About Us
About FORCES
FORCES is a network of organisations, networks, , trade unions, academia, and individual experts committed to working on the issues of overlapping rights of children from birth to six years of age and their mothers/primary care givers. From conception to six years of age, the needs and rights of children and their primary caregivers are inextricably intertwined. Even though FORCES work for all children below six years of age, its focus is on the women and children who live in multiple forms of poverty and deprivation.
FORCES was born in response to the Report of the National Commission on Self Employed Women and Women in the Informal Sector also known as Shram Shakti Report (1988). This report brought attention to the livelihood needs of millions of women working in the informal sector, the neglect of their children, and the need for a safe place to leave their children. The Shram Shakti Report established the important link between poverty and absence of any system of childcare support services to assist women.
The network was founded by Centre for Women’s and Child Development, Mobile Creches and Self Employed Women’s Association in 1989. After the formation of FORCES, many studies were undertaken to understand the status of childcare centres and Anganwadi Centres in different states.
Advocacy initiatives have been carried out with other networks, government agencies at the state and national levels. As an outcome of demand for crèches in 1994 the National Crèche Fund was set up in 1994. FORCES raised the issue of a Maternity and Childcare Code in the mid-1990s. It also emphasized on the potential roles that can be played by local governments and peoples’ organisations in improving implementation of ECCD services delivered through public programmes. FORCES has taken part in the collective advocacy on holistic right to early childhood development and right to food for pregnant and lactating women and children from birth to six years of age.
Our Vision
Universal right to maternity entitlements, childcare and ECD services
Our Mission
To realize universal right to maternity entitlements, childcare and ECD services by forming collectives to raise inform demand, engage with government at local, state and central levels to influence design and implementation of laws, policies and programmes impacting intertwined right of women and children.
Our Commitment & Guiding Principles
Commitment
- It advocates for the rights of women and children belonging to the most vulnerable and deprived sections of the society.
- It advocates for laws, policies and programmes that address the holistic and intertwined needs of women and children.
- FORCES believes that every child has the right to early childhood development and services like crèches and childcare services. It also believes in special care and entitlements during pregnancy and maternity benefits for mothers.
- FORCES also affirms and advocates for the state’s responsibility to ensure basic childcare services and maternity entitlements especially in the context of large number of women in the informal sector.
Guiding Principles
FORCES is a rights based network. The focus is on the overlapping issues of women’s rights, workers’ rights and children’s rights.
- FORCES believes in the Constitution of India, secular values, democratic functioning and transparency.
- FORCES endorses the Human Rights Conventions like UNCRC, CEDAW, ILO Conventions and UDHR that upholds the overlapping rights of workers, women and children.
- FORCES believes in public provisioning and universality of provisions. It also firmly believes in equity, non-discrimination and inclusion.
Key Activity
Major issues will be identified at both the state and national level through consensus. In order to bring all partners and stakeholders on the same page, capacity enhancement and awareness building workshops are to be organized so that the network’s demands are informed by updated information on the issues. The awareness building programmes will also help in building campaigns.
The core strategy for educating public and politicians would be through the use social media, electronic, print and online media. Audio-visual materials in the form of short video clips as well as short documentaries or audio messages and jingles for radio is not difficult with the easy use and wide spread of new digital technology. The technology should be used in a cost effective manner.
For politicians, messages on media alone are not enough, but will have to be followed by personal visits by delegations seeking their support through capacity building and sharing campaign materials.
Campaign materials in the form of posters, charts, leaflets, fact sheets and other materials can be prepared in different languages which will be of help in educating the members, the public as well as the politicians. The materials will be based on updated information on the issue and secondary and primary data accumulated by FORCES. Help of media students and media persons can be taken to do this.
Primary and secondary evidence will be collected through surveys, studies and desk research to inform and strengthen advocacy.
Existing policies will be analysed from rights and needs based perspective in order to engage in policy advocacy with the state (at different levels) and other stakeholders.
Consultative method and approach will be adopted for decision making, advocacy and also to develop collective perspective, views and recommendation.
The beauty of FORCES network is its connection at the grassroot level. This involves fostering interactions amongst the community members
through regular awareness meetings, empowering events, rallies,
wall writings, street plays, providing platform for raising the voices
concerning demands related to childcare.
FORCES: Leading the childcare agenda globally – FORCES
has been pioneering the agenda of childcare services as an entitlement
through its active participation in the C-20 processes since 2022. In
Indonesia FORCES was part of the G-20 side event on Care Economy .
This event was a follow-up from the G-20 Ministerial Conference on
Women’s Empowerment which Indonesia hosted in August 2022, to
highlight the importance of women’s economic engagement worldwide.
In the following G-20 organised in India, FORCES organised several
chaupal meetings. C20 Chaupal meetings are a series of consultations
and discussions organized by the Civil C20 engagement group in the
lead up to the G20 summit. The G-20 secretariat committed to prioritizing
childcare services and bolster the care economy through nationwide
programs.
FORCES also participated in the World Social Forum organized in Nepal
and developed effective partnerships to spotlight the issues of childcare
and creche services at the country and regional level. The dialogue for
Nepal FORCES began at the world social Forum as participants from
Nepal became interested in forming FORCES in Nepal.