Child Rights and You - CRY

CRY was born of a dream to ensure happier childhoods for all children. In 1979, Rippan Kapur — an Indian Airlines purser started CRY with 6 friends and just ₹50. Today, over four decades later, CRY works with 144 project partners across 20 states in India and has impacted the lives of over 4.7 million children.

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CRY's mission is to empower people to take responsibility for underprivileged Indian children, motivating individuals to act both independently and collectively to help children reach their full potential. The organisation's mission extends beyond short-term relief to ensure lasting change by addressing children's critical needs through education, health, safety, and participation. The Elders, a global organization founded by Nelson Mandela, has recognized CRY as one of the top 100 NGOs in the world creating sustainable impact and lasting change.

Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, with operational branches in Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, and Kolkata.

Major Areas of Work

• Right to Education: Ensuring access to quality education and breaking barriers that keep children, especially girls, out of school.

• Right to Health: Working to secure children's access to healthcare and improved wellbeing.

• Right to Protection: Protecting children from labour, trafficking, and exploitation, and supporting the restoration and rehabilitation of trafficked victims through counselling.

• Right to Participation: Enabling children to be part of creating the solutions that affect their own lives.

Major Initiatives & Programmes

• Anti-Child Labour & Trafficking Efforts: Connecting rescue victims to government mechanisms and providing rehabilitation and counselling support for trafficked and exploited children.

• Girls' Education Advocacy: Promoting equal educational opportunities for girls by addressing cultural biases and economic barriers to schooling.

• Community Philanthropy Mobilization: Encouraging collective action and community-based giving to sustain long-term child rights work.

• CRY at 40 Campaign: To commemorate 40 years of CRY ensuring happy childhoods, the organisation collaborated with artists Ankur Tewari, Benny Dayal, Jonita Gandhi, and Shalmali Kholgade to create a song celebrating every child's right to a happy childhood.

Impact

CRY has impacted the lives of over 4.7 million children across 20 states in India through its network of 144 project partners. CRY's CEO, Puja Marwaha, won the Olga Alexeeva Memorial Prize in 2018 for leading CRY's efforts on mobilizing collective action and encouraging community philanthropy. The organisation has also received recognition including the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India CSR Award for Best CSR Project in Health & Education, and the Marketing Excellence Award for Social Awareness.

CRY is an excellent fit for professionals passionate about child rights, education equity, protection from exploitation, and grassroots community mobilization who want to help build a future where every child in India experiences a happy, healthy childhood.