A paradise, along the Brahmaputra and the Barak river, a land of wild forests, mighty rivers, and acres of tea plantations, Assam boasts of breath-taking landscapes. It shares international borders with Bangladesh and Bhutan, and state borders with Arunachal, Meghalaya and West Bengal. I spent a few weeks here to document all projects of UNICEF Assam.
The tea garden workers are the direct beneficiaries of the ABITA-UNICEF programme. Young children of the tea-estate workers attend the Anganwadi centre. While their parents are at work at the estates, the young children benefit from pre-school activities the Nutrition supplementation programme as well as other health initiatives.
Pratham focuses on high-quality, low-cost and replicable interventions to address gaps in the education system. Working directly with children and youth as well as through large-scale collaborations with government systems, Pratham programs reach millions of children every year.
Tracing the journeys of young vulnerable adolescents rescued from cross border and inter state trafficking, from the cities to the rehabilitation homes. Unwanted by their families, these homes provide shelter and counselling intricately woven with vocational training and skill building, helping these young minds to become independent.
Severe and acute malnutrition (SAM) among 0-5 year olds is a continuing challenge. A mother and child are both admitted in a Nutrition Rehabilitation Centre. Social and behaviour change initiatives along with knowledge of locally available nutritious affordable foods helps to address this issue in marginalized communities.
During its 891 km course through Assam, the Brahmaputra river journeys through a vast network of islands, home to the most vulnerable. Some 2,500 of these islands in Assam, locally known as chars or saporisas is home to more than 2.5 million people who lack basic infrastructure and services; from health to schools, from power and roads to drinking water and sanitation. The Centre for North East Studies and Policy Research (C-NES) boat clinic was a unique initiative to provide mobile health services to the poor and the marginalized on the islands in Dibrugarh district.