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Bangladesh - Second periodic reports of States parties due in 1997: Addendum [2003] UNCRCSPR 6; CRC/C/65/Add.22 (14 March 2003)
UNITED NATIONS
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CRC
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Convention on the Rights of the Child
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Distr. GENERAL
CRC/C/65/Add.22 14 March
2003
Original: ENGLISH
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COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD
CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS SUBMITTED BY STATES PARTIES
UNDER
ARTICLE 44 OF THE CONVENTION
Second periodic reports of States parties due in 1997
BANGLADESH*
[12
June 2001]
*
For the initial report submitted by the Government of Bangladesh, see
CRC/C/3/Add.38 and 49; for its consideration by the Committee,
see
documents CRC/C/SR.380-382 and CRC/C/15/Add.74.
GE.03-40776 (E)
120503
CONTENTS
Paragraphs Page
I. BACKGROUND 1 -
5 3
II. INTRODUCTION 6 - 16 4
A. Land and people 7 -
10 4
B. General legal framework 11 - 16 5
III. IMPLEMENTATION
OF THE CONVENTION 17 - 408 6
A. General measures of implementation
17 - 44 6
B. Definition of the child 45 - 47 13
C. General
principles 48 - 68 14
D. Civil rights and freedoms 69 -
112 18
E. Family environment and alternative care 113 -
152 25
F. Basic health and welfare 153 -
231 34
G. Education, leisure and cultural activities 232 -
287 51
H. Special protection measures 288 - 408 62
Selected
references 90
Acronyms 92
Glossary 94
I. BACKGROUND
- During
the 1990s, through commitments made in the international arena and actions taken
at home, Bangladesh created a strong framework
for the promotion and protection
of children’s rights. This began in 1990 with the signature and
ratification of the Convention
on the Rights of the Child and the signing of the
Declaration on the Survival, Protection and Development of Children and related
Plan of Action at the close of the World Summit for Children. These two
international commitments were later underpinned by the
1996 Rawalpindi
Resolution on Children of South Asia, which identified two sets of goals to be
achieved, by 2000 and 2010, respectively.
Important planning and policy
dimensions were added with the adoption of National Plans of Action for Children
in 1992 and 1999
and the approval of the National Children Policy in 1994.
Latterly, inspired by a recommendation contained in the Rawalpindi Resolution,
the Prime Minister of Bangladesh has declared the period 2001-2010 as the Decade
of the Rights of the Child.
- The
country’s commitment to protecting and upholding the rights of its child
and adult citizens has been powerfully demonstrated
by the signature, accession
or ratification of no fewer than nine international human rights instruments
since 1995, namely:
(a) International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights (1966);
(b) Convention on the Political
Rights of Women (1952);
(c) Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum
Age for Marriage and Registration of Marriages (1962);
(d) Convention
against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
(1984);
(e) Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant
Workers and Members of Their Families (1990);
(f) Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide
(1948);
(g) International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(1966);
(h) Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1999);
(i) Optional Protocols
to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child
prostitution and child pornography,
and on the involvement of children in armed
conflict (2000).
- As
far as children’s rights are concerned, the process of monitoring the
implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the
Child in Bangladesh - in
particular, through the ongoing dialogue with the Committee on the Rights of the
Child - has led directly
to the introduction of some important new programmes.
Serious lacunae highlighted by the Committee in its concluding observations
on
Bangladesh’s initial report issued in 1997 prompted the Government, with
the assistance of various development partners,
to develop and launch new
interventions in the fields of birth registration, juvenile justice and child
rights awareness.
- At
the end of 2000, Bangladesh took the opportunity to review its achievements
during the 1990s against the national goals for children
and women, which had
been set for the year 2000. This review revealed significant progress on a
number of different social development
indicators. In the area of health,
increases had been achieved in immunization coverage and vitamin A
supplementation along with
an improvement in children’s nutritional
status, while child mortality rates, diarrhoeal diseases and fertility rates had
been
reduced. In education, the main success was a substantial increase in
primary school net enrolment among both girls and boys, due
in large part to the
increased budgetary allocation to the education sector (and primary education
subsector) over recent years.
- Bangladesh
submitted its initial report on implementation of the Convention on the Rights
of the Child in November 1995 and a supplementary
report in December 1996. The
present second periodic report covers the period from January 1997 to December
2000, although data
relating to earlier periods are given in places, especially
for the purpose of showing trends. The report has been prepared in accordance
with the general guidelines adopted by the Committee on 11 October 1996
(CRC/C/58). Every attempt has been made to provide the information
requested in
the very extensive guidelines. In view of the absence of systematic
national-level data collection mechanisms in many
areas (especially the
“special protection” areas), however, it has not been possible to
include all the requested information.
II. INTRODUCTION
- This
section updates the information given in paragraphs 4 to 12 of
Bangladesh’s initial report to the Committee on the Rights
of the
Child.
A. Land and people
Land
- Bangladesh
lies in the north-eastern part of South Asia. The country is bounded to the
west, north and the north-east by India, to
the south-east by Myanmar and to the
south by the Bay of Bengal. The country occupies an area of 143,999 sq. km.
Except for the
hilly regions in the north-east and south-east and some areas of
highlands in the north and north-west, the country consists of low,
flat and
fertile land. Bangladesh has a subtropical monsoon climate.
Population
- At
the time of the last population census in
1991[1] the population of
Bangladesh stood at 111.4 million. Projected figures for 1996 show a
population of 122.1 million, giving a population
density of 848 persons per sq.
km. The population is fairly evenly distributed throughout the country. The
rural population comprises
84.4 per cent and the urban population 15.6 per cent
of the total. There are approximately 20 million households in the country
with
an average household size of 5.6.
- Of
the 1996 projected population figure, 62.7 million are males and 59.4 million
are females, which creates a sex ratio of 106 males
to every 100 females. The
natural growth rate of the population is 1.5 per cent. The population is
predominantly young, with 13
per cent under 5 years of age and 41 per
cent under 15 years. Life expectancy at birth is 60.7 years for males and 60.5
years for
females.
Economy
- The
current GNP per capita is US$ 350, up from US$ 279 in 1990. There has also been
a healthy increase in the growth of real per
capita GDP in recent years, from
3.8 per cent in 1994 to 5.6 per cent in 1998. Bangladesh’s economy is
slowly but steadily
shifting its emphasis from agriculture to the manufacturing
and service sectors. The agriculture sector’s share of GDP dropped
from
28 per cent in 1990 to 23 per cent in 1998, while the shares of the
manufacturing and service sectors rose by 3 and 2 percentage
points,
respectively.
B. General legal framework
Administrative set-up
- Bangladesh
is governed by a parliamentary system of government. The Prime Minister, who is
selected by the President from the majority
party, is the chief executive of the
country. He/she has a council of ministers to assist him/her in the discharge
of his/her duties.
For administrative purposes, the country is divided into six
divisions, each of which is under the charge of a divisional commissioner.
Each
division is further divided into districts. There are 64 districts in
all, each headed by a deputy commissioner. Each zila
(district) is subdivided
into a number of upazilas (subdistricts), and each upazila into a number of
unions. There are a total of
464 upazilas and 4,451 unions in the country.
Each union is the focal point of local administration and the union parishad
(union
council) is composed of elected members. The administrative setup is
different in urban areas. The main urban centres are divided
into city
corporations (six) and municipalities (more than 200). Each of these is further
subdivided into a number of wards.
Legislature
- The
Constitution provides for a unicameral legislature which is called the Jatiya
Sangsad (National Parliament). It consists of 300 members directly
elected by
universal adult franchise. The members of the Jatiya Sangsad elect another 30
female members. Thus, the total number
of Jatiya Sangsad members is 330. The
Sangsad is vested with all the necessary powers under the Constitution to make
laws for the country. The next parliamentary elections are due to be held
in 2001.
Basic human rights laws
- The
Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh is the supreme law of
the country. All laws in the country take their validity from
the Constitution.
Part II of the Constitution contains an extensive list of fundamental principles
of State policy. These principles are non-justiciable and serve essentially
as
general guidelines for State policy.
- The
fundamental rights listed in Part III of the Constitution are justiciable, the
Supreme Court having been entrusted with the power to enforce them. The
fundamental rights guaranteed in the
Constitution are the following: equality
before the law; non-discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or
place of birth; equality
of opportunity in public employment; protection of law;
protection of the right to life and personal liberty; safeguards regarding
arrest and detention; prohibition of forced labour; protection in respect of
trial and punishment; right to freedom of movement;
right to assembly; right to
association; right to freedom of thought and conscience; right to freedom of
speech and expression; right
to any profession or occupation; right to profess
any religion; right to property; and right to protection of home and
correspondence.
- Besides
the Constitution, the principal source of the law in the country is legislation.
Legislation consists of laws made by or under the authority of Parliament
and
may comprise statutes or statutory instruments, which are orders, rules and
regulations made by a government ministry under the
authority of a statute, or
by-laws made by local government or other authorities exercising powers
conferred upon them by the legislature.
Judiciary
- At
the top of the hierarchy of courts is the Supreme Court of Bangladesh,
comprising the Appellate Division and High Court Division.
The Appellate
Division has both civil and criminal jurisdiction. The High Court Division
enjoys three different kinds of jurisdiction:
constitutional/writ, civil,
criminal and special/statutory jurisdiction. The functions of the two divisions
are quite distinct
and appointments for each division are made separately.
Judges sit exclusively in the division to which they are appointed. Other
civil
courts include the Court of the District and the Additional District Judge, the
Court of the Subordinate Judge, the Court of
the Assistant Judge and the other
lower courts. The ordinary criminal courts comprise
different
levels of Sessions and Magistrates’ Courts.
III. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CONVENTION
A. General measures of implementation
Reservations to the Convention on the Rights of the
Child
- The
question of whether to withdraw the reservations to article 14, paragraph 1
(freedom of thought, conscience and religion) and
article 21 (adoption) is under
consideration by the Government. The matter is now lying with the Cabinet
Division for decision.
Legal issues
- The
Constitution is the supreme law of Bangladesh and takes precedence over any
other provisions of national or international law. In the event of
a conflict
between a provision of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and national
law, any relevant constitutional provisions
would take precedence, followed by constitutionally-derived national
legislation and finally the Convention, as a part of international
law. Thus,
the Convention cannot override national law. In the courts, the provisions of
the Convention have persuasive value and
have, on occasion, been cited in child
custody cases.
- Many
of the rights enshrined in the Convention are recognized in the Constitution
and/or in domestic legislation. Throughout the present report such
constitutional and legislative provisions are described under
the relevant
article. Similarly, any provisions of national law which are more conducive
than the Convention to the realization
of a particular right are mentioned under
the relevant article.
- A
new law protecting children, the Suppression of Violence against Women and
Children Act, was passed in 2000, repealing the 1995
Control of Oppression of
Women and Children (Special Provision) Act. There was extensive and
constructive consultation between the
Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary
Affairs and women’s and human rights groups during the drafting of the
bill. The
new Act is similar in many respects to the 1995 Act, but it adds
several new offences, such as sexual harassment and the maiming
of children in
order to use them for begging or to sell their body parts. Another new
provision imposes responsibility for the maintenance
of a child born as a result
of rape on the rapist. A further provision gives the Special Tribunals
constituted to deal with offences
under the Act the power to award any fine
imposed on an offender to the victim of the offence by way of compensation. The
Tribunal
is also given the power to order victims to be kept in safe custody
until the case in question is disposed of in a place prescribed
by the
Government (not prison) or in the custody of a suitable organization or
individual.
National strategy for children
- A
National Plan of Action (NPA) for Children has been adopted to run in parallel
with the Government’s Fifth Five-Year Plan
(1997-2002). The framework for
the Plan is provided by a series of commitments for children made by the
Government at the international,
regional and national levels,
namely:
(a) Convention on the Rights of the
Child;
(b) World Summit Declaration;
(c) Rawalpindi Resolution
(SAARC);
(d) Relevant parts of the Fifth Five-Year
Plan.
The Plan was prepared using a
participatory approach, ensuring a broad representation of the views and
concerns of people and organizations
involved with the development of
children.
- The
basic objective of NPA is to improve the situation of children by creating the
scope and opportunity for them to enjoy the rights
set forth in the Convention
and, to that end, to participate in their own development by giving them access
to needed services.
NPA covers six
different sectors: basic education; health and nutrition; water and
environmental sanitation; children in need of special protection;
social
integration, participation and cultural affairs; and information and
communication. The Ministry of Women and Children Affairs
(MoWCA) and the
National Children Council share responsibility for overall monitoring of
NPA.
Coordination and monitoring of implementation
- The
principal government ministries concerned with the welfare and rights of
children are: The Ministries of Women and Children Affairs;
Health and Family
Welfare; Social Welfare; Education; Local Government; Rural Development and
Cooperatives; Home Affairs; Law; Information;
Youth and Sports; Cultural
Affairs; Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs; and the Primary and Mass Education
Division. At present, MoWCA
has only one Directorate - that of Women’s
Affairs. The Government is considering creating a Directorate of Children
Affairs
to strengthen the implementation of programmes for children and
monitoring of the Convention. A recommendation to this effect has
been
submitted by the MoWCA Parliamentary Standing Committee and the proposal
has been forwarded by MoWCA to the Establishment Ministry.
- MoWCA
bears primary responsibility for coordinating implementation of the Convention,
(including monitoring), both between different
ministries and between the
national and subnational levels. An Inter-Ministerial Committee was formed for
this purpose in 1998.
In particular, the Committee coordinates an annual
reporting system which involves the consolidation into a report of information
collected from all relevant ministries on progress towards realizing
children’s rights.
- At
the subnational level, the Cabinet Division issued a directive in 1998
instructing District Development Coordination Committees
to include child rights
as part of their regular business. This led to the creation by the end of 1999
of Child Rights Forums in
every district, comprising all district-level
government officials working for children, together with local NGOs, journalists
and
lawyers. It is planned to give each Child Rights Forum two and a half
days’ training on child rights. A booklet has been
produced with support
from UNICEF - A Guide to Making a Difference for the Children of Bangladesh
- with the aim of mobilizing and supporting the Forums to identify priority
concerns for children and accelerate responses through
joint action. Around
6,500 copies of the Guide have been distributed to the districts and more than
1,000 copies to the relevant
ministries and libraries around the
country.
- The
annual Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS), conducted jointly by Bangladesh
Bureau of Statistics and UNICEF, is a mechanism
dedicated to the systematic
collection of data on the situation of children. Established in 1993 to monitor
progress towards the
World Summit Goals, MICS collects data on 27 different
indicators relating to health, water, sanitation and education from 63,200
households located in 1,264 “clusters” all over the country. The
data are disaggregated by gender, urban/rural and slum/non-slum
area. Data are
prepared for each of the country’s 64 districts and are then aggregated to
provide division-level and national
estimates. With data for the last eight
years now available, MICS also offers the possibility of assessing
trends.
- The
results of MICS are published each year in a report entitled Progotir Pathey
(On the Road to Progress). Approximately 5,000 copies of the report are
distributed to various government officials down to upazila
level. Following
publication of the report, the data are reviewed by the district-level
administration and a work plan is prepared.
The survey is of limited value for
monitoring the implementation of children’s rights under the Convention
since the indicators
relate to only two articles - health and health services
(art. 24) and education (art. 28). As will be evident from the present
report, there is a serious shortage of data in relation to most of the special
protection issues and many other areas covered by
the
Convention.
Child/human rights institutions
- The
National Children Council, re-formed in 1996, is responsible for formulating
policy and undertaking the necessary reform and enforcement
of laws relating to
children. There are concrete plans to establish a human rights commission and
the office of Ombudsman, both
of which would play an important role in the
promotion and protection of children’s rights. Appropriate draft bills
have already
been prepared.
Cooperation between the Government and civil society
- A
striking trend over recent years regarding development programmes for children
has been the increase in collaboration between the
Government and NGOs. This is
based, in the Government’s view, on a recognition of the special expertise
that NGOs can offer,
which in many areas effectively complements the
Government’s own strengths. Such partnerships can be seen, for instance,
in
the Basic Education for Urban Working Children, Adolescent Girls’
Empowerment and Early Childhood Development projects, all
of which involve the
Government setting up a project structure, which is then essentially implemented
in the field by NGOs under
government supervision.
- NGOs
also collaborate with the Government by working in non-traditional areas
(especially “new” protection areas) where
the Government has no
established structure or expertise (such as sexual exploitation and abuse), and
by delivering services, such
as health services and non-formal education, to
groups who are not reached by the State system. This is a different kind of
complementarity,
which results in the needs of a larger proportion of children
being met than would otherwise be possible.
- Other
sections of civil society also cooperate with the Government for the benefit of
children. The most impressive example of such
cooperation is the extraordinary
social mobilization drive which results in 600,000 civil society volunteers -
including teachers,
NGO workers and women at home - coming together twice a year
on National Immunization Days to help immunize 20 million
children.
Budgetary measures
- Public
expenditure is incurred annually through the budgetary mechanism. The national
budget is in two parts:
(a) Revenue budget. This is an estimate of revenue income and
expenditure. Expenditure under the revenue budget is normally incurred to meet
current
expenses of a recurring nature for running the day-to-day affairs of
Government;
(b) Development budget. This is an allocation of
funds for development projects, programmes and sectors. Expenditure under the
development budget is normally
incurred as a one-time investment for the
creation of new assets.
- In
Bangladesh, social sectors, which include primary education, health and family
planning and social welfare, account for 33 per
cent of the Government’s
revenue budget expenditure. The allocation from the development budget to
social sectors increased
from 13.8 per cent in 1990 to 25.5 per cent
in 1996. Since 1995, the Government has made a higher budgetary allocation for
education
and the health of children. The total budgetary allocation for
education was US$ 1,036 million in the fiscal year 2000-2001, which
is 8
per cent higher than the allocation for the previous year. Since 1995, the
level of actual funding for education has risen
by 59 per cent. The third
largest government budgetary allocation is for the health sector.
Child rights awareness
- The
issue of child rights awareness is most directly addressed under a MoWCA project
supported by UNICEF known as Advocacy, Awareness-raising
and Strengthening of
the Information Base, which first started in 1988. Phase Three of that project
(1996-2000) includes the following
objectives:
(a) Providing
information on the rights of children and women to the Government, NGOs and
local leaders;
(b) Working with the Government to implement the
Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of
All
Forms of Discrimination against Women.
- The
full text of the Convention on the Rights of the Child has been translated into
Bengali and produced in booklet form. Approximately
500,000 copies have been
printed and distributed to head teachers of all primary schools, government
officials, Union Parishad Chairpersons,
imams, NGOs, children’s
organizations, scouts, mothers’ clubs and the media. In 1998, a
simplified and illustrated version
of the Convention was produced in Bengali, as
a more effective tool for raising awareness about the Convention, including
through
child rights training. A total of 15,000 copies of this version have
been printed and distributed, mainly to central and district-level
government
officials, NGOs active in the field of child rights and those running non-formal
learning centres (under the Basic Education
for Urban Working Children
project).
- In
1998, following receipt of the Committee on the Rights of the Child’s
concluding observations on Bangladesh’s initial
report, a three-year
communication campaign was launched to increase awareness of child rights.
Through its use of television, radio
and
newspapers,
the campaign mainly targets the middle classes, aiming to persuade them to
change their behaviour - especially towards disadvantaged
children - to ensure
the realization of children’s rights under the Convention. The following
materials have been produced
under the child rights communication
campaign:
(a) Fourteen television spots;
(b) Five radio
jingles;
(c) Numerous newspaper articles (based on television/radio
spots);
(d) Diary intended mainly for the media (over
9,000);
(e) Posters (over 65,000);
(f) Bunting (over
25,000).
- The
subjects featured in the television spots and radio jingles are described below
under the relevant articles of the Convention.
The following themes have been
taken up during the three years of the campaign: birth registration and child
labour (1998); violence
against child workers and early childhood development
(1999); and adolescent girls’ rights and sexual abuse (2000). The
television
spots and radio jingles have been broadcast by State television and
radio stations and also by one private television station. Moreover,
corporate
sponsorship was obtained for both television spots and newspaper articles on
related topics. Other short films on child
rights (produced locally and abroad)
and the Meena cartoon series (developed under the South Asian Meena
Communication Initiative)
are also broadcast on television and
radio.
- Child
Rights Week has been an annual event since 1992. From 1997, however, there has
been a change in the nature of the event - from
a primarily cultural and
ceremonial one, to an important nationwide occasion for raising awareness about
children’s rights.
The week is usually inaugurated by the Prime Minister
and receives considerable media coverage. A range of activities relating
to
child rights is arranged at national and district levels, including rallies,
competitions, discussions and debates. One of the
changes introduced from 1997
has been the adoption of annual themes designed to show that the Convention
applies to all children,
irrespective of their situation or social
origin.
- There
is a core group of national and international NGOs which also plays an important
role in child rights advocacy and awareness
raising. The Government supports
these NGOs by providing relevant materials and by keeping them informed about
its own activities
and plans. An interactive audio-visual training module on
child rights has been developed for use by NGOs working in this
area.
- Schools
have been the main forum for teaching children about their rights, through
social
studies classes and lessons on life skills in IDEAL schools
using the child-to-child and Safe Learning Environment approaches.
- Significant
steps have been taken to increase the awareness of public officials working with
children about child rights through the
introduction of training programmes and
the incorporation of child rights into the curricula of training institutions.
The groups
so far targeted by these efforts
include:
(a) Ministry of Social Welfare officials through
training for personnel in correction centres, vagrant homes and shelter homes
and
the incorporation of child rights into the curriculum of the
Ministry’s training academies:
(b) Members of 44 district-level
Child Rights Forums through training sessions on child rights (all districts to
be covered by 2001);
(c) More than 1,100 police officers and 400 judges
through training programmes on child rights. The training will be
institutionalized
over the next five years by incorporating a child rights
module into the curricula of all training institutions for police, magistrates
and judges.
There are plans to provide child rights training to upazila-
and ward-level local government officials in rural and urban areas as
from
2001.
Dissemination of State party reports
- Bangladesh’s
initial report was not widely distributed. A debriefing meeting with highlevel
government officials and media
representatives was held, however, following the
plenary session in Geneva in May 1997 at which the initial report was
discussed.
- The
Committee’s concluding observations on Bangladesh’s initial report
released in June 1997 have been widely disseminated,
with UNICEF providing
strong support for this process. UNICEF published a report in 1997 entitled
Children of Bangladesh and Their Rights which, adopting the concluding
observations as a framework, described the situation of children under a large
number of articles
of the Convention, initiatives being taken to protect and
ensure their rights, and the views and recommendations of the Committee
on the
Rights of the Child. A total of 70,000 copies of the report were produced (over
90 per cent in Bengali), the majority of
which were distributed to local
government officials and NGOs.
- The
preparation of the present report has been coordinated by MoWCA with support
from UNICEF. The report is based on information
collected by MoWCA from all the
relevant ministries along with data from many other sources. A two-day
consultation workshop with
more than 50 children from mixed social backgrounds
was organized to ascertain their views on achievements and gaps in the
realization
of their rights. Subnational consultation meetings, each attended
by 40-50 representatives of local government and civil society,
were held in two
of the country’s six divisions to verify the data presented in the report
and obtain information about other
important initiatives for children. A
national consultation meeting, attended mainly by central government officials
and NGOs, was
also held.
