2024-2026

Meeting labourers’ children early-years needs

©Mobile Creches

2024-2026

Mobile Creches

Mobile Creches works across India to meet the early childhood care and development needs of labourers’ children, focusing on the ages of 6 and under, when the foundations for health, learning and social behaviour are laid. This India-based non-profit provides or facilitates the provision of quality day care centres in the workplace, on construction sites, in settlements and in urban slums. Having grown steadily since establishing its first crèche in 1969, Mobile Creches now works in 15 states, serving more than 867,000 children to date and working closely with civil society organisations, governments and employers to prioritise and secure forefront of attention for the issues faced by marginalised young children. We’re funding Mobile Creches’ bold objective to enable quality childcare to an additional half a million children by 2027.

www.mobilecreches.org

CHALLENGE

Indian labourers move from their villages to the big cities in search of work. While they work long hours on construction and other work sites, or struggle to make ends meet as domestic workers, street vendors or waste pickers, their children wait nearby - exposed, unattended and sometimes unsafe.

©Mobile Creches

ACTION

It is globally recognised that meeting a child’s early-years needs regarding health, nutrition, protection and stimulation facilitates their critical cognitive and psychosocial development – irrespective of whether these needs are met in the family or a safe, stimulating and caring outside environment.

Mobile Creches sets up and directly runs demonstration daycare centres on work sites, in urban slums and in rural villages across India so parents can safely leave their children and go to work.

The organisation also supports local non-profits and building development companies to set up and manage creches based on its service provision standards.

Finally, Mobile Creches engages with various state governments to train their staff in daycare operations and quality standards.

Over the years, Mobile Creches has worked to influence public policies and practices by generating greater public engagement through advocating for the country’s youngest children.

IMPACT

23,900

children

empowered by early child development services in 2022-2023

of children

in childcare centres improved or maintained their nutrition

of children

in childcare centres provided with routine vaccinations

547

childcare centres

directly run, technically supported or supervised in 2022-2023 (compared with 80 in 2021-2022)