‘Moving TLSDF Forward to the 25th Anniversary’
The Life Skills Development Foundation (TLSDF) was founded in 1998 as part of Save the Children USA’s transition strategy when it closed down its operational presence in Thailand. Our vision is to see every child in our impact areas enjoy their inherent rights and the overall mission is to empower and build the capacity of the individuals and groups responsible for ensuring the basic rights of children. At the program level, our mission is to promote child rights and life skill education with and for disenfranchised children, to enhance their fullest potential development, reducing risk behaviors and factors that may harm their quality of lives.
The operations of TLSDF’s program in 2022, have been a challenging year continuing from the year 2020 in many aspects, especially the epidemic of the coronavirus which made it necessary to revise several project work plans and methodologies of organizing activities according to the COVID-19 “Preventive Measures”. Most activities required the use of online channels to a combination of on-site activities with hybrid communication channels. Every staff had to make a lot of effort to adapt to the frequency of activities as online communication may not produce the same full participation as meet-up. We have to increase our capacity, especially the skills to use new technologies and seek ways to organize activities to achieve the project objectives while funding opportunities for ongoing and new projects are fewer. Although there are ongoing efforts to raise funds for the organization’s programs and operation in response to the situation of children and young people who were affected by their living conditions due to the infringing of their rights. It is not enough to fully meet the need to help those children and families. Therefore, accepting donations through online channels and donation boxes from the general public for living funds provision still need to be carried out to respond to urgent need of assistance.
In 2022, we were successfully run the directed implementing programs in parallel with the child rights advocacy programs which collaborated with our child rights focused networks at local, national, and international levels. Please review our 2022 achievement implementing 8 projects, 5 key activities, and 1 collaborated task in the following.
1. Our ‘Pediatric and Family Cardiac Program’ (PFCP) continued its life saving mission by providing financial assistance to 36 structural heart disease patients who lacked of full health care coverage by the state’s Universal Health Insurance program. Thank you for EDWARDS Lifescience Foundation and Daiichi Sankyo (Thailand) limited.
2. Our ‘Developing Migrant Adolescents through Community-Based Collaboration and Youth Leaders Participation’ made progress in providing career advancement to 2102 ethnic and migrant adolescents with strong effort of migrant youth leaders and community volunteers responding to reach for the unreached families whom were impacted by COVID-19 outbreak since 2020 until present time. Thank you for 7 partnership schools and UNICEF Thailand for their dedication and support.
3. Our first year of the five-years full brown project on ‘Migrant Women Empowerment for Children’s Health Care and Development Promotion’ (MWEC) successfully formed 13 migrant women self-help groups comprised of 124 members whom taking care of 154 children. In 2022, with their bigger amount of saving funds, they are ready to look for the better livelihood of their families as well as their children health care and education. Thank you for the support by kinder not hilfe (KNH)
4. ‘Build Back Better’: Empowering the Ethnic and Indigenous Youth Network and Child Rights-focused CSO Coalition in Upper Northern Thailand. Our second year project started on April 2022, complimented to our current initiatives of the two child rights – focused networks in upper northern Thailand; ‘Child Rights Youth Activist Network’ (CRYA) and the Child Rights Focused Civil Society Organizations called ‘Lanna CRC Coalition’ (LCRC). Together, the networked were enabled to launch a big public campaigning event to present their concerns about child rights violations situations and recommendations in regard to the 9 child rights thematic working groups in the Lanna CRC Festival #2: Child-Friendly Space and End Violence Against Children and Women on 20 November 2022, they successfully engaged with key relevant government agencies led by Chiang Mai’s Governor to endorse their voices of concern and presented his commitment which No tolerate to all types of violence against children and women. We thank you to Diakonia Thailand to their invaluable support to TLSDF.
5. Creating an Advanced Transformation of Civil Society Environment for Resilience Building in Multi-Hazard Settings during March to June 2022; the project supported by CRC Asia and Plan International was successfully completed to achieve the three project outcomes. Representatives of civil society organizations, children and youth leaders, and duty bearers including government agencies and community leaders were provided ample opportunities for participation, collaboration, and learning over the course of the project session. Through these activities, organizations and youth representatives were able to strengthen their capacity building, influence, knowledge of disaster preparedness, and further their own respective missions.
6. The project called ‘Think Global, Act Local for the Best Interest of the Child: Strengthening and Empowering the Sub-regional Child-rights Focused Organizations as a Network to Fulfill their Responsibilities for Child Rights Promotion and Protection’ was continued as its second year implementation, 2021 – 2022. It was strong wind beneath TLSDF’s wings to keep the momentum of current initiatives of the two child rights – focused networks in upper northern Thailand aiming to empower them to carry on their child rights campaigns, policy advocacy, training and strategic communication with their peer children, parents, duty bearers at the local community, and to national policymakers. Thank you CRC Asia for the technical and financial support to in-country activity that implemented by TLSDF.
7. The project to support the development of ethnic youths who have no employment, vocational education and training by the CSO’s area-based networks: Northern Thailand (Mae Hong Son) which implemented by The Life Skills Development Foundation (TLSDF) or RakDek in Thai began on 19 August 2022 that will last to July 2023 successfully reached out to 57 unreached NEET youths aged 15-24 years who never access to any state’s sponsor vocational education institutions. Among these numbers, 10 of them are grade 9 graduated students, 45 dropped-out from schools, and 2 are young parents. Thank you for the support of the Equity Education Fund (EEF) to this amazing project.
