New Delhi:
Ladli Foundation Trust, a grassroots nonprofit organization, has been selected for National Youth Award for year 2018-19 (organization category), conferred by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India.
The organization is broadly recognized for its innovative initiatives for empowering lakhs of underprivileged people, uneducated females and males as well as persons with disabilities (PWDs) residing in highly sensitive urban and rural slums.
Its initiatives have ‘directly benefited’ over one million beneficiaries through Primary Healthcare, Education, Sensitization, Rehabilitation projects and also impacted the lives of millions of people indirectly by creating awareness on most sensitive issues like patriarchy, religious myths, menstrual taboos, child marriages and trafficking among others.
It is worth mentioning that every year the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports confers National Youth Award to encourage young people and grassroots level organization for their extraordinary contribution in their respective fields.
The award is given for identifiable excellent work for youth in different fields of development activities and social service such as health, research and innovation, culture, promotion of human rights, art and literature, tourism, traditional medicine, active citizenship, community service, sports and academic excellence & smart learning.
Every year more than 15000 young people and organizations from across the nation are nominated for this prestigious national award. Awardees are selected after a regress process and multiple scrutiny rounds by a ‘Screening Committee’ and ‘Selection Committee’.
Initially the ‘Screening Committee’, comprising six members, under the chairmanship of Joint Secretary, Department of Youth Affairs, Government of India screen all the applications and propose the names of the awardees thrice the number of awards to be given.
After this, the ‘Selection Committee’, comprising eight members, headed by Secretary, Department of Youth Affairs scrutinizes all the recommendations of the Screening Committee and makes the final selection of the Youth Awards.
Interestingly, for the year 2018-19, Ladli Foundation is the only organization that has been selected for this prestigious award in organization category. Recently, the foundation also attained Special Consultative Status in United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) for their dedicated social contributions. The organization is actively working at the pan India level with its effective community outreach.
Meanwhile, the organization was recognized by the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres during the 65th Session of Commission on the Status of Women for raising the voice to prioritize the agenda of Women’s Health and elimination of Child Marriages in developing countries for achieving Gender Equality (SDG5).
