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October, 2013
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Contents:
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1.
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Executive summery
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Introduction
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Child
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Bangladesh demography
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Legal framework
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Contemporary Challenges of Child Rights in Bangladesh
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Situation in Bangladesh
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Recommendations
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Children continue to be in the footnote of
vulnerability
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- Executive
Summary -
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Promotion and protection of Child
Rights is a long discussed and debated issue. The Committee on the Rights of the Child has their own observation and
feedback regarding the situation of country context of Bangladesh. According to
its recommendations Bangladesh has been giving effort to the lagging parts on
the child rights situation it has so that a sustainable lift can be delivered.
According to those push factors various reports are made and submitted to the National
and International bodies including the UN bodies. Still the children of
Bangladesh continue to be victimized to exploitation and violations of their
rights. This report is to get a glimpse over the situation Bangladesh. It is
mentionable that as the report is mostly based on very basic sources like
magazines, newspaper and internet contents there could remain some
shortcomings.
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-Introduction-
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Children whose needs are the greatest
are also who faces the greatest violation of their rights. They are most often
excluded from the progress and most difficult to reach. The scenario is common
in the developing countries like ours- “Bangladesh”; a country of 161,083,804
(July 2012 est.) human beings, where the wide numbers of children are out of
education coverage, undernourished, working but not counted, affected by
natural calamities but not considered as special unit and so on.
Bangladesh
is one of the 192 countries to ratify the Convention on the Rights of the
Children of United Nations. The treaty was signed in the year 1989 and the
Government of Bangladesh has signed in it in August of the year 1990. The
constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh makes provision for
children’s rights/interests to be given priority, correctly recognising
children as being an underprivileged and vulnerable section of the society[1]. On 25th February, 2013 -
Fixing the child age 18 years, the cabinet of Bangladesh finally approved the
draft of the "Children Act 2013" for overall development and welfare
of the children[2]. These
two legislations, together with a number of other laws, form the legal
infrastructure surrounding children in Bangladesh.
Research method:
The
research was based on newspapers, journals, internet data, and reports. At some
points personal experience has been introduced where it was felt relevant. Recommendation
made by the Committee on the Rights of the Child has been given priority
throughout the report.
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-Child-
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Biologically,
a child is
a human between the stages of birth and puberty. It is a frame of
human life that is bracketed between infancy and adulthood. The legal
definition of child generally refers to a minor,
otherwise known as a person younger than the age of majority.
According
to the provision of the Labour Act, 2006, Section 2 (Lxiii) ‘child’
means a person who has not completed his fourteen years of age.
Generally,
the definition given in the UN convention on the Rights of the Child is
widely accepted by the countries that defines child as, “a human being below the age of 18
years unless under the law applicable to the
child, majority is attained earlier”. Out of 194
UN member countries, 192 have ratified this definition.
Child Rights:
The
concept of a right is that of an agreement or ‘social contract’ which is
established between the person(s) who holds a right (often referred to as a
‘rights-holder’) and the person(s) or institutions(s) which then have
obligations and responsibilities in relation to the realisation of that right
(often referred to as the ‘duty Bearer’) (Save the Children, 2005: 14).
Child Rights are fundamental freedoms
and the inherent rights of all human beings below the age of 18. These rights
apply to every child, irrespective of the child's, parent's / legal guardian's
race, colour, sex, creed or other status.
The essential message is equality of
opportunity. Girls should be given the same opportunities as the boys. All children should have the same
rights and should be given the same opportunity to enjoy an adequate standard
of living.
The ratified countries of the CRC believe
in the following rights on which the convention stands on:
·
The right to survival -
to life, health, nutrition, name and nationality
·
The right to development -
to education, care, leisure, recreation
·
The right to protection - from
exploitation, abuse, neglect
·
The right to participation -
to expression, information, thought and religion
Combining
all the diverse definitions and grammars finally we can conclude the Rights of
the Children as the means a child should enjoy to get the opportunity for
proper development.
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-Bangladesh
Demography-
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Bangladesh
is densely populated country consisting 161,083,804 (July 2012 est.) people
within. As the focal point of our research is the children that have the
bracket of 0 to up to 18 years of age group the following statistics would be important
which shows the age structure of the population of our concentration:
0 -14 years:
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33.6%
(male 27,489,425/female 26,705,051)
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15-24 years:
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18.8%
(male 14,079,450/female 16,124,609)
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Population growth rate:
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1.579%
(2012 est.)
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Birth rate:
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22.53
births/1,000 population (2012 est.)
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Death rate:
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5.71
deaths/1,000 population (July 2012 est.)
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Rate of
urbanization:
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3.1%
annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)
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Sex ratio
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At birth:
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1.04 male(s)/female
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Under 15 years:
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1.03
male(s)/female
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Infant
mortality rate
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Total:
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48.99
deaths/1,000 live births
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Male:
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51.48
deaths/1,000 live births
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Female:
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46.39
deaths/1,000 live births (2012 est.)
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Total
fertility rate:
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2.55
children born/woman (2012 est.)
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-Legal
Framework-
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Bangladesh
has both constitutional provisions and other legal enactments that seek to
ensure and protect children's rights and welfare. Though the country does not
have a comprehensive or consolidated act implementing the Convention on the
Rights of the Child; rather, laws relating to children's rights are found
throughout a variety of sources. Recently the Children Act, 1974 has been abolished
and the Child Act, 2013 has been adopted.
The
Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) was adopted in 1989. Bangladesh is
a signatory to the Convention. Bangladesh, however, has expressed reservation
on Articles 21 and 14(1) of the CRC. The reservation on Article 21 which deals
with adoption of a child has been specifically expressed in view of the fact
that Muslim Law does not recognise the practice of adoption. Apart from this,
Bangladesh no longer encourages inter-country adoption, a widespread practice
that helped relocate the war babies in the wake of independence.
Public
opinion was against inter-country adoption, both on religious and ethical
grounds. It soon became evident that in many cases babies were sold in the name
of adoption. The next reservation made by Bangladesh was with regard to a
child's right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. While the state
recognises such rights of a child, the prevailing social belief is that a
child, being immature and incapable of dealing with the complexities of the
issues in question, is hardly in a position to make a voluntary choice of its
own in this regard. In the circumstances, a child is likely to act under
pressure and influence, neither of which is conducive to its normal, natural
and healthy growth.
The constitution of
Bangladesh has provisions relevant to children's rights in its directive
principles of state policy [Articles 15, 17 and 25(1)], the fundamental rights
[Articles 27, 28(1)(2)(3)(4), 31, 32, and 39(1)(2)], and the power of judicial
review [Articles 26(1)(2)]. Articles 27, 28 and 31 of the constitution lay down
the general principles regarding the protection of children from all forms of
discrimination. The constitution in these articles provide that all citizens being
equal before the law and being entitled to equal protection, must be treated in
accordance with law without any discrimination.
