Despite ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1990, which confirms the government’s obligation to provide necessary social, emotional and legal support to each and every child in the country, the government is making little headway in ensuring the rights of children.
According to the most recent National Household Income and Expenditure Survey, more than a quarter of the population lives in extreme poverty, the percentage of children being higher. A Unicef study titled "Child Poverty and Disparities in Bangladesh" shows that 46% of children live below the poverty line. The poor populace has less knowledge and awareness about the protection of child rights and relevant legal and institutional approaches.
Three years ago, 12-year-old Laili’s life took an unfortunate turn when her father, formerly a rickshaw puller, was seriously wounded in a cyclone. Now, Lali and her siblings push their handicapped father in a wheelchair on the streets of Dhaka. She says: “I do not like living like this. I liked my school.”
Poverty is the key factor behind this significant number of underprivileged children. Among the respondents of the ILO survey on child domestic workers, two-thirds cited poverty as one of the reasons for migrating from their families to their employers’ homes.
The results also showed that the majority of the children living in different children’s institutions, on streets and engaged in hazardous jobs, belonged to poor families.
According to a study carried out by the Food and Agriculture Organization and World Food Programme in 2010, nearly three quarters of the household helpers in Bangladesh do not get enough nutritious food at their employers' homes, 62% get fewer meals per day than required, and 15% have no intake of nutritious food at all.
Wahida Banu, Executive Director of Aporajeyo Bangladesh, told the Dhaka Tribune: “Children need support not only for their physical development, but also for social and emotional development. Though parents want to provide their children with a supportive environment for their cognitive development, because of poverty and many other reasons, they are not always able to do so. This is where the government has the scope to lend a hand, but it does not come forward with such an initiative.”
Nayeem Wahra, a freelance child researcher, stated that through the ratification of the CRC, the government pledged to respect, protect, and promote the rights of children, but children’s rights are still grossly violated in this country.
Fahima Nasrin, executive member of Bangladesh National Women Legal Association, said children in Bangladesh rarely get the opportunity to express their opinions and participate in decision-making at home. They are unheard in legal and administrative proceedings as well, she added.
There is a huge lack of awareness among people regarding child rights, and children are not being involved even when people are making decisions concerning them, she said.
Meher Afroz Chumky, state minister for women and children's affairs, said: “We don’t think that the surveys done by the NGO’s tell the real picture. Rather, these are fragments of the scenario. Government and even non-government organisations are running lots of development projects, especially in the education sector, so the situation is changing.”
