to the alliance ‘Child and Development’, com-
the conceptual framework of resource mobilisation and deve- prising of Terre des Hommes Netherlands, Liliane Fonds and
loping skills for planning resource mobilisation work. At the Stichting Kinderpostzegels. We will, however, receive less than
end of the workshop project partners created a resource mobi- the requested amount.
lisation action plan. The Terre des Hommes Netherlands project

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New Director Terre des Hommes Netherlands

HTS 2010
Mr. Albert Jaap van Santbrink (1959) is the new director of
Terre des Hommes from 1 March 2011. He succeeds Mr. Ron
van Huizen, who retired.

“If only the food wouldn’t be so spicy”: a suc-
cessful internship in Sri Lanka
Alberta (22): “I stayed in Sri Lanka for four months to
work for Terre des Hommes Netherlands and help the
local project partners with the bookkeeping system
Tally ERP9 and all other bookkeeping issues. My time
in Sri Lanka was very interesting, with many highlights
and of course as many challenges. I loved working with
the people of all the different projects. It was quite an
experience to meet Sri Lankan people and see how they
operate in their working environment. I have never
seen myself as a teacher and there is still a lot for me to
learn, but I loved seeing project staff become a little more
confident when working with Tally. I especially enjoyed
meeting the women that make use of microcredits and
Hospital Ship in Bangladesh
see some results. Also the children at the projects stole
After ten years of bringing health services to the most remote
my heart. I could feel the love at the schools and it was
areas in Pathuakali, Bangladesh, the services of the hospital ship
fun seeing the children so happy and to dance with them.
Shapla are no longer needed. Ten years ago there was virtually
It was quite a challenge for me to formulate the right
no health care infrastructure on these islands. Most people had
questions and explain my ideas in basic English so
never seen a doctor in their lives. Now, many years later, the
that people with little command of English would also
health care situation has improved significantly. On many of the
understand me. I was also surprised that travelling took
islands the government provides health care services. In the past
so much energy: meeting different people, organisations,
ten years the Shapla helped 41 962 children and 153 199 adults.
places and trying to solve all the different problems. I
The Shapla was an important part of the Coastal Island Health
missed a place that I could call home. But all the challen-
and Education Project (CIHEP) supported by Terre des Hommes
ges, even the spicy food, do not outweigh the highlights.
Netherlands. Besides the hospital ship, which provided curative
The children and the staff at the projects and at Terre des
health services, the project also focused on preventive health
Hommes were a great support and made my time in Sri
care. This part of the project continues as there are many mal-
Lanka unforgettable. It was a truly amazing experience.”
nourished children, pregnant women and lactating women who
still need special care. Personal hygiene and environmental
awareness still need to improve on the islands.

Internship Programme
In 2008, Terre des Hommes Netherlands started its internship
programme for young professionals. The aim of this programme
is twofold. On the one hand the programme stimulates involve-
ment of young professionals in capacity building processes in
developing countries. It aims to increase social responsibility of
young people between the ages of 18 to 24 years old who are in
the final stages of their higher studies. On the other hand the
programme aims to strengthen the project partner’s capacity.
In 2010, two interns assisted project partners in Bangladesh
and one intern assisted several project partners in Sri Lanka.

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The Stories of Liza,
Nandini and Pushparanee
An estimated 21.6 million children aged between 5 and 14 years old are working in South Asia. Factors
contributing to child labour include parental poverty and illiteracy, social and economic circumstances,
lack of awareness, lack of access to basic and meaningful quality education and skills, internal conflict,
migration and trafficking and high rates of adult unemployment. Attitudes towards child labour also play
an important role. In South Asia, children are perceived as ‘adults’ at an early stage. Children are expected
to perform physical work equivalent to an adult as early as 10 years old in some countries. They work as
household help, in farming and fishing industries, are providers of sex services, as quarry workers or in
mines, brick kilns and construction sites.

BANGLADESH was hard, she worked from dawn to dusk and wasn’t
Liza (8) is a Bonded Child Labourer allowed to leave the house under any circumstances.
Only recently has Liza had a smile on her face. The rea- SSS found out about Liza’s situation and with the orga-
son is simple: she attends school, learns to read and write nisations intervention Liza is allowed to attend classes
and has time to play outside with her friends. in the non-formal school. Besides that, SSS successfully
Three years ago her situation looked grim. Her mother negotiated a fairer salary and fewer working hours a
took her to Dhaka to work as a domestic labourer for day.
a wealthier family. Liza’s family is poor and when she There are many children like Liza, their situation is hope-
works her mother receives some money and there is one less and very often the girls are physically and sexually
mouth less to feed. For the then five-year-old Liza life abused.

About Society for Social Service (SSS)
Established in 1986, SSS aims to improve the socio-
economic conditions of the underprivileged and indi-
gent people with special attention to women and
children. SSS works towards this aim through various
programmes that include saving and credit servi-
ces, income generating activities, awareness raising,
health care for women and children, adult literacy,
children’s education, water and sanitation and disas-
ter prevention and management. SSS has special
projects for child domestic labourers, sex workers and
children of sex workers. Through its successful micro-
credit programme SSS is able to fund a large part of
its own projects.