Stated
earlier that laws relating to the protection and welfare of children in
Bangladesh are not contained in a single statute; rather they can be found
scattered over numerous laws and statutes, relevant legislation includes, but
is by no means limited to:
1.
The Child Act 2013
The
Child Bill 2013, passed on June 16, 2013 by the National Parliament, was
published through a gazette notification on June 20.
The
new act is harmonised with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the
Child (CRC) and has Referred to the CRC in the preamble and replaced the Child
Act 1974. The Child Act 2013 is drafted by the Ministry of Social Welfare and
consists of 11 chapters and 100 sections).
The
new law has been proposed for developing and flourishing children, establishing
and preserving child rights and ensuring their welfare. The law with 100
sections defined ‘child’ as up to 18 years.
It has provisions of various punitive measures
for violence against children:
·
Maximum
five years’ jail or 100,000 BDT fine for forcing children into begging and
leading them to go astray
·
Maximum
three years’ jail or 100,000 BDT fine for supplying arms or drugs to children.
·
If
a person forces a child to carry firearms or illegal or banned items, that
person will be treated as criminal. The punishment for this offence will
be at least three years of imprisonment 100,000 BDT fine or both.
·
If
a person engages any child in terrorism activities that person will be punished
under Anti Terrorism Act, 2009.
Under the proposed law,
Child Welfare Boards will be constituted both at national and local levels.
There will be child desks in every police station under the supervision of a
sub-inspector.
Separate child court will
be constituted in district and metropolitan areas.
2.
National
Children Policy 2011:
The Approved National Child Policy (approved on 14th
February, 2011) incorporated the necessary steps to protect children from all
sorts of violence irrespective of physical, psychological or sexual sides[3]. It says-
·
Children Act will ensure the right of the children to
participate in the judicial process when they come into conflict with the law,
or in contact with the law.
·
Registration will be carried out immediately on the birth
of every child. [4]
·
Gradual elimination of child labor.
3.
National Education Policy,
2010:
Under
the leadership of the Ministry of Education (MoE), the National Education
Policy 2010 has been formulated for the first time in Bangladesh in order to
ensure quality education for all the children.
The
most important feature of this policy is to extend compulsory education up to
grade eight with scope for vocational education at primary level and inclusion
of pre-school in all government primary school.
4.
The
Prevention of Domestic Violence Act, 2010:
5.
The
Suppression of Violence against Women and Children Act 2000 (amended 2003)
6.
The
Pornography Control Act, 2012:
7.
The
Bangladesh Labor Law 2006
8.
The
Acid Crimes Prevention Act 2002
9.
The
Disability Welfare Act 2001
10.
The Law and Order Disruption Crimes (Speedy
Trial) Act 2002
11.
The
Human Trafficking Deterrence and Suppression Act, 2012:
This
Act was enacted to prevent and suppress human trafficking, including children
and ensuring protection and rights of the victims of human trafficking and
ensure safe migration. A national Plan of Action (NPA) has also been formulated
in 2012 to implement the Act.
12.
The
Vagrancy Act 2011
It
is the revised version of the Vagrancy Act 1743 that ensures shelter and
rehabilitation of the homeless people, including street children.
13.
The
Citizenship (Amendment) Ordinance 2008
14.
Children
Rules, 1976
15.
Majority
Act 1875
16.
Family
Laws: Child marriage Restrain Act 1929
17.
Family
laws Ordinance, 1961
18.
Family
Courts Ordinance, 1985 for custody and maintainance
19.
Railways
Act, 1890
20.
Juvenile
Smoking Act, 1919
More laws and amendments –
The Penal
Code of 1860
Sections 82
and 83:
Full criminal responsibility only commences after the age of 12. It construes that any person below that age
has not attained sufficient maturity to understand the nature and
consequences of his/her conduct.
Section 90: Consent given by a
person under the age of 12, shall not be regarded as consent in the strict
sense of the term.
However, in case of marital
intercourse the offence of rape will not be held to have been committed if
the wife is above 13 years of age.
Section
361: The
kidnapping of a male under 14 years and a female of less than 16 years from
lawful guardianship is an offence.
Section 364
(A): The
kidnapping or abduction of a person below the age of 10 is also an offence.
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The Divorce
Act of 1869
which applies to Christians in Bangladesh deals with the custody, maintenance
and education of minor children while their parents are engaged in law suits
for separation, divorce or nullity.
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The contract
act of 1872: A minor is incompetent
to enter into contracts. A minor's contract is void under section 11 of the
Act. However the guardian of a minor can enter into a contract of sale on
behalf of the minor either out of legal necessity or for the benefit of the
estate.
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The
Guardians and Wards Act of 1890: This empowers a designated court to appoint a guardian
of the minor's person, property or both. The court, however, has to be
satisfied that it is for the welfare of the minor, and in the circumstances
cannot appoint anyone as guardian against the will of the minor.
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The criminal
procedure code 1898: directs, through a
designated court, a person having sufficient means, who is neglecting or
refusing to maintain his wife or child (whether legitimate or illegitimate),
to provide a monthly allowance for their maintenance.
Section 562: of the Code empowers
the court to release certain first convicted offenders under the age of 21 on
probation for good conduct instead of sentencing them to imprisonment.
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The Mines
Act of 1923:
Prohibits the employment of a person below 15 years of age in any mine. The
Act provides regulations for the employment of those above the age of 15 and
below the age of 17.
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The Child
Marriage Restraint Act 1929 (amended in 1984) prohibits the marriage between a
male under 21 and female under 18 years of age, and imposes punishment on
parents and guardians involved in child marriages.
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The
Partnership Act 1932
under section 30 provides that a minor cannot be a partner in a firm, but
s/he may, with the consent of all partners for the time being, be admitted to
the benefits of partnership.
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The
Suppression of Immoral Traffic Act of 1933 lays down penal measures for
forcing a girl under 18 years into prostitution. Abetment by anyone having
either custody or the charge of the girl is also punishable. If any female
below the age of 10 years is employed as a prostitute, she is to be
considered a victim of willful intent and therefore, innocent of any offence.
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The Children
(Pledging of Labor) Act 1933: penalizes the parent, or the guardian in the event of
their entering into an agreement to pledge the labor of a child or employing
a child whose labor has been pledged.
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The
Employment of Children Act 1938: prohibits the employment of children in any occupation
in specified industries like transport, or the selling of goods within the
limits of any port. Employers contravening the provisions of this Act are
liable to be punished.
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The
Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act of 1939: gives certain rights to a minor
girl given in marriage to repudiate the marriage before attaining the age of
eighteen years, provided that the marriage has not been consummated.
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The
Maternity Benefit Act of 1939 directs employers to provide maternity benefit to
women workers, and to regulate their employment for some time before and
after child birth.
