Dr Indrani Bhattacharyya Visits Perth to Present to CINI Australia Supporters
On Wednesday 25th February Dr Indrani Bhattycharrya, CEO of the Child in Need Institute, India (CINI), spoke at the Nedlands Golf Club, Perth to an audience of CINI Australia supporters, after attending the Australian–Indian Technical Exchange on Drowning Prevention in Sydney. Her visit was a rare and exciting opportunity to introduce a wider audience to CINI’s work. Guests were welcome by Jennifer Connaughton, Co-Founder of CINI Australia.
Dr Bhattycharrya presented CINI’s groundbreaking approach to participatory child rights action and research, with five decades’ experience working with the most marginalised communities in India. She discussed their integration of interventions across core areas (health, education and safety) using participatory methods, making children and women leaders in transforming their own lives and communities.
CINI’s approach is bottom-up community development work that is unapologetically child-rights based, integrates health, nutrition and education, and uses innovative community empowerment approaches—and does so on a massive scale.
“We see change when a young girl speaks confidently at a community meeting or with her parents. We see systems shift when peer leaders enter governance spaces. We see impact when communities internalise rights, not just services.”
Guests were able to ask questions at the end of Dr Indrani’s talk. They were interested to learn how CINI’s method is unique to the organisation, but also transferrable on a national and international scale, crossing boarders and cultural boundaries. The CINI’s method has been proven time and time again over the last 50 years, and Dr Indrani’s presentation was a testament to how it is shaping the future for the current generation, and generations to come.
“When street champions from Kolkata speak on global platforms like the United Nations, it is not symbolic—it reflects years of intentional investment in leadership and rights.”
Thank you to everyone who attended the event, and to our volunteers who made the event possible. We would like to say a special thank you to Nedlands Golf Club, for the use of their club room. It is with the support of our community that we can host events that do not detract from the support we give to CINI.
