Five Civil society Organizations

o Alpha Foundation
o Good Thinkers Organization (GTO)
o Bali Memorial Trust
o Idara Aaghosh
o Ittehad Foundation

1. Alpha Foundation:
Alpha is a Kasur-based grassroots CSO working in the field of literacy and community
development with a focus on children between the ages of 5 and 14 who are employed as labor in
tanneries and leather industries. As part of a recent 5-year program, Alpha has established 12 non-
formal education centers across the Kasur district for providing literacy programs to working
children who are not enrolled in school. These centers allow children to work while motivating
them to experience a school-like experience for a few hours every day. Other components of this
program are mobilization of mothers and communities to allow their children to attend the centers
after work, as well as awareness programs for factory owners to facilitate working children’s
participation in Alpha’s centers. Through this program, Alpha has enabled 180 girl-students to sit
for grade 5 board exams and mainstream into formal public schools.
2. Good Thinkers Organization (GTO):
GTO is a Kasur-based grassroots CSO working broadly on human development with a special
focus on transgender communities and women, and to a lesser extent, on children. In relation to
their work on children, GTO has focused in the recent past on mainstreaming out-of-school
children through “drop-in centers” for working and street children to transition them to public
schools over time. In 2012, GTO began with 55 children, and was successful in mainstreaming
over 200 children in public schools in Kasur through Grade 5 board exams. With respect to child
abuse in particular, GTO organized awareness campaigns through local events in both 2015 and
2018, and also provided legal aid and other legal support for some children affected by the child
sexual abuse and trafficking scandal that emerged in 2015.
3. Bali Memorial Trust:
Bali is a Lahore-based CSO that provides “holistic services to the underprivileged,” including
education, health, old people’s sanctuaries, girls’ shelters and orphanages, a women’s crisis
center, and a general helpline center. Bali’s mantra is that its services are “broad and inclusive”
and “cater to the needs of the community.” The first point of contact at Bali is through its weekly
“walk-in days” where anyone in need of assistance can simply drop by. Bali aims to deal with all
facets of a crisis, providing some services themselves and outsourcing others through a referral
system. Services include medical help, school stipends, psychological help, speech therapy for
children, and sanctuaries and shelters.
4. Idara Aaghosh:
Aaghosh is a Lahore-based CSO that works in the field of CRCP, with a focus on the emotional
well-being of abused, exploited, and neglected children on the street, runaway children, and those
involved in child labor, delinquent or criminal activity, or sex trade. The core services provided
 by Aaghosh have shifted in the past few years due to various constraints, including funding
problems and governmental pressures.
5. Ittehad Foundation:
Ittehad is a Kasur-based grassroots CSO with a broad mission of empowerment, literacy and
capacity-building of women, children, and youth. One limb of its work relates to achieving CRCP
through children’s education and community awareness programs. Ittehad provides both formal
and non-formal education to children in Kasur free of cost. It started its operations from a small
non-formal center in a katchi abadi in 2001 with 30 children when there were no public schools in
the area. The aim was to create a smooth transition for out-of-school children, including those
involved in child labor. This first center is now a formal school with a current capacity of 150
children. Ittehad continues to operate several non-formal schools in localities with high child
labor populations to integrate education and awareness about child protection into this very
vulnerable group of children.