Later
in January 2011 the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh brought
change in the Service Rules-
Bangladesh
Service Rules (Part-1), rule no 127, sub rule-1 (revised)
“Where
a female Government servant applies for maternity leave, the authority
mentioned in rule 149 or, rule 150, as the case may be, shall grant such
leave for a period of six months from the date of commencement of the leave
or her confinement for the purpose of delivery, whichever is earlier.”
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The
Maternity Benefit (Tea Estate) Act 1950 prohibits the employment of women
in tea gardens or processing factories for a certain period before and after
childbirth and, provides for maternity benefits during the time.
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The Minimum
Wages Ordinance 1961
provides for the payment of minimum wages to all workers including juveniles,
and prohibits employers from paying juveniles (below the age of 18 years)
less than the minimum rates fixed by the Board set up under this Act. Any
contravention is met with punishment.
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The Shops
and Establishment Act 1965 prohibits the employment of children below the age of
12 years in shops and commercial establishments. The Act also regulates the
working hours of persons below the age of 18 years.
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The factories
act 1965 prohibits the employment
of young persons below the age of 14 years in hazardous occupations, and lays
down regulations for a secure and healthy working environment for a child or
adolescent. The Act also provides for crèche facilities for children under 6
years of age whose mothers are workers in a factory.
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The Repression Against Women and
Children (Special Provision) Act 1995 imposes severe punishments, including
capital punishment, for various crimes committed against women and children.
These include rape, trafficking, kidnapping, dowry deaths and so on.
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Apart from the aforesaid formal laws
the personal and religious laws regulating marriage, divorce, custody,
guardianship, adoption and inheritance contain specific provisions on
children. In this regard, the muslim family laws ordinance 1961 and the Family
Court Act 1964 are special legislations, which provide enhanced rights to
women and children.
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Due
to scatter and varied laws governing children results in confusion and
inconsistencies in legal framework.
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-Contemporary
Challenges of Child Rights in Bangladesh-
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UNICEF Bangladesh has made
the following overview on the challenges of child rights situation in
Bangladesh[5]:
Protection
·
Bangladesh has one of the highest
rates of child-marriage in the world. 66 per cent of women (aged 20 to 24) were
married before they turned 18.
·
13 per cent of children are involved
in child labour. Child labourers are frequently denied an education and are
vulnerable to violence and abuse.
·
Bangladesh has one of the lowest
rates of birth registration in the world. This makes it difficult to protect
children from trafficking, child labour and child marriage.
Education
·
Only 80 per cent of students
enrolled in grade one complete primary school.
·
While many parents do play with
their youngest children, they have little or no understanding of how play and
other informal learning helps prepare children for school.
·
High drop-out rates and poor quality
teaching and learning are serious problems for primary schools.
·
Only 46 per cent of boys and 53 per
cent of girls attend secondary school.
Health and nutrition
·
Neonatal death and maternal
mortality rates remain high, primarily because most deliveries take place at
home without access to proper medical care.
·
Health facilities lack qualified
staff and suffer from shortages of supplies.
·
Under-nutrition contributes to child
mortality. 22 per cent of infants are born with low birth weight. Up to
46 per cent of children under-five are underweight.
·
Drowning and injury is the leading
cause of death among children older than one year.
·
Major prevention efforts are needed
to keep HIV prevalence rates low.
Water
and sanitation
·
Only 53 per cent of the population
use improved sanitation facilities.
·
Only 80 per cent of the population
has access to safe drinking water, primarily because of naturally occurring
arsenic contamination of groundwater in some areas.
·
Safe hygiene practices, especially
proper hand washing, remain a challenge in the fight against disease.
Emergencies and conflict
·
Development is hampered by annual
floods and other natural disasters, including cyclones and tornados. Bangladesh
is also susceptible to earthquakes.
·
Avian influenza continues to
threaten lives and livelihoods in Bangladesh.
·
Low-lying Bangladesh is extremely
vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
·
The Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) in
south-eastern Bangladesh, where ethnic minorities make up half the population,
have suffered a slower development rate than the national average, due
primarily to a history of civil conflict and the difficult terrain.
·
The health and wellbeing of Rohingya
refugee children, whose families fled from Myanmar to the south-eastern part of
Bangladesh following internal conflict, remains a concern.
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-Situation
in Bangladesh-
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Conventional wisdom in
Bangladesh says that investing in urban slums will attract more rural migrants.
Ample evidence shows that people in Bangladesh migrate from rural to urban
areas in search of economic opportunities, not in search of basic social
services. (1 World Bank, ‘Improving Living Conditions for the Urban Poor’,
Dhaka, June 2007) Data from the 2009 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS)
in Bangladesh make it clear that conditions in slum areas are much worse than
those in most rural areas, even in regard to service delivery-type indicators
such as secondary education attendance rates and skilled attendance at birth. However,
when statistics for slum dwellers and other populations are disaggregated out,
the situation changes dramatically. For example, while the national average for
net attendance in secondary education is 49 per cent (48 per cent in rural
areas and 53 per cent in urban areas), it is only 18 per cent in urban slums.
There
lies vast controversies, debate, counter debate on the regarding the situation
of the children in rural and urban context. Again comes the category of the
society to measure the well being and well living of the children. Let us have
a glimpse over all the situation of children in Bangladesh according to some of
the salient points of the ‘Concluding Observations of the Committee on the
Rights of the Child on Bangladesh’-
[e.g. Committee on the Rights of the Child at its fifty-first session under
consideration of reports submitted by states parties under Article 44 of the
convention made an Concluding observations on the Rights of the Child in
Bangladesh. The Committee considered the combined third and fourth
periodic report of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh (CRC/C/BGD/4) at its
1411th and 1412th meetings (CRC/C/SR.1411 and 1412), on 3 June 2009, and
adopted, at its 1425th meeting, on 12 June 2009, the following concluding observations.]
1
Age (definition of Child): There was no uniform
definition to address ‘child’, along with it the law and the Islamic Shariha
stands confronting on the point of age to get married. So recommendation was
made by the committee to take necessary steps to define a child as any person
below the age of 18 years and to incorporate in the relevant laws including for
marriage.
In
the newly adopted Child Right Act, 2013 the Government of the People’s Republic
of Bangladesh has proclaimed people aging up to 18 as child by harmonizing with
the UNCRC.
2
Non-discrimination: According to the UNCRC
article-2 along with the Vision 2021 it is the duty of the state party to
create an equitable, just and non-discriminatory society. This manifesto has not
yet been respected as practice is Bangladesh especially on regard of the girl
children.
“Although
the principle of non-discrimination as envisaged in the CRC is also embedded in
the fundamental rights set out in the Bangladesh constitution, the broader
cultural and religious traditions work in unison to create situations which
very often result in discrimination. Children suffer from two kinds of
discrimination, one based on age and the other on gender”. [Sumaiya Khair]
Girls
continue to face discrimination and disparities, particularly with regard to
health care, nutrition and early marriage, as do particular groups of children,
including refugee children, children with disabilities, children in slums and
rural areas and children of ethnic and religious minorities.
