One third of the world’s child brides live in India.  The country also has the largest number of children born to children.

Generation after generation will lose the battle to patriarchy, economic exclusion and extreme gender and caste discrimination, till we get up and say, “Stop. Let’s find a way out.”

“Let’s catch this early and stem the rot.”

This opportunity is offered to us when a child reaches adolescence.

Will she marry or will she stay in school?

Will he learn to use his fists just like his father?

Is this where dreams end or where dreams can begin?

The course a young life takes is altered by how we answer these questions and the support we offer at this critical crossroad.

Breakthrough is on a mission to reach out to adolescents across the country in an initiative to seed change early.

Join the effort to build a safety net for millions of children across states like Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Haryana where early marriage and crimes against women are rampant.

Forging alliances with parents, teachers, health-workers, government officials and entire communities, Breakthrough is working to improve the determinants of gender, health and education for both boys and girls.

A youth-club called Taaron ki Toli has already been launched in hundreds of school campuses in North India to bring gender-equity into classrooms at an age when concepts of identity are still being formed. Boys and girls are learning to see life from both sides of the gender divide as they explore personality, personal aspiration and potential.

The programme evocatively calls out, ‘De Taali – banegi baat saath-saath’, asking people to support these young lives by helping them

• • Create safe spaces in schools and within their own communities
  • Gain confidence by acquiring life skills
  • Discover opportunity through education
  • Get access to healthcare services, irrespective of gender.
  • Receive counselling on gender equity and reproductive rights
  • Build an ecosystem in which adolescent voices are heard

Join the movement. Let’s give a generation of young people a better shot at life.