Concept of Child Protection in the Eleventh FiveYear Plan

India is home to more than one billion people, of whom one-third are children under 18 years of age. The world’s tenth largest economy unfortunately ranks 127 on the Human Development Index (HDI). If all child rights indicators were to become a critical measure for HDI, India would fare even worse, especially because of its poor performance on child protection.

Every child has a right to protection. This not only includes children who are in difficult circumstances and those who have suffered violence, abuse and exploitation but also those who are not in any of these adverse situations and yet need to be protected in order to ensure that they remain within the social security and protective net.

‘Child Protection’ refers to protection from violence, exploitation, abuse and neglect. Violations of the child’s right to protection, in addition to being human rights violations, are also massive, under-recognized and under-reported barriers to child survival and development. Children subjected to violence, exploitation, abuse and neglect are at risk of: shortened lives, poor physical and mental health, educational problems (including dropping out of school), poor parenting skills later in life, homelessness, vagrancy and displacement.Conversely, successful protection increases a child’s chances to grow up physically and mentally healthy, confident and self-respecting, and less likely to abuse or exploit others, including his or her own children. The need to protect some children is certainly greater than others due to their specific socioeconomic and political circumstances and geographical location. These are the children who are or are not able to take care of Street and working children, Child beggars, Victims of child marriage ,Trafficked children Child prostitutes, Children of prostitutes ,Children of prisoners, Children affected by conflict /civil strife, Children affected by disasters both natural and manmade, Children affected by substance abuse, HIV/AIDS and other terminal diseases, Disabled children, Children belonging to ethnic religious minorities and other ‘Child Protection’ is about protecting children from or against any perceived or real danger/risk to their life, their personhood and childhood. It is about reducing their vulnerability to any kind of harm and in harmful situations .It is also about protecting children against social, psychological and emotional insecurity and distress. It must ensure that no child falls out of the social security and safety net and those who do, receive necessary care and protection to be brought back into the safety net.

Child protection is integrally linked to every other right of the child. The failure to ensure children’s right to protection adversely affects all other rights of the child and the development of the full potential of the child. Child protection is about protecting every right of every child. It must also relate to children’s capacity for self-reliance and self-defense the and to the roles and responsibilities of family, community, society and State.


In all these yearsafter independence, application of the preventive approach has been limited to programmes like awareness generation, media advocacy, training and capacity building of various stakeholders, legal literacy, sex education in schools etc. The need of the hour calls for a wider outlook that must go beyond the conventional prevention strategies and also take into account the link between child protection and other micro and macro development issues. Such a holistic understanding of prevention alone can help keep children within the protective net. In almost 60 years of independence and government functioning, little attempt has been made to respond to the needs of children in need of care and protection.

It is critical to invest in child protection as protection failures are not only human rights violations, but are also major, under-recognized, under-reported and under-acted upon barriers to child survival and development. In addition, the links between protection and other development targets accepted by the country need to be explicitly stated and understood in order to address appropriately the concerns for achieving these and to invest in accordance with the need and magnitude of the problem.

The Millennium Declaration addresses child protection explicitly. If we examine the MDGs closely, it is evident that not a single goal can be achieved unless the protection of children becomes an integral part of programming strategies and plans across sectors. Preventing and addressing violence, abuse, and exploitation is part of achieving the MDGs. Failing to protect children from such issues as violence in schools, child labour, harmful traditional practices, the absence of parental care or commercial sexual exploitation squanders the nation’s most precious resource. Reaching the most vulnerable and isolated and marginalized populations helps ensure the health and well-being of all which is indispensable to achieving the MDGs. A comprehensive programming approach to child protection brings us closer to the human development approaches especially in terms of good governance, human rights, gender, security, social protection and the rule of law.