In May this year, Dr Haridhan Goswami co-organised a major international workshop in Kolkata, India, exploring the co-production of wellbeing policies for children in South Asia.

‘Co-producing wellbeing policies: A South Asian perspective’, is the second in a series of international dissemination events organised through the South Asian Research Network for Childhood and Youth Studies (SARNCYS), in partnership with the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI). Fifty researchers, policymakers, and non-academic stakeholders from the network’s five partner countries (India, the UK, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh) came together to discuss research findings on co-producing wellbeing policies with children.

The workshop was hosted by the network’s Indian partner, Dr. Saswati Das from the Economic Research Unit of the ISI, in collaboration with Manchester Centre for Youth Studies. Award-winning computer scientist Professor Sanghamitra Bandyopadhyay, ISI Director, gave the opening speech, inaugurating the event.
SARNCYS is a unique and innovative network led by Dr Goswami and based at the MCYS. Through collaborative, interdisciplinary working and participatory practice, the network aims to imrpove wellbeing policies for children in South Asia.
Networking and dissemination events form an important strand of this work. Dr Goswami explains, “The event created opportunities for delegates from a wide range of backgrounds including researchers, policymakers, think tanks, NGOs, and donor agencies to debate key issues linked to child well-being.

This collaboration was extremely important for formulating evidence-based policies in the region. By allowing children to contribute to policy mapping, which is often neglected, the research contributed to facilitating children’s participation and empowering them to raise their voice to issues which affect their lives.”
The SARNCYS recently organised the following high-profile events:

• ‘COVID-19 Pandemic and Children’s Wellbeing in Bangladesh: Children’s Voices in Shaping Policies’. A seminar in collaboration with the Department of Sociology at the University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh, December 2023
  
• Children: A Sri Lankan Case Study’. A seminar organised with the Department of Education at the University of Peradeniya, July 2023.
  
• A Winter Camp on Quantitative Research Methodology Training run by Manchester Met’s Q-Step Centre in the Department of Political Science and Sociology at North South University in Bangladesh, January 2023.

For further details contact:
h. goswami@mmu.ac.uk