1st INSPIRE Implementation Jamboree – Leading Violence-Prevention Stakeholders Meet in Uganda

Under the theme “Advancing evidence-based action to end violence against children through INSPIRE dissemination, implementation and monitoring,” more than 150 professionals and representatives of organizations working to prevent violence against children met in for the 1st INSPIRE Implementation Jamboree in Kampala, Uganda.

Basic Training Workshop Reaches 17 Institutions in India

A Basic Training Workshop on the Learning to Live Together (LTLT) Programme was conducted in Coimbatore, India from 19 to 20 March 2018 by Shanti Ashram, bringing together 34 teachers from 17 institutions.

Child and Youth Participation in the GNRC Fifth Forum

From 6 to 8 May 2017, 64 children and youth from 21 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America and the Caribbean, gathered in Panama City to learn from one another and to get prepared for an active participation in the discussions, working groups and plenary sessions of the Global Network of Religions for Children (GNRC) Fifth Forum. Arigatou International Geneva was commissioned to plan, organize and run the Pre-Meeting, support the consultations with children that took place before the event in several countries, and the activities that will follow after the Forum.

Consultative Meeting in Lausanne, for the Multi-Religious Study on the Contributions of Religious Communities to the Convention on the Rights of the Child

On November 20, 2019, the international community will mark the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC30), the most comprehensive treaty on the rights of children which has been ratified by virtually all UN Members States.

The enormous success of the CRC has resulted in numerous laws being enacted including national constitutions, and policies, programs, and budgets being adopted that benefit children. It has also spurred notable achievements in health, education and child protection all of which have improved the lives of all children in many parts of the world.

For this occasion, Arigatou International, in close collaboration with the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Violence against Children (SRSG) has initiated a Study from a multi-religious perspective with experts on child rights, religious leaders and scholars that includes a review of the CRC since its adoption. The Study is also being developed in collaboration with UNICEF and other key partners.

Helping Prevent Child Abuse and Neglect during the Covid-19 Pandemic

As the current pandemic impacts the well-being and development of children, Arigatou International, together with the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect, ISPCAN, organized a webinar on The Emotional and Spiritual Impact of COVID-19 on Children: Faith and Spiritual Nourishment as Key Factors for the Protection and Resilience of Children.

This webinar, which was held on 23 April 2020, was attended by 370 participants from 71 countries, and it is part of a series of weekly sessions organized by ISPCAN to support professionals that work toward the prevention and treatment of child abuse, neglect, and exploitation.

Ideas flow when people talk

"Mankind’s greatest achievements have come about by talking and its greatest failures by not talking.
It doesn’t have to be the future. With technology at our disposal, the possibilities are unbounded.
All we need to do is make sure we keep talking."
Stephen Hawking

Investing time in building relationships with children:

My mind runs back to a conversation I had with my adorable 7-year-old nephew Aditya Aram over Christmas 2017. We had just returned from a field visit. As we got off the car, he asked ‘Bua - who is the boss at Shanti Ashram?’ The word ‘Boss’ bothered me. Within a fraction of a second, it made me reflect as to what leadership example I was presenting to him. Even as I managed to answer this question, his second question quickly followed, ‘When you die - who will lead?’ To this, I said very honestly, that I had not started thinking about it, but I was sure that someone good and able would be ready to lead. Throughout the conversation, he was engaged, curious and patient and it seemed that just having the space to ask questions and to be in the conversation were important first steps for him. In the week preceding this particular conversation, we had often walked to my office and participated in programmes together. He got to see my work first hand at the International Center for Child & Public Health. For me too, just sharing my daily work & life with him was enriching....and I have come to look forward to my conversations with Aditya. My work with children over the past 20 years has given me the rare privilege of meeting children from diverse backgrounds and lived experiences. Interactions with them have often been purposeful, open and constant and it has surely helped me evolve into who I have become.

INSPIREd Faith Communities in Brazil – Fifth Roundtable on Nurturing Values and Spirituality in Early Childhood for the Prevention of Violence

The last of a series of Roundtable Discussions on Nurturing Values and Spirituality in Early Childhood for the Prevention of Violence was held in Brasilia on 24 June 2019, and brought together more than 70 participants from several religious communities, experts on early childhood and child protection coming from civil society and faith-based organizations, as well as government representatives.

INSPIREd Faith Communities in India: Second Roundtable Discussion on Nurturing Values and Spirituality in Early Childhood for the Prevention of Violence

“All of us know what has gone wrong and all of us know what needs to be done to end violence against children, but the question is do we have the courage to do something about it?”

With these words, Dr. Krishnaraj Vanavarayar, Chairman of Bharativa Vidva Bhavan, launched the National Roundtable Discussion on Nurturing Values and Spirituality in Early Childhood for the Prevention of Violence that took place on 11 – 12 April 2019 in Coimbatore, India.

Nurturing Spirituality in Children - Online course

The Arigatou International’s Ethics Education Initiative launched on 25 February an online course on Nurturing Spirituality in Children. The course is part of a series of online courses to complete the Advanced Training Accreditation of the Learning to Live Together Programme.