The United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) has appreciated the role of government authorities in successfully implementing and executing the Children Act 2013.
However, the UN organisation also expressed concern over the recent outbreak of violence on children and the proposal of lowering the minimum age for marriage for girls.
These observations were mentioned in the Fifth Periodic Report of Bangladesh, prepared by Unicef’s Committee on the Rights of the Child, which was unveiled at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC) in the capital yesterday.
The programme was jointly organised by Unicef and the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs.
“Bangladesh has made tremendous achievement during this quarter-century-long journey considering the changing global situation, all in the best interests of children,” said Edouard Beigbeder, Unicef representative in Bangladesh, at the event.
He placed some recommendations related to the laws, proper allocation, effective inter-ministerial body and awareness campaign to curb child marriage.
The report also said Bangladesh has enacted the 2013 Children Act recognising a citizen as a child until the age of 18, which is the global benchmark. Bangladesh is among the first few countries to sign and ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990.
In the programme, Rose Anne Papavero, chief of child protection unit at Unicef, said: “Children’s help desk is being established in every police station; it is still in the pilot phase. At the help desk, a police officer will be appointed to help the children. Besides, in the police academy training, the subject of helping child victims is also being incorporated.”
Earlier, in an inter-ministerial meeting on February 24, Ministry of Women and Children Affairs Secretary Nasima Begum stated that cases of child abuse will be immediately solved without unnecessary harassment to the victim and family, and legal action will be taken against the officer who handles the cases otherwise.