Child speakers from 12 states to call for justice at ISF

New Delhi, Nov 8 (UNI) An 11-year-old slum girl will climb the podium at the India Social Forum beginning here tomorrow along with celebrities of the development world to raise the voice of the young for making the globe a better place for children.

Taking their place among the prominent speakers like Medha Patkar and Aruna Roy are 20 children from 12 states, who have come from villages and towns, slum communities and tribal settings.

Priti, a Class VI student in the national capital, is a voice for the slum people in Tuglakabad.

''Politicians make promises and walk away from us, nothing changes,'' says Priti. ''What we have to tell and ask is important, and when we speak people will come to know this.'' ''Priti speaks strongly for the slum dwellers. She speaks better than many of the activists,'' says Razia Ismail Abbasi of the children's sectoral process of the social forum.

The India Social Forum (ISF) 2006 is the first country forum convened in India under the worldwide World Social Forum process, which proposes people-centred and justice-based alternatives to the policies of globalisation, liberation and privatisation.

Opening tomorrow, it is expected to draw around 50,000 participants from across India and abroad.

Along with Priti are Shabuddin Ali, 9, from Rajasthan, tsunami survivor Vijay Kumar, 14, from Tamil Nadu and teenagers Ghaus, Sunil and Shruti from Maharashtra, all child delegates preparing to take their turn at the ISF mike.

Also ready with their statements and questions are Gauri and Sushila from Karnataka, Sonal from Gujarat and Seema and Reshma from Madhya Pradesh. There is also Kali Samal from Orissa, Shamsher Ali and Farida Bano of West Bengal, Anju and Joginder from Uttar Pradesh, and Warisa and Alvida Bano from Rajasthan.

The children are participants in a countrywide process that has mobilised NGOs, networks and children under the banner of Child Rights for the World Social Forum. Children in 12 states have joined in consultations arranged by before the event to identify issues and to select the children to represent them at ISF.

Also among the child participants are several children affected by the October 10 ban on employing children in dhabas, restaurants and health resorts as well as as domestic labour.

''Many children participating in the social forum say they are forced to do ragpicking after they lost their jobs in dhabas,'' says Ms Abbas. ''The question is why there is no rehabilitation programme for these children. The children say they don't know what to do next and they are demanding education.'' More than 500 children are coming in from states and union territories, says Ms Abbasi, who works with the Delhi-based India Alliance for Child Rights.

Among them are children who have trained to be reporters and photographers. They will report on ISF at the site over the five days. Children will also operate an information desk at the forum.

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