Matri Sudha A Charitable Trust

The Trust's Integrated Programme for Nutrition Improvement utilizes a life cycle approach to combat malnutrition, primarily focusing on children under six, adolescent girls, pregnant women, and lactating mothers. Its objectives include enhancing child health and nutrition for pregnant women and lactating mothers, promoting positive health and nutrition behaviour among adolescent girls, and early identification of malnourished children. Through community engagement and the creation of 'Nutrition Champions,' the organisation aims to advance child development. It also fosters coordination between ICDS and Health services, engages in advocacy, and conducts research to address malnutrition. Core components encompass community outreach, strengthening delivery mechanisms, and research and advocacy. This comprehensive strategy involves regular monitoring, assessment, and curative care for malnourished children, ultimately improving child health and nutrition in their target areas.

Matri Sudha A Charitable Trust's Collective Action Towards School Education extends beyond individual children to engage entire families and communities. The ultimate goal is to not only enroll children in school but to ensure their continuous education. The intervention follows a structured approach: collecting data on school-aged children, categorizing them as attending school, dropouts, or never enrolled; creating case stories for out-of-school children; intervening at the family level to facilitate school enrollment; working with schools to ensure retention and monthly tracking of each child's status. Remarkably, over 92% of children in its intervention areas now not only attend school but remain there until they complete their education.

Matri Sudha A Charitable Trust's Children Action Group empowers children to advocate for their rights. This platform enables children to freely express themselves through various creative activities like dancing, writing, painting, speaking, participating in theatre, and engaging in social actions. The organisation acts as a facilitator, encouraging discussions on developmental issues and guiding children to play active roles in their community's development. Monthly interactive sessions provide children with an opportunity to share their ideas, suggestions, and concerns, particularly regarding school education, family, school, and community issues that impact their lives. This initiative aims to give children the freedom to be active participants in their own development.

Matri Sudha A Charitable Trust has evolved into an organisation dedicated to research and advocacy, particularly concerning children's rights. Its research spans baseline surveys, fact-finding missions, primary and secondary data analysis, social action research, and studies on various child-related topics. It also functions as a facilitator and trainer to build the capacity of individuals in matters of child rights. Notably, its findings have led to publications in national newspapers, addressing issues like school accessibility, overcrowded Anganwadi Centres, child malnutrition, and more. It has also produced numerous research reports on subjects like the Right to Education, ICDS performance, child nutrition, and the state of women and child health in Delhi. This demonstrates its strong commitment to research and advocacy in support of children's welfare.

Matri Sudha A Charitable Trust's "Interaction with You on Child Rights" is a recent initiative developed in collaboration with college students participating in internships or voluntary work on child health and nutrition. Through this programme, students gain a comprehensive understanding of child rights, emphasizing thematic expertise to effectively address specific issues, such as the right to education and children's well-being. The initiative aligns with Matri Sudha's vision to create a platform where child rights are recognized and upheld by every individual, fostering meaningful relationships around child rights issues within a broader framework of implementation. Students involved in the programme acquire knowledge in rights-based approaches, community work processes, awareness building, nutritional assessment, and social action research, contributing to the organisation's mission of promoting child rights respect and care.