The government will allocate budgetary resources to prevent child drowning and include the issue in national policy frameworks, Member of Parliament Fakhr Uddin Ahmed said at a policy dialogue in Dhaka.
He made the remarks while speaking as the chief guest at the Bangladesh Shishu Academy auditorium. The dialogue, titled “Sustainable Public Financing for Drowning Prevention”, was organized by Somosti Media Communication & Development Foundation with support from the Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI).
Parliamentarians, representatives from ministries, development partners, public health experts, academics, journalists and civil society representatives attended the program. Mir Masruruzzaman, executive director of Somosti, delivered the welcome remarks and moderated the session.
Fakhr Uddin Ahmed said: “Ensuring the safety of our future generation, our children, is one of the highest priorities of our government.” He said drowning has become a national crisis and called for continued community-based childcare centers.
He added: “I will carefully consider the recommendations emerging from this policy dialogue. Our government is committed to including child safety in both the national budget and policy frameworks.”
At the dialogue, Rezaul Haque, director of research and communication at Somosti, presented a policy brief saying drowning is one of the leading causes of child mortality in Bangladesh, with more than 14,000 children dying each year.
He said proven interventions such as community-based childcare centers, swimming training and awareness initiatives have already shown results, but they remain largely project-based and are not included in long-term government budgets. He stressed the need for sustainable public financing and additional funding sources for drowning prevention.
The discussion also reviewed existing government initiatives and the need for stronger coordination among agencies. A panel discussion followed on sustainable financing, with participants stressing budget prioritization, multi-stakeholder partnerships and expansion of interventions at the local level.
Among others, Prof Dr Kazi Maruful Islam of the Department of Development Studies at the University of Dhaka, Sohrab Hasan, editor of Chorcha.com, Md Mamunur Rashid, joint secretary of the World Health Wing at the Ministry of Health, and Kawser Rahman, city editor of Janakantha, attended the discussion.
Munira Hasan, UNICEF representative, Suchi Syed, assistant editor of Jugantor, Shahnaz Sharmin of Ekattor TV, Rabeya Baby of Ittefaq, Shahinaz Poly, executive committee member of the National Press Club, Dr Al-Amin Bhuiyan, researcher at the Centre for Injury Prevention and Research, Bangladesh (CIPRB), Mrinmoy Masud of Deepto TV, Rizwanul Haque Khan, Bangladesh program manager of Synergos, and Sukannya Amir of Channel One also took part.
