Toeing the line of Swachchh Bharat mantra of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the UNICEF on Friday kicked off Swachchh Vidyalaya campaign in schools all over the country. Group Handwashing Stations are some of the path breaking innovations, which the organisation claims to have the potential of improving the education and health outcomes of 110 million children who get Mid-Day meals on daily basis in school across the country.
The UNICEF also released a report — The State of the World’s Children Report —Reimagine the future: Innovation for Every Child- which talks about the need of an urgent action to prevent millions of children from missing out on the benefits of innovation.
During the launch of the programme, the international NGO also brought in children from schools across the country who shared their experiences of keeping good hygiene, which they were earlier deprived of, and now feel much healthier. Some of them also narrated how they have used innovative methods to encourage community handwashing in their localities.
The report called upon the Government, development professionals, activists and communities to work together to drive new ideas for tackling some of the most pressing problems facing children.
"In our ever-more connected world, local solutions can have global impact, benefiting children in every country who still face inequity and injustice. For innovation to benefit every child, we have to be rethinking the way we foster and fuel new ideas to solve our oldest problems," said UNICEF executive director Anthony lake.
The report says that innovations such as oral rehydration salts or ready to use therapeutic foods have helped drive radical change in the lives of millions of children in the last 25 years and that innovations are critical to realise the rights of the children.