On
the other hand, Bangladesh is not a party to any international or regional
treaty relating to refugees nor does it have any legislative or administrative
provisions for refugees. It has not yet acceded to the Refugee Convention, ILO
Convention No 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples 1989. Bangladesh has only
agreed, in principle, to issue birth certificates to all children registered as
refugees in Bangladesh (eg. Rohingya). For the other groups of refugee children
such as the Bihari who have difficult or no access to services in the
state, it has no consideration regarding to it.
Early marriage: In Bangladesh, under the Child
Marriage Restraint Act 1929, a girl cannot be married until the age of 18 and
boys not before 21. But, early marriages, especially without the consent of the
girl, are very common in Bangladesh. Early marriage is intended for several
reasons, such as to guarantee financially well-established husbands, relieve
her family from the burden of a mouth to feed and at the same time ensure a
long cycle of fertility to produce a number of sons. in Bangladesh as it is
estimated that half of women there are younger than 18 when they marry.
Following graph shows the incidences of early marriage taken place in
Bangladesh which have been published in the print media over past few years:
2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010
prepared by Ichchey media Group (IMG)
Dowry:
The
term ‘dowry’ has been defined by the ‘Joutuk Nirodh Ain 1980’ or the Dowry
Prohibition Act – 1980, as “property or valuable security given or agreed to be
given as consideration for the marriage of the parties” and it is generally
offered by the wife’s family to the husband before the marriage. The Dowry
Prohibition Act of Bangladesh provides that payment or demand for payment of
dowry by any one is punishable with imprisonment for up to five years or a fine
or with both. The law was amended in 1983, 1995 and 2000 to provide for a
sentence of death or life imprisonment and financial penalty to a husband or
any of his relatives who causes or attempts to cause death or grievous injury
to a wife on account of dowry.
In
2001, 173 girls and women were killed due to dowry demand with 79 of these
victims below the age of 18.9[6].[7] During the month of
October 2012, 37 women including an under aged bride were subjected to dowry
related violence.
Rape:
A total of
34 females were reportedly raped in October 2012. Among them, 13 were women, 21
were children below the age of 16. Of the women, two were killed after being
raped; five were victims of gang rape. Of the 21 child victims, one child was
killed after being raped and five were victims of gang rape. It is to be
mentioned that the incidents of rape of children have been increasing.
Troubling rise of child
rape, including an 11 year old indigenous girl raped by police in Chittagong
Hill Tracts (10 September 2012 – AHRC: ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT
APPEALS PROGRAMME, Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-167-2012). On October 7, 2012 a
school girl of class II was raped by two criminals at West Merul Badda in
Dhaka. The girl was admitted to the One Stop Crisis Centre at the Dhaka Medical
College Hospital in a critical condition. A nine year old girl raped and killed
in Dhaka (05 January 2013)[8]. A girl of class two raped
and killed in Rajshahi (March 2013)[9]. Reports suggest 21
reported child rapes in October 2012 and 26 in November 2012 alone[10].
Total of 46
females were reportedly raped in November 2012. Among them, 17 were women, 26
were children below the age of 16 and the ages were not reported in three
cases. Of the women, two were killed after being raped; five were victims of
gang rape. Of the 26 child victims, two children were killed after being raped
and three were victims of gang rape.
Acid Violence:
According
to information gathered by Odhikar (human rights group), during the month of
October 2012, it was reported that ten persons became victims of acid violence.
Of these affected persons, five were women, one man, three girls and a boy.
During the month of November 2012, it was reported that seven persons became victims
of acid violence. Of these affected persons, five were women, one girl and one
boy.
On November
2, 2012 some unknown criminals in Chatmohor under Pabna district threw acid on
a student of class V, Reshma Khatun. Reshma’s face and neck were burnt with
acid. She was admitted to Pabna Medical College Hospital.
Sexual harassment / stalking
A total of 23 girls and women were victims of sexual harassment in
November 2012 (source: Odhikar). Among them, one committed suicide, one was
stabbed to death, one was injured and 18 were sexually harassed in various
ways. During this period, seven men were injured and six men were assaulted by
stalkers when they protested against such acts of harassment. Among the three
female protestors, a mother of a girl committed suicide and other two women
were injured and assaulted.
Farhana Akhter Rimi of Chorgoaldi village in Pirozepur Union under
Sonargaon Upazila in Narayanganj district had been sexually harassed by one villager
named Shamim and five to seven of his associates of the same village. On
November 17, 2012, Rimi committed suicide by taking poison (pesticide) as she
could not bear the pain of rebuke. Rimi was a student of grade 12 in Sonargaon
College.
Such incidences are alarmingly increasing despite
having several legal amendments irrespective of urban or rural dwellings or
societies of high and low. In most of the cases the perpetrators succeeds to
escape from the legal punitive action by persuading the law enforcers. This in
affect encourages such incidences.
3
Best
interests of the child: Best
interests of the child have not been clearly defined in national legislation.
4
The
right to life, survival and development: Prevention-based policies are
lacking and that certain conditions in the State Party undermine the enjoyment
of this right, including poverty, high neonatal mortality and child
malnutrition rates, high drop-out rates from school, and the high incidence of
accident and injury-related deaths, including drowning.
In Bangladesh, children (0-17 years) constitute 44%
of the total population i.e., 142 million in 2006. One out of every six
children is a working child numbering 7.42 million children across the country.
However, there is no evidence based comprehensive study on child poverty and deprivation.
At the same time there is no published data on child poverty and deprivation at
the national level. [11]
According to the research (2009) by the Human
Development Research Centre prepared for UNICEF on Child poverty and
disparities in Bangladesh the following child poverties are the restrains
towards proper development of the children –
A.
Around
26.5 million out of 63 million children in the country are living below
national poverty line and 32 million are living below international poverty
line (51%).
B.
Around
64%, 60%, 57% and 41% children respectively are deprived of sanitation
facilities, information, nutrition and shelter.
C.
Among
non-Muslim households (with children) the incidences of poverty and/or
deprivation is more pronounced compared to same types of Muslim households
[example:
Among
Buddhist 63% of the same are living below upper poverty line while 41% of the
Muslims holds similar situation;
Around
two-thirds of Christian and Buddhists households with children respectively
suffer from at least one severe deprivation, whereas less than three-fifths of
Muslims suffer from the same.
D.
The
extent of poverty reduces with the educational attainment level of the parents;
53% of households with no education of household head live below upper poverty line
compared to only 19% of the same category with secondary plus educational
level.
E.
Among
households who send one or more children less than 15 years of age to work 56%
still live below poverty. Among all children aged between 4 and 14 years 13%
are engaged in child labor and 97.5% of them are unpaid labourers.
