The project ‘Strengthening Capacity – Empowering Children’, implemented in Kerala, India by the Fourth Wave Foundation with the support of WFAD, has officially kicked off. The overall objective of the project aims to increase the possibilities for the protection and prevention of children and enhance access to care and treatment for all children. During the first year, the project aims to assess and improve societies and the state’s responses towards children who are affected by and addicted to or have parents who use drugs and have drug dependency issues by designing deflection programmes, advocating for creating child drug courts, establishing child treatment centres and protocols, building capacities, etc.

The first activity, held by the Fourth Wave Foundation, was a stakeholders meeting held at the Thiruvananthapuram district in Kerala. The meeting was presided over by the region’s Member of the Legislative Assembly. Key stakeholders from enforcement, district administration and health care were part of the discussion which focused on prevention strategies for the region.