SAAGN-Butterflies petition: A child's right to a family

Family for Every Child

An estimated 43 million children in South Asia are growing up without one or both of their parents due to the impact of poverty, disability, HIV/AIDS, armed conflict, natural disasters and migration. For children separated from their families, the 139 organizations of the South Asia Alliance of Grassroots NGOs (SAAGN) launched the campaign “My Caring Family is My First Right” in June 2013.  As part of the campaign, Butterflies, a registered voluntary organization working with street and working children in Delhi, is supporting a new online petition that calls on governments in the region to respect a child’s right to a family.

The campaign asks the governments of India, Nepal, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka to make all available efforts to prevent the separation of children from their families. Butterflies Chief Executive Rita Panicker said: “We feel that the family remains the place where children’s rights can best be fulfilled and states have a responsibility to provide special protection and assistance to preserve this institution.” The campaign also calls on governments to provide care to those children who have already been separated from their families and left without adequate care. To promote the launch of the campaign, Butterflies and other local NGOs held a drawing and photography workshop with children who were asked about how they perceive the notion of family. The Butterflies’ petition and signatures will be presented to government representatives who will gather at a SAAGN International conference being held in Kathmandu at the end of August 2013.