F.
Around
34 million children (58%) are severely deprived of any one of the six
deprivation indicators (shelter, sanitation, water, information, education, and
health), and around 12 million (20%) children are suffering from at least two
severe deprivations.
G.
The
children from about 74% households where the heads have no education suffer
from at least one deprivation; while the same is true for about 29% households
where the heads are having above secondary education.
H.
The
share of indigenous community households with children suffering from at least
one severe deprivation is considerably higher (ranging between 63% and 93%) as
compared to the Bangalees (58%).
I.
Although
under 5 mortality rate (U5MR) over last decade has reduced by about one-third,
it is still as high as 193 deaths per 1,000 live births, and is higher among
poorer quintiles (Q4 and Q5). However, U5MR among girls have reduced at a
higher pace as compared to that among boys.
J.
About
46% U5 children are stunted and 40% underweight. Prevalence of stunting is
higher among children in rural areas (49%) than among their urban counterparts
(36%). Prevalence of underweight is also 10% percentage points higher among
rural (42%) than that among urban children (32%). Stunting, wasting and
underweight among children has a relation with mother’s education.
K.
In
spite of a number of policies and programmes in the area of nutrition, more
than half of the total children (57%) are still nutrition deprived. Food
transfer programmes have been implemented to improve directly the food security
status and to meet the nutritional requirements. These programmes are also
inadequate in coverage as compared to the target population. More so, the total
public expenditure for nutrition sector has been decreasing in the recent year
(Tk. 1,670 million in 2005-2006 vs. Tk. 1,200 million in 2006-2007).
L.
The
coverage rate of immunization against BCG, DPT (3 doses), polio and measles
taken together is at 81.2%, which indicates that about 20% U5 children are
still not completely immunized against four killer diseases.
M.
Till
date Facility-based Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (FIMCI) has been
implemented in 274 upazila health complexes (out of 444 upazilas excluding district
headquarters), and in 41 districts hospitals(out of 64 districts).
N.
About
60% adolescent boys (aged 10-19) and 57% adolescent girls heard of HIV and
AIDS. Among those who heard of HIV and AIDS, only 52% of boys and 34% of girls
knew that they can protect themselves from HIV by using condom.
O.
More
than 7 out of every 100 under-five children still suffer from diarrhoea. The
highest prevalence (22%) takes place during 6-23 months of age. Almost half of
U5 children who get diarrhoea are still deprived of ORT—the simple, cheap but
effective treatment for diarrhoea.
P.
About
12% U5 children suffer from pneumonia and 80% do not receive antibiotic
treatment.
Q.
Only
36% of the total children (as of 2006) have been covered by the birth
registration programme.
R.
About
6% of the total children (0-17 years) is orphan; and relatively more orphan
child (30%) has been found in female-headed households.
S.
About
40% girls up to 18 years of age are already married where the minimum legal age
at marriage for girls is at least 18 years. Before reaching age 15 years, more
girls in rural areas (36%) get married as compared to the same in urban areas
(27%). Again, among girls 71% in the rural areas and 58% in the urban areas get
married before reaching legal age at marriage.
T.
Although
a good number of policies and programmes exist, almost one-fifth of the
children of primary education age (6-10 years) are deprived of school
enrolment.
U.
“Protection
of Children at Risk” is a Tk.194 million project for street and/or without
parental care children covers a small portion of street, orphan and vulnerable
children.
V.
A
large number of 3 million child labours are street children.
W. In spite of constitutional
recognition of right to shelter for all citizens – currently over 40% children
are shelter deprived. At the policy and programme levels there is little
provision for providing shelter facility to the poor, homeless household and
for street
5
Respect
for the views of the child: The right to be heard needs further development and is
concerned at the few opportunities that the family in particular provides for
voicing a child’s own opinion and for participation in family, school, and
community decision-making.
In
maximum families of Bangladesh there is hardly any scope for the children to
choose the subject group while academic life (eg. Science, commerce, and
humanities) s/he wants. For which much of the children loose track from the
regular flow of education, loose eagerness to study. Many children pass with
good marks but fail to extract the essence of education in their life which
they cannot further use or implement in life or career.
In
the concluding observation the Committee expressed its concern over the lack of
information regarding the practical implementation of the right of the child to
express his or her views in judicial and administrative proceedings.
Recently
there has been brought a significant change in such trend in Bangladesh.
In an effort to inspire meritorious
students towards politics, authorities in Bangladesh, a separate gallery
exclusively for the children below 12 years was established in Bangladesh
Parliament in September. Honourable Speaker at that time Mr. Abdul Hamid
(Advocate) announced the inauguration of Children’s Gallery in the 14th session
of the Parliament.
This allows schools to bring children less than 12 years to observe and learn about House proceedings as part of Parliament’s efforts to enhance citizen’s awareness and civic education about its work.
This allows schools to bring children less than 12 years to observe and learn about House proceedings as part of Parliament’s efforts to enhance citizen’s awareness and civic education about its work.
The
Child Parliament is yet another children’s body having branches at district and
central levels. It is a platform for young people, from the age of 12 to 18
years. It represents children from all strata of society, from rural and urban
areas, school-going and non-school-going children, physically impaired children,
children living in slums, on the streets, working children, children from
ethnic minority groups and children of sex workers. CP members are elected
through votes from children. It was formed in 2003 with the assistance from
Save the Children in Bangladesh.
Government
of Bangladesh has also facilitated formation of National Children Task Force
(NCTF) at district and national levels. has been working in all 64 districts
in Bangladesh
through the
Integrated Development Approach since 2003. The NCTF was established primarily
to monitor the implementation of the National Plan of Action, adopted in 2002-2006, against sexual
abuse and exploitation of children including trafficking. This platform also
incorporates children from all categories.
6
Birth
registration:
The closing report of GoB on March 2012 proclaims that 98.91% of the total
population of the country has been brought under the birth registration
program. But there are still pockets where the birth registration rate is still
low and slow. Difficulties associated with the manual registration system and issuance
of birth certificates adds in the lower rate of registration.
According
to the law, birth of all children has to be registered within 45 days. However
many parents are reluctant to do that. Generally they look for registration
while their children’s first admission procedure takes place in the school.
Lack of registration is a basis for discrimination and exclusion from access to
social services, especially in the case of children whose father- or both
father and mother- are unknown, children born to single mothers, children born
out of wedlock and refugee children.
7
Access
to appropriate information
The
shortage or low access to appropriate information for children throughout the
country is a great concern as the country has agreed on the UNCRC articles and
access to appropriate information is the 17th Article of the
Charter. Not all children have equal access to information and the media,
particularly children living in poverty and rural areas and marginalized
children. In the concluding observation the recommendation of the committee on
this regards was adopting specific legislation and develop appropriate
guidelines to protect children from harmful information, materials and
marketing practices that undermine the welfare and dignity of children.