B. Definition of the child
- The
age of majority in Bangladesh is set at 18
years[2] under the Majority Act
1875, although the Act has no effect on the capacity of any person in relation
to marriage, dowry, divorce
and adoption or on the religion and religious
customs of any citizen. The National Children Policy, however, defines boys and
girls
under 14 years as children.
- Other
legislation relating to children does not adopt a uniform definition of the
child. This anomalous situation is compounded by
the lack of documentary proof
of children’s ages due to the low level of birth registration, which is a
major obstacle to ensuring
the rights of children under both the Convention and
domestic legislation. The Government is working to arrive at a uniform
definition
of a child.
- Information
on the minimum legal age set by national legislation for various purposes is
given below.
(a) End of compulsory education - 10 years. The
Government is considering raising the age for completion of compulsory
education;
(b) Admission to employment - various ages between 12 and 21
years (see article 32);
(c) Marriage - 18 years for girls and 21
years for boys under the Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929, but religious
personal laws
permit marriage at an earlier age;
(d) Sexual consent - 14
years;
(e) Voluntary enlistment in the armed forces - 16 years (with
parental consent);
(f) Conscription into the armed forces - no military
conscription;
(g) Participation in hostilities - (non-commissioned
officers) after six months’ training; (commissioned officers) after two
years’ training;
(h) Criminal responsibility - full criminal
responsibility from the age of 12 years; rebuttable presumption of capacity to
infringe
the criminal law between the age of 7
and 11 years;
(i) Deprivation of liberty including by arrest,
detention and imprisonment - (juvenile justice cases) linked to age of criminal
responsibility
(see above); (care and protection cases) no minimum
age;
(j) Capital punishment and life imprisonment - (capital punishment)
17 years; (life imprisonment) in certain exceptional circumstances
7 years if
presumption of capacity not rebutted, otherwise 12 years (see article 37
(a));
(k) Giving testimony in court - no minimum age but a witness must
be capable of understanding questions put to him or her and of
giving
intelligible and sensible answers;
(l) Lodging complaints and seeking
redress before the courts without parental consent - 18
years;
(m) Giving consent to change of name - 18
years;
(n) Legal capacity to inherit and conduct property transactions -
21 years;
(o) Creating/joining associations - 18
years;
(p) Consumption of tobacco, alcohol and dangerous drugs - 16
years.
C. General Principles
1. Non-discrimination (art. 2)
- The
fundamental rights set out in the Bangladesh Constitution include the
prohibition of discrimination by the State on the grounds of religion, race,
caste, sex or place of birth and a guarantee
of equal rights for women and men
in national and public life. The Constitution further expressly allows for
special provision to be made in favour of children and women. The principle of
non-discrimination is
also found in the National Children Policy, which states
that “all children of Bangladesh, irrespective of caste, creed, colour,
sex, language, religion or opinion, social status, wealth or birth, shall enjoy
equal rights and opportunities”.
- Gender
equality and disparity reduction is one of the overarching strategies of the
National Plan of Action for Children. NPA states
that affirmative
discrimination in favour of girls and women will be one of its guiding
principles, and all activities concerning
children and women will have this
focus until equity is achieved. Moreover, the Convention on the Rights of the
Child and the Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women will provide a guiding framework for actions in relation to girls
and women, who will be placed at the centre of development.
- As
mentioned above, MICS, which routinely collects information on the situation of
children in the areas of health and education,
is designed to identify
disparities through the desegregation of data on various bases. The survey
yields data for each district
which are combined to produce figures for the six
divisions. These figures are then disaggregated by gender, urban/rural area
and,
within urban areas, metropolitan city slum/non-slum areas and other
municipalities.
- The
wide-ranging discrimination faced by girls is well known and has formed the
basis of many interventions in recent years. The
Government demonstrated a
strong commitment to improving the situation of girls through the preparation of
an Action Plan for the
SAARC Decade of the Girl Child (1991-2000). In 1995,
representatives of the Government attended the
Fourth World Conference on Women which led to the formulation and approval of
a National Policy for Women’s Advancement and
National Action Plan. The
position of the girl child is considered in both of these documents. Girl
children remain a priority
concern of the Government in terms of both policies
and programmes. The thirtieth of September was celebrated as the Girl Child
Day
in 2000; the Government is considering making this into a permanent event.
- A
number of measures have been adopted in the field of education to increase
girls’ enrolment, reduce dropout rates and eliminate
discrimination in the
teaching-learning process. Tuition fees have been waived for girls up to Grade
10 and stipends introduced
for secondary school pupils in rural areas of the
country. Gender biases have been removed from the primary school curriculum and
textbooks. Other factors contributing to increased enrolment and retention are
the increased numbers of women teachers and improved
sanitation
facilities.
- Messages
about gender equality and the need to increase the self-esteem of girls are
effectively conveyed through films based on the
cartoon character Meena, which
are produced under the Meena South Asian Communication Initiative. A series of
12 films (and versions
for radio) establish Meena as a positive role model for
girls and a vehicle for raising awareness about gender disparities. In addition
to dissemination by the mass media, Meena materials are used in primary schools
to raise awareness and enhance girls’ completion
rates and academic
achievement.
- The
Government has recently started to increase its focus on adolescent girls. In
2000, a television spot was produced for the child
rights communication campaign
highlighting adolescent girls’ rights to participate fully in all aspects
of life. The one-minute
film shows adolescent girls participating in work and
recreation activities and enjoying unrestricted mobility.
- Starting
in 2001, a new UNICEF-supported project aims to increase the life choices
of 30,000 adolescent girls through the creation
and empowerment of
adolescent girls’ groups. A proportion of group members will receive
livelihood training and some will
be trained to act as peer educators on
discriminatory practices, family life education and post-literacy training. It
is expected
that group members will participate actively in social processes and
raise issues such as early marriage, gender violence and discrimination.
At the
same time, awareness regarding adolescent girls’ rights and needs among
the group members’ families and local
communities will be
enhanced.
- Another
strategy adopted to combat discrimination against girls is the provision of
training to law enforcement and local government
officials. In two separate
initiatives by the MoWCA, training in discriminatory practices against girls is
planned for judges, magistrates
and police officers and for urban and rural
administrative officers.
- Along
with girls, children from poor families suffer from a widespread
under-fulfilment of their rights. These children are deprived
at two levels:
first, their families cannot afford to ensure their access to basic services
and, second, they are highly vulnerable
to many different kinds of exploitation
and abuse. The Ministry of Social Welfare’s
ARISE[3] project (described in
more detail under article 20) represents an important initiative to realize
the rights of 30,000 of the most vulnerable children who
are living on the
streets of Bangladesh’s six divisional cities. The project will build the
capacity of selected NGOs and
government agencies working with street children
to provide vocational training and education, access to safe shelters, health
services
and counselling.
2. Best interests of the child (art. 3)
- Something
of a dichotomy exists in Bangladeshi culture as regards the attitudes to
children which exist in the private and public
spheres. While the family
environment is intensely child-centred, public institutions are frequently the
opposite, appearing to
be driven more by rules and systems than by the interests
of children. There are laws, however, which include a concept akin to
the
“best interests” principle, even though it may be expressed
differently. In the realm of guardianship of minors,
for example (which is
governed by the Guardians and Wards Act 1890), the Court must be guided when
making an order by “what
appears in the circumstances to be for the
welfare of the minor”.
- The
National Children Policy introduces the concept of the best interests of the
child as one of its objectives in the context of
ensuring “the best
interest of the children in all national, social, family or personal
situations”. The activities
identified to achieve this objective
are:
(a) Giving priority to the interests of children in all
circumstances;
(b) Collecting information on children from institutions
and conducting research on child-related topics;
(c) Publication and
broad dissemination of annual reports showing improvements in the situation of
children;
(d) Observing Universal Children’s Day and National
Children’s Day.
3. The right to life, survival and development (art. 6.)
- One
of the goals of the National Children Policy is to ensure children’s right
to survival after birth through the provision
of health, nutrition and physical
security. The present report describes measures taken in many areas which
contribute to creating
an environment that is conducive to ensuring
children’s survival and development.
- Children’s
good health and survival is the outcome of the health policies and programmes
implemented by the Government for the
benefit of children, including those
concerning immunization, disease control, nutrition interventions, health
education and emergency
obstetric care. Water and sanitation programmes that
ensure a supply of safe drinking water and help to create a pollution-free
environment also make a significant contribution to promoting children’s
good health and survival.
- Violence
and abuse pose a serious threat to children’s survival and development.
Data on violence based on reports routinely
collected from national newspapers
show that children are at risk of death from rape, suicide, domestic violence,
dowry-related violence
and violence by employers (especially domestic workers).
Girls are more vulnerable than boys to most of these forms of violence.
The
measures adopted by the Government to protect children against such threats are
described under article 19.
4. Respect for the views of the child (art. 12)
- The
principle of child participation, especially the obligation on the part of
adults to listen to children’s views on matters
affecting them and to give
those views due weight in accordance with the child’s age and maturity,
runs counter to many established
norms in Bangladeshi society.
- The
National Plan of Action for Children identifies child participation as one of
its overarching strategies in the following terms:
“Children will be
involved in making decisions and organization and management of activities
affecting their lives, and not
treated just as passive beneficiaries or
recipients of services.”
- As
children get older, increasing account is taken of their views, although adults
display striking inconsistencies in their attitudes
to the participation of
adolescents in different aspects of life. On the one hand, the family and
community expect them to act like
adults - arguably overestimating their
capacity - on matters such as work and responsibilities towards parents and
other family members.
On the other, their potential is underestimated and they
are insufficiently consulted on issues on which they have a right to express
an
opinion, such as the course of their future studies or career, decisions
regarding their marriage and other future plans.
- Legislation
gives children a voice in certain kinds of legal proceedings. Under the
Guardians and Wards Act 1890, for example, where
a child is old enough to form
an “intelligent preference”, the Court will take that preference
into account when appointing
or declaring a guardian of his or her person or
property.
- The
Government is increasingly adopting participatory approaches in its programmes
for children. In the non-formal education project
for working children, for
instance, consultation with children and their families about the strengths and
weaknesses of the project
have led to some significant modifications in the
project design. The issue of children’s right to participation is
highlighted
in the child rights communication campaign: a television spot shows
a father having to abandon his traditional notions about his
daughter’s
future in the face of her determination to pursue a career as an electronic
engineer. A number of NGOs are developing
innovative projects and activities
based on the principle of child participation.
- The
child rights training being provided to central and local government officials,
other members of local elites and law enforcement
officials is expected to
increase the respect given to children’s views by those working for and
with children.
D. Civil rights and freedoms
1. Name and nationality (art. 7)
Birth registration
- Though
a legal framework for registration exists in Bangladesh, creating a
decentralized birth registration system, the rate of birth
registration is
extremely low as the relevant officials often lack awareness or are incapable of
effectively carrying out their duties.
- Following
receipt of the Committee’s concluding observations on Bangladesh’s
initial report in 1997, work started on the
development of an effective,
decentralized birth registration system. Between 1997 and 1999, birth
registration campaigns combining
large-scale data collection with the
introduction of measures to ensure sustainability were successfully piloted in
the large city
corporations and in four districts. As a result, 1 million names
are now included in the different birth registers. In 1998, the
Prime Minister
announced the creation of an annual award for the local government institution
that registered the greatest number
of births.
- The
Government is confident that major improvements in birth registration can be
achieved in the years ahead. The Local Government
Division of the Ministry of
Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives is due to launch a fully
fledged project, covering
20 districts and all city corporations, in January
2001 with support from UNICEF and Plan International. The Government is
negotiating
additional bilateral resources. The project will extend support to
district birth registration campaigns which, like EPI campaigns,
involve the
mobilization of different sectors to achieve large-scale coverage within a short
time. In rural areas, a key role will
be played by field workers of the
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, especially those already involved in
providing care to mothers
and young children. Mainly in urban areas, NGO health
field workers will assist with the collection of data on births. Special
efforts will be made to reach families in char and other remote
areas.
- There
will be an emphasis on stimulating parents to come forward as a matter of course
to register births with the relevant local
government officials for entry in the
birth register. Increasingly, birth certificates will have to be produced when
children first
start school and to access other services. To monitor the
process and make data on birth available to planners birth registration
data
will be compiled and transmitted from the union council and municipality levels
to the upazila level. The Upazila Statistical
Officer will ensure linkage with
the Government’s vital registration system.
- Earlier
research found a low level of understanding among the general public of the
importance of registering children after birth
and little awareness of
parents’ legal obligation to do so. A communication campaign, including
mass media approaches, will
support the birth registration project by raising
public awareness about these matters and will help to sustain registration after
the campaign is over. A television spot on birth registration using the popular
Meena cartoon character has already been developed.
- As
part of the district-based approach, local government officials (including those
directly responsible for registration) and field
workers will receive training
in registration procedures and child rights. A gender focus will ensure that
the mobility and other
constraints faced by women wishing to register their
newborns are taken into account.
- Other
imminent measures include the development of an internationally acceptable form
of birth certificate and standardization of
official forms and registers.
Although a standard birth registration form does not exist at present, the
information provided at
the time of registration generally includes the
child’s name, sex, place and date of birth, the father’s and
mother’s
name, and the father’s/parents’ address and
religion.
- It
will be important to create a firm link between birth registration and the
administration of the immunization programme. This
is because birth
registration’s usefulness will ultimately be measured in terms of its
value in ensuring service delivery to
all children. Moreover, field health
workers in Bangladesh already record names of children to some extent for the
administration
of EPI, and it is both logical and cost-effective to connect the
two systems. A pilot initiative has been started in one upazila
with the aim of
providing birth certificates to parents of all children once they are fully
immunized. The Upazila Statistical Officer
will maintain a birth registration
database linked to immunization status.
Knowing and being cared for by parents
- Children
born out of wedlock are sometimes raised by a member of the extended family,
such as a grandmother or aunt, rather than by
his or her own parents. In such
situations, the child may be deliberately led to believe that the person or
persons raising him
or her are the true mother and/or father and may never know
the true identity of his or her parents.
- The
majority of Bangladeshi children are brought up in their own families.
Childcare is generally shared by the mother and other
members of the extended
family, with fathers playing a limited role. Natural disasters and family
difficulties, such as financial
hardship, abandonment of the mother, or death of
a parent may result in children being cared for by a person or agency other than
the parents, for instance, another relative, an employer (especially where
children are placed in domestic service) or the State.
In addition, children
sometimes feel compelled by violence or unhappiness in the home to leave and
make a life of their own.
Right to acquire a nationality
- Bangladeshi
nationality can be acquired by birth, descent, migration or naturalization. A
child’s nationality is based on the
nationality of his or her father.
Accordingly, where a father’s nationality is unknown and cannot be
ascertained, as may be
the case with children born out of wedlock, the
possibility exists that his children may be stateless. This rule also prevents
children
with a Bangladeshi mother and a non-Bangladeshi father who were not
born in Bangladesh from acquiring their mother’s rather
than their
father’s nationality and from acquiring dual nationality.
- The
children of the “Biharis” represent the largest group of stateless
children in Bangladesh. This community is composed
of Muslims of Indian origin
who became stateless when they opted for Pakistani citizenship in 1972. Since
then, they have remained
in Bangladesh awaiting repatriation to Pakistan.
Latterly, it has emerged that the younger generation, who have no affiliation
with
Pakistan and do not speak Urdu, wish to stay in Bangladesh and obtain
Bangladeshi citizenship.
- Children
without Bangladeshi nationality enjoy restricted protection under the
Constitution since many of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution
are available to citizens only.
2. Preservation of identity (art. 8)
- The
initiatives in relation to birth registration described in connection with
article 7 will make an important contribution to the
preservation of
children’s identity, especially their name and family relations. It is
planned to introduce computerization
of birth records and storage of data on
durable media, first in central government and city corporations and later at
other levels.
3. Freedom of expression (art. 13)
- Article
39 of the Constitution guarantees the right of every citizen to freedom of
speech and expression. This right is subject to any reasonable restrictions
imposed by law in the interests of the security of the State, friendly relations
with foreign States, public order, decency or morality,
or in relation to
contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence.
- Growing
access to modern information technology and recent expansion of the media
provide increased opportunities to children to seek,
receive and impart
information and ideas. Bangladesh has nearly 300 daily newspapers and
periodicals, and hundreds more which appear
once or twice a week or month. Many
of the high-circulation national newspapers (Bengali and English language) have
regular children’s
pages or supplements which feature children’s
stories, poems, articles and drawings, as well as material written by adults
on
subjects of interest to children.
- Important
developments have taken place in the electronic media in recent times. The
Government is working on plans to grant autonomy
to the State television and
radio channels. Over the past couple of years three private television channels
have been launched in
Bangladesh: Ekushey Television, ATN and Channel I.
Ekushey Television. The latter, supported by Save the Children (Sweden) and
UNICEF, has established a forum for children’s participation in the
gathering and broadcasting of information through a children’s news
programme, Mukto Khobor. Another programme, Bolte Chai, provides
an opportunity for a group of adolescent boys and girls to put questions on
important issues to a panel of invited guests.
International Children’s
Day of Broadcasting has been celebrated in the country
since 1994.
- There
is unequal access to electronic media and information technology in different
geographical areas and socio-economic groups.
While a tiny fraction of children
are able to obtain and exchange information via the Internet through computers
in their own homes,
many villages in rural areas do not even have
electricity.
- Opportunities
for cultural and artistic expression are available to all social groups, but are
more limited for children from disadvantaged
families, who have neither the time
nor the money to spare for such non-essentials. The right of all children,
including those who
have to work, to creative expression is highlighted in both
a television spot and a radio jingle developed as part of the Government’s
child rights communication campaign.
- The
impact of prevailing cultural and social values on children’s home and
school environments limit to some extent their freedom
to express themselves
orally, in writing and through artistic media. The highly prized virtues of
respect for and obedience to parents
and other senior family members and
teachers, coupled with a lack of emphasis on creative activities, are not
conducive to full and
free self-expression. This situation is slowly changing
though, with parents becoming more used to children speaking out on a variety
of
topics, and active and creative processes becoming a normal part of learning for
children in IDEAL schools (see article 29).
4. Freedom of thought, conscience and religion (art.
14)
- Citizens’
rights to freedom of thought and conscience are upheld in article 39 of the
Constitution and also respected in practice.
- The
Constitution reflects the existence of and a tolerance towards different
religions in the country. Although Islam is declared to be the State
religion,
express provision is made for the practice of other religions “in peace
and harmony”. The fundamental right
of citizens to profess and practise
any religion, subject to law, public order and morality, is recognized in
article 41.
- A
further constitutional provision exempts students from the obligation to receive
religious instruction or attend or take part in
any religious ceremony or
worship that relates to a religion other than their own. The Government’s
policy on this issue is
to arrange separate religious studies classes for
Muslim, Hindu, Christian and Buddhist children in primary and secondary schools,
although this is not always practically possible. Teachers’ training
includes the study of all four religions.
- The
sanctity of all religions (including places of worship, sacred objects and
religious ceremonies) is preserved under a series of
provisions in the Penal
Code which impose criminal sanctions for insulting the religion or
wounding/outraging the religious feelings
of any community through certain
specified acts.
5. Freedom of association and peaceful assembly (art.
15)
- The
Constitution upholds children’s rights of collective participation through
provisions relating to freedom of association and peaceful assembly.
These
provisions acknowledge the right to form associations or unions and to
participate in public meetings and processions peacefully
and without
arms.
- Bangladesh
has a large number of children’s and youth organizations. They are
distributed throughout the country, the largest
having as many as 500 branches.
Many children’s organizations pursue programmes aimed at promoting the
all-round development
of children, while others have more specialized aims and
activities. The members of these organizations tend to come from families
of
higher socio-economic status. NGOs provide equivalent opportunities for many
disadvantaged children.
- In
Bangladesh, public processions and meetings are a common event. Special public
meetings and rallies to mark occasions of significance
to children, e.g. Child
Rights Week and Disabled Children’s Day, take place fairly frequently.
Such events are also organized
from time to time to allow children to convey
their views on an issue of importance to them.
- The
rights to freedom of association and peaceful assembly enshrined in the
Constitution are subject to reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the
interests of (a) public order or morality (freedom of association);
and (b)
public order or public health (freedom of peaceful assembly). The permission of
a magistrate is required to hold public
meetings.
6. Protection of privacy (art. 16)
- The
Constitution in article 43 recognizes the right of all citizens to safety in
their homes from entry, search and seizure and to privacy of correspondence
and
other forms of communication. This right is subject to reasonable restrictions
imposed by law.
- The
privacy of children involved in juvenile justice proceedings is ensured by
various provisions of the Children Act 1974. Attendance
in Juvenile Courts is
restricted to court officials, parties, legal advisors, police, the
child’s parents or guardians and
others specially authorized by the Court.
Newspapers and magazines are strictly prohibited from identifying children in
reports of
proceedings under the Children’s Act and from publishing the
child’s photograph. In addition, if a child appears as
a witness in a
case involving “an offence against or any conduct contrary to decency or
morality”, the Court can safeguard
the child’s privacy by requiring
persons other than the parties (and others directly concerned in the case) to
leave the Court.
The Suppression of Violence against Women and Children Act
2000 also contains a restriction regarding disclosure of the identity
of victims
of violent offences under the Act, such as rape, sexual harassment, acid
violence and trafficking. These restrictions
are not always observed by the
newspapers.
- Intruding
upon the privacy of a female of any age is an offence under the Penal
Code 1860. The Penal Code also protects children
against unlawful
interference with their homes through criminal trespass, house trespass or
housebreaking and against an unlawful
attack on the reputation of any child
constituting defamation.
- The
Patient’s Charter of Rights formulated under the Health and Population
Sector Programme upholds the right of all individuals
seeking health care to be
examined in privacy. Patients’ right of access to their medical records
is also recognized. Health
providers are under a duty to keep such records
confidential.
7. Access to appropriate information (art. 17)
Access to information/material
- Under
the National Plan of Action for Children one of the stated objectives in the
area of information and communication is to take
steps to ensure the development
of appropriate materials, such as books, audio-visual materials and other
educational tools, for
the social and cultural development of children and
filtering of materials which are injurious to their social, psychological and
intellectual development.
- Children’s
access to mass media is principally influenced by two factors: a child’s
ability to read and his or her family’s
socio-economic status. Print
media, though relatively affordable, are of no use to a child who cannot read,
while televisions and
radios are beyond the financial means of the majority of
families. According to a recent national media survey, only 16 per cent
of the
population have access to print media, 31 per cent to television and 36 per cent
to radio. The absence of electricity in
many rural areas has already been
mentioned as a constraint.
- A
portion of daily broadcasting time on State television and radio is allocated to
programmes on development issues with a focus on
children and women: 315
minutes per day for national and regional radio and 25 minutes per day for
television (known as “free
time”). In addition, six minutes of
television prime time is allocated to public service spots. State television
and radio
both broadcast programmes in tribal languages, especially Chakma,
Santal and Garo.
