Designed as a professional development initiative, the programme aims to empower a new generation of child protection practitioners by equipping them with critical knowledge, practical tools, and ethical grounding necessary to respond to complex challenges facing Odisha’s children.
In a major stride toward strengthening child protection systems in the Odisha, the Centre for Child Rights (CCR) at the National Law University Odisha (NLUO), supported by UNICEF, launched the Child Protection Mentorship Program (CPMP) on Friday.
Designed as a professional development initiative, the program aims to empower a new generation of child protection practitioners by equipping them with critical knowledge, practical tools, and ethical grounding necessary to respond to complex challenges facing Odisha’s children.
(The CCR at NLUO is a teaching, research and advocacy centre established to advance legal and social innovations in child protection.)
The programme aims to build a cadre of child protection practitioners who can support government schemes and strengthen NGO interventions. Besides, these practitioners will be able to work with statutory bodies such as the Juvenile Justice Boards and Child Welfare Committees, and serve as watchdogs of child rights within their communities.
The CPMP is a response to the felt and expressed need of child protection practitioners and the juvenile justice leaders in the sector.
The inaugural event, held in a hybrid format, witnessed the participation of eminent dignitaries from the judiciary, academia and civil society, as well as development professionals from various parts of Odisha, with 100 selected mentees forming the first cohort of the program. The valedictory address was delivered by Hon’ble Justice Murahari Sri Raman, Judge of the Orissa High Court and Member of the Juvenile Justice Committee – Odisha High Court.
Brains Still Developing
Prof Biraj Swain, Chief Minister’s Chair Professor and Director, CCR-NLUO delivered the opening remarks. Following this, Prof. Ved Kumari, Vice Chancellor of NLUO and Patron-in-chief of CCR delivered the welcome address where she reinforced the role of academic institutions as changemakers in the social justice landscape. She spoke about the interdisciplinary nature of child protection work and commended CCR’s initiative to bridge the knowledge-practice gap through a mentorship model.
She said, “Children and adolescents often take risks not because they’re defiant, but because their brains are still developing. With limited capacity to assess long-term consequences, continuous hormonal changes, what emerges is a ‘bulletproof’ mindset. They chase thrill, feel invincible, and remain less afraid of outcomes they barely understand.”
Drawing from decades of community engagement and building and strengthening civil society engagement, Mr Jagadananda, spoke on Odisha’s development trajectory and the essential role civil society had played, from humanitarian crisis and rebuilding, to planning for long-term development, to building civic capacity on Right to Information and Food Security and state capacity to respond.
Jagadananda also emphasised the centrality of investing in youth, young adults, adolescents, children for demographic dividends and society’s development. He called for investments in leadership development and urged participants to remain grounded in community realities and shared pragmatic inputs on 1-0-1 of working with the state systems.
Sujit Mahapatra shared on the importance of art and creative works in trauma healing, therapy and building confidence amongst children. He spoke on From Art to Heart: Working with Children in Especially Difficult Circumstances.
Critical Role of CPMP
Designed for Odisha-based professionals with a commitment to children of Odisha, CPMP combines expert sessions, interactive discussions on topics such as child rights law, trauma-informed care, juvenile justice, ethical reporting, and crisis intervention. Biswas highlighted the program’s inclusivity and the provision of completion certificates based on active engagement and consistent participation.
Some of the points raised by the mentees are:
• The skill to build rapport with adolescents as sometimes it becomes difficult for the mentees to communicate and understand them while working with them
• In case of mentally challenged children, how to seek full support from the non-supportive parents for better and timely treatment of such children
• Awareness on child protection programmes and schemes being rendered by the government especially to the police/railway police personnel as duty bearers etc.
Delivering the valedictory address, Hon’ble Justice Murahari Sri Raman emphasized the critical role of the CPMP in strengthening the capacity of frontline child protection actors in Odisha. Highlighting the unique vulnerabilities children face due to systemic neglect and social challenges, he commended the programme’s restorative justice approach, community engagement, and legal grounding.
Justice Raman called for shifting from institutional care to preventive, rights-based interventions and praised NLUO’s KUTUMB initiative and the Centre for Child Rights’ leadership in driving community-based protection. He urged mentees to act with compassion, vigilance, and accountability to uphold children’s dignity and rights. “Let Odisha lead the way. Let us become the state where child protection is not a scattered mandate but a shared value,” he stated and expressed hope that the CPMP would create a ripple effect, strengthening Odisha’s child protection landscape from the grassroots upwards.
