India

The Republic of India occupies most of the Indian subcontinent in South Asia. India is bordered in the northeast by the Himalayas, the world’s highest mountain range. The climate varies considerably depending on the region. The most important feature of the Indian climate is the monsoon, a wind from the south or southwest that brings heavy rainfall in the summer. The torrential rains make travel and outdoor activities difficult.

Stories in India

Uma Kirti Vishnupriya
Youth Leader In India
A baby girl was born in India. Ten fingers, 10 toes, completely healthy.
But that’s not what her father saw when he looked at her — in his eyes, she was a disgrace. She was born a girl, so she dishonored him.

He blamed Uma’s mother for this curse. “My father made it clear what the consequence would be if he’d married a woman who couldn’t bear a son,” Uma says. “She wouldn’t have a life to live. And neither would her child — if that child was a daughter.”

So, Uma’s mother took that child and ran.
Read Uma’s story of survival and strength
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Too often, cities are not safe places for girls and young women. From catcalling to groping to assault, they face the risk of harassment day and night, on the streets, on public transportation and in public spaces. Some end up dropping out of school because their parents are afraid something will happen to them on their walks to and from the classroom.
That’s why Plan has partnered with girls worldwide to develop Safer Cities for Girls, a long-term gender transformative program working to tackle unequal power relations and challenge harmful social norms.
Kirti has been a youth leader and participant of the Safer Cities for Girls program in India for several years. She trains other girls on issues related to gender-based violence and what they can do to deal with sexual harassment in public spaces. “I encourage them to share their problems and be fearless,” Kirti says.

Kirti also carries out safety audits of local neighborhoods, before presenting recommendations to authorities and local government. She believes the Safer Cities program has “led to improved confidence and increased mobility among girls in my neighborhood."

Now, Kirti is turning her attention to online harassment. “The world needs to acknowledge this issue because it is posing serious concerns. Almost every girl is using smart phones and online applications."

Kirti credits her training with the Safer Cities for Girls program for helping her stand up for herself online, and for helping her feel a sense of community. “Girls should not feel scared if they face any incident of online abuse … We encourage girls to report and share. Together, we can deal with the issue.”

Kirti also has the following advice for social media companies: “I want to ask Facebook, Instagram and other social media platforms to provide high security features for these apps to prevent unwanted people from commenting without our permission.”
Learn how girls are fighting for their freedom online
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South India is in a desperate race to fight climate change. And Vishnupriva is one of the young leaders leading the charge.
Semi-arid with a predominantly hot and dry climate, the landlocked area where Vishnupriva lives relies heavily on agriculture. It’s in these very fields that cracks are beginning to appear.

Plan International’s Climate Friendly Schools in Environmentally Sensitive Communities program is placing young leaders like Vishnupriya at the heart of the climate action, which is exactly where she wants to be. " There is just too much pollution in my town, and I want to put a stop to it. We girls, who are part of the Eco Club, have done rallies in our community, installed garbage bins and spoken to elders in the community about the harmful effects of climate change and environmental pollution."

Groups of children, predominantly adolescent girls like Vishnupriva, have been mobilized into eco-clubs in schools and communities, where they learn about environmental protection measures, and discuss ways to take action and engage their communities in saving their local habitat. Vishnupriya is raring to start a movement for collective action. “If girls are given the power and means to stop the advance of climate change, we will do it."
Meet more young people advocating for change

Plan International has been working to improve children’s lives in India since 1979.

:03 (OPENING SLATE) MEET NISHA, A PLAN INTERNATIONAL SPONSORED CHILD FROM INDIA WHERE YOUR SPONSORED CHILD LIVES. <br /> WE GAVE HER A CAMERA TO SHOW US A DAY IN HER LIFE. <br /> :10 Hello! My name is Nisha. <br /> :13 I live in India. I am 11 years old. I’m in grade 6. <br /> :17 I have been a sponsored child for 6 years. <br /> :21 And this is my family! <br /> :24 This is my house, where I live with my family. <br /> :28 This is our buffalo. <br /> :32 This is our kitchen, we cook our food here. <br /> :36 My father irons clothes in Mumbai. <br /> :40 My mother does household work, agriculture work and also takes care of the buffalo. <br /> :45 This is our farm and here we grow vegetables. <br /> :52 As you can see, we grow pumpkins on the roof. <br /> :57 Plan International has given us water pumps and promoted immunization. <br /> 1:01 They have also helped us reduce the number of child marriages and helped more children go to school. <br /> 1:06 We have also received a water tank for drinking water. <br /> 1:09 We have a hand pump in the village, here we take our drinking water. <br /> 1:19 This is my school. <br /> 1:23 I like to go to school, because I get to make new friends. <br /> 1:31 I also like to learn Hindi poems and play with my friends. 1:36 This is our village adolescent group. <br /> 1:39 Child marriage stops girls from going to school, some girls even get pregnant. <br /> 1:44 Before, child marriage was practiced in the village. <br /> 1:49 Girls were married off before they turned 14 or 15 years old. <br /> 1:53 How many rights do we have? 4! <br /> 1:56 Right to survival, right to protection, right to development and right to participation. <br /> 2:03 I write letters to my sponsor. <br /> 2:05 I cherish this friendship we share as it helps me grow. <br /> 2:13 It is important for me to go to school, <br /> 2:15 so that I can complete my education, become a teacher and help other children. <br /> 2:24 I am happy to be a sponsored child. Bye bye!

Plan stats in India

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Office & operations

Plan India’s country office is in New Delhi, with program unit offices in Uttarkashi, Gairsain, GNK Maharajganj, Varanasi, Aditha Muzaffarpur, Patna, Ranchi, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, Cap Hyderbad, Sip Hyderbad, Udaipur, Delhi, Bajju, Lunkaransar and Rajdhani.

Technical areas

Plan India focuses on the following program areas: health, sanitation, education, economic empowerment, protection and humanitarian response.

Number of sponsored children

As of June 30, 2020, people like you sponsor 47,346 children in India through Plan International.

When you sponsor a child through through Plan, you form an incredible friendship.

You can exchange letters with your sponsored child Send Sunny Days magazine to your sponsored child Sponsor a child with Plan International USA

But that’s just the beginning. With Plan, you also have the unique opportunity to:

Send her birthday gifts and cards.

Give her special holiday presents called Little Treasures.

Subscribe her to Plan’s educational kids’ magazine, Sunny Days.

— Visit her (when travel restrictions are lifted), with individual travel assistance from us.

Each gift offering is safely hand-delivered by us, and given to your child with personalized cards from you. It’s likely that the child you sponsor will have never seen anything like these gifts, and they’re available year-round to make the bond between you and your sponsored child even stronger.

Meet a child to sponsor