By IANS,
London: London-based charity STARS Foundation has set a Jan 19 deadline for applications for its 2010 Impact Awards from organisations working with disadvantaged children in South Asia.
The annual awards recognise one recipient in each category of health, education and protection. Each award provides $100,000 of unrestricted funding as well as tailored consultancy support, a foundation statement Wednesday said.
In addition, a smaller award may be made at the discretion of the STARS Board of Trustees to recognise the work of an organisation whose application demonstrates potential as a “rising star”.
STARS Foundation chief executive Muna Wehbe said: “Over the past three years, our recipients have benefited in many ways from their award, beyond the funding and the consultancy support that we offer.”
“Organisations have secured increased funding, enhanced media profile, and built stronger partnerships. As a result, this has benefited thousands of children”, Wehbe added.
The STARS Foundation improves the well-being of disadvantaged children around the world by supporting organisations which meet their health, education and protection needs.
In 2009, six organisations in Africa and Asia – two of them in India – were selected against a range of criteria that reflect the hallmarks of effective practice and demonstrate a positive impact on the lives of the children supported, the statement said.
The Indian recipients were:
* Ahmedabad-based Sense International India, which received the Education Award for its partnership approach to supporting deaf-blind children and for setting up South Asia’s first teacher training and mentoring course in deafblindness.
* Mumbai-based Prerana, which received the Protection Award for providing day and night care as well as education for children at risk from second generation commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking in India.
Organisations are selected against the following criteria: delivery and impact of programmes that positively affect the lives of disadvantaged children; governance and accountability to stakeholders; effective finance and administration; use of technology; innovation and flexibility; networking and collaborating with other organisations; development of staff members and volunteers; inclusion and access.
The 2010 Awards, which opened for applications on Oct 9, 2009, saw STARS extending its coverage to 24 new countries in the Middle East, East Asia and Pacific. A total of 80 countries are now covered by the awards.
Applications for the awards can be downloaded from www.starsfoundation.org.uk.