UNICEF urges better use of CSR to benefit schools

Hyderabad: Sue Coates, Chief, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) section, UNICEF India, has called upon corporates to take initiatives collectively to ensure WASH in schools so that all children would 'survive, thrive and meet their potential.'"It is the collective duty to ensure WASH in all schools," Sue Coates said while addressing a 'Consultation on WASH in schools for Corporates' jointly organised by the Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) and UNICEF at Bella Vista in Hyderabad on Thursday.

"Your (corporates) relevance is your voice, your influence to challenge; leverage to bring in others; capacity to join hands; and your wise use of Corporate Social Responsibility funds," Sue Coates said. She underlined the need of forging partnerships to achieve 'resilient children' in the country. The ASCI Director General Ravi Kant felt that stakeholder-consultation is the key for the success of any initiative in dealing with WASH.

"For assets like toilets, techno-economic-cultural sustainability is very important and innovations in government schemes is desired," he said adding that corporates have the advantage of thinking out-of-the-box. He asked corporates to connect with NGOs and local persons to ensure the success of their initiatives.

Expressing concern over the poor maintenance of toilets in many schools, the Program Director Prof.V.Srinivas Chary said: "Previous experiences clearly suggest that over a period of three to six months after the construction, the assets will become a liability. More sustained interventions are needed for the meaningful spending of corporate funds."

As corporates have been increasingly recognized as advocates and partners in the national mission (Swachh Vidyalaya Campaign, as part of the Swachh Bharat Mission) to improve health and education in schools through WASH, ASCI-UNICEF jointly organised the consultation, which was attended by more than 75 delegates across the country.