Today is a day of celebration and activism; International Day of the Girl Child 2020 in the midst of a pandemic brings education and empowerment of girls to the fore.
Across the world and particularly in India, research has indicated that educating girls has far-reaching, positive effects. Educated girls tend to marry later, have fewer children, feed them better, and are most likely to provide education for their children.
CSR leaders on International Day of the Girl Child 2020
Says Young Lak Kim, MD, LG Electronics India:
“The education of the girl child has the ability to bring socio-economic changes and through this initiative, we aim to provide financial support to the cause and help in bringing a positive change to the world.”
Says Joydeep Chatterjee, Chief Projects & Corporate Affairs Officer, Nuvoco Vistas Corp. Ltd:
“Guided by one of its Core Values, CARE, Nuvoco has worked at making a responsible and sustainable contribution to society. One such cause is offering girls and women the opportunity to improve their circumstances by providing access to nutrition, education, and employment. On the occasion of the International Day of the Girl Child 2020, whose annual campaign promotes ‘My voice, our equal future.’; we at Nuvoco feel privileged to be part of this important and necessary transformational journey in gender equality.”
CSR programmes for girls in India
Companies in India are putting special emphasis on girls in their health and education initiatives for CSR. Over and above that, there are corporates like Titan, Nuvoco, Star Suvarna, LG Electronics, Mahindra & Mahindra who are tailoring special CSR projects for empowering girls and young women.
Titan Kanya
In 2012, Titan decided to bolster its efforts in education through a girl child education initiative. The initiative named ‘Titan Kanya’ – Empowered Girl Child aims to support girl children with participation directly by Titan and through support from our employees and business associates.
The girls hail from urban, rural and tribal areas of the country, sometimes deeply remote, with little access to a school. The programme takes a holistic approach to the cause of girl child education, by not only addressing the needs of Kanyas in the Academic Support Centres and ensuring attendance and good results but also engaging with their families and other stakeholders to build ownership among the community.
Titan’s partnership with Nanhi Kali, run by the KC Mahindra Education Trust (KCMET) in collaboration with the Naandi Foundation and IIMPact by IIM Ahmedabad has reached out to many young girls in the cities of Chennai, Kanker, Krishnagiri, Mahabubnagar, Delhi, Sheopur, Ratlam, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Vishakapatnam and Pratapgarh. Nanhi Kali received great support from Titan employees and business associates who volunteer for the programme.
Nuvoco Vistas
Three of Nuvoco’s five CSR pillars – Swasth Bharat (Health), Shikshit Bharat (Education), and Saksham Bharat (Livelihood) – address the needs of the girl child through carefully crafted and efficiently executed initiatives.
These include skill development; farm and non-farm based livelihood activities; providing good education infrastructure in government schools – building libraries, computer labs, etc; to creating awareness on health and hygiene, preventive care, and special programmes dedicated to the health needs of adolescent girls, by promoting and creating menstrual hygiene and health awareness sessions.
LG Electronics Kar Salaam
Ahead of International Day of Girl Child, LG Electronics pledged support towards education of the girl child by signing an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with Kendriya Sainik. As part of its ‘Kar Salaam’ CSR initiative, LG Electronics donated 1 crore contribution to Armed Forces Flag Day Fund (AFFDF) under Kendriya Sainik Board Secretiat (KSB SECTT), a nodal organization of the Govt. of India, Ministry of Defence. The donation will be utilised for education of the girl child of Martys and ex-servicemen.
LG Electronics has been working on a number of CSR initiatives to help the community in every possible aspect and reaffirm its commitment towards the people. The company is trying to support the dependents of our brave martyrs and their families by providing their daughters with access to quality education.
International Day of the Girl Child is also a good occasion to give your daughter(s) a big hug and appreciate her presence in your family.