- Access
to books for many children is limited to the school textbooks and supplementary
reading materials produced and disseminated
by the National Curriculum and
Textbook Board. Other government agencies, such as the Bangla Academy and
Shishu (Children’s)
Academy, produce books and other written materials for
children. NGOs with large non-formal education programmes also produce a
variety of children’s books. Low-priced children’s books in Bengali
including fiction, poetry, drama, suspense, science
and other non-fiction titles
are available on the market.
- There
are currently 68 government public libraries in Bangladesh and hundreds of
nongovernment public libraries (more than 800 according
to a survey carried out
in 1994). The government libraries are located in 60 district headquarters,
three divisional headquarters,
Dhaka (Sufia Kamal National Public Library), plus
a further four branch libraries in different cities and towns. In September
2000
the book collection included nearly 80,000 children’s books. The
National Public Library and Chittagong Divisional Public
Library have separate
children’s sections; other government public libraries have a
children’s corner within the main
reading room. Community libraries exist
in cities and towns around the country. Children’s corners have been
established
in 25 community development libraries around the country under a
UNICEF-supported pilot project.
Protection against harmful information/material
- Censorship
exists in relation to foreign publications and both foreign and local films.
Common grounds for censoring or banning films
and publications include obscenity
and offence to religious sentiment. There is no restriction on access to the
Internet.
8. The right not to be subjected to torture or other cruel,
inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment (art. 37 (a))
- The
Constitution of Bangladesh guarantees under article 35 that no person will be
subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading punishment
or treatment.
Additional protection exists under the Convention against Torture and Other
Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment to which Bangladesh acceded
in 1998.
- The
Penal Code 1860 contains a number of different sections which protect
individuals against torture and other cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or
punishment. Provisions regulating the conduct of police officers make it an
offence for a police officer
to use violence against any person in his custody
(Police Act 1861 and Dhaka Metropolitan Ordinance 1976). The Suppression of
Violence
against Women and Children Act 2000 also includes a provision (not in
the earlier Act which it repealed) making the rape of a woman
by police officers
responsible for her safe custody a punishable offence.
- As
far as punishment is concerned, juvenile offenders may be subjected to both
caning/whipping and solitary confinement. Offenders
convicted of offences
carrying a sentence of rigorous imprisonment may under the Penal Code be kept in
solitary confinement for a
portion of the prison sentence up to a maximum of
three months. No single period of solitary confinement may exceed 14 days and
intervals between the periods of solitary confinement must be at least as long
as the periods of confinement. The Code of Criminal
Procedure 1898 allows for
whipping of male offenders either as the sole form of punishment or in addition
to a prison sentence of
up to five years. For offenders under 16 years of age,
the maximum punishment is 15 stripes, while for other offenders the maximum
is 30 stripes. Under the Children Rules, young offenders detained in certified
institutes or approved homes may be separately confined
and caned up to 10
stripes on the palm of the hand or the buttocks as punishment for committing
certain forbidden acts.
- The
traditional village mediation council, or shalish, is known to sometimes
order inhuman and degrading punishments in the cases they deal with. These
often relate to marital disputes
or to social/moral issues. Whipping is a
common punishment: reports systematically collected from 11 daily newspapers
during 1999
revealed 12 instances of females being sentenced to
“lashes” by the shalish, mainly in connection with love
affairs and pre-marital
pregnancies.[4]
- In
terms of information and education programmes, efforts to prevent the use of
torture and the other kinds of treatment and punishment
referred to in article
37, paragraph (a), have been mainly directed to law enforcement officials and
the judiciary. Training has
been provided
to police officers and judges on children’s rights regarding the
administration of juvenile justice. Moreover, there are plans
to incorporate
child rights into the curricula of training institutions for police officers,
judges and magistrates. The issue of
corporal punishment was taken up as the
theme for the Child Rights Week in 2000.
- Existing
services and support for the recovery and reintegration of child victims are
described under article 19.
E. Family environment and alternative care
1. Parental guidance (art. 5)
Family structures
- The
basic social group in Bangladesh has traditionally been the extended family,
with households commonly consisting of one or more
brothers, their parents,
wives and children. Social changes, including growing landlessness,
urbanization and participation by women
in the labour force, have begun to break
down this structure and have significantly increased the number of nuclear
families in rural
as well as in urban areas. Disintegrating family values and
early spousal death have led to a significant proportion of households
- 5 to 9
per cent in rural areas - being headed by women. Many families are also headed
by women on a semi-permanent basis because
of the husband’s need to live
elsewhere for work purposes.
Parental guidance regarding exercise of child’s
rights
- Two
significant constraints to implementation of this article exist. First, the low
level of awareness of children’s rights
amongst parents or other
caregivers and children means that the majority of parents and children neither
see children as the subject
of rights nor parents as having responsibilities to
support children in the exercise of their rights. The second constraint relates
to families’ limited knowledge of child development, which restricts their
ability to make informed judgements on children’s
capacities at different
ages. There is a general tendency to underestimate children’s
capacities.
- An
Early Childhood Development project, due to be launched by MoWCA in 2001, will
play a part in increasing families’ understanding
of child development
through an education programme for 4-5 million caregivers all over the country.
This will be supported by a
mass media communication campaign, which will reach
an even wider audience. Families’ awareness of child rights is also being
raised through the ongoing child rights communication campaign under which
television spots, radio jingles and newspaper features
have been produced and
broadcast or published. One of the issues taken up in the campaign is the right
of older children to make
up their own minds about the direction their studies
and career will take.
2. Parental responsibilities (art. 18, paras. 1 and
2)
- Bangladesh
has accepted the principles under this article and article 16 of the Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women that parents
have common
responsibilities for the upbringing and development of their children and
that they should be guided in the fulfilment of those responsibilities
by the
children’s best interests. However, concrete steps have not yet been
taken to incorporate these principles into legislation.
- Parents
are supported in their child-rearing responsibilities by many government
programmes in the health and education sectors.
Caregiver education and mass
media communication activities under the Government’s new Early Childhood
Development project
will, in addition, enhance caregivers’ knowledge and
skills to enable them to support the optimal development of their children.
The
project is founded on a set of core child development principles which will be
conveyed to caregivers (and others who have contact
with caregivers) through
different project activities. Amongst other issues, these principles will
highlight the damaging effect
of violence on children’s development and
will encourage parents to adopt positive forms of discipline.
- The
issue of early marriage has been addressed through a campaign led by MoWCA to
promote marriage registration, which spells out
the legal prohibition against
and negative consequences of child marriage. The law prohibiting dowry is also
highlighted. Nearly
60,000 booklets on marriage registration (in
Bengali) have been produced and distributed mainly to local government
officials, NGOs
and libraries around the country.
- Government
and NGO poverty alleviation programmes for disadvantaged families help to
improve their economic status. The Government’s
Vulnerable Groups
Development Project targets the most disadvantaged rural women with support in
the form of food rations, skills
training for income-generating activities,
credit, functional education and awarenessraising. Evaluations have shown that
this project
increases school enrolment and calorie intake among the children of
project beneficiaries.
- The
development of institutions, facilities and services for the care of children
who cannot live with their families and children
of working parents is discussed
under articles 20 and 18 (3) below.
3. Separation from parents (art. 9)
Principle of non-separation from parents
- The
basic principle that children and parents should not be separated is an
essential part of the culture and social values of Bangladesh.
It is reflected
in the extreme physical and emotional closeness between parents (particularly
mothers) and children which starts
at birth and continues, in many cases, into
adulthood.
- Various
circumstances, which are not susceptible of determination by any competent
authority, cause children and parents to become
separated against their will.
Principal among these are endemic poverty and the natural disasters that
regularly strike the country.
As noted elsewhere in the present report, poverty
can drive a wedge between children and their parents in many ways: for
instance,
it may force parents and/or children to find paid work away from the
family home, or financial hardship may be such that children decide to leave
home to try to make a life for themselves on the streets.
Discriminatory
attitudes, for instance, to unmarried mothers and children born out of wedlock
can also influence one or both parents
to make decisions which result in their
temporary or permanent separation from their children.
- In
areas which are subject to legislative, judicial, or administrative control,
special provisions exist which prevent the separation
of parents and children or
ensure that separation only occurs when it is necessary and in the child’s
best interest. For example:
(a) The Jail Code allows a child
to stay in prison with his or her detained mother up to the age of 6 years.
In November 2000, a
total of 300 children were living in jail with their
mothers;
(b) The procedure for repatriation of refugees from camps in
Cox’s Bazar is based on the principle that refugees should be
repatriated
as family units not as single individuals so that children are not separated
from their families;
(c) The Children Act gives Juvenile Courts the
power to hand over a child who is neglected or treated cruelly by a parent or
guardian
to the care of a willing relative or other “fit” person, or
to send the child to a certified (training/education) institute
or approved
home.
Maintenance of personal relations and direct
contact
- The
right of children deprived of their liberty to maintain contact with their
family is preserved under the Children Rules.
- The
situation of child domestics, who generally have very little contact with their
parents, is being addressed through one of the
television spots produced under
the Government’s child rights awareness campaign. The spot conveys the
happiness of a girl
child domestic whose drudgery is interrupted by the
unexpected arrival of her mother at her place of work.
4. Family reunification (art. 10)
- There
is no particular law which governs the reunification of children and parents.
Bangladeshi children are free to enter and leave
the country on presentation of
valid travel documents. Children are sometimes prevented from travelling and
required to produce
letters of authorization or sponsorship as an
anti-trafficking measure. In the absence of any criminal charges against the
applicant,
Bangladesh’s foreign missions abroad process visa applications
from children wishing to travel to Bangladesh to be reunited
with their parents
(or vice versa) in a speedy and helpful way.
5. Illicit transfer and non-return (art. 11)
- Despite
intermarriage between Bangladeshi nationals and nationals of other countries and
the existence of large Bangladeshi communities
in a number of countries outside
Bangladesh, the
country does not face problems relating to the illicit transfer and
non-return of children. Bangladesh is not a party to the Hague
Convention on
the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction nor to any other bilateral or
multilateral agreements in this area.
6. Recovery of maintenance for the child (art. 27 (4))
- While
parents remain married, action can be taken under the Code of Criminal
Procedure 1898 to recover maintenance against a father
(with sufficient
means) who fails to maintain his legitimate and illegitimate children. The
situation after separation or divorce
is governed by the Family Courts Ordinance
1985: fathers are liable to maintain their sons until they reach puberty (and
beyond
if they are sick or disabled) and their daughters until marriage. There
is a hierarchy of financial responsibility for children
which is conditional on
the person concerned having sufficient means: the father bears primary
responsibility for maintenance, followed
by the mother and then the grandfather.
Liability for maintenance is unaffected by custody
arrangements.
- The
Suppression of Violence against Women and Children Act 2000 introduced a
provision imposing on the father of a child born as a
result of rape
responsibility for maintaining the child. This obligation continues for boys
until the age of 21 and for girls until
marriage. Where the child suffers from
some kind of disability, however, the duty to maintain continues until the child
is able
to maintain himself/herself.
7. Children deprived of family environment (art. 20)
- Abandoned,
orphaned and destitute children and children living and working on the street
represent the main categories of children
in Bangladesh who are forced to live
without their families. Factors which push children into these distressed
states include poverty,
natural disasters, family disintegration, pregnancy
outside marriage, death or ill-health of parents or guardians and family
violence.
- Despite
a growth over recent years in the number of nuclear families, the primary safety
net for children in distress is still the
extended family. Accordingly, the
usual arrangement made for children who have no parents or who, for whatever
reason, are unable
to live with them is to put the child in the care of a close
relative, such as a grandmother or aunt or, if this is not possible,
with a more
distant relative. As mentioned earlier, another option sometimes taken by poor
parents is to find work for their children
(especially girls) as domestic
servants. Under the Guardians and Wards Act 1890 the Court also has the power
to appoint a guardian
of the “person or property” of a child under
18 years for his or her welfare. Placing children in institutional care
is
therefore always a measure of last resort.
- Alternative
care is provided by the Government in the following facilities, which are run by
the Ministry of Social Welfare:
(a) Seventy-three orphanages
(capacity 9,500 children);
(b) Three baby homes (capacity 225 children) for abandoned
children[5] aged 1 to
5 years in Dhaka, Chittagong and Rajshahi;
(c) Two homes (capacity
500 children) for the training and rehabilitation of destitute children (another
home is planned which will
accommodate an additional 500
children).
Efforts are being made to transform orphanages into a more
family-like environment following the model established by the NGO-run
SOS
Children’s Villages. Twenty-six orphanages have initially been selected
under this initiative.
- Under
the Orphanages and Widows Homes Act 1944 licences can be granted to private
individuals to run orphanages. There are over 950
orphanages run by NGOs, some
of which are partially funded by the Government. These include institutions
linked to particular religious
faiths: over 300 Muslim orphanages attached to
madrasah schools, 9 Hindu, 5 Buddhist and 4 Christian orphanages. The
existence
of orphanages attached to all the major religions in Bangladesh offers
the possibility, in some areas at least, of placing children
in an institution
which matches their own religious background.
- The
definition of an orphan commonly used in
Bangladesh[6] is at variance
with the usual understanding of the term. It has its roots in the
father’s primary duty to maintain his children
and is reflected in the
statistics that the vast majority of children in orphanages are fatherless,
compared to a relatively small
proportion who have lost their mothers. There
are instances of single mothers living in orphanages with their children and
assisting
with childcare. Children are admitted to orphanages between the ages
of 5 and 9 years and are entitled to stay until they pass Grade
10, reach 18 or
(in the case of girls) get married.
- The
Ministry of Social Welfare has undertaken the first large-scale, coordinated
effort to improve the situation of street children
through its Appropriate
Resources for Improving Street Children’s Environment (ARISE) project,
which began in 1998. The project,
which is explicitly based on the rights of
street children under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, aims to provide
vocational
training and education and access to safe shelters, health services
and counselling to 30,000 street children in Bangladesh’s
six divisional
cities. This will be achieved through capacity-building of selected NGOs and
government agencies working with street
children in each of the project areas.
One of the long-term outcomes of the project is expected to be the development
of a national
strategy for empowering street children, including plans for
resource mobilization and community-based service provision. Local
communities
in project areas will be sensitized to the situation of street children, and
their needs, especially for social rehabilitation.
8. Adoption (art. 21)
- Since
the repeal of the Bangladesh Abandoned Children (Special Provisions) Order 1972
in 1982 there is no civil law governing adoption,
although individuals can apply
for guardianship of either the person or the property of a child under the
Guardians and Wards Act
1890.
- The
institution of adoption does not exist under Muslim law. Under the Hindu,
Christian and Buddhist personal laws, however, adoption
is permitted and
encouraged. Hindu men who have attained the age of discretion (15 years) may
adopt boys only. A Hindu woman may
adopt a boy only with the consent of her
husband. There is no provision for the adoption of girls.
9. Periodic review of placement (art. 25)
- The
Children Act 1974, while concerned primarily with children in conflict with the
law, also deals with children who are in need
of different kinds of protection
or care. Under the Act, Juvenile Courts have the power to issue orders placing
child offenders
and child victims in certified institutes and approved homes.
Any order issued by the Court must take account of the child’s
character
and age, his or her living circumstances, reports by probation officers and
other matters required to be taken into consideration
in the child’s
interest. Another factor to be borne in mind when deciding on placement is the
facilities available for instruction
in the child’s religion. A case file
record is maintained for children placed in correction centres. This is
reviewed periodically
by the Superintendent of the Institute, who pays special
attention to the conditions of detention.
10. Abuse and neglect (art. 19), including physical and
psychological
recovery and social reintegration (art. 39)
Legislation
- It
is an offence under the Children Act for a person who has custody, care or
charge of a child to assault, ill-treat, neglect, abandon
or expose the child or
to cause such things to happen to him or her in a way likely to cause the child
unnecessary suffering or injury
to his health. This offence is punishable with
a maximum of two years’ imprisonment or a fine of
Tk 1,000.
- An
important piece of legislation dealing with violence against children is the
recently passed Suppression of Violence against Women
and Children Act 2000
(which repealed the 1995 Control of Oppression on Women and Children
(Special Provision) Act). This lays down
severe penalties for various kinds of
violent offences against children (up to 14 years) and women, including rape,
sexual harassment,
acid throwing, dowry violence, kidnapping (for purposes other
than trafficking) and detention for ransom.
- Table
1 below shows the range of penalties that can be imposed on conviction for these
offences. For virtually all the offences listed,
those convicted are liable to
both imprisonment (a death sentence in some cases) and a heavy fine. The
Suppression of Violence against
Women and Children Tribunals constituted in each
district to try cases under the Act can award the amount of the fine as
compensation
to the victim. Both the investigation and trial stages of the
proceedings are required to be handled expeditiously.
Table 1
Relevant offences and penalties under Suppression
of
Violence against Women and Children Act 2000
Offence |
Imprisonment/
death sentence |
Maximum fine (Taka) |
Throwing inflammable, corrosive or poisonous substances:
(a) Causing or attempting to cause death
(b) Causing impairment of eyesight/hearing
or injury to face, breast or sex organ
(c) Impairment/disfigurement of other parts
of the body
(d) Attempting to throw such substances with
no injury
|
Life imprisonment/death
Life imprisonment/death
7-14 years
3-7 years |
100 000
100 000
50 000
50 000 |
Kidnapping |
14 years-life imprisonment |
unspecified
|
Detention for ransom |
Life imprisonment/death |
unspecified |
Rape
(a) Death as a result of other subsequent acts
of rapist
(b) Death as a result of gang rape
(c) Attempt to cause death/injury by rape
(d) Attempted rape
(e) Rape of a woman by police officers responsible
for her safe custody
|
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment/death
Life imprisonment/death
Life imprisonment
5-10 years
5-10 years |
unspecified
100 000
100 000
unspecified
unspecified
unspecified |
Sexual harassment:
(a) Touching sex organ of a woman or child
(b) Violating a woman’s modesty or making
obscene gesture |
3-10 years
2-7 years |
unspecified
- |
Violence against wife by/on behalf of husband:
(a) Causing or attempting to cause death
(b) Causing injury |
Life imprisonment
5-14 years |
unspecified
unspecified |
Raising awareness
- Much
is being done to raise awareness among the general public and professional
groups working with and for children of the existence
of different kinds of
violence and abuse against children, their effects and children’s right to
protection. These efforts
are being undertaken by raising general awareness of
children’s rights and through sensitization to particular issues of
violence
and abuse.
- There
are plans to provide child rights training to upazila- and ward-level local
government officials in rural and urban areas and
to incorporate a child rights
module into the curricula of the training institutions for police officers,
judges and magistrates.
- The
issue of violence has been taken up in the child rights communication campaign.
Television spots and radio jingles developed
highlight, in particular, the
prevalence of violence against working children, especially child domestics, and
demonstrate the possibility
of exercising self-restraint. In one spot, a bold
attempt has been made to break down social taboos by acknowledging the reality
of sexual abuse as an experience which many children go through. This is still
a relatively closed topic, although a ground-breaking
NGO report on sexual abuse
published in 1997 has made a major contribution to awareness and understanding
in this area. Communication
materials on gender-based violence are being
developed for use by NGOs with a view to increasing the awareness of adolescents
(especially
boys, who are often the perpetrators of such violence) of this
issue.
- As
previously noted, the Government’s Early Childhood Development project
will promote the use of positive, non-violent forms
of discipline through
caregiver education and mass media communication activities. The issue of
corporal punishment was taken up
as the theme for the Child Rights Week in
2000.
- While
the main kinds of violence affecting children are well known, there are
insufficient data to form a clear picture of the extent
of different kinds of
violence against children throughout the country. One of the ways in which
violence is monitored is through
the systematic collection of newspaper reports
of violent incidents. This is done by a number of organizations, some of which
make
their materials available to outside researchers. Targeted research also
yields important information on violence and abuse against
children, but this
tends to be of a qualitative nature. The MoWCA is planning a research project
on physical and mental violence
in the home and its impact on
children.
Response to violence/abuse against children
- The
Government is due to launch a new pilot initiative within a short time to
improve the services and support provided to female
victims of violence at the
local level. Working with union parishad members, police and local elites, the
programme will sensitize
key community members and strengthen or create links
between the police, the courts and hospitals based on full understanding of
the
local situation. Violence against Women Prevention Committees are already
working in all upazilas.
- Inter-agency
collaboration is also a feature of the Government’s multisectoral
programme on violence against women, which started
in 2000. In addition to
setting up a management structure for dealing with violence against women, the
programme will establish
one-stop crisis centres and improve burn treatment
facilities in Dhaka and Rajshahi Medical College Hospitals. The crisis centres
will be staffed by a team of doctors, paramedics, police officers and a social
worker. Women coming to the centres will be referred
to local NGOs for support
regarding shelter, counselling and legal assistance.
- Both
the Government (MoWCA)[7] and
NGOs run shelter homes for female victims of violence, trafficking and other
kinds of abuse. Children are often allowed to stay
with their mothers. These
homes generally provide food, lodging and vocational training. Some also offer
counselling and medical
treatment. The Government is planning to provide
training in psychosocial counselling for staff in urban-based government and NGO
shelter homes who support female victims of violence. Under the Women-friendly
Hospital Initiative, which currently covers 15 health
facilities in the country,
training is being provided to doctors and nurses in the management of violence
against women. Nurses
are expected to play a role in counselling
victims.
- Over
recent years the plight of victims of acid violence has been the focus of
intense activity, directed to raising awareness of
their situation, increasing
support for their recovery and reintegration in society and combating future
acid violence. The Government
has created a fund of Tk 50 million to help
distressed and oppressed women and children, especially victims of acid
throwing.
- In
1999, an Acid Survivors’ Foundation was formed by a coalition of NGOs,
international donors and acid survivors to counter
acid violence. The
Foundation’s aim is to provide comprehensive assistance in the treatment,
rehabilitation and reintegration
in society of acid violence victims by
identifying and improving existing services. It also works to prevent further
attacks. A
systematic mechanism for reporting acid attacks through health
facilities at subnational and national levels is currently being developed.
A
database has also been established to store information concerning reports of
acid cases. In 2000, a comprehensive information
kit on acid violence was
produced in a collaborative effort between the Department of Women Affairs, NGOs
(including the Acid Survivors’
Foundation) and UNICEF.
- In
addition to established mechanisms for the investigation and prosecution of
criminal offences, the Home Ministry plans to set up
Women Investigation Cells,
staffed by women police officers, in 16 police districts in order to promote
non-discriminatory handling
of violence cases. Free legal assistance and
counselling is available to disadvantaged women victims of violence in all of
Bangladesh’s
six divisions from MoWCA Violence against Women Prevention
Cell. In some cases, lawyers pursue action in the courts on behalf of
the
victim. Many NGOs provide assistance to pursue legal action in cases involving
violence against women.
F. Basic health and welfare
1. Children with disabilities (art. 23)
National strategy
- Bangladesh
is committed to implementing the United Nations Standard Rules on the
Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities.
Since their
adoption in 1993, the Government has taken important steps to develop
appropriate policies and establish the following
necessary national
institutions:
(a) A National Coordination Committee for the
Disabled was established under the Ministry of Social Welfare in
1993;
(b) A National Policy for Disabled Persons was adopted in
1995;
(c) The National Disabled Development Foundation, a Government-NGO
coalition, has been established;
(d) A Committee for Inclusive
Education, comprising representatives of the Ministry of Education, Ministry of
Social Welfare and
UNESCO, has been set up.