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INDIA About Society for Human Education (SHE)
Nandini (13) Weaves Sarees Founded in 1986 SHE aims at improving the
Nandini never went to school. She works as a weaver to educational status of girls, raise awareness in com-
supplement her family’s income. Thanks to local project munities, improve socio-economic conditions of
partner Society for Human Education (SHE) Nandini the poor and attend to their immediate needs like
attends non-formal education classes for out-of-school basic healthcare. The organisation focuses on equal
children. Non-formal education provides working child- chances for deprived girls and women through
ren with the opportunity to study at a convenient place, (non-formal) education and self-employment pro-
pace and time. Nandini is planning to sit for her exams grammes. SHE’s main activity is to provide protec-
and pursue higher education. Her dream is to become a tive shelter to children vulnerable to exploitation,
doctor. including education and health care, tuition to
Like Nandini, 98 working girls attended the non-formal school going children and non-formal education
education classes of SHE in 2010. and health care to working girls and socio-econo-
mic assistance to families of child labourers.


SRI LANKA Incidences of (sexual) abuse are high in Sri Lanka. In
Pushparanee (14) Worked as Kitchen Helper 2010 Koinonia provided a temporary safe place to 65
Pushparanee is from the central highlands, the tea esta- abused women and girls.
tes area. Both her parents work as day labourers on the
tea estate and do not have a regular income. They work
hard to provide their children with two meals a day.
Pushparanee went to school until she was ten, after that About Koinonia
she stayed at home to look after her two younger bro- In the early nineties heavy fights between the LTTE
thers and two younger sisters. and the Sri Lankan army in the Batticaloa district
Through an aunt, Pushparanee got a job offer to look disrupted the peaceful lives of the rural communi-
after her baby in Colombo. Her aunt would pay her ties. Thousands of people lost their lives; hundreds
mother for her labour. Unfortunately, in Colombo, she of thousands lost their homes and livelihoods.
had to work in the kitchen of a workers hostel. She made People fled to areas where the fights were less dis-
long hours and it was hard physical work. One of the turbing. A group of friends in Batticaloa started to
workers in the hostel noticed the young girl working help some of these refugees. In 1995 Koinonia was
and reported this to the police. Pushparanee was taken established as a result of this initiative. Nowadays,
to the police station and a court case was filed against her the organisation runs several projects such as a
exploiters. The judge placed Pushparanee in Koinonia’s psychosocial project for war affected children,
crisis centre for women and girls until a more dura- early childhood education, children’s homes and a
ble solution was found for her. At the crisis centre she crisis centre for women and girls.
received counselling and had a safe place to rehabilitate
from her traumatic experience.


Bangladesh
33 million children, about half of all Bangladeshi children, live in poverty. One in four children is de-
prived of food, education, health, information, shelter, water and sanitation. It is estimated that 5 mil-
lion people live in slums, 8 million children are working and only 48% of the population is literate.

Yeasin puts goat skins in the sun to dry. A couple of hours a day he attends non-formal education classes for working children.

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BA N G L A D E S H

Terre des Hommes
Netherlands in Bangladesh
C hildren living in poverty face a range of difficult issues that
hamper their development and prevent the full realisation
of their rights. An estimated 7.4 million children are involved in
rights. Through this campaign 6 724 065 people were informed
about the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child and the
worst forms of child labour.
child labour to supplement low family incomes. Child labourers
usually do not go to school and are often victims of violence Education
and abuse. Bangladesh has one of the highest rates of child- In Bangladesh most parents recognise their duty to support
marriage in the world, over one third of the girls are married their children’s education, but poverty often forces families to
before the age of 15. As a result, only 45% of adolescent girls are prioritise daily survival needs over education. Moreover, fami-
enrolled in secondary education. Also, Bangladesh has one of lies in urban slums, remote rural areas, and isolated indigenous
the lowest rates of birth registration in the world. This makes it communities and the families of children with disabilities often
difficult to protect children from trafficking, child labour and have little or no access to education for their children. Many
child marriage. There are high drop-out rates in both primary young children aged 3-5 are denied their right to a safe and
and secondary education, only 47% of enrolled primary school stimulating environment because parents and caregivers are
students complete primary school. In Bangladesh, Terre des unaware of the needs of young children. Primary education is
Hommes Netherlands supported 10 project partners, imple- free and compulsory for all children, unfortunately, only 53%
menting 17 projects. of the children complete grade five. Parents often withdraw
their children from school as a result of economic difficulties
or natural disasters. Only 42% of the children are enrolled in
secondary education. Especially girls drop out of secondary
Programmes and Achievements school because of marriage.

