No Child Born to Die is a part of both a national and global campaign currently running in more than 50 countries that aims to reduce child mortality and help accelerate progress on UN Millennium Development Goal 4 i.e. reduce under five mortality by two thirds by 2015.
Through the college contact program, students were approached and educated about Save the Children's campaign via action cards and were asked to pledge support to the cause by signing the action cards. A big graffiti wall was created on which the students were invited to write a message and get a photo taken against the backdrop. This program culminated into an event on Nov. 25. Human banners, standees, etc. were also used to promote the event and the youth present were invited to speak or write their messages on the graffiti wall.
The event saw actress Shabana Azmi joining the Save the Children campaign asking the government to increase the health budget; Lushin Dubey's solo play on the issue; youth engagement; communities and public action including signature campaign; as well as health workers convention across villages and cities all demanding better healthcare for India's children. Music bands and theatre groups from colleges came up with acts to mark the evening of celebration joining in support of the cause.
To give the mass action a wider visibility among the public and media in the capital, the iconic Statesman House building in Delhi was used to project the college activation pictures on a huge 60 ft. x 50 ft. screen - the 'Wall of Fame' that showcased students pledging for the Save the Children campaign. This stunt was a first by an NGO in India and provided huge public visibility for the issue. It helped establish a link between the Save the Children ongoing online campaign and offline activities. The combined action reached 6,000 young people at colleges and nearly 3 lakh people who were exposed to the spectacular stunt.
Commenting on the campaign, Devika Sharma, Managing Partner, Candid Marketing said: "We have been associated with Save the Children for some time now, and to be a part of this campaign has been an honour. Creating awareness for a social cause is much more challenging since it is conceptualized with a motive to bring a change to the society and we always look forward to doing more such events."