Our Presence

Butterflies reaches out directly to over 2,000 street and working children in Delhi, and 1,200 children living in remote areas of Uttrakhand. Through the Children’s Cooperatives Programmes (CDK & CHSC), Butterflies is also present in eight countries (Afghanistan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Madagascar and Ghana) and seven states & one Union Territory of India (Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala, Delhi, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Rajasthan and Maharashtra).

The organisation’s core belief is children have a right to be heard, to be consulted, to take their views seriously in all decisions that concern them. In keeping with this core value Butterflies facilitated a children’s forum in Delhi called Delhi Child Rights Club in 1998 which has children from 13 NGOs as its members. DCRC has commented on various government policies and legislations related to children; the very recent being the draft national policy on children. DCRC has taken up the issue of right to play with the Mayors & Chief Minister of Delhi to get access to play grounds and open spaces for children to play.

In addition, Butterflies has facilitated and is the convenor of National Alliance of Grassroots NGOs for Protection of Child Rights (NAGN), an alliance of 39 grassroots community based organizations from 13 states. Butterflies has also facilitated and is the convenor of South Asian Alliance of Grassroots NGOs (SAAGN) having 136 members from the region. The reason for coming together as an alliance was for the voices of small grassroots organisations to be heard and for Butterflies to lobby for the rights of the most marginalized communities. Best practices are also shared among alliance members who are constantly learning and finding ways to be creative and innovative in their functioning. Butterflies is a member of Family for Every Child, a global alliance of local civil society organisations working together to improve the lives of vulnerable children around the world.