End Child Exploitation Terre des Hommes Netherlands believes in the power of edu-
Incidence of violence, including acid attacks, sexual abuse, cation. It gives children a chance of a better future. Children
trafficking and exploitation of children continues to hamper are taught to think for themselves, make their own choices and
the realization of children’s rights. Sexual abuse of children to stand up for themselves. This prevents others from abusing
and adolescent girls is a significant problem, but remains them. So education for everyone is an important weapon in
largely hidden due to the stigma attached to the victims of the battle against inequality and poverty. Terre des Hommes
such offences. Children of sex workers, slum dwellers, refu- Netherlands enabled 32 815 children to go to school. 8860
gees, tribal groups and those living in remote and inaccessible children were enrolled in early learning centres (ELCs). The
areas, orphans, street children and (domestic) child labourers ELCs run by our project partners are child friendly schools
are particularly vulnerable. where children from four to six years old are educated through
play activities and learn by doing. 22 234 children were enrol-
Terre des Hommes Netherlands protects children from exploita- led in primary education. Special attention was given to extra-
tion. In 2010, we supported four project partners implementing curricular activities and active participation of parents and the
six projects to prevent child exploitation and protect exploited community. As a result more children were enrolled in school
children. These projects targeted children living on the streets, and the attendance rate of enrolled children increased signi-
(domestic) child labourers and (children of) sex workers. 1424 ficantly. 1465 children were sponsored to attend secondary
children received services to prevent them from any harm. 430 school. Sponsorship included exam fees, educational materials
child labourers and other exploited children were rescued from and extra coaching by special teachers. 84 youths were enrol-
an exploitative situation or supported to improve their situation. led in vocational training courses. By the end of 2010, 38 of
Project partner Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar (Child Rights) them were employed. To improve the quality of early learning,
Forum (BSAF) planned a mass media campaign to address child primary and secondary education, 943 teachers were trained.


Julie (bending over, far right) and her fellow volunteers in front of the
Terre des Hommes Netherlands can count on the support Terre des Hommes shop in Bergen op Zoom.
of 1200 volunteers. In 2010 they raised € 994 533 through 28
second hand shops in different parts of the Netherlands.

FUNDRAISING FOR CHILDREN BY CHILDREN
Julie Huigen (57): “Together with fifty dedicated volunteers we About the Social and Economic Enhancement
support the project of SEEP in the slums of Dhaka through our Programme (SEEP)
shop called ‘Little Drop’ in Bergen op Zoom. In the shop we SEEP was established in 1985 to improve the con-
sell used toys and products for babies and toddlers. It really is ditions of socially disadvantaged children focusing
a shop for and by children, because the children in the schools on the protection, survival and development of the
in Bergen op Zoom are involved through fundraising activities. children, especially those working in hazardous
We reach many families through our activities in Bergen op and risky sectors. SEEP is a child rights organisa-
Zoom, we raise the profile of Terre des Hommes and we make tion mainly working in the urban slums of Dhaka.
children aware that there are less fortunate children in other The main activities of the organisation include
parts of the world. early childhood education, basic education, health
In 1990 I became a volunteer for Terre des Hommes. I chose this care services to the mothers and children, skill
organisation because it is small and works for children and their training, social and economic empowerment of
mothers, something I can easily relate too. I came to know Terre parents of child labourers and awareness raising
des Hommes through a friend and because of her enthusiasm among the general people on the rights of the
and involvement I got motivated as well. children. The organisation works in collaboration
The fact that, through the project of SEEP, people have the with like-minded groups in its advocacy efforts
opportunity to make a better life for themselves in the long run, for the proper implementation of policy and laws
is very important. We know that the people of Bangladesh face on local and national level to ensure the rights of
a lot of hardship. And I know this is easy for me to say, but I children. SEEP’s main goal is the empowerment
admire the determination and motivation of our partners. We of disadvantaged and exploited children, their
hope to continue to support them for a long time.” parents and the community, so that they can pro-
tect and promote child rights.


CHILDREN ADVOCATING FOR THEIR RIGHTS rejected findings and recommendations. Among others, some
The project on Promotion of the United Nations Convention on of the recommendations identified and accepted by the children
the Rights of the Child of Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar (Child were that they should be entitled to holidays, that their working
Rights) Forum (BSAF) actively involves children in all its acti- environment should be child friendly, employers should be
vities in different parts of Bangladesh. In 2010, BSAF organised humane to their child workers, safety measures should be in
a series of round table discussions for working children on the place, employers should enable child workers to get an educa-
worst forms of child labour (ILO Convention 182). This con- tion, torture should be stopped immediately, parents should
vention, ratified by Bangladesh in 2001, requires the country be allowed to meet their children in the work place and the
to remove children from hazardous and abusive child labour government should ensure implementation of laws for working
and enrol them in a rehabilitation process. children.
Through these round table discussions working children have
Member organisations of BSAF facilitated the round table a better understanding of their rights and the roles and respon-
discussions. 118 children between eight to 15 years old parti- sibilities of their parents and employers.
cipated in the discussions. All these children were involved in
hazardous work such as working in cigarette, plastic or rubber Advocating the government and employers
factories, domestic work, hotel work, as stone crushers, rickshaw BSAF ensures presence of government officials, journalists and
pullers, garbage collectors and many other dangerous jobs. other stakeholders in all round table meetings to make sure the
opinion of children is heard and reflected in newspaper articles.
Through a participatory process of group work, children were
able to identify the major problems they face in their work place. BSAF efforts do not stop at the round table discussions for
They identified common problems such as working days of 12 children involved in hazardous labour. Recommendations of
to 14 hours, no weekends or holidays, no medical support for children are taken forward to the government of Bangladesh
illness but deduction of salary due to absence, rotten or low and employers of children. BSAF organised meetings for
quality food for domestic and hotel workers, low salary and parents, employers and government officials to inform them
physical and mental torture. They never get time to play or go about the adverse consequences of the worst forms of child
to school. labour, listen to their recommendations and inform them on
how to implement the children’s recommendations.
After identifying the problems, the children came up with Among other things, parents recommended that their children
solutions. At the end of the session the children accepted or shouldn’t work for more than eight hours a day, that the children

A domestic child worker in her workplace. Domestic child workers usually work long hours, face harassment, receive low quality food and are not allowed to
leave the house of their employer.