Few
improvements Bangladesh have attained which cannot be neglected such as-
·
There
are around 15 private satellite television channels and 6 FM radio stations in
addition to the state owned Bangladesh Television (BTV) and Bangladesh Betar.
Almost all the Tv channels broadcast special program for the children which are
basically run by the children. Private Satellite TV channel ATN Bangla in the
year 2011 has been awarded the Emmy Awards for their regular children’s program
titles ‘Amra Korbo Joy’ (we shall overcome).
·
Information
Resource Centres up to the Union Level have been established to ensure access
to receive information for the Children.
·
The
Pornography Control Act 2012 has been enacted to prevent production and
marketing of harmful materials that undermine the welfare and dignity of
children.
8. Torture or other cruel, inhuman
or degrading treatment or punishment Death penalty
According to the Article 37 and 40 of
the UNCRC neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment without the
possibility of release should be imposed on children under the age of 18.
According to it the GoB has aligned in the draft Children Act, 2013 which specifies
no child will be given death penalty or life sentence under any circumstance.
If any child commits a criminal offense for which s/he becomes eligible for
capital punishment, the Children Court will give punishment for maximum ten
years imprisonment and will make an order to send the child to Children
Development Centre. With this amendment it has released the children less than
18 years of age from the article-6 of the Anti-Terrorism Act which provides
death penalty or life term or maximum 20 years and minimum four years in jail.
Despite having a national policy in
place and concern by rights groups, the country’s political parties are
increasingly using children in the forefront of their violent political
programs putting their lives at a greater risk.
In the recent shutdowns (May 5th,
2013), enforced by the BNP-led opposition alliance and Jamaat-e-Islami, the
presence of children was visible in different parts of the country. In most
cases, the children were kept in the dark about their joining violent agitation
programs. After that incident the ruling Awami League passed a bill in
parliament on June 16th prohibiting Bangladeshis from using school children for
political gain – and stipulating the death penalty for violators.
9.
Corporal
punishment: Although
the Constitution prohibits (High Court writ petition no 5684/2010) cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment, children continue to be victims of corporal punishment
and other forms of cruel and degrading treatment because of its acceptance in
society.
GoB
has taken several initiative to abolish corporal punishment including-
·
Issuing
special instruction to all schools
·
Bringing
the perpetrators to justice
·
Providing
training on alternative forms of disciplining
·
Creating
mass awareness against corporal punishment
Despite
such measures the corporal punishment trend continues in numbers of school
because of no observing or monitoring committee or active actors to monitor
them.
10.
Children
deprived of a family environment: Capacity of shelters, orphanages, baby homes and similar
institutions to accommodate more children deprived of their family environment.
The family-type care arrangements are almost non-existent. Also there are inadequate
facilities in institutions and lack of continuous training and skill
development for staff of care institutions. Moreover, there are lack of clear
policies or measures on the return of children to their families whenever
possible along with insufficient information on children in care institutions
and periodic review of placement by the authorities. Though, the new act
focuses on these regards; those are yet to be implemented.
11.
Children
with disabilities: Children
with disabilities, in particular girls, experience discrimination and
prejudicial treatment throughout their development. Furthermore, the services
for early detection of disabilities are inadequate.
12.
Health
and health services: Health
improvements have not yet reached the most vulnerable children, that the
neonatal mortality rate and child malnutrition rate are still very high and
that the number of cases of preventable waterborne and communicable diseases
still continues to be high. It is a great concern the high incidence of child
accidents and injuries, especially drowning, the growing inequity in access to
health services and the dependence on donor funds for the procurement of
vaccines.
13.
Adolescent
health: Inadequate
attention to the health of adolescents, especially females urgent concern for
adolescent health are the issues arising from violence against girls and early
marriages, as well as under-nutrition, access to health education and
facilities, including separate and appropriate sanitary facilities in schools. There
are inadequate facilities and counselling services for mental health and
reproductive health for adolescents.
14.
Drug
abuse: drug
abuse is growing, including the abuse of non-conventional drugs such as glue.
15.
Harmful
traditional practices: Persistence
of harmful traditional practices, including dowry, early and forced marriages,
particularly involving girls, and the negative impact on their health,
development and full enjoyment of their rights. Girls also experience
gender-based violence as a result of these practices.
16.
HIV/AIDS:
The population,
in particular adolescents and young people, are not sufficiently aware of the
consequences of unprotected sexual activity, sexually transmitted diseases,
HIV/AIDS or treatment available to them.
17.
Standard
of living: Child
poverty and inequality pose serious challenges, as do the rapid urbanization
and the increasing number of slums and sub-standard housing, the insufficient
allocation of resources and the unclear criteria for selecting beneficiaries of
social safety net programmes. The social safety net programmes are limited in
view of the magnitude of the problems and that these programmes are not
adequately assessed and evaluated for their short and long-term impact.
18.
Education,
including vocational training and guidance: The length of compulsory education
covering five years only; the differences among parallel educational systems,
and among them the Madrassah schools; the absence of early childhood
development programmes; the hidden costs of education; the lack of materials
and equipment; the marked disparities in access to education among the regions
and the poor quality of education provided in many schools.
reported
mistreatment of children by their teachers and the frequent cases of bullying
and sexual harassment, particularly of girls, at school and on the way to
school; the lack of separate sanitation facilities for girls and boys; the
extremely low rate of primary school completion, and the very low enrolment in
secondary school; the inadequate facilities for vocational education and
training, including for children who dropped out of school before completion;
the lack of coordination and equivalencies between the formal and non-formal
educational programmes, and the still low budgetary allocation for education in
the budget of the State party.
19.
Rest,
leisure and cultural and artistic activities: The Committee is concerned at the
limited number of leisure, recreational and cultural facilities for children of
all ages, including playgrounds and sports facilities in school as well as for
out-of-school children.
20.
Refugee
children: the
State party is not a party to any international or regional treaty relating to
refugees nor does it have any legislative or administrative provisions for
refugees. The Committee also notes the concerns expressed by the State party
delegation regarding, in particular, the effects of “pull factors” if
conditions for refugee children were to be regularized. The Committee is
concerned that the State party has only agreed, in principle, to issue birth
certificates to all children registered as refugees in Bangladesh. While noting
the position of the State party to only grant refugee status to the Rohingya
children from Myanmar, the Committee is concerned about these and other groups
of refugee children such as the Bihari who have difficult or no access
to services in the State party. The Committee expresses deep concern that no
durable solution has yet been found to comprehensively address the rights of
refugee children.
21.
Children
in armed conflict: implementation
of the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict and
notes with concern the recruitment of children into the armed forces in the
State party. Given the serious constraints of the birth registration system,
the Committee is also concerned that in many cases determining the real age of
the recruits might be very difficult (CRC/C/OPAC/BGD/CO/1, paras. 15-16).
