PRIMARY ACTIVITIES
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Creche centres in slum communities
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Family and Child Counselling
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Women and Child Welfare initiatives
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Social work research and consultancy
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Creating awareness by observing notable occasions
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Trainings and capacity building
CHILD WELFARE
Creches:
SDF runs 3 crèches with a capacity of more than 50 children.
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Prayosa I [Biseswar Basti, Bhubaneswar]
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Prayosa II [Patharbandha, Vani Vihar, Bhubaneswar]
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Prayosa III [Chunkoli, Chandaka, Bhubaneswar]
Initially, the founding of Prayosa-I and Prayosa-II was aided by government funds. However, after the suspension of creche fund by Odisha State Council for Child Welfare, all these creches are self-sustaining and function without any regular government funding.
The creches are run by the women of the community and supervised by SDF volunteers. SDF initiated the process by spreading awareness about the need of creches and child welfare in such communities, how it can reduce the burden on the mothers and at the same time allow them to concentrate on some occupation. SDF trained the interested women in child rights, child care and institutional care using training modules developed by ICPS.
The women have now formed self-help groups (SHGs) and take care of the creche activities and all the children on rotational basis.
The children are provided with different facilities like pre-school education (up to age of 6), food, shelter, medicine etc. They are also provided different trainings through recreational activities.
Child Rights Advocacy:
Social Development Foundation has been advocating for the right of children. The organisation helped issue Birth certificates for 200+ children during the period from 2017-2019 in Chunakoli Panchayat of Khurda District, Bhubaneswar Block.
Life Skill Education:
Protection of children from various types of violence, awareness on safety and security is most necessary. For this purpose the organisation provides life skill education to the adolescent girls and boys in schools.
Training to stake holders on Juvenile Justice Act:
Considering the urgent need of spreading awareness on juvenile law, the organisation has been providing training to the parents and other stake holders time to time. Till date, over 600 Anganwadi Workers across Odisha have been trained on Juvenile Justice Act.
WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
Legal awareness:
The rate of atrocities on women rises day by day. A major chunk of these cases (mostly from the slums) is often suppressed and remains unnoticed. The primary reason for this being that the victim is not aware of how to counter it and take necessary action.
The volunteers of the organisation are on continuous look-out for such cases, and co-operate with the deserted women in order to help them with legal proceedings.
For rehabilitating them, SDF conducts awareness programs and aims to make them self reliant. Resource Persons are invited to such programs to give their valuable views on the matter. The main points stressed upon are rights of women in the society and the significance which they should be aware of.
Awareness of family planning:
Government of India was the first country in the world to launch National Programme for Family Planning in 1952 to control the population growth. Reproductive health and rights of women is a demanding issue for the society, as they need to be treated well for the acceptance of various family planning methods. So considering the importance of this matter, Social Development Foundation has been providing trainings on family planning methods and helping women claim their right over reproduction.
Awareness of PC and PNDT Act:
Shifting from family planning to welfare was a great achievement for women in India. Declining sex ratio was also a matter of concern for the country. The Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC and PNDT) Act enacted on 20 September 1994. SDF has an action based program, where the organisation conducts awareness campaigns and counselling sessions on PNDT Act. It has been helping people understand the value of a daughter in a family and hence making them value the life of a girl child.
SOCIAL WORK RESEARCH
SDF thrives to keep contributing to social work research and literature. And hence the organisation is continuously involved in social work research projects as consultants. Notable research studies by SDF in association with various national and international institutions:
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Evaluation study on “Effectiveness of sponsorship support under ICPS” in association with Govt. of Odisha and YCDA
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Diagnostic study on “Livelihood, Hunger and Malnutrition: An Empirical Analysis of Tribal Women of Odisha” in association with ICSSR and KIIT University.
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Evaluation study on “Empowerment of Marginalised Slum Girls and Reduction of Vulnerability Through Remedial Education and Life Skill Support” in association with Adoptions Centrum, Netherlands.
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Evaluation study on “Situation of Children during COVID-19 including Child Sexual Abuse” in association with PECUC, Bhubaneswar, 2020.
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Evaluation study on ‘Elementary Education’ in 15 slums in Bhubaneswar in 2020.