UNICEF tugs at conscience on class divide, advocates #FairStart for every child

UNICEF India has unveiled a social media campaign, part of which is a film, produced by Avant Garde Films.

 

The film, first of a series, points with the use of rhymes to the social inequity that exists around us. It contrasts the child in the car with the young boy selling roses at traffic signals. The well-off pregnant mother fills the screen before the mother-to-be working as a labourer at a construction site. The same stars on the sky beam down on the kid in a happy concrete home, and the child whose roof is the night sky. The film ends appealing to the viewer’s conscience to enable a #FairStart for every child from UNICEF India.

 

Caroline Den Dulk, chief, advocacy and communication, UNICEF India, said, “Every child deserves a fair start in his/her life and deserves adequate nutrition, education, sanitation, protection and health care. The campaign draws attention to the lives of many children who are deprived of these basic rights, often at times determined simply by where they are born. Every child should have a fair and equal chance in life, irrespective of their caste, ethnicity, gender, poverty, region or religion.”

 

A UNICEF statement added that there are 6.1 million children out of school in India; around 10 million engaged in work; and that close to 3500 children die every day before reaching age 5.

Den Dulk added, “To make change happen a mind-shift is required. The #FairStart campaign aims at engaging the larger public in a debate and for everyone to see they have a role to play to make sure every child can have a fair chance in life”.

 

 “The #FairStart campaign was quite a remarkable and prestigious project to work on for me, as well as the entire team at Avant Garde Films. The most memorable thing was working with such wonderful kids from ‘Bigger Than Life’ NGO. They played cast and crew really well. For me, and I am sure for everyone who was a part of this project, it would be the most memorable experience and will be close to our hearts forever,” said Abhishek De, Avant Garde Films.

 

The film was produced with participation of a group of children from an NGO. This ‘crew’ included 14-year-old cameraman Sahil, 10-year-old art director Suraj, 15-year-old cameraman-director Shawn and his sister, 13-year-old Belinda.