- The
National Forum of the Organizations Working with the Disabled, a coordinating
body representing 70 NGOs working to promote the
rights of people with
disabilities, has prepared draft legislation based on the National Policy which
is under consideration by the
Government.
- Children
with disabilities are included in the National Plan of Action for
Children (19972002) as one of the categories of children
in need of special
protection. The specific objective identified in relation to them is to refine
strategies for the prevention
and early detection of disabilities and the
rehabilitation of children with disabilities, emphasizing family- and
community-based
approaches.
Prevalence and nature of disability
- Disability
rates in Bangladesh are consistently higher among boys than girls. They rise
from 0.27 per cent among 0-4-year-olds to
0.83 per cent among 10-14-year-olds
for girls and from 0.37 per cent to 1.25 per cent in the same age groups for
boys (see table
2 below). Disabilities include speech, hearing and visual
impairments, intellectual disability, motor disability, goitre, epilepsy
and
paralysis. The main causes of disability are preventable conditions or
occurrences, such as malnutrition, infectious diseases
and complications arising
from poor pregnancy monitoring, accidents and marriage between close relatives.
Disability is also linked
to low levels of maternal education and to poverty
generally.
Table 2
Age-specific disability rate (per
1,000 population)
Age (years)
|
Girls
|
Boys
|
0-4
|
2.7
|
3.7
|
5-9
|
7.1
|
8.6
|
10-14
|
8.3
|
12.5
|
Source: Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, 1998, Report of
Survey on
Prevalence of Disability, June 1996.
Prevention and identification
- Efforts
to prevent disability have focused on improving the nutritional status of women
and children through food supplementation
for pregnant women, breastfeeding
promotion, salt iodization, vitamin A capsule distribution and immunization
against polio.
- Children
are not routinely screened for disability, but a simple 10-question test has
been developed for screening disabilities in
children aged 2 to 9 years. This
can be effectively used by community health workers for home-based screening.
Education/vocational training
- The
Ministry of Social Welfare provides both integrated and special services for
children with disabilities. At present, the following
facilities
exist:
(a) Sixty-four integrated units (one in each district)
providing special education to visually impaired children in secondary schools.
Students are supported to learn to read Braille, use an abacus and improve their
mobility. Braille books and other aids are supplied.
Residential places are
available for 10 students per unit;
(b) Thirteen institutions for
children with hearing/visual impairments or physical handicaps providing primary
education and pre-vocational
training. There are residential facilities for 730
students;
(c) National Centre for Special Education, which provides a
range of disabilityrelated services. There are three residential schools
for
children with hearing, visual and intellectual impairments and a teacher
training college for special education. Other services
include the training of
staff working with the disabled, the development of aids and rehabilitation for
people with disabilities;
(d) National Disabled Development Foundation,
which provides training for teachers of persons with visual, hearing and
intellectual
impairments.
- Currently,
inclusive education in government schools exists for children with visual
impairments only. In the non-formal sector,
a five-year agreement was reached
in 1998 between an NGO working in the field of intellectual disability and a
large national NGO
(BRAC), under which education will be provided to children
with intellectual disabilities in 30 BRAC schools (in rural and urban
areas). A
large number of the other 50 or so NGOs implementing programmes for children
with disabilities also provide special education
and skills
training.
Health care and rehabilitation services
- Children
with disabilities, of course, have free access to government health services in
the area where they live and can be referred
from there to bigger hospitals with
more highly specialized personnel and equipment. Two major hospitals in Dhaka -
the Dhaka Children’s
Hospital (through its Child Development Centre) and
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Hospital - provide specialist
medical
support and assistance to children with disabilities. Many NGO
programmes for children with disabilities have a rehabilitation component.
- The
Child Development Centre runs a community-based disability service for children
living in a slum near the hospital. A distance
training package programme has
also been developed by an established NGO working in this area which uses
pictorial training guides
to teach parents how to manage their children’s
disabilities at home.
- Some
of the aids required by children with disabilities are made in Bangladesh:
there is a Braille press and an artificial limb manufacturing
centre in Tongi,
just outside Dhaka. A number of NGOs are involved in manufacturing artificial
limbs and assistive devices.
Discrimination
- Discriminatory
attitudes to children with disabilities persist, largely due to ignorance about
disability, fear and superstition.
Such attitudes cause families to feel
ashamed of a child with a disability, who is then confined at home away from
public view.
In a public setting, children with disabilities are often the
object of ridicule and unkindness.
- Activities
undertaken by NGOs to raise awareness among policy makers/planners, families and
the general public are slowly changing
these entrenched attitudes. The
Government has recently made a contribution to this process through a television
spot produced as
part of the child rights communication campaign. This boldly
challenges received notions about the capacities and participation
of children
with disabilities in all aspects of life by depicting a football match in which
a boy who has a physical handicap (unbeknown
to the audience until the last
frame) saves a crucial goal and wins the match for his team.
2. Health and health services (art. 24)
- The
Bangladesh Constitution acknowledges the State’s fundamental
responsibility to secure the provision of basic necessities, including food and
medical
care, for its citizens. Raising the level of nutrition and improving
public health are also counted among the State’s primary
duties.
- One
of the goals identified by the National Children Policy is to ensure
children’s right to survival after birth through the
provision of health,
nutrition and physical security. Health is also a major focus of the National
Programme of Action for Children,
accounting for two of the six sectors covered
by the Plan: health and nutrition and water and environmental
sanitation.
Sectoral policies
- The
past few years have seen a series of new policy and planning initiatives in this
area. These initiatives are as follows:
(a) The 1997 National
Food and Nutrition Policy and National Plan of Action for
Nutrition;
(b) The 1998 National Policy for Safe Water Supply and
Sanitation, which aims to facilitate access to basic water supply and sanitation
services, bring about behaviour change regarding use of water and sanitation,
reduce water-borne diseases and build capacity of local
government and
communities;
(c) The 2000 National Health Policy, which accepts primary
health care as the appropriate health-care delivery system for providing
comprehensive and cost-effective services.
New sectoral
strategy
- In
1997, a new Health and Population Sector Strategy (HPSS) was formulated by the
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) in
consultation with development
partners and stakeholders to reform the sector with two basic aims:
(a) To provide a package of essential health care services to
the people of Bangladesh;
(b) To slow population growth in the
country.
The strategy includes the following sectoral
objectives:
(a) Maintaining the momentum of efforts to lower fertility
and child mortality;
(b) Reducing maternal mortality and
morbidity;
(c) Reducing the burden of communicable
diseases.
These objectives specifically focus on ensuring access by
disadvantaged groups to high quality, client-centred services. A key feature
of
HPSS is the transition from a project-driven to a sectorwide approach in terms
of policy, strategy, planning, implementation and
expenditure. This is expected
to increase the efficiency and coverage of health services. A major structural
reform in the sector
is the unification of the health and family planning wings
of MoHFW.
Health and population sector programme
- In
1998, a comprehensive five-year health programme, the Health and Population
Sector Programme (HPSP), was launched with the declared
goal of contributing to
the improvement of the health and family welfare status of the most vulnerable
women, children and poor of
Bangladesh. The purpose of the programme is to
achieve client-centred provision and client utilization of an Essential Services
Package (ESP) plus selected services to attain the HPSS sectoral objectives.
This package represents a minimum set of health care
services that satisfy the
needs of these most vulnerable groups and can be provided in a sustained way
given existing resource constraints.
- ESP
is an integrated, one-stop approach to the delivery of health services at
community, union and upazila levels. At the community
level, fixed community
clinics, each serving a population of 6,000, are being established in place of
the previous system of domiciliary
services and outreach/satellite clinics.
Referral is made to district hospitals (secondary) and hospitals attached to
medical colleges
and postgraduate institutes (tertiary). This is a two-way
mechanism. ESP has five components: reproductive health care, child
health
care, communicable disease control, limited curative care and behaviour change
communication.
- A
Patient’s Charter of Rights has been formulated to raise the awareness of
patients about their rights to quality of care.
This includes privacy, informed
choice, safety and efficacy of care as well as the provision of free care or
adherence to approved
fee schedules. Patients will be informed of their rights
through NGO and media activities. This will provide a useful platform
for
informing the public about the rights of children and women in
general.
- HPSP
acknowledges certain established relationships between health and poverty. In
the first place, the poorest households suffer
from higher rates of illness and
mortality. Furthermore, illness-related expenditure, especially in cases of
hospitalization or
chronic illness, can often push non-poor families into the
poverty group. A three-stage approach to ensuring that the most needy
households receive timely care of sufficient quality is described in HPSP as
follows:
(a) Identifying high-risk
households;
(b) Modifying services and delivery mechanisms to meet their
needs;
(c) Monitoring delivery of services.
- The
programme aims to provide gender-friendly services and sets out various
strategies to achieve this. A significant proportion
(30 per cent) of health
sector employees are women, especially in the field. Current numbers include
all family welfare volunteers
in union and upazila-level facilities, 5,000
health assistants and 23,500 family welfare assistants. Gender training and
sensitization
will be provided to service providers and policy makers. All data
collected and maintained will be disaggregated by sex and gender
impact
indicators focusing on utilization of services, and health status will be
developed. The UNICEF-supported Womenfriendly Hospital
Initiative aims to
provide comprehensive services to women in an environment that respects them as
persons and encourages their active
participation.
- There
are three different sources of funding for HPSP: the Government, a World
Bankled Consortium and bilateral development partners
outside the Consortium.
This transitional funding structure will ultimately be replaced by a true
sector-wide approach based on
a Sector Investment Plan.
Other main health and population sector
programmes
- HPSP,
which is concentrated mainly in rural areas, is just one of three major
programmes in the health and population sector. The
Asian Development
Bank-funded Urban Primary Health Care Programme (UPHCP) (1999-2004) supports
city corporations and NGOs to provide
health services in Bangladesh’s four
largest cities. The National Integrated Population and Health Programme (NIPHP)
(1997-2004)
delivers services through NGOs in both rural and urban areas -
171 upazilas and 71 urban locations. NIPHP is funded by USAID. While
there are
key differences between HPSP, UPHCP and NIPHP, all three programmes are guided
by the same overall strategies.
Health-care system
- Public
utilization of available health services remains low and the quality of services
is below acceptable standards. Particular
problems mentioned by patients are a
lack of medicines, negative behaviour by health workers and requests for
payments for “free”
services.
- Annual
service delivery surveys will be conducted under HPSP. A baseline survey was
carried out in 1999 looking at use, experience,
and user perceptions of health
and family planning services. It provides key indicators that can be tracked
during the programme
to monitor programme effectiveness as well as the extent to
which health and population services become more responsive and accountable
to
users. The process is intended to encourage stakeholder participation in the
planning and monitoring of services and to foster
dialogue between service users
and service providers.
Child mortality and morbidity
- There
has been an impressive increase in immunization coverage against diphtheria,
pertussis, tetanus, tuberculosis, measles and poliomyelitis
from 2 per cent in
1985 to full immunization of over 50 per cent of children under the age of one
year in 1999. This achievement
has contributed to a significant reduction in
child mortality between 1990 and 1998, from 151 to 102 deaths per thousand live
births
among children under 5, and from 94 to 57 deaths per thousand
live births among infants. Annual deaths from the two major communicable
diseases also showed a corresponding drop. Diarrhoea deaths fell from 260,000
in 1990 to 110,000 in 1996, and deaths from acute
respiratory infections from
145,000 in 1990 to 100,000 in 1997.
- National
Immunization Days, supported by mapping, micro-planning, large-scale social
mobilization and child-to-child searches, have
brought Bangladesh close to the
edge of polio eradication. In 1995 there were an estimated 2,300 polio
cases. In 2000, with a sensitive
surveillance system and good case
reporting network in place, there were no laboratoryconfirmed polio cases.
- On
the minus side, neonatal mortality is still a problem, contributing to more
than 50 per cent of the infant mortality rate. Prematurity
and
neonatal tetanus account for nearly half of neonatal deaths and birth asphyxia
and birth trauma for a further 21 per cent. High
immunization dropout is an
issue which threatens to undermine recent gains from mortality reduction. The
main concerns relate to
overall quality and disparities in coverage, with lower
rates found in urban and hard-to-reach areas such as the Chittagong Hill
Tracts.
As far as control of diarrhoeal disease is concerned, a review of efforts to
promote the use of oral rehydration therapy
(ORT) to treat diarrhoea has
revealed a substantial gap between knowledge and use.
- Health
care for children under HPSP involves the four major clinical components of ESP.
Neonatal care forms part of the reproductive
health care component. Child
health care comprises basic preventive and curative care for infants and
children, including control
of acute respiratory infections and diarrhoeal
diseases, EPI, Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) and school
health
services. Communicable disease control involves the prevention and
effective management of communicable diseases with a severe health
impact, such
as tuberculosis, malaria, leprosy and intestinal parasites. The limited
curative care component comprises basic first
aid, treatment of medical
emergencies and care for common conditions, such as asthma and those affecting
the skin, eyes, ears and
teeth.
- Neonatal
care services will be delivered mainly at household and union levels. They
include special care of pre-term and low-birthweight
babies, management of birth
asphyxia, breastfeeding, health education on cleanliness for mothers and thermal
control.
- The
IMCI child survival strategy will be implemented to improve the prevention and
case management of diarrhoea, bacterial pneumonia
(the main cause of ARI
deaths), malnutrition, measles and malaria (based on adapted IMCI guidelines).
This will result in a package
system that increases coordination, integration of
activities and service coverage. Training in IMCI will be
provided.
- Routine
monthly immunization sessions for children under the age of 1 year
at 40,000 sites will continue, along with biannual National
Immunization Days targeting children under 5. In addition, a multi-antigen
campaign will be conducted in hard-to-reach and low coverage
areas - Chittagong
Hill Tracts, urban slums and disadvantaged districts. The introduction of new
vaccines such as hepatitis B is
under consideration. Activities under the ORT
communication campaign will continue to strive for behaviour change to achieve a
widespread
use of increased fluids, continued feeding and referral knowledge for
diarrhoea cases. The availability of services to manage acute
dehydration and
severe pneumonia will be ensured in all health facilities.
- A
School Health Programme, encompassing health services, health education and a
healthy environment, is being implemented on a limited
scale. Safe water,
sanitary latrines, adequate lighting and ventilation combine to create a healthy
learning environment. Health
services provided to students include first aid,
referral, deworming, immunization and micronutrient supplementation. Students
learn
about a range of health-related topics including
food and nutrition, safe water, sanitation, personal hygiene, first aid,
population education, STDs and HIV/AIDS. The programme is
implemented by
selected teachers who receive training in health education. It currently
covers primary schools, secondary schools
and madrasahs of 39 upazilas
in four districts.
Child and maternal malnutrition
- There
have been important advances in child nutrition over recent years, especially in
the control of micronutrient deficiencies.
In 2000, 77 per cent of children
aged 6-59 months received vitamin A supplements (up from 42 per cent in 1993),
helping to bring
the incidence of night blindness in children aged 1-5 years
down below the critical 1 per cent cut-off to 0.7 per cent in 1997.
Mandatory iodization of salt since 1989 has increased the percentage of
households consuming iodized salt from 19 per cent in 1993
to 70 per cent in
1999. This has significantly reduced the prevalence of iodine deficiency
disorders (IDD), from 69 per cent in
993 to 43 per cent in 1999. The
promotion of breastfeeding among mothers of new babies has been significantly
boosted by making
around 70 per cent of maternity beds in health facilities
baby-friendly (by 1999).
- Despite
the broadly declining trend of malnutrition, children continue to be affected by
high levels of protein energy malnutrition.
Between 1990 and 1996 the
proportion of children under 6 suffering from moderate and severe forms of
stunting and underweight decreased,
respectively, from 66 to 51 per cent and
from 65 to 57 per cent. During the same period, moderate and severe wasting
showed a slight
rise, from 15 to 17 per cent. With one minor exception, rates
of stunting, wasting and underweight are higher among girls than boys
of this
age. Among adolescents, 1996 figures show stunting of 54 per cent among girls
and 47 per cent among boys in the 10-12-year
age-group. The stunting rates
among 13-17-year-old girls and boys are 56 and 50 per cent, respectively. The
nutritional status
of children in urban slums is a particular cause for
concern.
- Over
half of women of childbearing age (15-49 years) have a body mass index of less
than 18.5, indicating acute malnutrition. This
poor nutritional status is
closely linked to the extremely high incidence of low birthweight in Bangladesh
of around 30 per cent,
and plays a part in the vicious cycle of
intergenerational malnutrition. While night blindness in children has been
reduced, this
condition still affects nearly 3 per cent of pregnant women.
Iron-deficiency anaemia is prevalent among both children and women;
according to
1998 figures, 53 per cent of children aged 6-59 months, 49 per cent of pregnant
women and 45 per cent of non-pregnant
women are anaemic.
- With
regard to breastfeeding practices, pre-lactal feeding is almost universal and
colostrum rejection common, while exclusive breastfeeding
up to 5-6 months is
practised by only 9 per cent of mothers. Insufficient monitoring of certified
baby-friendly hospitals has led
to slippage below the standards required for
certification. National efforts to promote and protect breastfeeding have been
undermined
by the promotional activities of milk producing companies in
violation of the Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes (BMS
Code).
- Child
malnutrition, including the prevention of Vitamin A deficiency disorders, falls
under the child health care component of ESP,
while maternal nutrition is
included in the reproductive health care component. The Government’s
major nutrition intervention
is the 12year World Bank-funded National
Nutrition Project (NNP), which started in 2000 (following directly on from the
Bangladesh
Integrated Nutrition Project). This is a comprehensive programme
designed to reduce malnutrition among the women and children of
Bangladesh. It
will be implemented in a total of 150 rural upazilas. Although not currently
part of HPSP, there are plans to integrate
NNP into HPSP.
- NNP
especially addresses the problems of protein energy malnutrition and low
birthweight. Under the project, a package of services
is provided to
pregnant/breastfeeding women and children under 2 at upazila level. This
includes growth monitoring and promotion,
food supplementation and behaviour
change communication to improve feeding, eating and caring practices.
Adolescent girls are singled
out as one of the target groups for community
nutrition activities. The forums for unmarried adolescent girls established
under
the Bangladesh Integrated Nutrition Project will be used for a number of
interventions: monitoring the adolescent girls’ height
and weight,
holding education sessions on nutrition, personal hygiene and reproductive
health, delivering micronutrient supplements,
and counselling. Another activity
involves registering adolescent girls at the time of their marriage then
monitoring them and providing
supplementary feeding for a period ending six
months after the birth of their first child. This is intended to ensure a
reasonable
nutritional status among adolescent girls when their first child is
conceived and to help avoid the nutritional depletion associated
with early
first pregnancies.
- Many
other nutrition interventions directed at children and women are in progress,
especially programmes addressing micronutrient
deficiencies:
(a) Vitamin A Deficiency Disorders.
Maintaining coverage of vitamin A supplementation for children aged 12-59
months during Vitamin A Week and National Immunization Days
with special focus
on hard-to-reach areas; including lactating women, infants and sick children in
supplementation programme;
(b) IDD. Pursuing goal of universal
salt iodization and universal consumption of iodized salt through behaviour
change communication and
quality control; collaborating with the private sector
regarding quality control, monitoring and cost sharing;
(c) Iron
Deficiency Anaemia. Developing effective approaches to distribution of iron
and folic acid supplements to adolescent girls and pregnant women, for instance,
through antenatal clinics, schools and
factories;
(d) Breastfeeding. Promoting optimal breastfeeding,
feeding and caring practices (especially in urban slums); strengthening
Baby-friendly Hospital
Initiative through improved monitoring; enforcing BMS
Code;
(e) Low Birthweight. Conducting operations research into
reduction of low birthweight incidence using multiple micronutrients;
nutritional surveillance
on low birthweight in city
corporations;
(f) Adolescents. Assessing adolescent nutritional
status nationwide; developing screening for high-risk adolescent girls in
schools or factories;
collaborating with other sectors to improve adolescent
girls’ nutritional status;
(g) Urban Areas. Developing
comprehensive urban nutrition strategies; integrating nutrition component into
activities of urban health care delivery
systems and urban development
centres;
(h) Chittagong Hill Tracts. Integrating nutrition
component into activities of para (community) centres; training
para workers.
Safe water
- Progress
in the provision of safe drinking water and sanitary means of excreta disposal
has played a part in reducing child illness
and death due to diarrhoea. Over 5
million public tubewells are estimated to have been installed in the country and
many more by
the private sector. This has led to more than 90 per cent of the
population having access to tubewell water within 150 metres, compared
to access
by 38 per cent in 1980. Seventy per cent of primary schools have a safe water
supply.
- Significant
disparities in access exist between different geographical areas. In low water
table areas the water table drops during
the dry season to a level beyond the
capacity of handpumps, rendering tubewells inoperative and forcing the local
population to use
unsafe surface water. Around 55 million people in 36
districts are affected by the lowering of the water table. Access to safe
drinking water in the three Chittagong Hill Tract districts is well below the
national average, ranging from 37 to 72 per cent; and
a number of coastal areas
suffer from saltwater intrusion, reducing access to safe water. Limited use of
safe water is another factor
which diminishes the impact of the achievement
regarding safe water provision. In rural areas, only 59 per cent of households,
compared
to 89 per cent of urban households, use safe water for their household
work.
- One
of the most serious health issues currently facing the country is the widespread
contamination of groundwater with arsenic. First
detected in tubewell water in
1993, the presence of arsenic in shallow aquifer sediments is a naturally
occurring geological phenomenon.
The Government’s Department of Public
Health Engineering (DPHE) estimates that 29 per cent of all tubewells are
contaminated
with arsenic above 0.05mg/L (the water quality standard set by the
Government). Although not uniformly distributed, the problem
affects the whole
country since most tubewells tap the shallow aquifer. It is believed that as
many as 24 million people in Bangladesh
are at risk of contracting arsenicosis.
To date, approximately 7,000 cases of arsenicosis have been identified across
the country.
Much more needs to be understood about the health impacts of
arsenic poisoning.
- The
provision of safe water and sanitation is the responsibility of DPHE under the
Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development
and Cooperatives. The
Government’s water and sanitation programme is well supported by
development partners, including the
World Bank, UNICEF, DANIDA, SDC and CARE.
The thrust of activities in the current water sector programme is three-fold.
They aim:
(a) To ensure access to a safe water supply in
underserved and unserved areas - Chittagong Hill Tracts, low water table areas,
coastal
areas, urban slums and primary schools;
(b) To ensure that water
from a safe source is used for drinking and all domestic
purposes;
(c) To address the problems posed by arsenic contamination of
groundwater.
Research and development is undertaken to identify the most
appropriate and user-friendly technology for the area in question.
- Projects
have a strong poverty focus and a well-developed community participation
component. Mapping and other techniques are used
to identify the most
underprivileged and unserved communities and their ability/willingness to pay
for new facilities. Women are
encouraged to play a central role, for instance,
in the selection of sites for tubewells and as members of local water and
sanitation
(WATSAN) committees. Efforts are made to build the capacity of
community members to take responsibility for the operation and maintenance
of
installed water supply systems. The private sector is also supported to produce
and supply hardware and to provide maintenance
services in response to community
demand.
