Educate the Orphan Girls

Problem Statement/Program Rationale: The state of child rights in Pakistan is depressing and orphan girls are the most vulnerable. They are often abused in many ways, neglected, denied of their rights and are victims of child labor and early marriages. They are not aware of their basic rights. According to the Education for All (EFA) global monitoring report 2012 approximately one fourth of the 19.75 million children in Pakistan aged five to nine are out of school and factoring in adolescents increase the number to 25 million. A significant proportion of school going children drop out before completing primary education. Poverty along with insufficient educational infrastructure and resources especially in the public sector are two of the main reasons for low enrollment rates throughout the country. According to the EFA global monitoring report 2012 Pakistan rank second with the most out of school children in the world. It is estimated that 23% of rural and 7% of urban children are not enrolled in any form of schooling. There is considerable gender and rural-urban disparity in the data as 59% of school going boys have completed primary education compared to the 39% school going girls. Pakistan adopted the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) in 1990. More than twenty years after ratifying the UNCRC, the fate of Pakistan's children has not improved. During any humanitarian crisis, children are left vulnerable with a great sense of insecurity and become prone to exploitation and abuse. Children protection becomes an ever-growing area of concern as they get exposed to greater risk and exploitation, especially since they are no longer enrolled in schools, have been displaced, and there is extreme financial pressure on families. There are some associated risks involved in particular humanitarian contexts, including separation from families, gender based violence, sexual exploitation, trafficking and psychological issues. During the 2010 floods in Pakistan, 1.04 million students were affected by the catastrophe. Violence against children is widespread in Pakistan, occurring in the form of corporal punishment in schools and madrassas, homes and institutions, child marriages and other forms of traditional practices, infanticide, abandonment of infants and children, sexual abuse, rape, kidnapping, murder, trafficking, commercial sexual exploitation, and internet pornography. Due to such forms of exploitation, the risks of becoming victims of trafficking are high. In the absence of any government statistics, it is difficult to report on the magnitude and frequency, however review of secondary sources of information present increasing numbers and trends. It is estimated that 32% of girls in Pakistan are married off before they reach 18 years of age and child labor is rampant. Estimates for child abuse cases are rising from 2255 in 2010 to 2303 in 2011, of which 72% were girls. Under harmful traditional practices, there were at least 29 Vani (a form of forced marriage) cases and 46 cases of forced marriages, recorded by a local NGO in Pakistan. Similarly, a 2008 economic survey of Pakistan highlights the percentage of economically active children aged 10-14 years; is increased from 10.9% in 2007 to 13.6% in 2008. According to Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), there are 1.2 million children on the streets of Pakistan's major cities and urban centers. Proposed Program: Access to basic needs and rights including; basic education, basic health care, clean water, protection and lack of learning opportunities in Pakistan are some of the major issues faced by the children. It is essential to provide the vulnerable orphan girls with free and easy access to their basic needs that are the key to the prevention of children from all kind of abuses and help them improve their lives, secure bright future, and become civilized and active citizens. The orphan girls will transform the knowledge and skills that they will gain through capacity building and education to their children in the future and it will be carried on to the future generations, thus an educated, civilized society will be formed where rights of everyone will be protected and will be easily accessible by everyone particularly those vulnerable groups such as orphan girls and other children. Following services offered through this program to the orphan girls in a safe, secured and well protected home-like environment: 1.Education: i.School fee for 40 orphan girls ii.School uniform iii.Stationery iv.Shoes and socks v.School snacks vi.Transportation cost vii.Field trips organized by school viii.Part time tutors 2.Capacity Building: i.Character building workshops ii.Time management workshops iii.Skills development workshops iv.Exposure visits v.Summer and winter camps vi.Health club, vocational club, cooking club 3.Accommodation and Protection: i. Fully furnished bedrooms with heating and cooling in place. ii.Cupboards for each girl. iii.Comfortable bedding iv.Personal hygiene v.Clean drinking water vi.Safe play areas vii.Security and safety viii.Room Mothers on duty 24/7 ix.Workshops on child safety, harassment and abuse 4.Health & Physical Activities i.Basic health care ii.Martial Arts training iii.Yoga classes 5.Food: i.Three Meals a Day ii.12 Outdoor Meal Treats i.e. KFC, McDonalds, Pizza Hutt iii.One Ice Cream treat every month Under this grant application, financial support from Coca Cola Foundation is only requested for Capacity Building. Targeted Beneficiaries: 40 orphan girls that will directly benefit from this program. Monitoring: A monitoring plan will be in place which will be developed based on the program objectives and work plan. As for monitoring of the orphan girls, designated staff at Saba Homes will monitor the progress by not only reviewing the Home Work Diary but meeting with the teachers and room mothers to review each girls' concerns and progress. Any issues arising with any of the orphan girls in terms of showing weakness in education will be dealt immediately through a plan to help the girl overcome the issues. Program Evaluation: Final evaluation will be conducted by an external project evaluation expert at the end of the funds from Coca Cola Foundation.