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International Street Children Day kicks off across India 800 street children hosted by Save the Children attend ‘Gully Boy’ screening in association with PVR Cinemas

Sanspareils Greenlands (SG Cricket) donates shoes to 800 children across states

Mumbai 12th April 2019: April 12th is International Day for Street Children: a special day recognising the strength and resilience of millions of street children around the world. Celebrated globally since 2012, it is an opportunity to recognise their humanity, dignity and rights in the face of unimaginable hardships. We want to rally governments and individuals worldwide to work together to ensure their rights are protected no matter who they are and where they live. Join us in our quest to recognize the potential in every street child.

To mark the International day for Street Children on 12th April, Save the Children and partners kicked off month long celebrations across 10 Cities today. A special screening of ‘Gully Boy’ was held in collaboration with PVR Cinemas at PVR, Oberoi Mall, Goregaon for street connected children from various parts of Mumbai. Along with this  special screening of ‘Gully Boy’ also held for 800 street connected children across Delhi, Kolkata and Lucknow to mark the occasion.

Zoya Akhtar, prominent filmmaker and screenwriter and director of Gully Boy expressed her happiness over the special screening of the movie for street connected children and said, “As a storyteller, it is gratifying to see how one story on the screen can tell the story of hundreds and thousands of voices waiting to be heard. There may be many more Murad’s and Safeena’s out there, each with a different dream and a different aspiration. I do hope that these street connected children watching the film can find their voice and raise it too.” #TheInvisibles, #IAmSomebody.

The celebrations will also include distribution of nearly 1000 pairs of shoes across all states to street connected children we are working with, donated by Sanspareils Greenlands (SG cricket) – India’s largest and most trusted cricket gear manufacturer. They have also provided complete cricket kits to Team India North who will represent India at the first ever Street Child Cricket World Cup (SCCWC 2019) to be played ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup at Lords, England in May.

As celebrations continue, in Kanpur, a district level cricket match is being held between children in street situation in collaboration with the South Club Cricket Academy on 12th April. The day will also be marked by activities with children in street situation at 30 hotspots in Mumbai, Pune and Nashik, which will include drawings, group discussions, poems and quotes that focus on their basic rights. A conversation on rights of street children between representatives from DCPCR and child advocates, former-street connected children will take place in Delhi.

#TheInvisibles initiative is garnering a lot of support from influencers and opinion leaders and corporates.

Dia Mirza, Artist Ambassador, Save the Children added, “You can make their dream a reality. Join me in supporting this incredible journey that takes our children from the streets to Lord’s.  Your contribution can help Team India reach London. You can make it happen! Come on India let’s stand for #TheInvisibles.

Notable film director, producer and screenwriter, Subhash Ghai said in a statement, “It is very painful to know that 20 lakh children live on the streets of India. They are denied basic rights and entitlements like food and shelter. I congratulate Save the Children and Salaam Balak Trust for their initiative. They are celebrating 12th April as the International Street Children Day. We must all get together and ensure basic rights for children on the streets. Because we must make the invisible children visible. We must ensure that they have an identity, the power to speak up and a future. It is our duty.”

In another significant support PTC India Financial Services Ltd have come on board as a Team Sponsor (Team India North) for team of street connected children’s participation at the first ever Street Child Cricket World Cup that will take place at Lord’s along with creating national and international visibility of Children in Street Situation.

Deepa Menon, Senior Vice President CSR and CORP COMM shares of PVR, “We at PVR cinemas are pleased to partner with Save the Children for the special screening of Gully boy for 800 Street connected Children. We are humbled in doing our bit through this collaboration. We hope children have fun and are inspired to pursue their dreams and aspirations.”

Nearly 2 million children live on India’s streets with their chances of surviving, learning and thriving extremely bleak, thereby making them the most vulnerable section of society; 79{2cb06f42ddc66cf70b5932cd822494d08be813b22fe747a0a6773f2305a2978c} percent don’t even have an identification document. Save the Children, through one of its largest interventions initiated in April 2018– Making #TheInvisibles Visible aims to create an enabling environment for all children living in street situations in India, thereby strengthening their access to right to survival, development, participation and protection, eventually unlocking their limitless potential. The programme aims to deliver impact across 4 states (Maharahtra, Delhi, UP, West Bengal) and 10 cities for children to experience increased enrolment in schools; access to healthcare services, upskilling and employment opportunities impacting lives of 200,000 children.

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Save the Children celebrates 100 years of working for and with children, to bring them their entitled rights to identity, education, health, protection and humanitarian needs.