Madhamal (centre, in school uniform), a member of a disadvantaged tribal group in Dharmapuri District, spent her early years collecting firewood to sell. Today, she is the first child in her community to have reached the 9th grade at school and her dream is to become a teacher. That dream came under threat when her father tried to force her into an illegal child marriage but she confided in a former-teacher who, as part of the Unicef-H&M initiative was doing a follow-up on her progress. The wedding was called off.

Having escaped child labour and then child marriage, 15-year-old Madhamal is now a role model for the young people of her community. Her life has been turned around with the help of the All For Children project.

Read more stories from the many lives in Tamil Nadu.

We have talked to Vidyasagar Ramamurthy, Child Protection Specalist and Dr Satish Kumar, State Representative from Unicef India about the project. Hear what they have to say about the progress and highlights so far.

How has the All for Children project progressed since the start in November 2009?

- To begin with we have hired and trained 173 teachers who are now working in the schools in all the tribal areas of Salem and Dharmapuri. We have developed a system to follow up all the 4600 ex-child labourers mainstreamed in regular schools after completing their bridge courses in special schools meant for child labourers. In addition, we have also done a baseline sample survey covering 2500 households in both districts. This is to assess the situation in the beginning of the project and to see how it improves as the project moves along.

What has been the greatest achievement so far?

- That we have hired 173 teachers who are now working in the tribal schools and engage the children in Activity Based Learning Pedagogy. They are all from the local area, which is a step in the right direction. Now the Tribal schools are opened daily and teaching activity takes place regularly. Feedback from the community and parents show that they are happy that their children are regularly going to school and learning. The drop out has gone down in these schools.

What is your own personal highlight so far?

- Before the project started, child labour in cotton production was not a big issue. Thanks to the All for Children project we have seen the awareness of child labour increase both on community and governmental level. Child labour in cotton farms has become a public issue in the districts with more and more of media reporting.

What are the next steps that you will take in the nearest future?

- We will start training and empowering the local governments in the two districts on the issue of child labour and the project activities. We will also establish child protection committees in all the 676 panchayats (1 panchayat = 4-6 villages) to ensure that children go to school instead of working. In the nearest future we will also begin work to make the large panchayats child friendly. This means that there should be no children working, no drop outs, quality schools, good water and food, well functioning toilet facilities, and also that all children should have a birth certificate.

Dr Satish Kumar ogVidyasagar Ramamurthy

Get inspired – Get involved!

Just bought the specially designed Unicef bag and want to know more? Check out this short film about the project.

Spread it to all your friends and family.

This bag designed by Sonia Rykiel will be available in stores February 20.

You can contribute to the project by purchasing this bag. 30% of the sales price will be donated towards the project. This bag will be launched together with the Sonia Rykiel pour H&M collection. Go to hm.com our mobile site m.hm.com to find a store near your.

Show your support!  Make this image your facebook profile. Tell your friends that you’re all for children.

Get an exclusive interview with Nathalie Rykiel, president and artistic director for Sonia Rykiel. Watch her explain why they joined the All for Children project and what inspired their design for the bag.

You can also contribute to the project by purchasing this bag. 30% of the sales price will be donated towards the project. This bag will be launched together with the Sonia Rykiel pour H&M collection in 1,500 H&M stores worldwide. Go to hm.com to find a store near your.

Show your support! Spread the word about All for Children.

All for Children is a new five-year initiative supported by a 4.5 million USD donation from H&M and run by UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund. The project is H&M’s most ambitious to date and focuses on protecting the rights of children in cotton producing areas in the state of Tamil Nadu in southern India. The goal is to get children out of work and into school and improve access to health and nutrition care.

All for Children will focus its efforts on the cotton producing districts of Salem and Dharmapuri, where around 1.2 million children live. The two districts have a history of child labour due to a variety of factors such as poverty, lack of education and low awareness of children’s rights.

To combat these problems and ensure long-lasting results, All for Children will work with several important areas. For example, the project will give children access to quality education and health care, as well as create opportunities for families to secure incomes so that they can afford to let their children go to school instead of work. The project will also raise awareness of children’s right to be respected, to go to school and to good health.

- These programmes will give children good health care, ensure that they receive quality primary education and give families better opportunities to make a living. Together with UNICEF, H&M takes decisive action to help lift children and their families out of poverty and thus tackle the source of child labour”, says Anna Ryott, Deputy Executive Director UNICEF Sweden.