Children involved in the worst forms of child labour share experiences and work on recommendations to improve their situation.

should be given an appointment letter, that the children should The way forward
be allowed to go to school as well, a first aid kit should be in Creating awareness on the worst forms of child labour and
the work place and the government should enforce the law to child abuse is the first step towards the elimination of child
protect children from hazardous work. labour. Terre des Hommes Netherlands partners in Bangladesh
Employers, in their turn, recommended that they should be also implement other strategies such as non-formal education
educated about the consequences of the worst forms of child for working children and vocational training. In non-formal
labour, that NGOs and Employers Associations should join education classes children are taught basic literacy, maths and
hands to monitor child labourers, and that they are willing to life skills as well as orientation on personal hygiene and child
invest in enhancing the children’s skills which will eventually rights. Vocational training can provide an opportunity for
lead to better salaries for the child labourers. skilled work. Vocational training centres supported by Terre
des Hommes Netherlands offer skill training in trades that are
Create awareness through newspapers and television needed in the labour market. Terre des Hommes Netherlands
Several newspaper articles were published about the various partners are also working on a code of conduct for employers
discussions and recommendations. Approximately 262 265 to improve safety in the work place for children.
people read these articles. Besides that a TV talk show on child
abuse was organised by BSAF to raise more awareness. 3.2
million people viewed this show.

About Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar (Child Rights) Forum (BSAF)
Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar (Child Rights) Forum, established in 1990, is a network organisation of 263 NGOs
protecting and promoting the rights of children in Bangladesh. BSAF actively promotes the implementation of
the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The organisation’s mission is to stop child exploitation and abuse,
access to education for all children, eliminate gender discrimination and discrimination of children with disabi-
lities.
As a network organisation BSAF brings child rights organisations together to work and advocates for a child
friendly society.


Health Care for these women and children. Seven project partners imple-
In Bangladesh maternal mortality is very high. Every year mented 12 health care projects or projects with a health care
approximately 26 000 women die due to pregnancy related component. Projects work through the TBAs and community
complications. More than one third of the pregnant women volunteers, who are key in providing information and safe
are malnourished. Most pregnant women are not aware of the deliveries in their communities. In 2010, 1275 TBAs and com-
benefits of special care during pregnancy and after child birth. munity volunteers were trained. Through them, 9826 women
Untrained Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) conduct more received pre natal and post natal services and 5566 pregnant
than 80% of the deliveries. This often leads to serious compli- women were immunised. The community volunteers reached
cations. More than 40% of children under 5 are underweight, 236 352 people with messages about basic health care, personal
while 36% are stunted. hygiene and family planning.
Terre des Hommes Netherlands makes health care accessible


Children and HIV/AIDS Children with disabilities are frequently discriminated against,
Bangladesh is highly vulnerable to HIV infection as the country and often endure abuse and violence. Disabled children also
is surrounded by countries with a higher prevalence of HIV. have less opportunity to attend school, reducing their chan-
In addition trafficking, immigration and lack of awareness ces of securing a better future. Therefore, Terre des Hommes
on reproductive health increase the risk of HIV infection. Netherlands supports a project partner in Satkhira, a district
Prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Bangladesh is still classified as low where the incidence of disability is much higher than in any
level, at about 0.2%. The number of cases is estimated at 11 000. other districts. A team of skilled staff provided services to 913
Treatment and management for people living with HIV/AIDS disabled children and their parents through 5 centres. 10 044
is inadequate. Due to lack of adequate knowledge and exper- people were reached through awareness raising activities to
tise in the prevention of HIV/AIDS there are only a few NGOs promote the rights of children with disabilities.
working on awareness raising programmes.
Socio-economic Development
Children infected and affected by HIV/AIDS often face stigma More than half of the population of Bangladesh lives below
and discrimination and a lack of emotional support. Therefore, the poverty line due to low economic growth, high popula-
Terre des Hommes Netherlands supports one networking tion growth, environmental degradation and natural disaster.
organisation on HIV/AIDS. In 2010, 18 children infected and The people are confronted with innumerable problems such
affected by HIV were supported with access to various servi- as illiteracy, poverty, disease, malnutrition and premature
ces including health care and education. 1465 people acquired death. Frequent occurrence of floods and storms compound
knowledge on prevention and modes of transmission of HIV/ the problems, further reducing the capacity of poor people to
AIDS. cope with adverse circumstances. There is hardly any access to
credit facilities for disadvantaged families through government
Children with Disabilities institutions.
In Bangladesh most people have little knowledge about disabi-
lity. There is no government data about disabled children in the By giving small loans to start up or expand a business, Terre
country. Estimates of the prevalence of disability range from des Hommes Netherlands enables families to raise their
2% to 10% of the population. Mortality is substantially higher income which makes children in poor families less vulnerable.
among children with disabilities than among children overall. As a result of this, the necessity of child labour is reduced and
The main immediate causes of disability among children are children have an opportunity to go to school. Four of our pro-
malnutrition of pregnant mothers and children, disease, birth jects support women through income generating programmes
trauma and congenital problems, and accidents. and microcredit schemes. Through 969 self-help groups, 19 550
women had access to financial services.