- A
comprehensive national Hygiene Awareness and Product Information Campaign
(HAPIC) has been developed to deliver coordinated messages
on safe water,
sanitation and hygiene issues to specific target groups through a variety of
strategic channels. The messages promote
the use of safe water for drinking and
domestic purposes, the use of sanitary latrines and the adoption of hygienic
practices, especially
relating to handwashing. They also raise awareness on the
potential health impact of ingesting arsenic-contaminated water and necessary
mitigation measures. Hygiene education sessions based on HAPIC messages and
materials will be held in urban development centres,
para centres and
primary schools. Relevant staff will receive appropriate training. Primary
school children will disseminate the lessons
they learn beyond the school to
their families and the wider community through child-to-child approaches and the
efforts of student
brigades.
- The
problems associated with arsenic-contaminated groundwater are being tackled
through a comprehensive initiative. The main activities
include:
(a) Widespread information and communication about the
dangers of drinking arsenic-contaminated water through interpersonal contacts
and the mass media;
(b) Health care for those affected by arsenic
poisoning - distribution of safe drinking water units; establishment of referral
centres
at district and upazila levels; epidemiological surveys; studies on the
effects of nutritional interventions on arsenicosis;
(c) Testing
tubewells for arsenic;
(d) Exploring alternative options for safe
drinking water, for instance, arsenic-safe deep tubewells or rainwater
harvesting;
(e) identification of appropriate arsenic removal
technologies;
(f) establishment of national water quality monitoring
system;
(g) establishment of computerized monitoring and surveillance
system.
Environmental pollution
- Between
1990 and 2000 access to sanitary latrines (waterseal or pit-type) more than
doubled, from 21 to 44 per cent. Sanitary facilities
have now been installed in
70 per cent of primary schools. It is clear from these figures that the
majority of people still use
unsanitary (hanging) latrines or defecate in the
open: 68 per cent in rural areas compared to 37 per cent in urban areas. Other
unhygienic behaviours also persist, such as the unsanitary disposal of
children’s faeces and the failure to wash hands with
water and a cleaning
agent after defecation, before eating and after cleaning a child’s bottom.
The use of unsanitary latrines
and poor hygiene practices are particularly
prevalent in urban slums.
- Rapid
urbanization in Bangladesh is resulting in pollution of the air and water due to
vehicular lead emissions, poor management of
solid waste and the location of
hazardous industries, such as leather tanneries, close to densely populated
areas.
- The
health of children living in Dhaka City (and conceivably other big cities) is at
risk from the extremely high concentrations of
lead which are present in the
atmosphere. This is largely due to the high lead content of the petrol used by
vehicles on Dhaka’s
congested streets. A 1997 study by the Atomic Energy
Centre in Dhaka found air lead levels ranging from 160 ng/m3
during the monsoon season to 463 ng/m3 during the dry winter months.
The latter is the highest recorded environmental lead level in the world. Based
on this information,
it seems that hundreds of thousands of children living in
urban areas may be affected by lead intoxication, thus damaging their central
nervous systems and producing symptoms ranging from acute and chronic brain
inflammation to behaviour problems, poor mental development
and psychomotor
delay. Blood tests carried out on a small group of neurologically impaired
children found extremely high blood lead
levels, the highest level being more
than eight times the WHO cut-off point of 25
microgram/dl.[8]
- Another
serious environmental problem impacting on children’s health is poor
management of solid waste in urban centres. A
World Bank report states that no
more than half of the total solid waste generated in urban areas is removed each
day. Moreover,
the lack of proper systems for the disposal of hospital waste
means that infectious and toxic waste ends up in the city corporation
rubbish
bins, roadside rubbish collection sites and even in open drains, posing a
serious health risk to local residents and child
waste
collectors.
- With
the exception of arsenic mitigation, the safe water projects described in the
section above also have a sanitation component.
Government efforts in this area
are directed at raising the awareness of families about the benefits of using
sanitary latrines
in order to create a demand, and at providing support for
their construction. Assistance is also given to local
producers in
the form of training and/or credit to enable them to meet community demand.
Additional interventions have been developed
to improve the environment in urban
slums. These include the construction of community and public latrines, drains,
compost and
biogas plants and the establishment of effective solid waste
disposal systems.
Maternal care
- While
child mortality rates have decreased, there has been only a gradual decline in
the maternal mortality ratio (MMR), from 478
per 100,000 live births in 1990 to
440 in 1997. Research has shown that MMR is particularly high among girls aged
15-19 years: 730
per 100,000 live births, compared to 430 per 100,000
live births among 20-34-year-olds. For teenage mothers, the main causes of
death relating directly to pregnancy or childbirth are toxaemia, abortion and
haemorrhage (approximately 50 per cent of deaths).
Violence and injuries
account for a further 17 per cent. The uptake of antenatal care and
circumstances of delivery have a direct
impact on maternal outcomes. In
Bangladesh, a static proportion of around 25 per cent of women receive antenatal
care from trained
health personnel, and 13 per cent of births are
attended by trained personnel, an increase of only 3 per cent
from 1993.
- Safe
motherhood forms part of the reproductive health care component of ESP. Safe
motherhood activities focus on creating the necessary
conditions to prevent
maternal death and disability. Utilization of emergency obstetric care (EOC)
services will be enhanced by
addressing the “3 Delays” model through
the decentralization and strengthening of basic and comprehensive EOC facilities
and the mobilization of communities. In the upgraded system, all district
hospitals plus a proportion of Upazila Health Complexes
(UHCs) and Maternal and
Child Welfare Centres will be equipped to provide comprehensive EOC, while the
remaining UHCs will offer
basic EOC only. Antenatal care, safe birth practices
and post-natal care will be emphasized. Health workers in community clinics
will be trained in basic EOC to enable them to provide obstetric first aid and
normal delivery care. Health facilities will be improved
to make them
women-friendly. Services - curative and counselling - related to violence
against women will be provided.
Family planning
- Bangladesh
has scored a number of notable successes through its health and family planning
programmes over the past decade or so.
The contraceptive prevalence rate among
married women increased from 31 per cent in 1990 to 54 per cent in 2000, while
the total
fertility rate came down from 4.3 in 1990 to 3.3 in 1999. The
continuing practice of early marriage and childbearing is illustrated
by the
current fertility rate for the 15-19 age group of 144 per
1,000 females. By the age of 19, 58 per cent of girls are either
pregnant
or have already given birth. Among married adolescents, 26 per cent of
10-14-year-olds and 38 per cent of 15-19-year-olds
use some form of
contraception, indicating a significant unmet need for family planning.
- Family
planning and adolescent care are included in the reproductive health-care
component of ESP. A strategic focus of interventions
aimed at fertility
reduction will be on delaying the age of first birth. HPSP recognizes
adolescents as a priority target group
and includes the first-ever government
health initiative to cater exclusively for the needs of
adolescents.
- The
programme for adolescent care aims to strengthen three different aspects of
adolescent reproductive health: education, nutrition
and clinical treatment.
Behaviour change communication messages will be developed to inform adolescent
girls and boys about reproductive
health issues. Topics to be covered include
the reproductive process, safer sex, STDs, HIV/AIDS, proper nutrition and
hygiene, proper
sibling care, contraception and the disadvantages of early
marriage and pregnancy. Micronutrient deficiencies in girls will be addressed
through iron and folic acid supplementation, and treatment will be given for
minor gynaecological problems, for example those relating
to menstruation.
Services will be provided in schools and community clinics.
- Adolescents’
awareness of reproductive health issues is being expanded through a Department
of Youth Development (DYD) project
supported by UNFPA. DYD skill development
programmes and 500 youth clubs registered with DYD are being used as
vehicles for disseminating
information on reproductive health and gender
issues. The project works with youth clubs serving hard-to-reach groups in
under served
areas and which have at least 30 per cent female
members.
- Reproductive
health education is not part of the school curriculum, although the Population
Education Unit of the National Curriculum
and Textbook Board has outlined plans
to introduce reproductive health/sex education at the higher secondary level in
2000. MoHFW
is also considering producing a new adolescent family life
education curriculum for secondary schools.
Health education
- There
are a number of channels through which health-related information is imparted to
children and families. In many cases, this
is done under the health education
or communication component of a larger project, such as the school health
programme, water and
sanitation programme (HAPIC) and the National Nutrition
Project.
- The
Ministry of Information regularly disseminates information on health-related
issues through different activities, such as radio
and television broadcasts.
It has produced a publication called Facts for Life in collaboration with
other Ministries, NGOs and United Nations agencies, which contains
information on ways of protecting children’s
and mothers’ lives and
health. The following subjects are covered: timing births, safe motherhood,
breastfeeding, child growth,
immunization, hygiene and water, diarrhoea, coughs,
colds and
difficult breathing, tuberculosis, leprosy, malaria, HIV/AIDS, iodine
deficiency disorders and child development. Approximately 500,000
copies of
Facts for Life have been distributed to teachers, health and NGO workers,
imams and the mass media, who have shared the messages with families.
- Broad
promotional activities relating to breastfeeding are undertaken by the
Bangladesh Breastfeeding Foundation, including the coordination
of the
Baby-friendly Hospital Initiative. Assistance with breastfeeding is also a part
of neonatal care under ESP. There are plans
to integrate nutrition education
and counselling into the existing HPSP health service delivery system at
district hospitals, upazila
health complexes and union family welfare
centres.
HIV/AIDS
- The
lack of systematic surveillance in Bangladesh to date makes it impossible to
provide accurate estimates of the current prevalence
of HIV and AIDS in the
country, although the country has all the elements of a high-risk area where an
epidemic could break out.
According to official figures in December 2000, there
are only 157 HIV-infected individuals and a cumulative total of 17 AIDS cases
(11 fatal), but this is likely to be a serious underestimate: at the end of
1997, UNAIDS and WHO had put the likely number of HIV-infected
individuals
at 21,000 and the cumulative total of AIDS cases at 4,200.
- The
principal mode of transmission of HIV in Bangladesh is unsafe heterosexual sex,
although infection is also passed through the
blood and from mother to child.
High-risk behaviour groups include STD patients, commercial sex workers, truck
drivers and intravenous
drug users. A 1998 national surveillance study found
HIV infection rates of 25 per 1,000 among intravenous drug users, 6 per 1,000
among commercial sex workers and 2 per 1,000 among males having sex with other
males. Studies indicate a fairly low level of knowledge
among adolescents about
AIDS and the ways in which it can be transmitted and prevented, although
unmarried adolescents (both female
and male) appear to be better informed than
their married counterparts.
- The
Government’s HIV/AIDS programme started in 1985 with the formation of the
National AIDS Committee whose role is to advise
MoHFW and recommend policies and
strategies for the prevention and control of HIV/AIDS. In 1997, a policy and
programme framework
was created through the approval of the National Policy on
HIV/AIDS and STDrelated Issues and the launch of a five-year Strategic
Plan for
National AIDS Programme of Bangladesh. The National HIV/AIDS Policy highlights
the importance of providing adolescents
with access to correct and relevant
information about sexual health and safer sex practices. Educational
institutions at all levels
are urged to include HIV/AIDS in their curricula in
order to ensure that all students receive the best possible education on AIDS
and STDs by the time they leave school. Stress is also laid on the need to
provide sexual health services, including treatment of
STDs, to adolescents
without stigmatization. Overall, the emphasis is on a multisectoral response,
with high-risk behaviour (as
opposed to high-risk groups) being the main target
for intervention.
- HPSP
outlines the health sector’s response to HIV/AIDS and STDs both under ESP
and as an “emerging disease”. The
principal activities of the
National AIDS Prevention and Control Programme, which is implemented by the
Directorate-General of Primary
Health Care, are: advocacy; epidemiological
surveillance; behaviour change support; promotion of condom use; safe and
appropriate
use of blood transfusion; control and management of STDs; care and
counselling; and legislation.
- An
STD/AIDS Network was established in 1993 and now has around 115 member
organizations comprising NGOs (the vast majority), donor
agencies and one
government agency. The network was originally formed to enable NGOs, in
cooperation with the Government, to share
and coordinate information and a plan
of action on STD/AIDS education and prevention. This exchange of information
continues. A
significant number of NGOs implementing programmes for adolescents
include HIV/AIDS awareness in their health education
activities.
Traditional prejudicial health practices
- There
are a number of traditional practices in Bangladesh which are prejudicial to the
health of children, especially girls. These
include early marriage, dowry and
deep-rooted son preference. On the positive side, though, awareness of these
issues in society
is increasing and many measures have been put in place to
address them.
- Under
Bangladeshi law, the minimum age at which girls and boys can marry is 18
and 21 years, respectively. National survey data show,
however, that
5 per cent of 1014yearolds and 48 per cent of 15-19-year-olds are currently
married. The median age at first marriage
for women aged 20-24 is 15.3 years.
A significantly higher age at first marriage is found among women living in
urban areas (19
years) and those with some secondary education (19.6 years),
compared to those in rural areas (15 years) and with no education
(14.1
years).
- Dowry
has been illegal in Bangladesh since the passing of the Dowry Prohibition Act
in 1980. It is also an offence under the Suppression
of Violence against
Women and Children Act 2000 for a husband or a member of his family to cause
injury (punishable with 5-14 years’
imprisonment) or death (punishable
with life imprisonment) to the wife in connection with dowry demands. The
practice still persists,
as revealed by newspaper reports.
- The
issues of son preference and early marriage are both addressed by the strong
gender focus that now forms an essential part of
Bangladesh’s development
programming. The new Empowerment of Adolescent Girls Project, due to be
launched by MoWCA in 2001,
focuses directly on the issue of early marriage and
aims to raise awareness among adolescent girls and communities of the negative
consequences of the practice. MoWCAs campaign to promote marriage registration
is also expected to contribute to the reduction of
early
marriage.
Budget allocation
- Under
the Fifth Five-Year Plan, 55 per cent of the health sector’s total
allocation is for primary health care. This figure,
which is much higher than
the allocations for secondary- and tertiary-level health care, shows the
importance accorded to primary
health care by the Government.
3. Social security and childcare services and facilities
(arts. 26 and 18 (3))
- Under
article 15 of the Constitution, Bangladesh recognizes its obligation to secure
the right of its citizens to social security, namely, to public assistance in
cases
of “undeserved want” arising, for instance, as a result of
unemployment, illness or disablement, or among vulnerable
groups such as orphans
or widows. In practice, however, State-provided social security benefits are
minimal. Formal sector employees
may be entitled to various types of insurance,
but no such protection is available to the vast majority of working people who
are
engaged in the informal sector. The Ministry of Social Welfare provides
accommodation and some skill training to a limited number
of orphaned, abandoned
and destitute children. For other children in need, the only form of social
security is the extended family
system.
- Day-care
facilities for the children of working mothers are available only on a very
small scale, despite explicit statutory provisions
requiring, for instance,
factory owners employing more than 50 women to provide these facilities. Such
facilities as do exist are
mostly centrebased, although home-based approaches
are also being developed.
- MoWCA
provides day-care facilities under two different projects: (a) 12 centres for
lowpaid working women in Dhaka and divisional
cities (close to slums); and (b) 4
centres for women service-holders (i.e. of higher socio-economic status) in
Dhaka. The cost
of sending a child to either kind of centre and the standard
of the environment and food is different, but otherwise they are run
along the
same lines. Each centre can take up to 80 children, who are divided into
three groups: crèche (6 months to 2 years),
playgroup (2 to 4
years) and preschool (4 to 6 years). A trained member of staff is in
charge of each group. The main facilities/activities
in the centres include
keeping the children neat and clean, providing balanced food and primary
health care, and organizing indoor
games, recreational activities and pre-school
education.
- NGOs
are collaborating with employers and communities to set up crèches for
very young and pre-school children of poor mothers.
Employers are beginning to
realize the economic benefits to them of providing crèche facilities,
thereby reducing employee
absenteeism and its attendant costs and increasing
productivity, while working mothers and their children are enjoying the benefits
of spending more time together.
4. Standard of living (art. 27, paras. 1-3)
- Article
15 of the Constitution acknowledges the State’s fundamental responsibility
“to attain a steady improvement in the material and cultural standard
of
living of the people” in order to secure the provision of the basic
necessities of life, including food, clothing and shelter.
- The
Government and NGOs work side by side to support the full development of
children in Bangladesh. Efforts to improve the nutritional
status of children
form part of the Government’s health programme and specially targeted
interventions (such as the National
Nutrition Project) described
under article 24. Poverty alleviation programmes aimed at parents also have a
positive impact on children
by increasing the family income and improving the
family’s overall standard of living. Various initiatives have also been
taken by the Government to improve the housing situation of the poor, for
example, through schemes to rehabilitate slum dwellers
and provide housing for
landless and low-income families.
G. Education, leisure and cultural activities
1. Education, including vocational training and guidance (art.
28)
International commitment
- Following
Bangladesh’s participation in the 1990 World Conference on Education for
All, a National Plan of Action for Basic
Education was adopted in 1993. This
set national goals of 95 per cent gross enrolment and 70 per cent
completion of primary education
to be achieved by the year
2000.
Legal and policy framework
- Bangladesh
is committed under article 17 of the Constitution to take steps to (a) establish
a uniform, mass-oriented and universal system of education; (b) to extend free
and compulsory education
to all children (up to a level laid down by law); (c)
to relate education to the needs of society and produce properly trained and
motivated citizens to serve those needs; and (d) to eradicate
illiteracy.
- Primary
education was made compulsory for children aged 6 to 10 years by the Compulsory
Primary Education Act 1990.
- A
National Policy on Education has been formulated and is awaiting approval by the
Cabinet. The Fifth Five-Year Plan outlines the
education strategy of the
Government. The Government’s declared policy is to achieve education for
all at the earliest possible
time. The strategy places the highest emphasis on
primary education, namely, to bring all villages and mahallas (in urban
areas) under the cover of compulsory, uniform and free primary education.
Massive and continuous training of teachers
at primary and secondary levels
throughout the country will be undertaken. Local government bodies will be
increasingly involved
in the management of primary and secondary education.
Appropriate steps will be taken to reduce the dropout rate and minimize its
incidence at the primary and secondary levels. Actions will be taken to reduce
the gender gap and regional imbalances. Efforts
will be made to enhance the
participation of women in every sphere of education as well as to reduce the gap
between facilities provided
for males and females.
Table 3
Stage of general education and age of
student
Stage
of general education
|
Duration
|
Official age
|
Early childhood education
|
|
4-5 years
|
Primary education Grades 1-5
|
5-year course
|
6-10 years
|
Junior secondary education Grades 6-8
|
3-year course
|
11-13 years
|
Secondary education Grades 9-10
|
2-year course
|
14-15 years
|
Higher secondary education Grades 11-12
|
2-year course
|
16-17 years
|
Source: Education for All: National Plan of Action, GoB,
1995.
Primary education
- Following
completion of the General Education Project in 1996, the Government developed a
comprehensive Primary Education Development
Programme (PEDP) for the
period 1998-2003 to address the main issues affecting primary schools.
PEDP has three major components:
(a) Ensuring universal
coverage and equitable access to quality schooling. This will include the
construction of new schools and classrooms, repair and rebuilding of schools,
provision of tubewells and
latrines, financial support for the poorest students,
and awareness and social mobilization activities:
(b) Improving
school quality and system efficiency. This will be achieved through the
enhancement of teacher training and academic supervision, monitoring of
revisions to curriculum
and teaching materials, provision of textbooks (and
other teaching and learning materials), regular national assessments of learning
achievement and strengthening of the two national institutions responsible,
respectively, for teacher training (National Academy
of Primary Education) and
the design, production and distribution of learning materials (National
Curriculum and Textbook Board);
(c) Strengthening institutional
capacity and management. This will enhance the ability of those responsible
for primary education management and implementation of PEDP at central,
regional,
district, upazila and school levels to adequately plan for, implement
and facilitate the provision of quality primary education.
Policies and
activities that support these components cover both government and nongovernment
schools.
Enrolment
- Gross
primary school enrolment has increased dramatically from 76 per cent in 1991
to 97 per cent in 1998. At 98 per cent, gross
enrolment of boys
exceeds that of girls by 3 per cent. The achievement of near
gender parity in enrolment marks significant progress
from the 1990 and 1995
girl:boy enrolment ratios of 45:55 and 47:53, respectively. Initiatives to
bring girls to school include
the recruitment of more female teachers (following
the introduction of a 60 per cent female quota), the location of schools near
to
girls’ homes and the provision of sanitary facilities.
- The
overall rise in participation in primary education in recent years is largely
due to the increase in the number of government,
non-government, community and
satellite schools. More than half of the total PEDP budget is devoted to
efforts to achieve universal
coverage and equitable access to primary schooling,
especially through the building of new schools and classrooms and the repair
and
reconstruction of old ones. New facilities are being provided in underserved
areas, as identified through school mapping and
needs assessment
exercises.
- Social
mobilization activities raise awareness amongst parents and guardians of the
importance and benefits of education with a view
to increasing enrolment and
reducing dropout rates.
Attendance/dropout/completion
- A
significant proportion of children who enrol in primary schools do not attend
regularly. Across the board, girls’ attendance
rates are higher than
boys’: 75 per cent compared to 71 per cent in the country
as a whole, 74 per cent against 70 per cent
in rural areas
and 78 per cent against 76 per cent in urban
areas.
- The
proportion of children dropping out before the end of the five-year primary
cycle has fallen from 59 per cent in 1991 to an estimated
35 per cent in 1998.
A recent study found that primary school dropout is closely linked to poverty
and the need for the child to
work in the household, on family land or to
supplement the family income. Inaccessibility of schools, poor teacher conduct
and early
marriage of girls are also contributory
factors.[9]
- The
Government recognizes that, although tuition and textbooks are free, many poorer
families are unable to send their children to
school because they lack the means
to meet the additional costs of education, such as stationery and clothing. To
address this issue
and ensure poor children’s access to primary education,
various kinds of financial incentives and support are provided. These
include:
for the poorest 40 per cent of pupils, a Food (monthly ration of wheat or rice)
for Education Programme in just over a
quarter of rural unions of the country
and a Primary Education Stipend Programme in the remaining rural unions; and
free stationery
for the poorest 25 per cent. The recently introduced stipend
programme seeks to encourage regular attendance and effective learning
at the
same time as empowering mothers, who will receive the stipend in a bank account
in their name.
Learning achievement
- Under
PEDP a biannual national assessment of schools will be carried out, focusing on
Bengali and mathematics in Grades 3 and 5.
- Research
in the early nineties on the learning achievement of children at the end of the
primary cycle revealed low levels of competence:
a 1992 study found that less
than one third of 11- and 12-year-olds had satisfactory reading, writing
and arithmetical skills[10].
There has been a significant increase in achievement levels in the intervening
years, according to the findings of a study conducted
in
1999[11]. The mean score of
Grade 5 pupils in tests in five subjects was 45 per cent. Boys’
achievement levels were approximately
2 per cent higher than girls’ at 46
per cent and urban pupils did marginally better than rural pupils. There was a
considerable
variation in the level of passes in different subjects: over 50
per cent in mathematics, science and social science and 30 per cent
or less in
Bengali and English. Attendance, home study and higher educational level of
parents were found to have a positive impact
on achievement, while a high
pupil-teacher ratio had a negative effect. Pupils’ learning achievement
is also closely linked
to the quality of education they
receive.