22.
Economic
exploitation, including child labour: In Bangladesh high
incidence of child workers in five selected worst forms of child labour-
namely, welding, auto workshops, road transport, battery recharging and
recycling, and work in tobacco factories in continuing. Moreover, there are- lack
of enforcement mechanisms of specific laws to protect child workers, absence of
mechanisms to monitor child workers’ working conditions, insufficient awareness
among the public of the negative effects of child labour and its worst forms,
and the very limited data on the number of children affected.
Moreover,
there is no initiative to include the domestic workers in the definition of
workers within the Labour Act. On the contrary, ‘domestic servants’ are
specifically excluded from the purview of the Act by section 194)(nna)[1(4) (ণ) of the said
Act. Sub
section (65) of section 2 does not includes the workers engaged in the domestic
sector in the definition of worker. Along with it, the policy for the child
workers aging below 14 is vague which says that the children under the age of
14 are prohibited from being engages in fulltime employment. Again in the
article 17 of the Constitution, and Labour Act delimit ages by mentioning that
the children should not be employed, no child below the age of 12 should be
employed in any sector as that would harm the child’s mental, physical and
intellectual development and would deprive them of their education and
childhood.
Generally
violating the laws the children are engaged as fulltime workers having no opportunity
for their education, recreation. They are provided nominal or unhealthy food,
mostly loaded with hazardous work and they undergo through physical, mental and
sexual torture. Shohagi aging 11 years
was one of poor girl from such enormous
cases happening throughout the country. Report from the Daily Kaler Kantha (02.11.2010)
depicts that this child was serving as domestic aid in a house of Dilu road of
the capital. Her employers used to beat her indiscriminately and give her
rotten food when she was hungry. She finally ended up in One-stop Crisis Centre
(OCC) of Dhaka Medical College Hospital as her employers put acid and hot
cooking spud on her body parts even in the genital organ[12].
There
are wide rages of reason behind being child domestic help. SCSD study found
that 92% children are engaged in such profession because of poverty, 37% came
to cities for work because their parents were unable to bear their cost, and 26%
due to food crisis and 17% came willingly to aid their family.
Child
Workers:
Survey
on child labour conducted in the year 2003 shows the statistics of the working
children of that year which is given below-
Age
group (05-09)
|
Boys
|
212,000
|
Girls
|
148,000
|
|
Age
group (10-14)
|
Boys
|
3,352,000
|
Girls
|
1,280,000
|
Child
workers are easily available and cheap for which the employers tends to hire
children at their work station. At the same time the children are easy to
handle. Hundreds and thousands of the children of Bangladesh are exposed to the
hazardous works throughout the country. For instance, 3,400 children work in
brick/ stone breaking for the construction industry, 123,000 children working
as rickshaw pullers, 153,000 children working in restaurants or tea stalls, and
56,000 working in carpentry (ILO and BBS, Baseline Survey for Determining
Hazardous Child Labour Sectors in Bangladesh, 2005). Recent study by the Ain O
Salish Kendra depicts that there are 25,000 child workers aged between 4 to 14
years of age are working in the ‘bidi’ factories situated in Haragacha, Rangpur
and the work under unhealthy and unhygienic environment risking their lives.
Working
children are most vulnerable to exploitation, torture and kidnap. Having no
registration authority to record the details of the migrated workers away from their
home or registration authority to record the detail of the worker and workplace
in the migrated place increases mounts such vulnerabily more. Neighbouring
country India has passed such Domestic workers (Registration Social Securuty
and Welfare) Act- 2008 of which’s section 11 concentrates on ‘Registration’.
Imposing such Act may be profitable for both the worker and the employer.
23.
Street
children: The
Committee reiterates its concern over the rising number of children living or
working in urban centres, notably in the capital city. These children are prime
targets of organized child-trafficking rings; they are susceptible to abuse and
are often charged with the crime of vagrancy and confined in vagrant homes and
shelters that are not suitable for children
24.
Sexual
exploitation and sexual abuse: Bangladesh has enacted the Suppression of Violence
against Women and Children Act, 2000. Still the children continue to suffer
sexual exploitation and abuse. One of the major causes of child sexual abuse is
working as domestic aid for full time including sleeping at the employers place
at night where they lag behind their sexual security. Again several types of
exploitation or torture lead them to flee, commit suicide or in major cases
expose to prostitution. A study in 2008 by ILO and BBS on 18902 child sex
workers showed that the previous occupation of 8510 (about 45%) was as domestic
help.
It
is estimated that at least 35,000
children are exploited sexually on a commercial basis. According to a UNICEF research there are more than 20,000
children who live in the official red light districts of the country and are
often forced to enter the profession that their mothers have been in. The boys
on the other hand, often become pimps and contribute in their own way. Sexual exploitation of children is also
rampant among street children. Another factor that helps promote sexual
exploitation is the prevalent dowry system in Bangladesh. According to the
UNICEF report, “Some pimps use city hotels or rented private flats in certain
parts of the city for sexual exploitation. Men involved in small businesses
such as operators/vendors (36%), beggars and day labourers (17.2%), as well as
the police and security guards (9.6%), were among the largest groups of sexual
exploiters of street children”. While
majority of the sexual crimes in Bangladesh are committed against girls, boys
too become victims to a certain degree. According
to the Global Monitoring Report in 2006, the average age of entry into
prostitution was around 12 years old, with many boys having been sexually
exploited at a much younger age, some nearly as 8 years old. According to a study by Ain O Salish Kandra,
Thirty-four per cent of the children had 3 to 8 customers a day. Almost 70 per
cent of them suffered from sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and others
had skin diseases, pain and infection of the sexual organs and symptoms of
malnutrition and pregnancy. At the same time psychological traumas are
boundless[13].
This
scenario is also widespread in high or middle class societies too. ‘Tahin’ (the
original name is not provided) a boy from upper middle class, aging 8 years of
age was living with his parents in Chand Housing, Mohammadpur got sexually
assaulted by the shopkeeper of their locality. Tahin went to the adjacent shop
with their driver (August, 2008).
Parimal
Joy Dhar a Teacher from the well reputed school & college of the capital
named ‘Viqarunissa School & College was accused of sexually molesting a
student of the same school of tenth grade as the victim’s parents filed cased
against the teacher in the badda thana of the capital on 05th July,
2011. So the cases provides a clear glance that the sexual molest/ abuse is not
only confined into certain classes of poor or middle classes. The violence
persists on the upper class or in the cream of the society too. Just because of
social reputation, fear of stigma such incidences are hardly flash out.
According to Sex Workers Network (SWN) there
are about 1400-1500 children living in the twelve brothels around the country
while there are 1500-1600 children of street based sex workers who are living
in the city slums or roadsides. However, the number is higher than SWN
statistics, according to the experts[14].
