MASOOM.
Young Indians conceived MASOOM to keep children safe and it was nationally launched by Kailash Satyarthi, Recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize & Founder, Bachpan Bachao Andolan at Yi annual summit “Take pride” on 12th March 2015.
The project has come a long way by impacting millions of individuals in the communities and being endorsed by renowned personalities. Under this Project, Yi conducts awareness/sensitisation sessions with children, teachers and parents/caregivers. Young Indians has earmarked 14-20 November as Masoom Week, and 20th November as Masoom Day every year.
Since inception of project Masoom, more than 3065 activities have been conducted
What is Masoom ?
Masoom is one of the key projects of Yi, where we work on various initiatives towards creating awareness on Child Safety and Protection and eliminating child sexual abuse through awareness sessions, campaigns, events and Social Media across the country.
Mantra / Motto of Massom
The mantra of Project Masoom is “Play Your Part”.
This motto creates an obligation on each one of us to play a role in protecting our country’s children. Whether a parent, a teacher, an employer or a politician; everyone has a part to play. It could be by making a phone call to report a concern, taking a safeguarding course, volunteering for Childline, enforcing a Child Protection policy or creating an infrastructure for making children safe.
We all have a part to play in the fight for a safe and secure childhood for every child. Capacity building is an integral aspect of Project Masoom and Yi is enabling it for its members, teachers, caregivers and relevant stakeholders through Training of Trainer (ToT) sessions.
Who are the partners?
Project Masoom works in partnership with the Childline India Foundation, UNICEF India, Arpan, WeProtect Global Alliance many other noted Organisations to spread awareness about Child Safety.
Yi also collaborates with authorities and administration for support towards our cause and spread awareness about Child Protection to the public by organising campaigns in cities through rallies, hoardings, theatre festivals, carnival for kids, exhibitions, skits, celebration of Yi Masoom day & week and talk shows at radios & TV channels.
Why have disclosure partners?
Before conducting any Project Masoom Sessions with Children, every Yi Chapter must have a Disclosure Support Partner at local level.
Section 21(1) of the POCSO Act, 2012 requires mandatory reporting of cases of child sexual abuse to the law enforcement authorities, and applies to everyone. Failure to report a suspicion of child abuse is an offence under the Act.
https://wcd.nic.in/sites/default/files/POCSO-ModelGuidelines.pdf
A Disclosure Partner is required to act as a bridge between Yi and CSA Disclosures. No Yi Chapter or Yi Member must in any way get involved in handling any disclosures. Mandatorily chapters must use a local disclosure partner for every session. Chapters may get Child Line on board as a disclosure partner.
Do's
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Ensure that you select the Masoom Chair and CoChair who are aligned to goals.
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In the Pathfinder ensure that the plan for Masoom is chartered
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Focus beyond the child, to include parents, caregivers,teachers this year.
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Sign up with at least 2 organizations locally (possibly Childline / Arpan), if not already done
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Use the creatives and presentations that shall be shared from the National Team for use.
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Share any collaterals that you have developed at your chapter.
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Conduct a session for Yi Members and their families before the next GC.
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In case of disclosures during school sessions, ensure it is reported to Childline/authorized agency by the school authorities.
Don'ts
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Assume that you can handle disclosures.
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Get obsessed with numbers, focus on understanding and awareness.
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Have a session beyond 100 participants (ideal session between 60-100) at one time.
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Conduct sessions for children and adults together.
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Hesitate to reach out to the National Team for any support / clarifications
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Provide made up or incorrect responses to queries if you are unsure of the correct answer
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Initiate any sensitisation session before clearly stating policy about disclosures
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Conduct a session without first trying to ensure the presence of a Partner organization or a person competent to handle disclosures.
Best Practices
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For school sensitization sessions, use the prescribed Planner and share with the school authorities beforehand for efficient session changeovers
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Use prescribed formats for school sessions and get them duly signed by school authorities after the sessions are completed
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Provide ID Cards or Volunteer Badges to the trained volunteers which is to be shown to the school authorities to build their confidence on the volunteers
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Maintain a record of sessions conducted by the Masoom Team with the following data:
o Name of School
o Address/Location of School
o Name of Principal/Coordinator
o Contact numbers of School and Principal
o No. of sessions conducted
o Total No. of students sensitized
o Date & Time
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Provide posters to the School for displaying on their notice boards as a reminder to the children
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The session with students must be conducted in a sensitive, fun and interactive manner
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