Quality education
- The
quality of education provided has a significant impact on pupil enrolment,
retention and learning outcomes. One of the main initiatives
taken by the
Government to address the issue of quality is the IDEAL (Intensive District
Approach to Education for All) Project,
currently being implemented in 134
upazilas of 24 districts (to be expanded to all 64 districts by 2005). This
introduces new, interactive
teaching-learning methods and improved
classroom/school management through the training of teachers and supervisors and
support regarding
teachinglearning materials. The system for assessing learning
achievement is also being strengthened. The core innovation of the
IDEAL
Project is Multiple Ways of Teaching and Learning, a child-centred
teaching-learning methodology based on the theory of human
beings’
multiple intelligences. This varied and flexible approach is replacing the
traditional, didactic style of teaching,
thereby making learning more effective
and enjoyable.
- The
outcome of the strengthening of the National Curriculum and Textbook Board under
PEDP will be the evaluation of all existing textbooks
and redesign of textbooks
for Grades 1 and 2 by the end of the programme.
Teachers
- According
to the latest figures, there are 309,000 primary school teachers, just under a
third of whom are women. Strictly speaking,
education up to Grade 12 is
required for female teachers, but those who have reached Grade 10 are accepted
in practice. For male
teachers, the minimum qualification is a
Certificate-in-Education[12]
or a Bachelor’s degree. The current reality though is that applicants
with much higher qualifications are being recruited
to teaching posts because of
a highly competitive job market. Effectively, all women teachers meet the
minimum academic and certification
requirements, whereas only just over half of
male teachers do. Efforts are being made to give non-government school
teachers the
opportunity to obtain a Certificate-in-Education at one of the
Primary Training Institutes.
- Despite
programmes to recruit more teachers, Bangladesh is constrained by pressure on
its resources in meeting the existing need for
teachers, especially given recent
increases in enrolment: teachers’ salaries are paid from the
Government’s own funds
and are not covered by international assistance.
Consequently, recent improvements in the pupil-teacher ratio have been marginal.
Compared to a ratio of 61:1 in 1991, the current national figure stands at 59:1.
If the situation in different types of schools is
examined, public schools are
found to be in the worst position, with 76 pupils per teacher, while the pupils
in private schools fare
better, with only 43 to each teacher.
Considerable regional variations also exist, with schools in Chittagong division
having a
ratio of 74:1, compared to 44:1 in Barisal division. The
Government’s intention is to achieve a maximum pupil-teacher ratio
of 40:1
per class through the operation of a two-shift system.
Facilities (including environment)
- There
are currently 37,710 government primary schools, 9,684 non-government registered
primary schools and 1,412 community schools.
A wide range of other institutions
meet the primary education needs of children in Bangladesh, namely, unregistered
schools, primary
section of secondary high schools, madrasahs, kindergarten
schools, satellite schools, NGO learning centres and Primary Training
Institutes’ experimental schools.
- Under
PEDP, classrooms, furniture, latrines and tubewells will be repaired or new ones
provided, as necessary. The intention is to
ensure that, by the end of the
programme, all schools have tubewells and separate latrines for girls and boys.
A community-based
school maintenance programme is being introduced (including an
increased grant for annual maintenance) and all schools will be monitored
for
minimum facility standards.
- Classrooms
in IDEAL schools where pupils are taught according to the Multiple Ways
of Teaching and Learning approach undergo a physical
transformation. The
usual rows of tables and benches are reorganized or replaced by mats on the
floor to allow pupils to sit in
a semicircle or form smaller groups to work, and
the walls are attractively decorated with pictures and other graphic teaching
aids.
These changes assist the learning process as well as making the whole
experience of being at school more enjoyable for children.
- A
negative aspect of the school environment for many girls is the continuing
existence of gender stereotypes and gender-biased classroom
practices based on
traditional attitudes.
Literacy rate
- There
has been a substantial increase in literacy amongst the population of 15 years
and over, from 35 per cent in 1991 to 47 per
cent in 1995 and 56 per cent in
1998. During this period, adult female literacy had risen from 26 per cent
to 48 per cent and male
literacy from 44 per cent to 63 per cent. For both
sexes, literacy in urban areas is more than 40 per cent higher than in rural
areas. Data on literacy among adolescents show comparable figures for females
and males: 49 per cent for female and male 10-14-year-olds
and 59/61 per cent
for female/male 15-19-year-olds,
respectively.
- The
Government is striving to achieve total literacy by 2006. Literacy classes are
organized under the Government’s non-formal
education (NFE)
programme.
Non-formal education
- The
NFE system is intended to supplement and complement the formal system,
especially in providing education for unenrolled primary
school-age children and
dropouts, illiterate adolescents and adults. Approximately 1.5 million children
attend non-formal learning
centres run by the Government and
NGOs.
- Following
the success of the Integrated Non-formal Education Programme (1991-1997), NFE
has been institutionalized. It has been the
responsibility of the Directorate
of Non-formal Education (DNFE) since 1995. DNFE currently has four projects,
each of which includes
children in its target group. Three of the projects are
rural-based and cater for 15-24-year-olds (one project) or 11-45-year-olds
(two
projects). The other project, based in Bangladesh’s six divisional
cities, provides learning opportunities for working
children aged 8-14 from
urban slums.
- The
Basic Education for Urban Working Children (BEUWC) project aims to provide
high-quality basic education through a two-year course
which uses child-centred
and participatory teaching-learning methods. Learning centres, each for 30
children, are set up and managed
by around 150 NGOs under the supervision of
DNFE. School hours are flexible and the course content is made relevant to the
children’s
lives. Post-literacy skills training will be introduced on a
pilot basis in 2001. As of December 2000, a total of 3,375 centres
had been
established in all six divisional cities with approximately 100,000 learners,
over half of whom were girls. The project
plans to cover approximately 350,000
working children in total. Highachieving children from the BEUWC project or one
of the established
Child Welfare Primary Schools are eligible for stipends to
support their studies at primary and secondary level.
- The
ARISE project, which started in 1998 (see article 20), aims to improve the
educational and vocational training facilities available
to street children as a
contribution to the overall fulfilment of their rights. This will involve the
provision of learning opportunities
in non-formal settings.
Early childhood development/education services
- The
concept of young children’s holistic development and the kinds of actions
that are required to support their optimal overall
development are fairly new to
Bangladesh. In terms of learning, the focus has tended to be on a centre-based,
pre-academic approach
rather than on a broader notion of providing stimulation
to a young child and encouraging him or her to learn through play, exploration
and discovery.
- There
is no organized government early childhood development/education programme, but
an extensive system of infant classes attached
to government and registered
non-government primary schools has grown up over recent decades. The system is
fairly ad hoc, with
no extra teachers or classroom facilities being provided.
In 1997, the Ministry of Education stated that, to
reduce stress on the primary education system, such programmes would be
independent of the formal school programme and would be managed
separately by
School Management Committees, other community groups or NGOs. In 1998, a primer
was produced for use with these classes
by the National Curriculum and Textbook
Board.
- NGOs
play an important part in the provision of pre-primary education for
underprivileged children. Other facilities for this age
group include
kindergarten schools, religious schools, day care and other centres. A little
more than 20 per cent of children aged
3 to 5 years participate
in some kind of organized educational activity.
- The
Government has recently decided to develop a community-based school preparedness
programme for young children under the IDEAL
Project. In addition, the
Government’s new Early Childhood Development project will identify ways of
enhancing existing community-based
centres for young children in order to
promote their cognitive, emotional and social development.
Secondary and higher education
- There
are a total of 15,447 schools and colleges and 5,778 secondary-level madrasahs
offering secondary education in Bangladesh.
Gross secondary enrolment is 41 per
cent for girls and 48 per cent for boys, a very substantial increase from
the 1991 enrolment
rates of 17 and 32 per cent for girls and boys, respectively.
At higher secondary level, enrolment rates drop to 15 and 30 per cent
for girls
and boys, respectively. Though still very low, these rates are also a
significant improvement on the situation in 1991,
when only 7 per cent of girls
and 17 per cent of boys enrolled.
- Dropout
rates are generally higher at secondary than primary level, especially among
girls in Grades 6 to 10. At this level, 48 per
cent of girls give up their
studies, compared to 38 per cent of boys. In Grades 11 and 12 the
dropout rate is 36 per cent for girls
and 40 per cent for boys.
Financial hardship in the family combined with a lack of awareness of the value
of education prevent many
pupils from completing their secondary education. For
girls, there are the additional pressures of early marriage, fears for their
safety and sociocultural restrictions on their mobility.
- The
Government has made a concerted effort to increase secondary enrolment among
girls by waiving tuition fees for girls up to Grade
10 and introducing a
nationwide stipend
programme.[13] Stipends are
available to girls studying in Grades 6 to 10 of government secondary schools
and madrasahs in all 460 rural upazilas
of the country. As at the end of 1998,
a total of 4.25 million girls had received assistance under this programme.
There is evidence
that the stipend programme has contributed to increased female
enrolment at secondary level at the same time as changing attitudes
to
girls’ education and helping to defer marriage.
- The
secondary school curriculum is fairly academic, while the madrasah curriculum
(especially at the lower level) has a strong religious
bias. Secondary-level
vocational education and training has historically been provided at special
institutions but, in 1996, the
Government
introduced a combined general education/skills training course leading to a
vocational Secondary School Certificate (SSC) for Grade
9 and 10 pupils in 500
non-government secondary schools under a pilot project.
- The
main institutions offering vocational training at secondary level are the
country’s 51 Vocational Training
Institutes[14] (VTIs) and 12
Technical Training Centres (TTCs). At present, there are a little
under 11,000 students attending these institutions,
just over 10 per cent
of whom are female. Both VTIs and TTCs offer training in basic trades outside
school hours as well as a residential
SSC (Vocational) course. Most students
have completed Grade 8, but out-of-school applicants with lower qualifications
are accepted
for basic trades training. Fees are payable for the basic trades
course. For the SSC (Vocational) course only nominal fees are
charged and
stipends are available.
- At
higher secondary level, Government Polytechnic
Institutes[15] (20),
Commercial Institutes (16), other single-purpose institutions and affiliated
non-government institutions offer a variety of
courses leading to diplomas in
technical and other vocational subjects. An SSC is required for entry. Places
are very limited and
girls’ participation is low, except in nurses’
and teachers’ training courses. A recent initiative has been taken
to
introduce a Higher Secondary Certificate in business management in 200 schools,
intermediate and degree colleges and other independent
institutions in order to
expand the vocational training opportunities for this age
group.
School discipline
- One
of the objectives of the National Plan of Action for Children is to help
teachers to ensure that no corporal punishment is used
against children and that
discipline in school respects the dignity of the child.
- In
a speech during Child Rights Week 2000, the Prime Minister requested the
Education Ministry to create a policy for schools prohibiting
the use of
corporal punishment against children. Notwithstanding this, there are reports
of physical abuse of children, especially
poor children, by teachers.
Procedures do exist, however, for monitoring the exercise of discipline in
schools, reporting specific
incidents and lodging complaints.
Public expenditure on education
- Public
expenditure on education increased substantially during the 1990s. Between 1995
and 2000 expenditure on education as a whole
increased by 46 per cent and
expenditure on primary education by 29 per cent. In 2000, 43 per cent of the
total public expenditure
on education was devoted to primary education. When
calculated as a proportion of GDP, public expenditure on primary education shows
a slight downward trend between 1995 and 2000, from 1.5 to 1.2 per
cent.
Table 4
Public expenditure on education
|
Public expenditure on education (in million taka)
|
Public expenditure on primary education (in million
taka)
|
1990
|
13 287.9
|
6 179.8
|
1995
|
35 262.6
|
17 237.5
|
2000
|
51 450.0
|
22 175.0
|
- Between
1995 and 2000, the proportion of both the development and revenue budgets
allocated to the education sector fell, from 13.6
to 12.4 per cent and from 19.5
to 18.1 per cent, respectively. Similarly, the proportion of the education
sector’s share of
development and revenue budgets allocated to
primary and non-formal education dropped, from 58.8 to 57.6 per
cent and from 43.1 to
41.4 per cent, respectively.
International assistance
- The
Government’s primary and mass education programmes have been generously
supported by the following international development
partners:
(a) United Nations agencies - UNICEF, UNDP, UNESCO
and UNFPA;
(b) Financial institutions - World Bank, Islamic Development
Bank and Asian Development Bank;
(c) Bilateral donors - DFID, GTZ,
KfW, OPEC, Saudi Fund for Development, Norway, Sweden, SDC, JICA, CIDA and
USAID.
While increasing in absolute terms, the proportion of total
expenditure on primary and mass education contributed by foreign donors
had
fallen from 22.9 per cent in 1994-95 to 14.5 per cent in
1998-99.
- National
and local NGOs also receive assistance from international and bilateral donors
for their education programmes.
2. Aims of education (art. 29)
- In
recent years there has been a thorough revision of the primary curriculum and
new textbooks have been developed. As part of this
exercise, gender biases have
been removed and concepts of environmental awareness and sustainable development
introduced.
- The
terminal competencies on which the current primary curriculum is based reflect
many of the aims of education set out in article
29. These competencies
include:
(a) Respect for the right to freedom of
expression;
(b) Respect for parents, pride in Bengali tradition and
culture and interest in the lives of children from other
countries;
(c) Active participation in decision-making concerning school
programmes, awareness and fulfilment of family, social and civic
responsibilities,
respect for all regardless of gender, tolerance of
others’ opinions and religious tolerance;
(d) Avoidance of wastage
of resources and understanding and appreciation of the natural
environment.
- In
addition to acquiring basic literacy and numeracy skills, primary school pupils
have classes in science, social studies, religion,
physical education and art
and craft. The social studies curriculum includes material on basic human
rights, child rights and gender
issues. Child rights also form part of the
child-to-child and Safe Learning Environment approaches to teaching life skills
to children
currently being piloted in selected IDEAL schools.
- The
Multiple Ways of Teaching and Learning (MWTL) methodology used in IDEAL schools
is based on a recognition of the fact that each
individual child has many
intelligences through which he or she knows and learns, including one or two
that are particularly strong.
Under this approach, teachers adopt varied
teaching techniques in order to maximize children’s learning through their
strongest
intelligences, while at the same time developing the weaker ones.
Traditional patterns of lecture and rote learning are thus replaced
by learning
through objects, pictures, stories, dance and music. Teachers receive special
training on MWTL.
- Both
enrolled and unenrolled children in IDEAL schools participate in the development
of the school through the annual school planning
process. They, along with
other stakeholders, describe their future vision for the school and list
desirable activities and steps
required to improve the school’s
performance. The final school plan evolves from a group discussion of all
stakeholders’
ideas.
3. Leisure, recreation and cultural activities (art.
31)
- The
State’s obligations under this article are clearly spelled out in Part II
of the Constitution. The State is responsible for ensuring the right of
citizens to reasonable rest, recreation and leisure. It is also obliged to
adopt measures to “conserve the cultural traditions and heritage of the
people” and to “foster and improve the
national language, literature
and the arts” so as to give all sections of the population an opportunity
to contribute towards
and participate in the enrichment of the national
culture.
- The
rights dealt with under this article of the Convention are enjoyed mostly at an
informal level in families and communities. Because
of the available space and
general environment, children in rural areas have more scope for play and
recreation than those living
in urban areas. In terms of access to recreational
and cultural facilities, children from families of higher socio-economic status
are in a much better position than those from disadvantaged families. This is
qualified, however, by the excessive pressure on many
such children to study
hard to achieve academic success, which leaves them with little leisure
time.
- Working
children (especially child domestics) are often deprived of opportunities for
leisure, recreation and even rest because of
their long working hours and
irregular holidays. One of a number of television spots recently produced by
the Government aims to
sensitize employers of child domestics to the
latter’s right to take time off from work to play. This point is also
emphasized
in social mobilization activities under non-formal education
programmes for working children.
- In
addition to their work in family enterprises, many children (especially girls)
are kept busy for a large part of the day with domestic
chores. Older girls
from all social strata have limited opportunities for participation in
recreational or cultural activities outside
the home because of social norms and
fears for their safety which restrict their mobility. For the large numbers of
adolescent girls
who get married, play is a thing of the past.
- Families
have a limited understanding of the importance of different kinds of play for a
child’s physical, social and cognitive
development. This lack of
knowledge prevents them from taking appropriate steps to encourage and
facilitate children’s play,
including during the critical early childhood
period. The Government’s new Early Childhood Development project includes
a
caregiver education component which is designed, inter alia, to raise
caregivers’ awareness of the importance of play and to
assist them in
creating a stimulating environment to promote their young children’s
all-round development.
- Community
facilities for play and recreation are limited, especially in urban areas where,
for many children, the only amenities are
the municipal parks. Most children
have to travel for more than an hour to reach the nearest playground.
Recreational clubs in
rural and urban areas of the country offer games, sports
and some cultural activities. Schools play an important part through their
sports programmes, cultural functions and the celebration of important national
days.
- In
towns and cities, the Bangladesh Shishu (Children’s) Academy organizes
cultural programmes, including painting, drama, poetry
recitation, dance,
singing and playing musical instruments. Children also have access to national
cultural institutions such as
the National Museum and Academy of Fine Arts.
Access to these facilities is more or less limited to the higher socio-economic
groups.
- Recognizing
that the Government cannot by itself realize the rights of all children in these
areas, the National Plan of Action for
Children has identified the following
goals:
(a) To enhance public sector investment in order to
encourage the private sector to invest in the promotion of sports and cultural
activities for children;
(b) To recognize and encourage NGO involvement
in cultural activities.
H. Special protection measures
1. Children in situations of emergency
(a) Refugee children (art. 22)
- Bangladesh
is not a party to any international or regional refugee instruments and has no
domestic laws or administrative procedures
governing refugees. A model national
law for refugees (for use in five South Asian countries) was drafted in 1997 by
an Eminent
Persons Group sponsored by UNHCR. This proposed establishing the
office of Commissioner for Refugees and a three-person Refugee
Committee. The
Government is considering the idea of such a law.
- The
Government permits UNHCR to recognize asylum-seekers under its statutory mandate
on the understanding that UNHCR will assist them
financially and find durable
solutions for them outside Bangladesh. At present, there are 125 urban refugees
(from Myanmar, Somalia,
the Islamic Republic of Iran, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan
and Sri Lanka) under the mandate of UNHCR, 18 of whom are children. UNHCR
provides protection and assistance to them on a needs basis. Financial
assistance helps to meet the cost of day-to-day necessities,
children’s
education, medical expenses plus capital to start a small business. The
Government allows these refugees to live
temporarily in Bangladesh and to work
and be educated in the same way as Bangladeshi citizens.
- The
Government has also in recent years provided temporary protection to
approximately 250,000 Rohingya refugees who crossed the Bangladesh-Myanmar
border from the State of Rakhine in 1991 and 1992. The vast majority have been
repatriated to Myanmar but, at the end of September
2000, a total of 21,534
refugees were still living in two camps located near Cox’s Bazar. The
Government is responsible for
the overall running of the camps, including
maintaining infrastructure, through the Ministry for Disaster Management and
Relief,
which has appointed a Refugee Repatriation and Relief Commissioner in
Cox’s Bazar.
- Table
5 below gives a breakdown of child refugees in the two camps, by age and sex, in
January 2000.
Table 5
Rohingya refugee children, by age and sex, January 2000
|
Number
|
0-4 years:
|
|
Female
|
2 510
|
Male
|
2 550
|
Both
|
5 060
|
5-17 years:
|
|
Female
|
4 108
|
Male
|
4 095
|
Both
|
8 203
|
Source: UNHCR.
- In
July 2000 there were 15 unaccompanied children in the camps living with foster
parents or guardians. Special care is taken to
monitor the well-being of such
children. As far as tracing family members is concerned, UNHCR is extremely
cautious where there
is any fear of persecution in the country of origin.
Assistance is obtained from UNHCR field officers in Myanmar and the
International
Committee of the Red Cross.
- The
Rohingya refugees do not have the right to settle permanently in Bangladesh, to
work or to use local educational and health services.
They do, however, enjoy
certain basic rights under the Constitution, including the right to life and
personal liberty, to freedom of thought and conscience, to safeguards regarding
arrest/detention
and trial/punishment and to protection against forced
labour.
- Health
matters in the camps are the responsibility of the district-level Civil Surgeon.
Two NGOs provide health services for children
up to 10 years and women. These
health services include immunization, family planning, antenatal care, screening
for malnutrition,
supplementary and therapeutic feeding, vitamin A distribution,
curative health services, deworming and health education. Food rations
are
provided by World Food Programme (the aim being to achieve a daily calorie
intake of 2,122 per person) and distributed by the
Bangladesh Red Crescent
Society. The nutritional status of children in the camps is cause for concern.
A supplementary feeding
programme targets children under 5 and
pregnant/lactating mothers, while a therapeutic feeding programme supports
low-birthweight
babies and severely malnourished children. Around 480 children
are assisted under these programmes.
- UNHCR
provides shelter to refugees in sheds comprising approximately six rooms, each
of which houses a separate family of not more
than six people. Latrines and
washing facilities are constructed and maintained by NGOs. There is one latrine
for every 24 refugees
and one bathing cubicle for every 33. The Department of
Public Health Engineering ensures that each refugee has 22 litres of safe
water
per day for drinking and washing utensils used for cooking and eating. Clothing
is distributed once a year to all refugees.
- Since
1996, a non-formal education programme for children under 12 has been
implemented in the camps. There are a total of 14 schools,
each staffed by a
head teacher and around four teachers. At present, 1,304 girls and 1,943 boys
are attending the schools. Girls’
attendance has shown an increase as a
result of intensive mobilization efforts by NGOs and UNHCR over the past year.
Children are
taught in Burmese using textbooks from Myanmar. All children study
Burmese, mathematics and English, with geography and history
being added for
older children. Other school activities include health education and physical
exercise. Volunteer teachers, recruited
from among the refugees, attend a
two-week foundation teachers’ training course. Classes are also being
introduced for adolescent
girls teaching mainly literacy
skills.
- The
Government maintains law and order in the camp through a Camp-in-Charge in each
camp, supported by security
forces,[16] and local
magistrates. They take disciplinary action where necessary and settle disputes
between refugees. NGOs also ensure a presence
in the camps at all times.
Refugees’ awareness of protection issues, such as domestic and sexual
violence and
trafficking, is being raised through workshops. In addition, the building of
a total of five women’s centres in both camps
has provided women with a
place to meet and talk about such matters. In case of any incident of violence
or abuse children can complain
directly to UNHCR or NGO field staff.
Counselling is also given where appropriate.
- The
Refugee Repatriation and Relief Commissioner registers all children born to
refugee mothers.
- UNHCR,
which coordinates the process of repatriation, ensures that refugees are
repatriated on a strictly voluntary basis. Between
January 1997 and August 2000
a total of 2,300 families (12,353 persons) were repatriated to
Myanmar. This includes a period of more
than a year when the repatriation
process came to a standstill after a deadline imposed by the Government of
Myanmar for completion
of repatriation expired.
- UNHCR
organizes ad hoc training workshops for camp officials focusing on laws relating
to refugees and the protection of their rights.
