Child Rights and You

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Child Rights and You

Founders Rippan Kapur

Type Community Service
Founded 1979
Mumbai, India
Headquarters Branches - Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi,
Kolkata
Focus Children's Rights
Method Partnership with NGOs
Revenue ~Rs.36 crores
Employees 150
Motto Stand up for what is right
Website http://www.cry.org/
Child Rights and You (formerly Child Relief and You, till 2005), commonly abbreviated as
CRY is a non-profit organization in India that aims to restore children's rights in India. The
organisation was established in 1979. The organization partners with grass-roots Non
governmental organisations to uplift thousands of Indian children denied basic children's rights [1]
[2][3]

It was started by Rippan Kapur, who died in 1994 at a very young age of 40 [4].

Contents
[hide]
• 1 History
 • 2 Financial information
• 3 Mission
• 4 Areas of work
• 5 Summary
• 6 References
• 7 External links

[edit] History
In 1979, seven friends made a simple decision to change the lives of India's underprivileged
children. Led by a 25 year airline purser, Rippan Kapur, Rs. 50 and a dining table as their
resources and a belief that each one can make a difference in a child's life, they aimed to enable
all children to realize their full potential. This was how CRY began.
Unusually, the founders of CRY chose not to fund a grassroots-level implementing organisation
working directly with and for underprivileged children. Instead, they opted to make CRY a
channel or a link between the millions of individuals who could provide resources and the
thousands of dedicated fieldworkers who were struggling to function for lack of them. They saw
their role as "enablers" and in so doing created an institution that is a unique model of a
community movement that takes responsibility for its weakest and most vulnerable members and
motivates and catalyses change on their behalf.
Today, CRY is a peoples' movement for the rights of India's children encompassing diverse
segments, each pledging their particular strengths, working in partnership for their common
cause.
In 2007, its media campaign showing "smiling kids" and asking citizens to partner instead of
simple donate, was seen as departure from stereotypical NGO sector advertising in India [5]
[edit] Financial information
The primary source of revenue for this organization is through donations by individuals and
organizations. In the financial year 2004-05, its income through donations, sale of products and
interest was around Rs.36 crores[1]. Around Rs.14 crores was used for mobilizing income,
Rs.2.3 crores was incurred for establishment and other expenditure and around 17 crores were
disbursed to over 120 organizations throughout the country.
Overall, the organization had an amazing 43% rise in income through donations and 47% rise in
deployed funds over the fiscal year 2003.
[edit] Mission
To enable people to take responsibility for the situation of the deprived Indian child and so
motivate them to confront the situation through collective action thereby giving the child and
themselves an opportunity to realise their full potential.
To work in partnership with individuals and organisations, and support them financially / non-
financially as well as with people from all walks of life, who believe in the rights of children.
Within CRY too, each function works in unison towards ensuring the vision of equal rights for
all children.
[edit] Areas of work
The key functions of Development Support (grant making) and Resource Mobilisation
(fundraising) along with the other support functions - Communications, Human Resources,
Youth and Volunteer action, Finance, Planning and Information Technology, Policy and
Research, Documentation, The CRY Shop - all play a critical role in our organisation building
efforts.
It works towards restoring basic rights to children, especially from India and works across levels
from direct action to advocacy, mobilizing public opinion and policy change. It focuses mainly
on the 4 basic rights of survival, development, protection and participation which were defined
by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), an international human
rights treaty which has been ratified by 192 countries.
The CRC is built on certain "foundation principles" that underpin all other children's rights. The
CRC confers the following basic rights on all children across the world, without discrimination:
• The right to survival to life, health, nutrition, name and nationality
• The right to development to education, care, leisure, recreation
• The right to protection from exploitation, abuse, neglect
• The right to participation to expression, information, thought and religion.
CRY works to ensure these rights to all categories of children, who could be street children,
children bonded in labor, children of commercial sex workers, physically and mentally
challenged children and children in juvenile institutions, or even children in privileged homes.
[edit] Summary
Name : CRY - Child Rights and You. (CRY changed its name from Child Relief and You to
Child Rights and You as on April 1, 2006.)
Status : Non-Government Organisation (NGO)
Address : CRY - Child Rights and You, 189/A Anand Estate, Sane Guruji Marg, Mumbai
400011. Telephone : +91-022-2309 6845 / 2306 3651 / 3647. Fax : +91-022-2308 0726. Email :
cryinfo.mum@crymail.org
Branches : Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata.
Tax Status : All donations to CRY are eligible for tax exemption - 50% tax exempt under Section
80G. CRY also offers 100% tax exemption under Section 35 AC or 80GGA. For more
information, write to the CRY office nearest to you.
[edit] References
1. ^ `It takes just a little gesture to improve a child's life' - In 1979, Rippan Kapur, social
worker and flight purser with Air India, set up... Indian Express, September 27, 1999.
2. ^ CRY to focus on child rights The Hindu, Apr 10, 2006.
3. ^ 20 years old and still going strong, CRY celebrates b'day Indian Express, February 1,
1999.
4. ^ CRY changed its name from Child Relief and You to Child Rights and You....
Rediff.com, October 20, 2006.
5. ^ NGO advertising: visibility counts Mint, Sep 30, 2007.