Integrating child rights, behavioral sciences, and mental health with academics, Amity University Haryana (AUH) and India Child Protection (ICP), through its Centre for Legal and Behavior Change for Children (C-LAB), have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop and introduce a slew of certificate courses for child protection practitioners and law enforcement agencies. As part of the MoU, the two will also undertake research studies on child protection and jointly author curricula, publications, and materials for knowledge development in these domains.-

C-LAB incubated within ICP focusses on building capacity and expertise to ensure justice and safety for children. Meanwhile, Amity University Haryana is a leading private university near Gurgaon spread across 110 acre, and has recently been honored with NEP 2020 Implementation Excellence Award (Gold Category) by the Haryana State Higher Education Council.

The MoU was signed by Dr Sampurna Behura, Executive Director, India Child Protection and Dr Vikas Madhukar, Pro Vice Chancellor, Amity University Haryana.

Remarking on the importance of this collaboration between field expertise and academic capacity building, Dr Sampurna Behura, Executive Director, India Child Protection, said, “This collaboration marks an important step in bridging the gap between knowledge and practice and will enhance our outreach in child protection. By capacity building, practical exposure, research capacity and specialized expertise for the stakeholder, we will be able to effectively respond to the complex realities on the ground and to ensure justice and safety for children. By bringing together field experience and academic rigour, this MoU with Amity University Haryana will further strengthen our child protection ecosystem.”

Commenting on the collaboration, AUH Pro Vice Chancellor Dr Vikas Madhukar said, “This collaboration aligns with the university’s philosophy to be a significant contributor to nation-building. Through these courses, we will ensure that child protection and behaviour change do not remain restricted to documents, but become a crucial part of the understanding and knowledge of stakeholders working in the field.”

As part of the MoU, while C-LAB will develop the course modules, assignments, facilitate field exposures, collaborate for strong research base, design and conduct awareness programmes on child rights and protection, AUH will share academic inputs, assist in translating courses and knowledge material, provide support in awareness programmes among others. The university will also affiliate C-LAB’s Certificate Course for Support Persons in Dealing with Cases of Child Sexual Abuse. C-LAB had introduced the course last year, in keeping with the growing demand of support persons since the Supreme Court’s 2023 directive mandating their appointment in all child sexual abuse cases.