These sessions include
discussions about special protection for children and women.
(b) Children in armed conflicts (art. 38), including
physical and psychological
recovery and social reintegration (art.
39)
- Bangladesh
is a party to the following instruments of international humanitarian law
concerning armed conflicts which are relevant
to
children:
(a) Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of
Civilian Persons in Time of War;
(b) Additional Protocol I to the Geneva
Conventions relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed
Conflicts;
(c) Additional Protocol II to the Geneva Conventions relating
to Protection of Victims of NonInternational Armed
Conflicts;
(d) Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the
Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict.
- At
present, Bangladesh is not involved in any kind of international or internal
armed conflict. Paragraphs 1 and 4 of article 38
are therefore not relevant at
this time.
- There
is no compulsory recruitment to military service. The minimum age for voluntary
recruitment is 16 years with parental consent.
Commissioned officers have to
complete two years’ training and non-commissioned officers six
months’ training before
they are sent to conflict
situations.
2. Children involved with the system of administration of
juvenile justice
(a) Administration of juvenile justice (art. 40)
Rehabilitative aims of juvenile justice
- The
Children Act 1974 and the Children Rules 1976 are the principal legislative
instruments governing the administration of juvenile
justice in Bangladesh.
They were designed to consolidate and amend previous legislation and to create a
framework for juvenile justice
which is based more on protection and
rehabilitation than on punishment. One of the underlying principles of the Act
and Rules is
the promotion of the child’s sense of dignity and worth.
Efforts have been made over recent years by the Government, UNICEF,
bilateral
development agencies and NGOs working in the area to increase awareness about
the existing juvenile justice laws in order
to strengthen
implementation.
- The
legislation strives to remove the stigma attaching to conviction for children in
various different ways. One strategy is to replace
the terms
“conviction” and “sentence” with “a finding of
guilty” or “an order made upon
such a finding”. Another
prevents a guilty finding against a juvenile from disqualifying him or her from
any employment or
office. One of the factors the Court has to take into
consideration before passing any order under the Children Act is the age of
the
child in question.
Criminal law not to be applied retroactively
- Article
35 of the Constitution protects individuals against conviction for an offence
under a law which was not in force at the time the act charged as an offence
was
committed.
Minimum guarantees
- Extensive
guarantees exist for children who come into contact with the criminal law under
various provisions of the Constitution, Children Act, Code of Criminal Procedure
and common law, namely:
(a) Presumption of
innocence;
(b) The right to be informed as soon as possible of the
grounds of arrest (as precondition for detention following
arrest);
(c) Immediate notification of a child’s arrest to
parent/guardian;
(d) Immediate notification of a child’s arrest to
probation officer (who starts to gather
information[17] concerning
the child);
(e) The right (following arrest) to consult and be defended
by a legal practitioner of the child’s choice;
(f) The right to a speedy and public trial by an independent and impartial
court or tribunal established by law;
(g) Attendance in court of
parent/guardian during proceedings under the Children Act;
(h) The right
not to be compelled to give confession while in police custody or to give
evidence in court (including against himself/herself);
(i) The right to
examine witnesses for the defence and prosecution;
(j) The right to
appeal against a decision of the Juvenile Court;
(k) The right to
translation of evidence given in a language not understood by the accused or
his/her representative;
(l) Attendance in the Juvenile Court restricted
to those directly involved with the case and officers of the
Court;
(m) Prohibition against identifying the child in the case report
under the Children’s Act and publishing the child’s
photograph.
- In
1995, district-level Legal Aid Committees, presided over by a District Judge,
were established by the Government. Each Committee
has an annual fund of
Tk 300,000. Applications for assistance have to be approved by the union
parishad chairperson. Quite a number
of NGOs provide assistance to
disadvantaged persons, including children, to pursue or defend legal
proceedings.
Child-oriented juvenile justice
system
- Through
the introduction of the Children Act and Children Rules Bangladesh has, since
the mid-1970s, had a justice system part of
which is fairly well oriented to the
special needs of children. Recent administrative measures taken to further
protect the position
of children include directives issued by the Ministry of
Home Affairs requiring the police to identify children in the General Diary
by
underlining their age in red, adding their comments regarding the child’s
age and making a note of the need for trial under
the Children
Act.
- There
are two integrated juvenile justice centres in Bangladesh, each comprising a
permanent Juvenile Court, remand home and correction
centre. These are located
at Tongi in Gazipur (just north of Dhaka) and Phulerhat in Jessore (in the
south-west of the country).
They have a combined capacity of 350 boys. Plans
for the construction of two centres for girls have been approved. For those
areas
where no juvenile court has been established, the powers of a Juvenile
Court can be exercised by the High Court, a Court of Session,
Court of
Additional/Assistant Sessions Judge, a sub-divisional Magistrate and a
Magistrate of the first class. Children and adults
must be charged and tried
separately. The Children Rules require that children be tried in a simple,
informal manner in a home-like
atmosphere. Probation officers for children
exist in each of the country’s 64 districts.
- One
major inconsistency between Bangladesh’s juvenile justice system and the
Convention on the Rights of the Child concerns
the exclusion of 16- and
17-year-olds from the protection provided under the Children Act and Rules. The
Government is aware of
this anomaly. It plans to establish a committee to
review the laws relating to juvenile justice which will consider this along with
other priority issues. Moreover, the lack of available proof of
children’s ages due to the non-functioning birth registration
system
constrains efforts to ensure protection even for those children who do fall
within the purview of the Children Act. This
situation creates loopholes which
are open to abuse.
- Under
the Penal Code 1860, children in Bangladesh have full criminal responsibility
from the age of 12. Regarding children aged 7
to 11 years, there is a
rebuttable presumption of capacity to infringe the criminal law, the relevant
test being whether a child
has “attained sufficient maturity of
understanding to judge of the nature and consequences” of his or her
conduct. Although
cases involving children in this age group are rare, the
legislature wishes to retain the flexibility to impose criminal responsibility
in exceptional cases (taking account of the child’s age when deciding on
an appropriate sentence). Three children are currently
being held in Tongi
Correction Centre who were found guilty of crimes committed when they were aged
between 7 and 11 years.
Alternatives to institutional
care
- Where
a Juvenile Court finds a child guilty of an offence, it has the discretion
instead of ordering the detention of the child to
order that he or she
be:
(a) Discharged after due admonition;
or
(b) Released on probation of good conduct and committed to the care
of a parent, guardian or other “fit” person for a
period of up to
three years.
The parent, guardian or other person to whose care the child
is committed is required to execute a bond to be responsible for the
good
behaviour of the child. The child may also be placed under the supervision of a
probation officer. Probation orders can be
made in respect of first offences by
16- and 17-year-olds under the Code of Criminal
Procedure.
Training
- Training
for police officers and judges in child rights has recently been introduced
under a pilot initiative by UNICEF. To date,
more than 1,100 police officers
from the Detective Training School and 400 judges have taken part in the
training. There are plans
to institutionalize the training throughout the
country under a joint UNICEF-MoWCA programme over the next five years by
incorporating
a child rights module into the curricula of all training
institutions for police, magistrates and judges. A programme of police
visits
to NGOs working with children in conflict with the law has also been started in
a pilot initiative with the Detective Training
School, with the aim of
increasing police officers’ understanding of the problems faced by such
children and establishing links
for future referral.
(b) Children deprived of their liberty, including any form
of detention, imprisonment or placement in custodial settings (art. 37,
paras.
(b), (c) and (d))
Arrest
- The
Dhaka, Chittagong and Khulna Metropolitan Police Ordinances (1976, 1978
and 1985 respectively) give police officers the power
to arrest without
warrant “any person committing in his presence or within his view”:
any offence punishable under the
Ordinance or under any other current law. In
addition, the police are authorized under the Code of Criminal Procedure 1898 to
make
arrests without warrant on the basis, inter alia, of reasonable suspicion
of involvement in a criminal act. These laws are sometimes
used to arrest
street children and girls suspected of engaging in
prostitution.
Detention following
arrest
Detention before charges brought
- The
Constitution affirms the right of every person not to be unlawfully deprived of
his or her personal liberty. Both the Constitution and the Code of Criminal
Procedure protect persons who have been arrested and detained in custody by
requiring that they be brought
before a magistrate within 24 hours of the arrest
and that an order be obtained for their further detention. The law also permits
the detention of individuals for extended periods on a wide variety of grounds,
including the following:
(a) A magistrate can order that a
person be detained in custody for up to 15 days without charges (Code of
Criminal Procedure);
(b) Persons “found under suspicious
circumstances between sunset and sunrise” can be imprisoned for a
term which may
be extended up to one year (Metropolitan Police
Ordinances);
(c) The Special Powers Act 1974 permits preventive
detention without charges on wide-ranging grounds, including the commission of
acts intended or likely to endanger public safety or the maintenance of public
order, or to interfere with or encourage or incite
interference with the
administration of law or the maintenance of law and order.
- For
persons arrested or detained under any law providing for preventive detention,
the fundamental rights to know the grounds of arrest
and receive legal
assistance, together with the requirement to obtain a magistrate’s order
for further detention after 24 hours,
are replaced by other constitutional
safeguards. These provisions include the right to be informed as soon as
possible of the grounds
on which the order for detention has been made and to be
given an opportunity to make an immediate representation against the order.
Moreover, a maximum period of six months’ preventive detention is provided
for, unless an Advisory Board (after hearing the
detainee) decides before the
expiry of the sixmonth period that there is sufficient cause for continued
detention.
Detention after charges brought
- Children
who are charged with bailable offences are generally released on bail. Even
when a child is charged with a non-bailable
offence, the police are empowered
under the Children Act (if the child cannot immediately be brought before a
court) to release him
or her on bail if sufficient security is provided. Bail
will not be given, however, where release would bring the child into contact
with any reputed criminal, expose him or her to moral danger or “defeat
the ends of justice”. A child who is not released
on bail should be
detained in a remand home or “place of safety”, which means - apart
from a remand home - another suitable
place/institution or a police station (for
boys only, provided they are kept separately from other
offenders).
- For
children not released on bail the period from arrest until trial can be long,
although somewhat less so for those charged under
the Suppression of Violence
against Women and Child Act 2000, which lays down special expeditious
procedures.
Detention following conviction
- Under
the Children Act, where a child is found guilty of an offence punishable with
death, transportation or imprisonment, Juvenile
Courts have the power to commit
the child for detention in a certified (training/education) institute. Such
detention must be for
a minimum of 2 and a maximum of
10 years’ duration and will in any case come to an end when the child
reaches the age of 18.
Boys who are committed to the Tongi Correction Centre,
in practice, tend to serve sentences of three to four years for theft and
other
minor crimes, and five to six years for more serious crimes such as arms
possession, bombing or theft with force.
- Before
deciding on an appropriate sentence the Court must consider a number of
different factors relating to the child, namely:
(a) The
child’s character and age;
(b) The circumstances in which he or
she is living;
(c) Probation officer’s reports;
(d) Any
other matters which the Court believes should be taken into consideration in the
interest of the child.
These factors influence the Court in its
decision whether to impose a custodial sentence, release the child on probation,
or discharge
him or her “after due admonition”.
- Only
in exceptional circumstances defined by the Children Act is it permissible to
impose a prison sentence on a child under 16.
The basic rule is that no child
can be sentenced to imprisonment, but there are two exceptions,
namely:
(a) When a child is found to have committed an offence
of such seriousness that the Court takes the view that no punishment authorized
under the Act is sufficient; or
(b) When the Court is satisfied that the
child is “of so unruly or of so depraved character” that he or she
cannot be
committed to a certified institute and none of the other available
methods for dealing with the case is suitable.
In these circumstances,
the Court can impose a prison sentence on the child or order him or her to be
detained “in such place
and on such conditions as it thinks fit”
(although the period of detention may not exceed the maximum statutory sentence
for
the offence in question). The Court has the power to vary the detention
order at a later date and direct that the child be moved
from any place of
detention to a certified institute until he or she reaches the age of
18.
- The
shortage of special facilities for children (only two correction centres/remand
homes for boys and none for girls) means that
in a large number of cases there
is no alternative to placing children in ordinary
prisons.
Placement in custodial setting (nonjuvenile justice
cases)
- The
powers of the Juvenile Court extend to dealing with children whom parents or
guardians claim they cannot control. In such cases,
the Court may commit the
child to a certified institute or approved home or place him or her under the
supervision of a probation
officer, in either case for a maximum period of three
years. Figures for the period from 1978 to 1997 show that more than 85 per
cent
of the boys held at the Tongi Correction Centre, both on remand and following
conviction, were “uncontrollable children”
cases. Such children are
usually detained for between 6 and 12 months.
- The
Court is also empowered to deal with children perceived to require care and
protection, for instance, because they are homeless,
destitute, begging, engaged
in any deleterious activity for money, associating with criminals or
prostitutes, not under the care
of a parent or guardian or neglected/ill-treated
by a parent or guardian. A
child[1] who falls within any
of these categories may be sent to a certified institute or approved home or
committed to the care of a willing
relative or other “fit” person
for any period up to when the child reaches the age of 18.
- Children
who are or may become victims of offences can also be detained as a protective
measure under two different sets of Children
Act provisions. Certain authorized
persons can take any child who they reasonably believe is or is likely to be the
victim of an
offence to a “place of safety” for an initial period of
24 hours before bringing the child before the Court. The Court
can subsequently
make such order “as circumstances may admit and require for the care and
protection of the child” if
it considers such action to be in the
interests of the child. The detention will continue at least until the
proceedings against
the person alleged to have committed the offence are
disposed of.
- In
addition, any court which deals with criminal proceedings involving a child
victim must have the child in question sent to a Juvenile
Court, which can order
that the child be committed to a certified institute or approved home. The
child will normally be ordered
to stay there until he or she reaches 18 but may,
in exceptional cases, stay for a shorter period. Alternatively, the child may
be committed to the care of a parent, guardian, relative or other person capable
of providing proper care, control or protection.
- The
Government can at any time order an absolute or conditional discharge of a
youthful offender or other child from a certified institute,
approved home or
from the care of any person ordered under the Children Act.
- The
Suppression of Violence against Women and Children Act 2000 contains a more
flexible provision for the detention in safe custody
of child victims of
offences under the Act. The Tribunal can, if deemed necessary, order such a
child to be kept in safe custody
in a place (excluding prisons) determined for
this purpose or committed to the custody of a suitable individual or
organization while
the trial of the offence is in
progress.
Treatment of children deprived of
liberty
Separation from adults
- A
number of different provisions exist under Bangladeshi law which are designed to
ensure the separate detention in prisons of persons
of different ages and
status. These include the following:
(a) The Children Act
prohibits youthful offenders from associating with adult
prisoners;
(b) Under the Prisons Act 1894 male prisoners who are
under/over 21 years and those who have/have not reached puberty must be kept
apart, as must unconvicted/convicted and criminal/civil prisoners of both
sexes;
(c) The Jail Code 1894 additionally requires that juvenile
prisoners (up to the age of 21) convicted of serious crimes be separated
from other juvenile prisoners and that females up to the age of 21 be separated
from other females.
- The
shortage of special facilities for boys and lack of juvenile justice
institutions for girls lead to the detention of significant
numbers of boys and
girls in adult prisons. This includes children who are in safe custody,
awaiting trial and those convicted of
offences.
Contact with
family
- The
Children Rules guarantee the right of children in detention to maintain contact
with their families. In practice, many children
find it difficult to make
contact with their families, particularly where they had become separated and
the family has to be traced.
Right to prompt access to legal
and other assistance
- Under
the Constitution (supported by the Code of Criminal Procedure) every child has
the right following arrest to consult and be defended by a legal practitioner
of
his or her choice. In practice, children from low-income families who are
deprived of their liberty frequently have no legal
representation.
Right to challenge the legality of deprivation of liberty
- A
child who believes he or she has been unlawfully deprived of his or her liberty
may make a habeas corpus application to the High
Court under article 102 of the
Constitution. When considering the application, the Court will decide whether
any lawful authority exists for holding the child in custody and
whether he or
she is being detained in a lawful manner.
Conditions in
detention institutions
- The
conditions of detention and rules governing the rights of detainees vary between
different institutions. The Children Rules prescribe
the appropriate treatment
and facilities for children detained under the Children Act with respect to
diet, clothing, toilets, medical
care and primary/vocational education. Similar
provisions exist in the Jail Code.
- Scant
resources, which have led to a shortage of facilities and serious overcrowding,
are a major constraint on the Government’s
efforts to maintain the
standards laid down by these Rules. In addition, the harsher aspects of life in
prison, such as hard labour,
make the experience of detention hard for
children.
- There
is no independent body with the authority to monitor detention in prisons and
other institutions. Members of Parliament are,
however, authorized to visit
jails; and certified institutes and approved homes are liable to thorough
inspections at least every
six months and to separate health/sanitation checks
by inspectors appointed under the Children Act. The situation of individual
children dealt with under the Children Act is monitored by staff of the
certified institute, if the child is detained, and by the
child’s
probation officer.
(c) The sentencing of children, in
particular the prohibition of capital punishment
and life
imprisonment (art. 37, para. (a))
- The
Children Act prohibits the use of capital punishment against children under 16
years of age. The very limited circumstances in
which imprisonment can be
imposed on a child of this age have already been described in the previous
section. In the event that
either of the special circumstances described there
exists and the offence of which the child has been found guilty is punishable
with life imprisonment, then a sentence of life
imprisonment[19] can be
imposed on such a child. In practice, on account of children’s age and
immaturity, the courts rarely impose life sentences
on children under 18 or
death sentences on children aged 16 and 17 years. In January 2000, there
were four children under 15 years
serving life sentences in Tongi Correction
Centre.
(d) Physical and psychological recovery and social
reintegration of the child (art. 39)
- Consistent
with the underlying aims of the Children Act and Children Rules, certified
institutes and approved homes are run in such
a way as to prepare children, as
far as possible, to return to society when their period of detention comes to an
end. This is ensured
through ongoing monitoring of each child’s
situation, a system of education and vocational training and the work of
probation
officers.
- For
the first 14 days after the start of a child’s detention, his or her
mental disposition, conduct, aptitude and other matters
are closely monitored
for the purposes of formulating an effective treatment plan. A separate file is
created for each child where
this information is recorded by the superintendent
of the institution where the child is detained.
- The
Children Rules require primary education and vocational training facilities to
be provided to children in detention. The Tongi
Correction Centre has an
on-site school offering education up to Grade 5. Arrangements can also be made
for children to continue
their education up to a higher level outside the
Centre. Vocational training in car maintenance, welding, tailoring, woodcutting
and house wiring is available. There is also the possibility under the Children
Act of children detained in a certified institute
or approved home being
released, on licence, to live outside the institution on certain conditions with
a person who will give him
or her a vocational training. A non-formal basic
education scheme has been introduced in nine central jails and nine
district jails
for which children are eligible.
- Probation
officers are guided in their work by the Juvenile Court or, where there is no
Juvenile Court, the Court of Session. Their
duties include maintaining contact
with the child through regular visits, advising, assisting and befriending the
child and, where
necessary, making efforts to find him or her suitable
employment.
3. Children in situations of exploitation, including
physical and
psychological recovery and social
reintegration
(a) Economic exploitation of children, including
child labour (art. 32)
International commitments
- Bangladesh
has ratified the following ILO Conventions relevant to
children:
(a) Night Work of Young Persons (Industry) Convention
No. 6;
(b) Minimum Age (Trimmers and Stokers) Convention No.
15;
(c) Forced Labour Convention No. 29;
(d) Abolition of Forced
Labour Convention No. 105;
(e) Minimum Age (Industry) Convention
(Revised) No. 59;
(f) Night Work of Young Persons (Industry) Convention
(Revised) No. 90.
Convention No. 182 concerning the Prohibition and
Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour has been
signed but not ratified by the Government.
- In
the 1996 Rawalpindi Resolution, the Government of Bangladesh joined the other
Governments of South Asia in making a commitment
to eliminate child labour in
hazardous occupations by 2000 and child labour as a whole by 2010. However, the
necessary additional
resources have not been available to fulfil this commitment
to date.
Technical cooperation/international assistance
- In
1994, a programme of cooperation was established between the Government
and ILOIPEC. Under this programme, ILO is helping to strengthen
the
capacity of the Government, NGOs, trade unions, employers’ organizations
and others to improve the social, economic and
cultural conditions in Bangladesh
in order to progressively prohibit, restrict and regulate child labour with a
view to its elimination.
The programme targets children working in many
different occupations in both the informal and formal sectors.
- Since
1994, several studies have been carried out to obtain quantitative and
qualitative data on the child labour situation in Bangladesh,
including
hazardous work. In addition, a series of action programmes have been
implemented by the Government, trade unions and NGOs
with ILO-IPEC support. One
of the major achievements of this period has been the signing in 1995 of a
Memorandum of Understanding
between the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers’
and Exporters’ Association (BGMEA), ILO and UNICEF (described in
Bangladesh’s
supplementary initial report to the Committee). The
implementation of this agreement led to the placement of approximately 10,000
former child garment workers in nearly 340 learning centres and a drastic
reduction of child labour in the export-oriented BGMEA
member factories by the
end of 1996.
Multidisciplinary strategy
- Following
a National Workshop in 1997, an intersectoral National Plan of Action was
prepared by a consultative group consisting of
various government ministries and
agencies, employers’ associations, trade unions, NGOs, ILO-IPEC and
UNICEF. Six areas of
intervention are outlined in the National Plan of Action,
namely:
(a) Situation analysis;
(b) Child labour
policy, legislation and enforcement;
(c) Institutional
development;
(d) Social security and rehabilitation of working
children;
(e) Education;
(f) Raising awareness.
Extent
and nature of child labour
- In
1995-1996, the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics carried out the first ever
comprehensive national household survey on child labour,
covering children aged
5 to 14 years. According to the survey, there are 6.6 million child workers in
Bangladesh (including those
looking for work but excluding students). Of these,
14 per cent work as child domestics. A higher proportion of boys (22 per cent)
than girls (16 per cent) work, and the proportion of child workers in rural
areas (20 per cent) is higher than in urban areas (15
per cent). More
than 90 per cent of working children operate in the informal sector. Two
thirds of children work in agriculture,
the other main occupations being
domestic service, selling, collecting waste, construction work and work in small
workshops and factories.
The future regular collection of data on working
children is proposed through the incorporation of a child labour component in
the
two-yearly labour force survey and 10-yearly national
census.
- A
study on hazardous child labour in urban areas was conducted by the Department
of Labour in 1996 with technical assistance from
ILO-IPEC to ascertain the
nature and extent of the hazards involved in 47 different occupations.
Excessive heat, dust, dirt and
a lack of safe drinking water in the workplace
were found to be a problem for over a third of children, in addition to
inadequate
sanitary/washing facilities, insufficient ventilation and light and a
lack of safety precautions. The main work-related hazards
identified were long
periods of standing, handling waste without gloves, heavy work, work with sharp
instruments, work with flames
or other hot objects and electrical work without
proper protection. Work-related injuries to hands and feet emerged as a common
occurrence, in addition to burns, eye injuries and electrical accidents.
Working days were long, with a substantial proportion of
children working for
more than 10 hours a day.
