Let Girls Be Born phase III incl COVID-19 prevention SUMMARY
India has the worst child sex ratio in the world (927 girls/1000 boys). Since 2010, the LGBB project has been able to influence policy makers through different actions. The project uses a campaign mode combined with community actions which were demonstrated as best practices. As a result Plan International India has been recognized by the government as a technical support agency on the issue of declining child sex ratio in the implementation of LGBB phase I and II. 
The project will work with an approach that combines communication and community motivation to reach the objectives. It is carried out in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand & Delhi. Delhi will also be included for the purpose of advocacy.  The project will address community, adolescents, newly married couples and the government. Prenatal Sex selection in India causes the loss of 500,000 girls every year. It varies between states, with most dramatic decline in Punjab ( 793 girls / 1000 boys).
The major factors that underlie son preference are the economic utility of sons being more likely than daughters to provide family labor and support their parents during old age, secondly the social status of having more sons, thus more power. Finally, having sons arises from the important religious functions that only sons can provide. Next to this a daughter is considered to be an economic liability to her parents mainly because of the heavy dowry payment as well as the high cost of the wedding.
The introduction of new reproductive technologies including amniocentesis and ultrasonography has aggravated the problem by providing sex selection services at very cheap prices (Rs 400). These modern technologies which were invented for identification of genetic or other abnormalities in the foetus are grossly misused by detecting the sex of the unborn child for the sake of son preference. 
Over the next 20 years, in parts of India there will be a 12-15% excess of young men leading to a situation of bride shortage for prospective grooms. This can give rise to substantial increase in aggressions and organized crimes, rape and other forms of violence against women, drug and alcohol abuse,  situation where many men in a family share single wife and inter community trafficking of girls. A multi- sectoral strategy which is governed by the core principles of respecting, protecting and fulfilling the rights of girls and women, including addressing gender based violence will be adopted. To create improved awareness on value for girl child, gender biased discrimination & GBV in their respective communities, communities and key persons as agents of change will be identified and trained. This will be done by the following strategies: 
1)	Evolving a sustained social mobilization and communication campaign to change societal norms in favour of creating equal value for the girl child.  
2)	Mobilizing and empowering frontline workers’ teams as catalysts for social change, in partnership with local community/women’s/youth groups 
3)	Developing capacity of Urban local bodies - especially women urban local body members- to create community and peer support for making urban wards girl child friendly. 
4)	Ensure that service delivery structures are sufficiently responsive to issues of gender and children’s rights. 
5)	Enabling Inter-departments and inter-institutional convergence at different levels. The last two strategies will make sure that states are engaged and state level actions implemented. LGBB, which started as a flagship project of Plan India is evolving into a program and is being integrated into Plan India’s sponsorship areas towards a more comprehensive approach, at the same time to see how the combined process of communication and community motivation can together aim for reaching the objectives of the project.
Coordinated and convergent efforts are needed to ensure survival, protection and education of girl child to help realize her full potential and this is being recognized by the Government of India. In response to the need for urgent action, Government announced, Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao  (Empower Girls & encourage Education) (BBBP) to empower the girl child and enable her education in  July, 2014
The targeted states of LGBB Phase III are also aligned with the newly launched national campaign BBBP National Scheme and is implemented currently in the same districts of the EU project & blocks. The strategy  will  be complementing each other to have a holistic approach. Recognizing that the issue of decline in child sex ratio is complex and multi-dimensional, it shall be addressed within the broad framework of survival and protection of girl children. The project will work with young people constituting one-fifth of the total population in the proposed intervention areas, government officials, PRIs, frontline functionaries (Asha/AWW, ANM) and other stakeholders like judiciary, media etc Result 1: Community & identified stakeholders ( adolescents, newly-wed couples and families) demonstrating improved awareness on value for girl child, gender biased discrimination & GBV in their respective communities.
•	Community will be mobilized to ensure participation of men, women, youths in different      participatory forums and activities.
•	20% of Youths, young couples, adolescents will be reached
•	7200 young leaders (2520 male & 2520 females) will be trained as youth leaders to act as community motivators
•	Strengthening existing community platforms
Result 2: Communication Strategy replicated or adapted for implementation at scale by government.
•	State and district level advocacy meetings
•	Linkage with National health Mission & State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR)
•	Establish state consultative groups for effective implementation of government schemes and provisions for the girl child and for implementation of PCPNDT Act.
•	Facilitating civil society networks
•	Orientation of the identified (media, judicial & health etc.) critical stakeholders
•	Block Level Child Protection Committees (BLCPC) will be either strengthened or formed
Result 3: Government officials & service providers demonstrating awareness & improved service delivery for improving value of the girl child.
•	Capacity building on gender, family life education, legislations for front line workers and health workers
•	Supporting the community workers in developing counselling skills
•	Birth registration: coordination will be facilitated with Birth & Registration departments /Health department for organising camps for issuance of the birth certificates