For young people to change the world, it is crucial that they understand the importance of their rights and the positive impact that they can make through community action. In 2019, the international children’s aid and advocacy organisation The KidsRights Foundation launched the State of Youth, a non-political, non-religious digital ‘state’. It transcends borders and aims to empower 12-24-year-olds around the world. Next, KidsRights wanted to create a similar platform for young changemakers aged 6-12-years-old
When KidsRights asked us for support to create a new entertaining and educational app for the organisation, we were delighted to help lead the technical development of State of Youth Kids.
The platform combines age-appropriate and engaging children’s rights education with offline action challenges, empowering young children to become changemakers in their communities and beyond.
We completed the project under our Tech4HOPE initiative, which enables us to provide pro-bono advisory and technology consulting services to organisations such as non-profits that seek to create socio-environmental impact.
“At TCS, we believe in building greater futures by connecting people to opportunities in the digital economy and the work we do is driven toward creating a fairer and more equitable world for all. We were aware that KidsRights were doing extraordinary work in the field of human rights and child advocacy and were keen to support them through our pro-bono advisory and technology consulting services,” said Roy Sharon, Head, CSR, TCS Europe.
KidsRights wanted to create a new type of platform that would resonate with a younger audience and fall under the banner of ‘edutainment’. That meant that we had to approach the platform in a different way when building it from scratch.
“We had to train the team to think like children. We were always thinking: ‘Will this be easy for the kids? Is it engaging or will they lose interest?’ We even asked some of our colleagues’ children to test it out and give us their feedback,” said Sona Magdelene, Delivery Manager, TCS.
Gamification elements encourage children to get involved as well as share the platform with their friends, in turn inspiring others and helping the kids serve their communities.
KidsRights launched a pilot of the platform in the UK, Malaysia, and the Philippines before rolling it out worldwide. The foundation is now focusing on publicising the platform and engaging young people around the world.
“We are pleased to partner with The KidsRights Foundation in their mission to empower children across the globe. The State of Youth Kids platform that we have created for KidsRights is one of many initiatives we support, leveraging our technology expertise to create positive change in our local communities. All these community outreach initiatives reflect the social responsibility DNA we have inherited from the Tata group,” said Abhijit Niyogi, Head, Retail Business Unit, UK and Europe, TCS.
Added Marc Dullaert, founder and chairman, The KidsRights Foundation, “TCS’ dedication to the technical development of the State of Youth Kids app has enabled us to offer a specialised platform for children aged 6-12 to learn about their rights in an engaging and informative way. Together with TCS and our other partner in this initiative, H&M, we are helping to improve children’s awareness of their rights at home, school, and in their community."
KidsRights works with children to create a world in which their rights are guaranteed, and they are empowered to realise their great potential. Together with children, it seeks global attention for their power as changemakers and children’s rights issues. Through its research, the foundation provides insights on the status of children’s rights worldwide. For more information, visit www.kidsrights.org.
Corporate social responsibility
The Corporate social responsibility department at TCS branches out through different programs to empower the community, centred around the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Our programs are helping build equitable, sustainable, and inclusive pathways for youth, women, and marginalised groups. By prioritising our focus on education, skill development, employment, and entrepreneurship, TCS empowers people and communities to bridge the opportunity gap.