Ranchi: SwitchOn Foundation launched #ChildRights4CleanAir campaign on the occasion of International Women’s Day with a cycle rally organised in Deogarh with Frontal Development Organisation. Women from all walks of life came out on the streets demanding their Children’s Right to Breathe Clean Air.
Under the campaign, #ChildRights4CleanAir SwitchOn Foundation clicked various pictures of these women and sent them to the Policy makers. The event aimed at making the common masses aware that air pollution is a dangerous and silent killer in the long run and degrading to the health of children the most.
Mothers from different sections of life in Deoghar came across to discuss the pressing issue of clean air for their children, an essential human right to be accessible at the immediate instance. A group of mother’s from the interior section of the town also came out on the streets to voice the rights of their children for a pollution free future through a peaceful rally demonstration.
Smt. Sarla Karm, Secretary, Frontal Development Organisation, who are organising the event said, “As mothers we are concerned about our children’s health and we support the campaign #ChildRights4CleanAir. We want our children to grow up with Clean Air. Clean Air is a basic right and we want our children’s rights to be secured. The use of bicycles too sent out a strong message that Non-Motorised Transport needs to make a comeback on our roads and it’s time we make an effort to make it happen.”
Extending support to the cause, Vinay Jaju, Managing Director SwitchOn Foundation said, “We are happy to be supporting such a noble initiative and look forward to reaching out and securing the rights of our children. We will work to the best of our ability in order to safeguard children from the damaging impact of air pollution. Further we would also like to extend our solidarity to the mothers who have taken up this fight for the basic right of their children to breathe clean air.”
An online perception study was conducted by SwitchOn Foundation to grasp the understanding that people perceive of air pollution and the damage it has caused to respiratory health. This study was conducted in the state of West Bengal and Jharkhand targeting multiple stakeholders that included schools, colleges and many other institutions.
The major take-away from the learnings was that acknowledgment of air pollution as a problem was present amidst the masses. People are indeed worried about their children’s health and a significant number of people are indeed worried about their living conditions, thus confirming that exposure to air pollution is an overlooked health emergency for children.