CSOs asked to work hand in hand

Ongole: The speakers at the workshop with Community Service Organisations on Prevention of Child Marriages Act, Child Rights Act and gaps in implementation, held at Ongole on Thursday opined that the social organisations should work in sync to force the authorities implement the child protection and related acts perfectly in the state.

Prakasam district Child Welfare Committee member Syed Basheer said that all systems should cooperate with one another to eliminate child marriages, as it depends on the social, financial issues in society. He called for the coordination between government and voluntary organizations to address the issue.

Child Welfare Officer N Jyothi Supriya said that the ICDS and voluntary organizations were working together to stop child marriages in the villages. She said that the voluntary organizations should be educated on the related issues.

Terre Des Homes programme manager Subrath Kumar Panda said that the Girls Advocacy Alliance is working for the empowerment of girls in society. He said that the strengthening of the voluntary organisations helps them to increase pressure on government to implement children related acts more effectively.

Girls Advocacy Alliance advocacy officer M Anand explained about the features and sections under Prevention of Child Marriages Act 2006.

The participants prepared an action plan about programmes to do in the divisional and district levels after discussing the issues related to child marriages and the gaps in the acts.

HELP NGO Coordinator K Ramesh, programme officers BV Sagar, NVS Murthy, community mobiliser K Sulochana, childline coordinator P Mantro Naik and others also participated in the programme.