ICYO- Youth Information

No. 2008/ 88

(E-Newsletter from network of youth organizations in India)

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ICYO - Platform of 358 Youth Organizations in India.       

ICYO - India’s largest network of urban and rural youth.

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India: Cricket Legend Sachin Tendulkar Goes to Bat for UNICEF

 

International cricket sensation Sachin Tendulkar has joined forces with UNICEF to get Indian children to wash their hands for better health and hygiene as part of the first ever Global Handwashing Day 15 October.

 

Tendulkar is featured in a public service announcement that will broadcast this month in 14 languages on television channels across the country to drum up support for the campaign targeting students in more than six million schools across India.

 

“Having a celebrity of this magnitude, who is instantly recognizable to cricket fans not only in India but around the world, will help us mobilize millions of young people,” said Karin Hulshof, UNICEF Representative in India. “Lending free-of-charge his image to promote handwashing with soap will undoubtedly save many children’s lives.”  

 

Known as the “Master Blaster,” Tendulkar is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of the game. He is the first player to score 10,000 runs in one-day internationals, and is among only three batsmen, and the first Indian, to surpass 11,000 runs in test cricket. UNICEF India has a longstanding relationship with BCCI, the Board of Control for Cricket in India, dating back to 1986 when players came out to support and promote polio prevention.

 

“Having two young children, I constantly have to remind them to wash their hands before and after meals,” Tendulkar said. “I wanted to be a part of this campaign, because washing hands with soap can keep children safe and healthy and protect them against deadly disease.”

 

The Indian campaign is part of a global movement uniting millions of children in 52 countries across five continents as part of the International Year of Sanitation 2008. Nearly half of the world’s population, or 2.6 billion people, to not have access to adequate sanitation. This dire situation has widespread implications on human health, child survival, economic productivity and pollution of living spaces and water resources.

 

Washing hands with soap is one of the most cost-effective health measures to prevent diarrhoea, the second biggest killer of children in India. Proper handwashing can reduce diarrhoeal cases by 47 per cent and acute respiratory illnesses by 30 per cent.

 

This campaign highlights the need to wash hands with soap before meals and after defecation. Human excreta is the essence of the sanitation challenge. One gram of faeces can contain 10 million viruses, 1 million bacteria, 1,000 parasite cysts and 100 parasite eggs.

 

Washing hands and using toilets properly impacts not only health, but also education. The sanitation coverage in Indian schools is estimated to be about 58 per cent. However, providing private and separate sanitary latrines in school can increase girls’ enrolment by 11 per cent.  Proper sanitation facilities in schools can drastically improve the chances of a girl finishing her education. Currently, only 34 per cent of India’s girls are completing their schooling.

 

World Governments, including the Government of India, have agreed to eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to reach targets addressing extreme poverty. Goal seven aims to reduce by half the number of people without access to sanitation by 2015. About 54 per cent of India’s rural population has access to toilets, according to Government of India data. More than half a billion people practice open defecation.

 

To meet this challenge, the Government of India has launched major efforts to promote household and school sanitation through its Total Sanitation Campaign.

 

“UNICEF is an essential partner in our efforts to meet the Millennium Development Goals,” said Dr. Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, Minister of Rural Development. “We know that improved sanitation is an essential element to improve the health and welfare of our nation’s children.”

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Youth Information is published by

Indian Committee of Youth Organizations (ICYO)

194-A, Arjun Nagar, Safdarjang Enclave

New Delhi 110029, India

Phone: 91 9811729093  / 91 11 26183978 Fax 91 11 26198423

Email: icyoindia@... / icyo@...

Web:  www.icyo.in

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Indian Committee of Youth Organizations (ICYO) is a registered non-profit, non-governmental network organization, committed in developing areas of mutual cooperation and understanding among different youth voluntary agencies, youth groups, clubs and individuals working in the field of youth welfare in India. 

ICYO functions as an umbrella organization of youth NGOs in India. It's family consists of
over 356 organizations spread in 122 districts of 22 states from different corners of India.

Our goal:
To improve and extend the youth work and services through Youth Organizations;
To enhance and demonstrate youth work in the society;
To promote effective youth programmmes;
To organize network of civil society organizations working towards the development of youth work;
To organize seminars, conferences, workshops, trainings;
To maintain international relation with organizations promoting young people in their programmes and activities

Affiliation: 

Consultative (Roster) Status with ECOSOC, United Nations;
Consultative Status with Commission on Sustainable Development;
Full Member of World Assembly of Youth (WAY); Asian Youth Council (AYC);
 CRIN, South Asia Youth Environment Network (SAYEN),

Affiliate group of ECPAT International, Thailand;
ATSECE-DELHI, Indian Partner of AIDS Care Watch Campaign;
Steering Committee member of World Bank's YDP Network;
Working relation with Indian Association of Parliamentarians (IAPPD);
International Medical Parliamentarians Organizations (IMPO);
Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD);
World Youth Foundation, Malaysia.