Hand in Hand (Tamil Nadu)

Hand in Hand is an Indian public charitable trust registered in the year 2002 with an initial focus on child labour elimination, education, and the empowerment of women. The organisation has been in operation since 1988, initially working in Kancheepuram District in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Hand in Hand is currently involved in implementing an Integrated Community Development Project for poverty reduction with five interconnected and interdependent sectors:

1. Child labour elimination and education with 44 schools and a target to get 300,000 children engaged in child labour in Tamil Nadu into schools
2. Self Help Groups and microfinance for enterprise and job creation. By the end of 2007, 272,000 poor women have been organized and trained. They have started 106,000 small enterprises
3. Citizens’ Centres to strengthen democracy on a grassroots level. 500 centres with libraries and IT facilities are up and running and the target is 4,000 centers to cover 20 million villagers
4. Medical camps and awareness campaigns to improve health levels. Presently this covers 250,000 per year
5. Environmental protection via solid waste management and watershed projects

Hand in Hands’ vision is to eradicate child labour and reduce poverty with a focus on education, employment, income generation, and empowerment. Since 2006 Hand in Hand is also active in South Africa and Afghanistan. In Tamil Nadu the target is 1.3 million new jobs and in South Africa and Afghanistan together 3.5 million jobs. Hand in Hand receives funding from Dr Percy Barnevik^[1], Stichting af Jochnick Foundation AB^[2], Give2Asia^[3], and Global Giving^[4] among others.

Notes

1. ^ Financial Times, Barnevik lends a hand [1]
2. ^ Stichting af Jochnick Foundation AB [2]
3. ^ Give2Asia [3]
4. ^ Global Giving [4]

Official website

• Hand in Hand - www.hihseed.org