MICROCREDIT SUCCESS STORY IN BANGLADESH Development Project, Khodeja became a business woman.
It seemed a dream, but became reality for a common, but very With a loan of only 500 taka she started her own grocery stand
determined woman from Bangladesh. Khodeja Begum (50) on the market. The profit she made, she invested in expanding
from a Dhaka slum broke the vicious cycle of poverty thanks to her business. Thirteen years later, after her first loan, she owns
microcredit loans. Like many Bengalis, she grew up in poverty. more than 300 000 taka. Thanks to her contribution to the fami-
Khodeja’s husband had a steady job in a textile factory, but ly income her children go to school. Her oldest son graduated,
the family was still struggling to survive. Thanks to the Tongi and the two younger ones are still in primary and secondary
Development Project, Khodeja’s children could go to school. In school. Besides her grocery shop, Khodeja developed another
1997 she became a member of a self-help group. With the sup- source of income. She rents out her house and makes an addi-
port of the self-help group and the training received from Tongi tional 3000 taka a month. Khodeja is happy with her life, she
says: “My two sons help me in the shop, but I make sure they
also attend school. We do not lack food, shelter and basic needs.
I am thankful that I had the opportunity to build my life with
the microcredit loans, support and sensible advice.”

Tongi Development Project handed over to a local
partner
In 2009, the Bangladesh Government decided that foreign orga-
nisations were no longer allowed to run microcredit projects in
Bangladesh. The Tongi Development Project was running at a
profit. Therefore, Terre des Hommes Netherlands was able to
find a suitable organisation to take over the project in 2010. The
Church of Bangladesh Social Development Programme will
continue the microcredit scheme and the early learning centres
for the women and children in Tongi.

Tongi: a comprehensive approach towards
poverty reduction
Khodeja and her family live in Tongi, one of the slums
of Dhaka which became overcrowded after the inde-
pendence war in 1971. Tongi was flooded with people
looking for work, food and shelter. Already in 1975
Terre des Hommes started its activities focused on edu-
cation and health care. In 1986 a more comprehensive
approach was adopted focusing on social economic
development as well as health care and education for
women and children with special literacy classes for
illiterate women.
At the start of the social economic project most people
were extremely poor. Nowadays, the majority of the
people work in factories and workshops, or have, very
often with the support of microcredit loans, their own
business. Many women participated in training on
business management, weaving, embroidery, leather
processing, jute processing, candle making or card
Is it possible to break the vicious cycle of poverty? The story of Khodeja from making through which they successfully earn a living
Bangladesh gives hope. Her family lived in poverty for years, but after she and take care of their children.
joined a self-help group with a saving and credit scheme she started a suc-
cessful business.


India
There are 450 million children in India, the largest number for any country in the world. Although their
situation has improved over the last decade, still only half of the children between 6 and 14 go to school,
17 million children work as child labourers, over 3 million children live on the streets and nearly half of
the children under five are underweight.

Priya makes matches. Every afternoon she attends non-formal education classes for working girls.

T E R R E D E S H O M M E S N E T H E R L A N D S - A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 10 21 INDIA

INDIA

Terre des Hommes
Netherlands in iNDIA
I n India children’s rights are regularly violated in many ways.
They range from child labour, trafficking and exploitation
to many other forms of violence and abuse, limiting children’s
In 2010, Terre des Hommes Netherlands protected children
from exploitation through twenty projects addressing the
needs of child labourers, (children of) sex workers and street
development and hampering them in reaching their full poten- children among others. 1500 exploited children received servi-
tial. Poverty is perhaps the most serious threat to children’s ces such as education for out of school children. 9206 vulnera-
rights. The combination of poverty and the lack of a social ble children found a safe place in protected homes and/or were
security network, together with the increasing gap between the kept in school to prevent exploitation.
rich and the poor, has a major impact on India’s poor and dis-
advantaged children, especially girls. They enjoy fewer rights, Education
opportunities and benefits than boys. Most tragically, girls in In India 7 million children are out of school. Gender disparity
India are very often unwanted and considered a liability by is evident in the educational system. Almost twice as many
their own family. Marriage is considered a priority as soon as girls as boys are taken out of school, or never sent to school.
they attain puberty. In India, Terre des Hommes Netherlands Several problems hamper the education of children, besides the
supported 42 project partners, implementing 46 projects. gender differences. Caste and class issues deny children equal
opportunities.