8. The project called ‘Strengthen and Empower the Lanna Child Rights Coalition (LCRC) as a network to advocate for Child Rights promotion and protection’ supported by KNH Germany started its support to LCRC member organizations and secretariat team members to conduct their individual and collective core missions to promote and protect child rights with empowered child rights thematic working groups and with inclusive participation of the child rights youth activists (CRYA) in October 2022.
Our five key activities comprised of three child and youth consultations, living fund and scholarship provision activities as in the following.
- With support from CRC Asia, TLSDF organized two on-site consultations with representatives of CRYA and LCRC on 17 and 22 September 2022, and hosted a group of their representatives as satellite symposium to participate in CRC Asia’s regional online consultation on 9 October 2022. We translated Child Rights Connect tool; PREP MEETINGS WITH CHILDREN ON CHILD RIGHTS MAINSTREAMING. How to support children to feed into regional meetings on the ‘UN Guidance Note on Child Rights Mainstreaming? It references under Child Rights mainstreaming survey such as introductory story for a basic concept of Child Rights & Human Rights, Putting Child Right at the Core – Call to Action for the UN, Survey for Children on Child Rights Mainstreaming– Tell the UN, and used in our processes with the participants of ‘Thai national/local-level pre-session meetings. Their inputs for Child Rights mainstreaming survey were collaborated as Thai youth’s statements and shared by their leaders during the regional online consultation.
- With support from CRC Asia, TLSDF was enabled to support youth representatives to participated in four climate justice consultations. 1) The Asia Regional Dialogue on Climate Justice for Children, Youth and Future Generations was held online in Chiang Mai Province on 12 April, 2022. 2) The Asia Regional Dialogue on Climate Justice for Children, Youth and Future Generations was held online in Chiang Mai Province on 19 April, 2022. 3) The Asia Regional Dialogue on Climate Justice for Children, Youth and Future Generations was held in person in Pang Ma Pha District, Mae Hong Son Province on 23 April 2022. 4) The Asia Regional Dialogue on Climate Justice for Children, Youth and Future Generations was held online on 28-30 May 2022. In person consultation, we used focus group discussions as a consultation tool to get information from children and youth.
- In collaboration with Young and Resilience Research Centre, Western Sydney University: Sydney, TLSDF supported 39 youth representatives to participate in two online workshops which explore what online wellbeing and safety means to them and how they want to be supported online. They also contributed on a Vision Statement describing what they want young people’s online experience to be like.
- TLSDF’s living fund and safety home building maintained its operation and provided support to the urgently needy children with support from public donation boxes and private gift through TLSDF’s online account.
- TLSDF’s six scholarships provided to 6 junior high school students helping them to walk across the bridge of compulsory education as counted for 23 years.
On behalf of the Life Skills Development Foundation (TLSDF), my indeed appreciation for the network of all partners, every organization, every agency from government sector, private sector, business, Community Leaders and Community Volunteers including the youth leaders in all TLSDF’s impact areas who support, cooperate and participate in the foundation’s program activities throughout the fiscal year 2022, and I would like to thank the organizations and agencies that provided technical and budget support for our program operation, namely UNICEF Thailand, Save the Children Thailand, Edwards LifeSciences Foundation and Daiichi Sankyo Thailand, limited, CRC Asia, Kinder Not Hilfe, Diakonia Thailand, and the Education Equality Fund (EEF) including all people who donated to TLSDF’s donation boxes and online account with K-Bank online application.
For the fiscal year 2023, TLSDF or RakDek in Thai will continue and striving our works for the rights of children in the changing situation in Thai and global society which may infringe their entitled rights and will affect the welfare and quality of their lives, such as acts of violence against children in all forms and places, natural environment that causes various disasters, living in a risky digital environment that must be consciously adjusted, and the living conditions, health care and education of children who have to migrate both within the country and across the country which create vulnerabilities and risks in order to survive, to be safe and to grow up to be global citizens with the same qualities as other children.
TLSDF’s program in 2023; ‘Moving TLSDF Forward to the 25th Anniversary’
In 2023, TLSDF will continue implementing our 7 former projects and 1 new project as listed below.
- The ‘Pediatric and Family Cardiac Program’ (PFCP) support by Edwards Lifescience Foundation and Daiichi Sankyo company
- The ‘Migrant Women Empowerment for Children’s Health Care and Development Promotion’ (MWEC) support by kinder not hilfe (KNH)
- The ‘Build Back Better’: Empowering the Ethnic and Indigenous Youth Network and Child Rights focused CSO Coalition in Upper Northern Thailand support by Diakonia Thailand.
- The project called ‘Strengthen and Empower the Lanna Child Rights Coalition (LCRC) as a network to advocate for Child Rights promotion and protection’ supported by KNH Germany
- The project to support the development of ethnic youths who have no employment, vocational education and training by the CSO’s area-based networks: Northern Thailand (Mae Hong Son) support by the Equity Education Fund (EEF)
- ‘Step Up the Fight to Against Sexual Exploitation of Children; SUFASEC’ support by CRC Asia and Terre des Hommes, Netherland.
- TLSDF’s living fund and safety home building support by public donation boxes and private gift through TLSDF’s online account.
- TLSDF’s scholarships support by TLSDF’s capital fund’s benefit.
With faith and commitment in Child Rights Promotion and Protection
Kreangkrai Chaimuangdee
Executive Director and General Secretary
The Life Skills Development Foundation
Chiang Mai, Thailand.
The Life Skills Development Foundation (TLSDF)
159/114 Anusarn Villa T.Padeat A.Mueang Chiang Mai 50100 Thailand.
Tel: +66 53 212 757 Fax: +66 53 212 758
Email: tlsdfrd2021@gmail.com, www.rakdek.or.th
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