CINI

Child In Need India/Child In Need Institute (CINI)

Type	Non Governmental
Founded	1974
Headquarters	Kolkata, India
Key people	Dr. Samir Chaudhuri (founder), Eliana Riggio (chair of Italian branch), Lady Slynn (chair of UK branch)
Services	Nutritional rehabilitation and prevention; sexual health education; healthcare; schooling; training
Website	www.cini-india.org, www.cini.org.uk

CINI, known internationally as Child In Need India and in India as the Child In Need Institute, is an international humanitarian organisation aimed at promoting "sustainable development in health, nutrition and education of child, adolescent and woman in need" in India^[1]. The India-based Child In Need Institute is headquartered in Kolkata and operating in some of the poorest areas in India, whereas its international arm Fondazione CINI International is based in Italy.

Founded by pediatrician Samir Chaudhuri in 1974, CINI is involved in several major community development focused projects in India, driving at the underlying social causes of poverty. It focuses primarily on the issues of health, nutrition, education and protection of children and mothers. The organisation is increasingly also involved in projects in other countries in Asia and Africa, mostly in an advisory capacity to international and UN agencies.

CINI shares its approaches with other organisations working in related fields—especially smaller NGOs also based on the local community—and won the Indian Government’s National Award for Child Welfare in 2005^[2][3].

History

CINI emerged in part from the work of its founder, Dr. Samir Chaudhuri, who began his medical career working in the villages and slums of West Bengal in the 1970s. His professional collaboration with Sister Pauline Prince of the Institute, and Rev Fr J. Henrichs S. J ^[3] lead to the Child In Need Institute’s foundation in 1974. CINI has gone on to become one of the leading humanitarian NGOs of India ^[4].

In 1998 CINI was recognised as a National Mother NGO, under the Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) program by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India ^[5]. That same year it was also recognized as a collaborative training institute by the National Institute of Health and Family Welfare (NIHFW), New Delhi ^[6] and now constitututes the largest training facility in West Bengal for training health workers in nutrition, safe motherhood and HIV awareness. This training facility was extended from CINI’s own staff training centre to teach workers from other NGOs and government ^[7].

In November 2005, the Indian government gave the charity the National Award of Child Welfare.

Having grown from humble roots, CINI's work has achieved increasing recognition. Recently this resulted in Dr. Chaudhuri’s receiving the World of Children’s [1] 2007 Children’s Health Award for making “a significant lifetime contribution to children in the fields of health, medicine or the sciences”^[8] (see also ^[9]).

While the Indian organisation is known as the Child In Need Institute, the organisation and its national chapters use the name Child In Need India outside India.

National chapters and Fondazione CINI International

The organisation's patron Cherie Booth QC (Cherie Blair)^[10]

There are national chapters in Australia, Belgium, Holland, Italy, the United States and the United Kingdom, and additionally regional groups in Scotland and Wales. The British chapter is the largest national chapter outside India.

CINI UK was founded by Lady Odile Slynn, whose husband, Lord Slynn of Hadley, was a patron of the organisation. The organisation is chaired by Lady Slynn; Lady Susan Forsyth of Drumlean is vice chair. The patrons include Nasser Azam, Lord Bilimoria, Cherie Booth, Lord Dholakia, Lady Flather, Lord Puttnam, Sir Mark Tully, Lady Catherine Young, Lord Forsyth (who has raised funds for the organisation by climbing the highest mountain of Antarctica^[11]) and Lord Hastings, as well as the deceased Ambassador Sir Peter Wakefield.^[12]

The Italian chapter, CINI Italia, is chaired by Eliana Riggio, the wife of Dr. Chaudhuri.

A globally focused NGO, Fondazione CINI International, was launched on 1 February 2000 in Italy. CINI International works to establish North-South and South-South linkages to facilitate sharing and learning among partners working for children, adolescents and women in different parts of the world.

Work

All of CINI’s work aims for the sensitization of the local self-government (the Panchayat) about the health and education needs of the community and the development of effective communication at different levels of the community - especially between the Panchayat and the government health systems ^[6].

Malnutrition

‘Maternal and child under-nutrition have a life-long impact on the health and prospects of the child, potentially affecting future generations’ ^[13] and India has one of the worst records in terms malnutrition among its population, despite its recent economic growth.

CINI’s work tackles malnutrition from the root, focusing on poor maternal nutritional status at conception; low maternal weight gain during pregnancy due to inadequate dietary intake; and short maternal stature due to the mother’s own chronic malnutrition since childhood ^[7].

