With the State of the World’s Children 2015 report just released by Unicef on the occasion of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) silver jubilee, experts met to elucidated Bangladesh’s challenges at the BIAM foundation auditorium in the capital yesterday.
The Child Rights Advocacy Coalition Bangladesh seminar’s view of the country’s standing was clear in its title: 25 years of the Child Rights Convention: Miles to go.
Of over 57 million children in Bangladesh – more than the entire population of the United Kingdom – just under half, or 26 million, live below the national poverty line.
Those living in poverty are typically deprived of access to safe water, proper sanitation, adequate nutrition, education, health, information and shelter.
Ten million Bangladeshi children do not officially exist because they have not been registered.
Birth registration is a critical precursor to guaranteeing all other rights, according to Unicef.
According to Unicef, Bangladesh has one of the lowest rates of birth registration in the world making it difficult to protect children from trafficking, child labour and child marriage.
Unicef reports that a quarter of Bangladeshi children between 6 and 10 years old are out of school and 14% of infants between 12 and 23 months old were not fully vaccinated.
Unicef data on Bangladesh, India and Nepal shows that little has improved between 1995 and 2008 in improving sanitation coverage to the poorest 40% of households.
Bangladesh has one of the highest rates of child marriage in the world with 66 per cent of women aged
20 to 24 married before they turn 18-years-old.
Save the Children Bangladesh Deputy Director Shamsul Alam said: “Child marriage is still a major concern for our country; we need to coordinate activities to end child marriage.”
Severe acute malnutrition currently affects an estimated 600,000 children in Bangladesh, according to the Unicef report. Around 18% of infants had a low birth weight and 36% of children under-five years are underweight.
Malnutrition and stunting cost “US$1bn a year – around 2-3% of national income – in lost economic productivity,” according to Shamsul Alam.
He said 7.9mn children between 5 and 14 years are engaged in child labour.
Child labourers are often preferred to adult workers, even for hazardous jobs, because children are cheaper to employ, he said.
Working children are frequently denied schooling and face violence and abuse.
According to Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar Forum, 183 children were raped in 2013 while another 134 had gone missing or were kidnapped.
Two hundred sixty-six children were tortured to death while another 350 were killed in accidents.
Speakers at the seminar expressed concern over security for chldren, highlighting torture in schools, where laws on corporal punishment and child abuse required upgrades.
The Save the Children Mapping and Situation Analysis Report 2013, says 90% of children are verbally abused and threatened regularly by their parents and 31% of school-going children said were physically punished.
Seminar speakers called for educational opportunities for indigenous, special-needs and underprivileged children to be equal to those available for the mainstream of society.
They said since children had no place to seek assistance or seek redress if they are wronged, a directorate for children should be established.
Speakers strongly demanded that the statutory minimum age of 18-years of age for girls to marry be retained.
The information minister, Hasanul Haq Inu, said: “Till now 18 years is the minimum age for marriage for girls. The government holds a strong position against child marriage.”
A report, “25 years of the CRC in Bangladesh: Snapshot of Success” was unveiled at the seminar calling for increased budget commitments by government on children’s issues.