CRY- Child Rights and You has launched a 40-day pan-India campaign to highlight issues faced by the girl child in accessing her right to education. The campaign is part of CRY’s flagship photography initiative, Click Rights, which uses photography as a medium through which concerned citizens can create awareness about child rights issues.

Click Rights: For the Girl Child is an opportunity for people to show their support for the rights of the Girl Child leading up to the International Day of the Girl, celebrated on 11th October. CRY volunteers and people from all walks of life are invited to click photographs of girl children in their neighborhood, around their work places and colleges and in and around the city at large who are not in school. The pictures will then be uploaded on to the campaign’s website.

The theme of the campaign is ‘Ichha – a Desire to Learn’, which represents the countless girls who are denied their rights and aspirations, particularly their desire’ to learn.

Groups of CRY volunteers in Delhi have been visiting Madangir, Dwarka, Dakshin Puri, Jahangirpuri, Shahbad dairy, and Seemapuri and in Haryana to capture the challenges faced by the girl child when it comes to accessing their education. Eminent photographers from Nazar Foundation have also done photoshoots on the issue at CRY projects in Rajasthan, UP and Delhi.

Minakshi Bahuguna, a working professional and CRY volunteer from the city says, “It was a great opportunity to be part of this exercise at Seemapuri. Even in the most appalling state, deprived of their basic right to education, the girls had a ray of hope and eagerness to learn more and more.”

Tanya Mahajan, a student from Delhi University says, “I went to Dakshinpuri and it was hard for me to believe that even in the 21st century, such conditions exist in society. I could capture it all through my camera.”

Speaking about the campaign, Soha Moitra, Regional Director – North, CRY said, “This campaign aims to raise awareness about the situation of girl children. The situation in India is very alarming in the case of girl child as more than 13 lakh girls in the age group of 6-14 years are out of the school. This campaign will help in mobilising people and policymakers for affirmative action”.

Select photographs clicked by the volunteers, eminent photographs solicited by Nazar Foundation and concerned citizens will be showcased in a two-day exhibition in Delhi on 6th and 7th October this year at Select City Walk, Saket.

To know more about Click Rights: For the Girl Child please visit www.cry.org/ichha