The Terre des Hommes education programme in India paid
Programmes and Achievements special attention to education for girls. In order to pro-
vide children a chance of a better future, Terre des Hommes
End Child Exploitation Netherlands enabled 16 020 children to go to school. 3612
Due to abject poverty, discrimination, social exclusion and a children were enrolled in 263 early learning centres (ELCs).
lack of quality education many children in India have to work, The ELCs run by our project partners are child friendly schools
are trafficked or are victim of sexual exploitation and other where children from four to six years old are educated through
forms of violence and abuse. India has the largest number of play activities and learn by doing. 6268 children were enrolled
child labourers under the age of 14 in the world, an estimated in primary education. Special attention was given to extra-
12.6 million children are engaged in hazardous jobs. The nature curricular activities and active participation of parents and the
and scope of trafficking of children ranges from industrial and community. As a result more children are enrolled in school
domestic labour, to forced early marriages and commercial and the attendance rate of enrolled children increased signi-
sexual exploitation. Children with disabilities are amongst the ficantly.
most vulnerable, subject to neglect, abuse and sexual exploita- 2039 children were sponsored to attend secondary school.
tion. Almost twice as many girls as boys are taken out of school, Sponsorship included exam fees, educational materials and
or never sent to school. The main reason for children not to be extra coaching by special teachers. 591 youth were enrolled in
enrolled in school is poverty, the cost of education and child- vocational training courses. By the end of 2010, 275 of them
ren’s lack of interest in studying which has to do with the low were employed.
quality of education and teachers’ lack of motivation. India has To improve the quality of early learning, primary and secon-
the largest population of street children. Street children suffer dary education, 231 teachers were trained.
from destitution, neglect, abuse and exploitation. It is estimated extra coaching by special teachers. 84 youths were enrolled in
that in urban areas alone there are 11 million children on the vocational training courses. By the end of 2010, 38 of them were
streets. Street girls are extremely vulnerable to sexual abuse. employed. To improve the quality of early learning, primary
Out of all sex workers an estimated 30% are children. and secondary education, 943 teachers were trained.


SERVING A GODDESS: THE EXPLOITATIVE DEVADASI to improve their income. Through this strategy, approximately
SYSTEM IN INDIA fifty girls are saved from being dedicated annually.
A group of girls and women particularly exploited in India are
the Devadasis. Devadasi means ‘a woman who serves god’. It
is an ancient Indian custom by which a girl is ceremoniously
dedicated or married to a deity or to a temple to serve a goddess.
Traditionally, Devadasis had a special status in their commu-
nity. However, the practice has degenerated so that low-caste
girls from scheduled castes and tribes are being exploited as
sex workers. Dedicated girls are expected, once they reach
puberty, to serve the goddess by having sexual relations with
men for money in their community. They cannot get married.
It is a socially accepted way to approve commercial sex work.
The practice has been made illegal, but continues.
It happens that the female children of Devadasi women are
also dedicated themselves, repeating the cycle. Devadasi girls
are forced to work in the sex industry for extremely low wages.
They are vulnerable to trafficking and STIs including HIV/AIDS. Members of self-help groups were trained in saving, lending and bookkeeping.

How does SNEHA help Devadasi girls? In terms of health care SNEHA provides services for pregnant
The national highway 13, connecting Chitradurga in Karnataka and lactating women, and supplementary food for all children
and Sholapur in Maharashtra is passing through the project area in the early learning centres to combat malnutrition. Trained
of Society for Integrated Community Development (SNEHA). health workers provide education on HIV/AIDS, sexual health
Thousands of trucks use this highway every day. Truck drivers and hygiene to youth between 12 and 18 years old. To reduce
stop for a break and food in the truck stops along the highway. anaemia, the organisation actively promotes kitchen gardens.
These truck drivers are, together with the community men, the In SNEHAs working area most parents are illiterate and
customers of Devadasis. SNEHA operates in 15 villages with not aware of the importance of early childhood stimulation.
Devadasis and other poor families. The organisation improves Children between three and six years old do not have access
their situation through social-economic development, health to early childhood education. Therefore, SNEHA runs 12 early
care and education interventions. learning centres for children of Devadasis and other poor
One of the reasons the Devadasi practice still continues is families. Because of the lack of quality education, children
poverty. Poor parents cannot afford a future dowry for their drop out of school. There is a lack of trained teachers, teaching
daughter, they dedicate their daughter to the temple with the materials and other basic amenities such as toilets, drinking
hope that a pleased goddess will make the next child a boy. One water, playgrounds. Lack of sufficient teachers in the primary
way to stop the Devadasi practice is to improve the economic schools is a major problem. To address this problem, SNEHA
status of poor families so there is no reason to dedicate their supports ten teachers in eight primary schools. 675 Devadasi
daughter. SNEHA facilitates self-help groups for women, who children and other low-caste children receive financial support
are trained in saving and lending, bookkeeping, loan appraisal to continue with secondary education.
and liaising with banks. Taking micro credit loans from the Thanks to SNEHA’s intervention no new girls in the project
groups has helped Devadasi women and other poor families area were dedicated as Devadasi in 2010.

About Society for Integrated Community Development (SNEHA)
SNEHA was established in 1994 to improve the situation of underprivileged children and women, focusing on Devadasis
(girls forced into prostitution in the name of religion) and marginalised Dalit (people regarded as untouchable) and sche-
duled tribal communities. SNEHA envisions a society where everyone enjoys human rights peacefully. The organisation
works towards this through education, health care and socio-economic development interventions. It does so by improving
the health status of women and children and the community as a whole, by improving the educational status of children
through early childhood education primary, secondary education and by improving the socio-economic situation of women.