Maternal Health

India accounts for one fifth of maternal deaths globally ^[14] and the link between underdevelopment, poverty and maternal health has been clear for more than a century according to the Lancet ^[15]. Though the Department for International Development (DfID) believes the Millennium Development Goal to reduce the maternal mortality ratio by three quarters by 2015 remains the greatest challenge ^[14], CINI continues to remain active in the field of improving maternal health. Specifically it runs an emergency ward that provides emergency nutrition for the dangerously underweight and counselling for new mothers.

Education for all (CINI Asha)

The urban wing of CINI was launched in 1989, in order to meet the needs of deprived urban children. A critical review of primary education in India in 2004 pointed out that CINI ASHA works to improve education, health, and the basic need for survival, protection, growth, and development ^[16] among slums, squatter colonies, railway platforms and red light areas.

CINI Asha has mainstreamed over 10,000 children into formal schools, both residential and non-residential. The majority of these children are from the slums, squatter colonies, railway platforms and red light areas.

HIV/AIDS prevention CINI Bandhan

With the creation of Bandhan, CINI has become involved in reducing the increasing magnitude of HIV/AIDS in rural belt of South 24 Parganas district and other parts of West Bengal.

Community-based HIV/AIDS initiatives of CINI are geared towards minimizing risk behaviors in order to contain the spread of the disease and to ensure better quality of life for HIV/AIDS-infected women, young people and children in a holistic manner through a life-cycle based approach.

External links

• CINI India
• CINI UK
• CINI USA
• CINI Italy
• CINI Holland
• CINI Australia

References

1. ^ THE CHILD IN NEED INSTITUTE (2008), About CINI [online]. Available at: http://www.cini-india.org/about.asp#Mission (last accessed 8th Feb 2008)
2. ^ http://socialwelfare.delhigovt.nic.in/Pdf/award4cw2007.pdf
3. ^ ^{a b} WADIA, J (2006), The cycle of life [online]. Available at: http://www.tata.com/0_our_commitment/community_initiatives/tata_trusts/articles/20060614_cycle_life.htm (last accessed 8th February 2008)
4. ^ COPAL PARTNERS (2006), “Child In Need Institute (CINI) Child Welfare and Development” [online]. Available at: http://www.copalpartners.com/Library/PDF/charity_reports/CINI_Final_Report.PDF (last accessed 7th February 2008)
5. ^ CENTRE FOR SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENT, INDIA (2007), “Health and Environment Newsletter from the Centre for Science and Environment” [online]. Available at: http://www.cseindia.org/html/healthnews/may-june05/may-june05.pdf (last accessed 7th February 2008)
6. ^ ^{a b} CINI INDIA (2008), About CINI [online]. Available at: http://www.cini-india.org/about.asp (last accessed 8th February, 2008)
7. ^ ^{a b} CINI UK (2008), “Maternal Health Report”, forthcoming
8. ^ WORLD OF CHILDREN (2007a), “Eight Child Advocates Honored at 10thAnnual World of Children Awards Ceremony” [online]. Available at: http://www.worldofchildren.org/news_2007_winner_release.HTM (last accessed 8th February 2008)
9. ^ YOUTUBE (2007), “Dr. Samir Chaudhuri 2007 World of Children Honoree Vignette” [online]. Available at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=sLhtChMBZYg (last accessed 7th February 2008)
10. ^ http://www.cherieblair.org/highlights/2010/01/a-visit-to-the-children-in-nee.html
11. ^ http://www.lordforsyth.com/charities.php
12. ^ http://www.cini.org.uk/about.html
13. ^ MEDICAL NEWS TODAY (2008), Malnutrition In Young Women Can Leave Communities Stuck In A Poverty Trap [online]. Available at: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/95315.php (last accessed 7th February 2008)
14. ^ ^{a b} DFID (2007), “Maternal Health Strategy Reducing maternal deaths: evidence and action Second Progress Report”, April 2007 [online]. Available at: http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:yyBd2j4trvMJ:www.dfid.gov.uk/pubs/files/maternal-health-progress-report.pdf+maternal+health+india&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=14&gl=uk&client=firefox-a) (last accessed 8th February 2008)
15. ^ LANCET (2006), “Lancet Maternal Survival Series”, September 2006
16. ^ AMERICAN INSTITUTES FOR RESEARCH (2004), Critical Review of Primary Education in India [online]. Available at: http://www.equip123.net/docs/eq1-Critical_Review_PrimaryEd_India.pdf (last accessed 7th February 2008)