Here
are the recent pictures of sex workers and bonded prostitutes in the brothel
throughout the country-
Brothels Name
|
Number of sex workers
|
Number of Underage girls
|
Daulatdia Brothel
|
1623
|
250
|
Rothkhola Brothel, Faridpur
|
500
|
202
|
C & B Ghat Brothel, Faridpur
|
150
|
12
|
Tangail Brothel
|
800
|
120
|
Mymensingh Brothel
|
310
|
80
|
Jamalpur Brothel
|
192
|
80
|
Madaripur Brothel
|
315
|
100
|
Jessore
Brothel (included 3 brothels of Jessore)
|
220
|
100
|
Fultala Brothel, Khulna
|
90
|
14
|
Banishanta Brothel, Mongla, Khulna
|
175
|
17
|
Bagerhat Brothel
|
64
|
10
|
Patuakhali Brothel
|
74
|
15
|
Total
|
4513
|
1000
|
Source:
Sex Workers Networks (SWN) of Bangladesh
The children growing up in broken
families or in the families of step father are some extent at risk of sexual
mal treatment by their fathers. Such victims are not few in number though such
incidences hardly come to the print or any other media due to social
reputation. In some indigenous clans (tribe) marrying mother’s husband in
present of mother is a traditional practice which is surely a violation of
rights of the well psychological, mental and physical development of a girl
child[15].
Boys are also frequent victim to sexual exploitation in
Madrasa. Mawlana Yusup, the chief of Darul Ulum Talimul Islam madrasa located
in Khagrachari town's Golpara area was convicted molesting one of his male students[16].
25. Sale of children and
trafficking: The
Committee notes the information shared by the State party delegation on the
three-phase programme of prevention, protection and prosecution and welcomes
the formulation of the National Plan of Action against Sexual Exploitation and
Abuse of Children, including Trafficking (NPA-SEACT). However, the Committee is
concerned at the lack of implementation of the Plan and the lack of information
on the sale of children
26.
Administration
of juvenile justice: over
information indicating that children younger than 15 years old had been
condemned to life sentences and children younger than 18 years old to the death
penalty. The Committee also notes with concern that the legal age of criminal
responsibility has been raised to only 9 years old. Furthermore, the Committee
is concerned at the remaining number of children in adult jails and
ill-treatment of children in custody by police, the length of police detention
and the absence of juvenile courts.
27.
Protection
of witnesses and victims of crimes: The Committee recommends that the
State party ensure, through adequate legal provisions and regulations, that all
child victims and or witnesses of crimes, e.g. child victims of abuse, domestic
violence, sexual and economic exploitation, abduction, and trafficking and
witnesses of such crimes, are provided with the protection required by the
Convention and that it take fully into account the United Nations Guidelines on
Justice in Matters Involving Child Victims and Witnesses of Crime (annexed to
Economic and Social Council resolution 2005/20 of 22 July 2005).
28. Ratification of
international human rights instruments
The UNCRC expresses regret that the
State party has not yet ratified or acceded to several international human
rights instruments of critical importance for the protection of the rights of
children, including those already referred to in these concluding observations
on the minimum age of employment, human trafficking, and refugees.
The Committee recommends that the
State party ratify the core United Nations human rights treaties and their
Protocols to which it is not yet a party, namely, the International Convention
on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their
Families, the International Convention on the Protection of All Persons from
Enforced Disappearance, the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture
and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment, the Optional
Protocol to the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the
Optional Protocols to the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
|
-Recommendations-
|
2.
-Identify and remove the barriers to inclusion;
3.
-Ensure that urban planning, infrastructure development, service delivery
and boarder efforts to reduce poverty and inequality meet the particular needs
and priorities of children;
4.
-Promote partnership between all levels of government and the urban
poor, especially children and young people;
5.
-Pool the resources and energies of international, national, municipal
and community actors in support of efforts to ensure that marginalized and
impoverished children enjoy their full rights.
6.
-Effective enforcement of Child Rights
Act 2013.
7.
-Concentration on Refugee children:
·
National legislation and procedures to allow
immediate access to relevant procedures determining refugee status to all
refugee children and their families;
·
Allowing children residing in the refugee camps and
their families to access, inter alia, education, and continue to ensure
that all refugee children and their families have adequate access to better
health and nutrition services, protection against violence and that those who
are particularly at risk are offered support;
·
Addressing the concerns of approximately 100,000 –
200,000 Rohingya, including children, not registered as refugees by the
State party but who reside in the country for similar reasons as the registered
refugees in official camps and to provide them with, at a minimum, legal
status, birth registration, security and access to education and health care
services;
·
Ensuring the full rights of child refugees in the
territory and fully implementing existing High Court Orders that would
facilitate equal enjoyment of their rights;
·
Ensuring that family reunification is dealt with in
a positive, humane and expeditious manner, in accordance with article 10 of the
Convention;
·
Consider ratifying the 1951 Convention relating to
the Status of Refugees;
|
-Children
continue to be in the footnote of vulnerability-
|
Ø Around
18 percent of children in slums attended secondary school in Bangladesh. But no
data were available about the slum children's enrolment at primary level.
Ø
There are only around 15 to
20 toilets for 200 families in the slum. The toilets offer little sanitation
and even less privacy.
Ø
Due to lack of drainage
system, all the human discharges pour into a nearby bush and that is main
reason for spread of different diseases like malaria and typhoid in the area.
Ø
Unsafe water, poor
sanitation and unhygienic living condition claim many lives each year--an
estimated 1.2million children die from diarrhea alone across the world, said
the UNICEF report.
Ø
While children in cities
may live close to health services, there is no guarantee for slum children to
have access to those facilities.
Ø
Out of every one thousand
children born in the country, around 95 die before they reach the age of five
at slums. On the basis of under-five mortality rate, Bangladesh is ranked 61st
on the data available for more than 190 countries, said the report
Ø
An estimation from more
than 60 countries found that while HIV infection rate had decreased in most
countries, it had risen by more than 25 percent in Bangladesh along with six
other countries. In Bangladesh 22 percent of infants are born with low birth
weight, claims the report.
Ø
No formal services exists
in slums (no doctors and nurses), but several health posts run by Brac are
staffed with trained community health workers.
Ø
Trafficking is one of the
major forms of child exploitation. Around 2.5 million people are in forced labor
as a result of trafficking--22 to 50 percent of them are children, said the UNICEF
report.
Ø
In the reality of
Bangladesh, it is difficult to abolish child labor from the country because of
their extreme poverty. The government must establish alternative methods and
policies to take care of the families that these children are supported
financially.
Ø
The UNICEF report also
placed five-point recommendations to protect the rights of marginalized
children.
[6] Library and Documentation Centre, Bangladesh National Women’s
Lawyers
Association, 2002