Health Care or no access to health care and credit.
Poor people in India do not have access to quality health care. To improve the socio-economic status of marginalised women,
India still is among the lowest five countries of the world in Terre des Hommes Netherlands project partners organised
terms of maternal mortality and morbidity rates: 25% of preg- 15 734 women and youth in 1284 self-help groups. Through
nant women in India do not receive prenatal care. More than these groups 11 257 women and youth used saving and credit
5% of India’s infants die before reaching one year of age. Child services, which helped them to improve their economic situa-
malnutrition rates are another issue: India has the highest tion. The impact of the intervention was not merely economic.
number of malnourished children under five after Bangladesh. The social impact was very important too. By uniting women
in self-help groups, women in the caste torn communities were
To address these issues Terre des Hommes Netherlands sup- empowered to stand up for themselves. Early results showed
ported 21 community health projects with 211 trained health that women were actively involved in issues within their com-
workers. Terre des Hommes Netherlands continued to support munity, be it cultural events, education or health.
its project partners in establishing a comprehensive health
programme including pre and post natal care, immunisation Children and HIV/AIDS
and intake of nutritious food, early stimulation to the children HIV/AIDS continues to be a major challenge for India. It is esti-
below 3 years, reproductive health and maternal and child mated that the number of HIV positive cases in the country is
health. 37 273 people were reached with preventive health care 2.3 million – the third highest in the world. In the last few years
activities. 12 128 women and children were immunised and the rollout of treatment facilities for HIV/AIDS patients has
4668 pregnant and lactating women received pre and post natal led to some improvement in access to care. However, access to
check-ups. treatment is still poor in many areas of India. The main mode
of transmission (85%) is reported to be through sexual contacts.
Socio-economic Development Very few people, particularly women, are aware of the modes
Despite the economic growth India has enjoyed during the of transmission.
last decennium the nation still has the largest number of poor
people in the world. Although acute poverty has dropped from In 2010, Terre des Hommes Netherlands supported one part-
46% in 1987 to 28% today, life is challenging for marginalized ner implementing two projects for HIV/AIDS infected and/or
groups consisting of urban and rural poor, migrant workers, affected children and their families. Thanks to these projects
small and marginal farmers and tribal and Dalits (in particular 685 infected or affected children had access to education, health
women and children). They are at the margins, both economi- care and protection. Through 26 awareness-raising activities,
cally and socially speaking, struggling to make a living. They 19 000 people became aware of HIV/AIDS protection and pre-
work without social security, proper access to schooling, little vention.


Children with Disabilities wards at government hospitals are incapable of dealing with
The Indian government adopted the National Policy on children with disabilities, particularly in terms of infrastructure
Disability, which recognises the value of people with disabili- and resources.
ties as a national resource. However, a National Sample Survey
revealed that not more than 30% of people with disabilities had Through the efforts of Terre des Hommes project partners,
education up to primary school, with less than 1% of the disa- 2836 disabled children had access to (special) education and/
bled reached secondary schooling. Practical difficulties such or rehabilitation and health services. 25 659 people were made
as absence of professionally trained teachers and poor salaries aware of the rights of children with disabilities. In 2010, Terre
paid to the teachers who visit the house of the disabled to teach des Hommes Netherlands continued to focus on acceptance of
are constraints to effectively implement inclusive education. disabled children in their community.
There are few special services for disabled children. Paediatric

Inge (left) and her friend Jose raised €10.000 for Terre des Hommes by walking 40 km a day for four days in a row!

30 YEARS OF VOLUNTEERING FOR TERRE DES HOMMES confronted with many difficulties on a daily basis. I hope
Inge Klaassen (51): “While growing up, my parents always achieving results gives them the motivation to continue this
taught me that there are children who are less fortunate than important work, especially when they see a child succeeding.
me and that we should help them. With this in mind, I started Because I find that simply fantastic!”
looking for an organisation I could contribute to. I finally
decided upon Terre des Hommes because the projects are rela-
tively small scale, implemented by local organisations, focused About Rural Institute for Community Education
on sustainability and money is well spent. (RICE)
Since March 1980, I have been a volunteer for the Terre des Established in 2000, RICE envisions a society where all
Hommes group in Heemskerk. I coordinate the sales at markets, children have equal rights to quality life. The organisa-
the monthly sale in the hospital, other forms of fundraising tion works towards this by enhancing the capacity of
and I am the contact person for the head office in The Hague. development organisations to plan, implement, moni-
We support the Mathagondapalli Education Centre (MEC) in tor and evaluate education, health and socio-economic
India. This project is important because quality education is development programmes. At the same time RICE
an essential part of the road towards a decent life. To break the runs a model school, Mathagondapalli Model School
vicious cycle of poverty children from the most marginalised (MMS), through which under privileged children have
groups need a chance to go to school. When these children access to quality education and teachers are being
find a paid job and can care for their family, including sending trained in child friendly and child centred teaching
their own children to school, an enormous step forward has methodologies. Since the year 2000 RICE has been run-
been made. ning the Mathagondapalli Education Centre (MEC).
To the project partners of Terre des Hommes I would like to
say that I realise that the people working in the projects are


EDUCATION FOR THE POOREST OF THE POOR IN
INDIA Murali (15): an excellent student
Under privileged children, like children from sex workers, Murali comes from Yenadhi, Andhra Pradesh, the
scheduled cast, scheduled tribe or from slum areas do not have working area of project partner SUCHI. Murali’s
the same opportunities as children from higher castes. For father abandoned his wife and children. His mother,
these marginalised children the Mathagondapalli Education Meenakshi, worked as a cleaner making approximately
Centre (MEC) provides high quality education. 75 rupees a day, while the grandmother was looking
after the children. It was difficult for the family to make
This education and sports centre, close to Bangalore in the ends meet, but Meenakshi was determined that her
south of India, provides quality education to disadvantaged children should at least finish primary school. SUCHI
children. At MEC they do not only go to school, they also live was aware of the difficult situation of Meenakshi and
there to make sure they are protected and eat quality food. admitted Murali to MEC. In 2002, at eight years old,
Quality education means that children learn to think analytical- Murali started in class three. He quickly caught up
ly and take their own decisions to improve their future. MEC with the other students. In 2009 he took his class ten
gives special attention to sports and creativity to stimulate self- state exam and achieved an extremely high score of 480
esteem and learning to work together. out of 500 points. Therefore, he received a full scholar-
Besides providing education, MEC also invests in improving ship in 2010 for class 11 and 12 in Chittoor, close to his
the quality of education in other schools. The 42 local project family. Murali has a bright future ahead of him thanks
partners in India use MEC as a knowledge centre. Teachers are to his mother’s persistence, SUCHIs support and qua-
trained in didactics, child-friendly and child-centred education lity education at MEC.
and curriculum development.

In 2010, 520 children received quality education and residential
care at MEC.

Paying students
MEC celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2010. In order to be less
dependent on Terre des Hommes Netherlands, MEC decided
to allocate a number of seats to paying students. This, however,
doesn’t affect the opportunities for disadvantaged children.
Education for the poorest of the poor remains MECs priority.
At the moment MEC has 95 paying students. Because MEC
is known for its quality education and its high success rate,
well off families are keen to send their children to the school.
Besides the fact that this provides income for MEC it also sti-
mulates interaction and understanding between children from
different castes and groups.


sRI LANKA
Out of the nearly 6 million children in Sri Lanka, approximately one third live in poverty. One out of five
children is born with a low birth weight and nearly one-third of children under 5 years old are under-
weight. 55% of the children between 6-10 years old are anaemic. The poorest people live in the rural
areas, on tea-estates, in fishery villages and in the war-affected areas.

Rehabilitation of ex-child combatants.

T E R R E D E S H O M M E S N E T H E R L A N D S - A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 10 27 SRI LANK A

S RI L A N K A

Terre des Hommes
Netherlands in SRI LANKA
I n Sri Lanka maternal and child malnutrition and neonatal
mortality are the country’s most pressing health issues.
Around one third of the women are both underweight and
volunteers were trained to protect children in rural and remote
villages in the south of Sri Lanka.

anaemic. Neonatal mortality contributes to up to 70% of deaths
among children below 12 months old. REHABILITATING EX-CHILD COMBATANTS ONE YEAR
Education in Sri Lanka is free and compulsory which has AFTER THE WAR
resulted in high rates of enrolment and literacy (92%). While May 2009 marked the end of the conflict between the
access to education is good, quality of education is not so good. Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil
High school drop-out rates are common and high absenteeism Eelam (LTTE). As in most cases of civil war, the population and
is reported in disadvantaged areas which include tea estates, especially children bear the brunt of the conflict. One million
low-income groups and remote rural areas. In 2010, Terre des Lankan children have been seriously affected by the war, suf-
Hommes Netherlands supported 20 projects implemented by fering from a lack of education, health, food and clothing and
ten project partners. large numbers have been displaced. Many children lost one
or both parents. More than 100 000 people have died since the
start of the conflict. Large-scale displacement of tens of thou-
sands of families, forced recruitment of children for combat,
Programmes and Achievements lack of basic facilities, widespread and sustained poverty and
dire economic prospects have determined the lives of a whole
generation in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, the areas
End Child Exploitation where the war was mainly fought.
There are many children who face violence, sexual and other-
wise. Most abuse occurs within the privacy of the family. Terre des Hommes Netherlands project partner, Professional
Many mothers go to the Middle East to earn extra income for Psychological Counselling Centre (PPCC), runs a project that
the family, leaving the children behind. Usually, children do specifically addresses the problems and needs of war affected
not know where to go to for support and are afraid to come children. The project’s objective is to reintegrate ex-combatant
forward. youth into the family and community and for them to function
as healthy and productive persons in the society. The project
In Sri Lanka, six projects protected children against exploita- provides a protective environment and temporary safe shelter
tion. 614 vulnerable and abused children received services in for ex-combatant youth to protect them from further neglect.
terms of a protected home, education, health care, counselling It provides medical care, health awareness programmes and
and vocational training. 65 (sexually) abused girls and women nutritious food. It offers psychological counselling (one-to-one
found a safe place in one of our partners crisis centre. 525 therapy and group therapy) to mentally rehabilitate the trau-

About Professional Psychological Counselling Centre (PPCC)
In 1993 the Jesuits established the Professional Psychological Counselling Centre to support war victims.
PPCC gives counselling to war-affected and other traumatised children and adults, trains social workers and staff of other
NGOs. The organisation runs alternative safe homes for war affected children and ex child combatants. It provides compre-
hensive, therapeutic, residential care and vocational training. The overall goal of PPCC is for children and their families to
live in harmony and free of fear in their communities.


matized ex-combatant youth to improve their coping-strategies This project is co-funded by the European Union and Terre
and to increase their resilience. It offers cultural, recreational des Hommes Netherlands.
and child rights education and personal skills training to
enhance the ex-combatant youths’ awareness and assertiveness
and to ensure inclusion in social community networks. It pro-
vides access to informal education, tuition class and vocational
training. In 2010, 115 ex-child combatants received counselling
and vocational training. 61 were successfully rehabilitated and
reintegrated in their community.

Vocational training for ex-child combatants.


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