Policy and legislation
- At
present, Bangladesh has no national policy on child labour, but ILO is providing
support for the formulation of a child labour
policy. A draft is expected to be
ready by 2001. Existing legislation is antiquated and fragmented and deals only
with children
working in the formal sector. There is no single code or law
dealing with this area. Cooperation between the Ministry of Labour
and
Employment and ILO-IPEC will include a review of existing child labour laws with
a view to removing anomalies, fixing a uniform
minimum age for admission to work
at 14 years (18 years for hazardous occupations) and prohibiting the employment
of children in
hazardous operations in shops and other
establishments.
Minimum age for admission to employment in
the formal sector
- There
are a number of statutes which stipulate the minimum ages at which children can
legally work in certain sectors. These are:
(a) Mines (Mines
Act 1923) - 15 years (with medical certificate of fitness);
(b) Shops
and other commercial establishments (Shops and Establishments
Act 1965) - 12 years;
(c) Factories (Factories Act 1965) - 14
years (with medical certificate of fitness);
(d) Railways and ports
(Employment of Children Act 1938) - 15 years;
(e) Workshops where hazardous work performed (Employment of Children
Act 1938) - 12 years;
(f) Tea gardens (Tea Plantation Labour
Ordinance 1962) - 15 years.
Regulation of hours and conditions of employment
- Broadly
speaking, the existing legislation requires that non-prohibited work by children
in factories, on the railways, in ports,
shops, commercial and industrial
establishments and mines take place between the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. The
Factories Act additionally
imposes a limit of five hours’ work per day for
children and prohibits work in more than one factory on a given
day.
Hazardous work
- The
Employment of Children Act prohibits children under 12 years from working in
workshops where any of a number of listed processes
is carried on. Though not
explicitly described as such, these processes are all hazardous. They include
weaving, tanning and the
manufacture of bidi, soap, carpets, matches, explosives
or fireworks. However, an important exemption to this prohibition is made
in
the case of family-owned and family-run workshops not using outside hired
labour. The Factories Act prevents children under 18
years from working on
dangerous machines without proper instruction about the dangers and necessary
precautions, in addition to training
or supervision. All forms of forced labour
are prohibited under the Constitution. Unlawful compulsory labour is also an
offence under the Penal Code 1860.
Inspection mechanism
- Implementation
of the child labour laws in the formal sector is the responsibility of the
Inspectorate of Factories and Establishments
under the Ministry of Labour and
Employment. A shortage of manpower - 102 inspectors for over 180,000 registered
factories, establishments,
ports and mines - prevents proper inspection.
Between 1997 and the end of 1999 there were no recorded cases of violations of
labour
laws relating to children. There are plans to strengthen inspection
capacity through, inter alia, training workshops with factory
inspectors which
focus on the implementation and enforcement of child labour
law.
- Export-oriented
garment factories are regularly inspected by government/ILO/BGMEA inspection
teams to verify compliance with the 1995
Memorandum of Understanding. A BGMEA
arbitration committee is responsible for imposing fines on factories violating
the child labour
ban. Only a small proportion of factories have underage
workers: 5 per cent in 1998, down from 43 per cent in 1995.
Preventive/remedial action
- Improving
the quality of formal primary education and further increasing access are
important strands in the Government’s strategy
to provide an attractive
alternative option to
children who are prone to work. Non-formal education programmes, on the
other hand, which accept the reality of “learning and
earning”, play
a crucial role in empowering working children to make positive choices, for
instance, against hazardous and
exploitative work.
- Efforts
of the Primary and Mass Education Division in this area, especially through the
Basic Education for Urban Working Children
project, are complemented by the work
of a host of NGOs, which attract large numbers of working children through the
relevance of
the education they provide and their flexible timing. High
priority is given to consultation with children about their needs and
problems,
and their views are taken into account in the development of strategies and
programmes. There will be increased emphasis
in the future on mainstreaming
children from non-formal schools into the formal system and expanding access to
pre-vocational and
vocational training.
- Measures
have been adopted to change social attitudes towards child labour in order to
remove any complacency about the issue and
sensitize families and communities to
the negative consequences of child labour. The rights of child workers,
especially child domestics,
have been an important focus of the MoWCA child
rights communication campaign. Television spots developed in 1998 and 1999 were
designed to increase the understanding of employers of child domestics of the
need to give these children an opportunity to study,
allow them to play,
facilitate contact with their families and refrain from using physical
punishment. Another television spot conveys
the harmful effect on
children’s development of heavy work. The drive to raise awareness about
child labour has included government
education officers and other civil servants
as well as teacher trainers through child labour training programmes in the
relevant
training institutions.
(b) Drug abuse (art. 33)
- Bangladesh
is a party to the following international conventions on this
subject:
(a) Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 (as
amended by Protocol of 1972);
(b) Convention on Psychotropic Substances
of 1971;
(c) Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and
Psychotropic Substances.
- The
relevant domestic legislation is the Narcotics Control Act 1990, which punishes
drug abuse and illicit drug trafficking with a
minimum prison sentence of six
months and a fine. Children are also protected by the Juvenile Smoking Act
1919, which prohibits
the sale or giving of tobacco products to a child under
16, and by provisions of the Children Act 1974 which make it a punishable
offence:
(a) To give intoxicating liquor or dangerous drugs to
a child in a public place;
(b) To take a child to, or permit a child to
enter, a place where intoxicating liquor or dangerous drugs are sold.
- Data
on the incidence of drug abuse come from studies conducted from time to time by
individual researchers, by NGOs, and by (or with
the support of) international
organizations. Accurate rates of drug use among children are not available, but
the total number of
drug abusers in Bangladesh has been estimated to lie
somewhere between 100,000 and 2,000,000. Moreover, there are clear signs that
drug abuse is on the increase. The main drugs of abuse are alcohol, cannabis,
phensedyl (a codeine-based cough syrup), sedatives,
heroin and bueprenorphine (a
cheaper alternative to heroin which is injected).
- Available
information on smoking by children reveals much higher rates among boys than
girls. Among 15-19-year-olds, less than 1
per cent of girls smoke, compared to
13 per cent of boys. An urban-based study of secondary school boys found that
12 per cent of
1016yearolds were current smokers, with the rate rising to 23 per
cent in the 15-16 year age group.
- The
Department of Narcotics Control has overall responsibility for controlling the
trafficking and abuse of drugs in Bangladesh.
The United Nations Drug Control
Programme (UNDCP) is supporting government anti-drug efforts in three areas:
law enforcement, preventive
education and information and
treatment/rehabilitation.
- One
of the main objectives of law enforcement activities - within and beyond
national borders - is to reduce the supply of available
drugs. Existing
manpower levels are, however, inadequate. There are only 1,274 sanctioned
Department of Narcotics Control posts
across the country, of which around 350
are currently vacant. The present focus is on enhancing the capacity of law
enforcement
agencies and establishing coordination between
them.
- The
aim of preventive education and information is to raise public awareness about
the dangers of drug use. Secondary school students
in Grades 6 to 10 are being
targeted through social science, general science and religious studies lessons.
Educational materials
have been prepared and teacher training is nearly
complete. UNDCP is also supporting a community awareness initiative under which
information about drugs is being disseminated to young people aged 14 to 29
years around the country. More than 60 NGOs from all
over Bangladesh are taking
part in the project.
- In
terms of treatment and rehabilitation, government hospitals have no special care
units for drug users. Five beds in each district
hospital are supposed to be
allocated for the treatment of drug abusers, but they get taken up for other
purposes. In practice,
patients found to be suffering from drug-related
problems tend to be admitted to centres set up by the Government in the four
largest
cities and information materials on the subject of treatment and
rehabilitation have been produced for patients and their families.
A detailed
training package has also been developed for the Central Drug Addiction
Treatment Centre in Dhaka. Training for officials
of the Department of
Narcotics Control and other relevant government departments is
ongoing.
- Bangladesh
has 10 NGO-run de-addiction centres (with a total of 196 beds) and two
rehabilitation centres. There are fewer female
than male patients since female
drug users in Bangladesh are less inclined to seek treatment for drug addiction.
There are four special
treatment centres for drug addicts (with 55 beds)
specializing in demand reduction.
- Bangladesh
has two anti-drug NGO forums. The Bangladesh Anti-Drug Federation of NGOs,
recognized as the apex body by the Department
of Narcotics Control, was formed
in 1990. The National Coordination Council of Anti-drug NGOs, Bangladesh,
was established in 1996.
It has a total of 175 member NGOs. Both bodies
are involved in networking, advocacy, communication and institution-building
activities
related to drug control and treatment.
(c) Sexual exploitation and sexual abuse (art.
34)
- Until
recently, the problems of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse have been
accorded a lower priority than some other child protection
issues in Bangladesh,
due in part to a lack of awareness and understanding in society of the causes of
these problems and the situation
and needs of child victims.
- Latterly,
however, important steps have been taken to break down the taboos surrounding
domestic sexual abuse, especially through
NGO advocacy and social mobilization
efforts and the MoWCA child rights communication campaign.
- The
most prevalent form of sexual exploitation affecting children in Bangladesh is
child prostitution. No hard data on the numbers
of children involved are
available, although recent research by ILO/IPEC and UNICEF on child labour and
small-scale NGO studies concerning
child prostitutes have yielded information on
the factors that push children into prostitution and the kind of conditions
under which
they work and live. Child prostitutes fall into one of two
categories: those who work in one of Bangladesh’s 16 registered
brothels
and “floating” or street prostitutes. A significant proportion of
the former are bought from outside by the
brothel sardarni
(“madams”). These girls undergo a period of bondage which generally
lasts between two and three years, during which
their earnings are paid to the
sardarni. Girls work both in registered brothels and as floating
prostitutes; significant numbers of boys are engaged in sex work on the
streets.
- Bangladesh
is a party to the following international agreements relevant to this
area:
(a) Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in
Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of
Others;
(b) Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women;
(c) Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of
the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child
pornography.
The Government has signed ILO Convention No. 182 on the
Worst Forms of Child Labour. It is also a signatory to the Declaration and
Agenda for Action of the 1996 World Congress against the Commercial Sexual
Exploitation of Children.
- The
State is committed under article 18 of the Constitution to adopting effective
measures to prevent prostitution. Prostitution is illegal for girls under 18
although, in practice, a girl
who has reached puberty can obtain the necessary
permission to operate by paying a fee and having her name entered in the thana
(police
station) register.
- The
Suppression of Immoral Traffic Act 1933, the Children Act 1974 and the
Suppression of Violence against Women and Children Act
2000 protect children
(especially girls) by punishing those who play a part in their sexual
exploitation by, for instance:
(a) Allowing a child over 4
years to live in, or frequently visit, a brothel;
(b) Causing,
encouraging or abetting the seduction or prostitution of a girl under 16 (1974
Act) or under 18 (1933 Act);
(c) Causing or encouraging any person other
than the husband of a girl under 16 to have sexual intercourse with
her;
(d) Detaining a girl under 18 against her will in any house, room
or place in which prostitution is carried on;
(e) Importing/exporting,
buying/selling and taking possession/keeping in custody a child for any immoral
purpose;
(f) Exposing a child to the risk of seduction, sodomy,
prostitution or other immoral conditions, having secured the child ostensibly
for other work, and the use by a person of such a child for their immoral
gratification;
(g) Touching the sex organ of a woman (of any age) or
child (up to 14 years) by a man with any part of his body or any object to
gratify his sexual desire illegally.
- The
Penal Code 1860 also contains a number of offences relating to the sexual
exploitation of children, for example, kidnapping or
abducting a female of any
age, procuring a girl under 18 or importing a girl under 21 for the purpose of
forced illicit intercourse
and buying or selling a child under 18 for the
purpose of prostitution.
- Additional
protection is afforded to girls under these Acts in the form of action to remove
girl victims from the locus of sexual
exploitation and the enforcement of
parents’/guardians’ supervisory responsibilities. The Suppression
of Immoral Traffic
Act gives senior police officers the power to remove any girl
under 18 who is detained against her will in a house, room or place
in which
prostitution is carried on, or who is a victim of seduction or prostitution.
Until she can be brought before the Court
or Magistrate, such a girl must be
detained in “a place prescribed by the Government”. Thereafter, the
Court/Magistrate
may order that she be further detained or handed over to the
care of a suitable person until her case is disposed of. When finally
disposing
of the case, the Court/Magistrate can order her to be placed in
“suitable” custody until she reaches 18 (or
for a shorter period) or
hand her over to the care of a suitable
person.
- Under
the Children Act, Juvenile Courts have the power to make various orders for the
care and protection of child victims of criminal
offences, including those
listed above, and children:
(a) Generally found in the company
of a prostitute (except the child’s mother);
(b) Living in or
frequenting a house used by a prostitute (except the child’s mother) for
the purpose of prostitution;
(c) Otherwise likely to be exposed to moral
danger.
Such orders include detaining the child in a place of safety,
committing the child to a certified institute or approved home and committing
him or her to the care of a parent, guardian, relative or other person capable
of providing proper care, control or protection (for
further details, see
article 37). Under a separate provision, the Court can direct the parent or
guardian of a girl under 16 who
is exposed to the risk of seduction or
prostitution to enter into a bond to exercise due care and supervision of the
girl.
- A
“safe custody” order may be made under the Suppression of Violence
against Women and Children Act in respect of child
victims of trafficking or
sexual harassment (discussed under article 37).
- Increasing
interest is being shown in the situation of children of prostitutes who live
with their mothers in brothels. These children
are a seriously disadvantaged
group who are deprived of many of their rights. Not only are they denied the
basic right to education
and access to health services by reason of their social
isolation, they also grow up in an environment characterized by exploitation,
abuse and neglect, which is highly injurious to all aspects of their
development. Moreover, a large proportion of girls inevitably
follow their
mothers into prostitution. Research has recently been conducted in registered
brothels by the Government’s Department
of Social
Services[20] and an NGO to
obtain baseline information in order to design appropriate interventions which
will broaden the life choices available
to such children.
- At
present, support for the recovery and social reintegration of child victims of
sexual exploitation is limited. There are a small
number of places in
government and NGO shelter homes. Here the children are given food, lodging and
vocational training, together
with some medical care and counselling. NGO
drop-in centres for “floating” child prostitutes in Dhaka City offer
facilities
for health care, rest, recreation and advice. Some brothel children
have been rehoused in safe homes run by NGOs. Satellite clinics
run in six
different areas of Dhaka City under a joint NGO programme provide reproductive
health education and services to “floating”
prostitutes, and include
a peer education component.
(d) Sale, trafficking and abduction (art. 35)
- The
Government has identified trafficking as a pressing social issue in Bangladesh
and is taking action on many different fronts to
combat it. The National Plan
of Action for Children
outlines an anti-trafficking strategy which involves establishing a mechanism
for coordinating regular reviews of the situation, a
programme for the
prevention of child trafficking and the penalization of perpetrators.
- A
major focus of early collaborative efforts between the Government, NGOs and
international organizations has been an assessment of
the situation through
research. Because of the underground nature of trafficking, reliable statistics
on the number of children
who fall victim to such activities are not available.
The magnitude of the problem can, however, be surmised from the data generated
by NGOs working in this area. According to these data, an estimated 13,220
children were trafficked out of Bangladesh between 1992
and
1997.[21] During 1998,
reports routinely collected from 11 national daily newspapers revealed 1,373
incidents of trafficking. In 80 per cent
of cases no age was given, but 14 per
cent of cases involved persons aged 18 years or below. Among the latter, nearly
75 per cent
were aged 12 years or less and the ratio of boys to girls was
approximately 3:2.[22]
Available data are insufficient to estimate the number of children trafficked
within the country.
- In
the context of trafficking networks in South Asia and further afield, Bangladesh
is both a sending and a transit country. Children
are trafficked principally to
India, Pakistan and the Middle East to work in prostitution, domestic service
and (in the case of young
boys only) as jockeys in camel races. The numbers of
Bangladeshi children in the brothels of India and Pakistan are estimated to
number, respectively,
300,000[23] and
200,000.[24] Children are
procured in many different ways, but promises of work and abduction are the
principal methods. Sometimes parents who
are looking for a way out of poverty
for their children knowingly hand them over to traffickers or their
agents.
- Bangladesh
is a party to the following international treaties which are relevant to this
area:
(a) Forced Labour Convention;
(b) Convention for
the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the
Prostitution of Others;
(c) Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of
Slavery, the Slave Trade and Institutions and Practices Similar to
Slavery;
(d) Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the
Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child
pornography.
The Government has also signed ILO Convention No. 182 on the
Worst Forms of Child Labour.
- At
the regional level, Bangladesh, together with other members of SAARC, has made a
commitment:
(a) To combat inter- and intracountry trafficking
in children and evolve administrative, legal and rehabilitative structures
within
and between member States (Rawalpindi Resolution, 1996);
(b) To
coordinate efforts and take effective measures to address the problem of
trafficking within and between countries through
the strengthening and strict
enforcement of legislation (including simplifying repatriation procedures) and
consideration of the
possibility of a regional convention on combating
trafficking in women and children for prostitution (Declaration of the Ninth
SAARC
Summit, Male, 1997).
A SAARC Convention on the Trafficking of Women
and Children now exists in draft form. It has not yet been finalized due to the
lobbying
of NGOs for further amendments (including a widening of the definition
of trafficking and the separation of children and women) and
the postponement of
the tenth SAARC Summit, which was scheduled to take place in 1999.
- Trafficking
in and the abduction or sale of children are criminal offences under Bangladeshi
law. The main legislation in this area
is the newly passed Suppression of
Violence against Women and Children Act 2000, which repeals a 1995 Act
containing similar provisions.
The 2000 Act contains separate sections on
trafficking in children (defined as persons up to 14 years),
trafficking in women (defined
as women of any age) and kidnapping of women and
children. Trafficking in children covers the import/export, buying/selling and
taking possession/keeping in custody of a child for any immoral or illegal
purpose as well as the theft of a newborn baby. The penalty
on conviction is
capital punishment or rigorous imprisonment for life and a
fine.
- The
offence of trafficking in women is framed in similar terms, but it also covers
the delivery of a woman for hire or the handing
over of a woman for oppression,
and includes the additional purpose of engaging a woman in prostitution.
Persons who supply women
to prostitutes and those running brothels are prima
facie guilty of an offence under this provision. The penalty for trafficking
in
women is capital punishment, life imprisonment or a sentence of rigorous
imprisonment of between 10 and 20 years, in addition
to a fine. Kidnapping a
child or woman other than for trafficking is punishable with life imprisonment
or a minimum of 14 years’
rigorous imprisonment and a fine. The
Suppression of Violence against Women and Children Tribunals, which try cases
under the Act,
have the power to award the amount of the fine as compensation to
the victim.
- Other
relevant offences under Bangladeshi law include:
(a) Those under
the Penal Code 1860, such as kidnapping or abducting a child under 10 for
various defined purposes, kidnapping a boy
under 14 or a girl under 16 from his
or her lawful guardian, kidnapping a person from Bangladesh (and taking them
beyond Bangladesh’s
borders), buying or selling a child under 18 for the
purposes of prostitution;
(b) Importing females for prostitution
(Suppression of Immoral Traffic Act 1933);
(c) Making agreements pledging
the labour of a child (defined as a person under 15 years) or
employing such a child (Children (Pledging
of Labour) Act 1933).
- Despite
the existence of these laws, few of those involved in trafficking can be brought
to justice. Although the severe penalties
imposed by the 2000 Act (and its 1995
precursor) are intended to have a deterrent effect, it seems that this may not
be serving the
best interests of children. Reports from members of the
judiciary suggest that there are few cases in which available evidence supports
a guilty verdict and the imposition of the draconian sentences laid down by
statute.
- A
three-year integrated project aimed at eliminating the trafficking of children
(with special emphasis on cross-border trafficking)
has been drawn up. The
project tackles the problem by: raising awareness of child trafficking
throughout society; improving implementation
of the relevant laws by the police
and the courts; and developing child-friendly procedures for rescuing and
repatriating victims,
together with programmes for their rehabilitation and
reintegration. It is a collaborative effort between the Government, the
Norwegian
Embassy and NGOs, with the latter playing a central role in
implementation and monitoring.
- Over
the past few years, public information campaigns carried out by the Government,
NGOs and international organizations - supported
by increased media reporting of
trafficking incidents - have significantly enhanced awareness of the problem of
trafficking. This
has given the issue a higher profile and priority on the
national agenda. At the law enforcement level, training has been given
to
border police by the Ministry of Home and NGOs. Existing and further planned
initiatives to train the police, magistrates and
judges in child rights are
expected to improve current levels of implementation and
enforcement.
- In
their efforts to rescue children from trafficking, NGOs attempt to reach them
before they leave Bangladeshi soil. In cases where
children have already
crossed the border, for instance to India, support for their rescue has been
received from human rights and
women’s organizations in the receiving
country. It is estimated that 4,700 children were rescued from traffickers
between
1992 and 1997.[25] A
lack of identification papers proving their nationality has proved an obstacle
to obtaining assistance from Bangladesh’s
foreign missions in receiving
countries in the rescue and repatriation of children.
- Both
the Government and NGOs provide support to rescued victims of trafficking to aid
their recovery and the difficult process of
reintegration into society.
Services offered include shelter accommodation, medical care, counselling,
vocational training, legal
aid for action against traffickers and assistance in
tracing families. Planned training in psychosocial counselling for staff in
urban-based government and NGO shelter homes will enhance the limited
arrangements for counselling that exist at present.
- Vigorous
activity by NGOs in this field has led to the emergence of NGO networks,
including Action against Trafficking and Sexual
Exploitation of Children
(ATSEC), which has chapters in Bangladesh, Nepal and West Bengal. Formed in
1998, ATSEC engages in crossborder
activities to facilitate advocacy, research,
social mobilization, technical assistance and programme support at the national
and
regional levels with support from UNICEF. It also aims to develop the
capacity of the Government, NGOs and other development groups
to plan and
implement advocacy programmes. There are plans to establish linkages with
Pakistani NGOs on this issue.
(e) Other forms of exploitation (art. 36)
- Given
the extent of poverty in Bangladesh, substantial numbers of people, including
children, exist by begging. Begging is known
to be a well-organized business
run by gangs who share out the money they receive between their members, though
rarely on an equitable
basis. Children are often used in the front line. In
addition to the basic fact of using a child for begging, a number of
exploitative
practices exist, which are designed to trigger sympathy or
revulsion in those approached for money and therefore to increase the
amount
given. These include women carrying another woman’s baby and the
deliberate maiming of persons (including children)
used for
begging.
- Both
the Children Act 1974 and the Suppression of Violence against Women and Children
Act 2000 contain provisions which protect children
against their
exploitative use by others for the purposes of begging. The Children Act makes
it an offence to employ a child for
the purpose of begging or to use a child as
an “exhibit” for the same purpose. A new offence is also included
in the
2000 Act - that of maiming, crippling or disfiguring a child for the
purpose of begging (or to sell their body parts). This offence
carries a severe
penalty of capital punishment or rigorous imprisonment and a
fine.
4. Children belonging to a minority or an indigenous group
(art. 30)
- Citizens
are protected under article 28 of the Constitution against discrimination by the
State on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth. The
Constitution also affirms that citizens may not on these grounds be subjected to
any disability, liability, restriction or condition regarding
access to public
places or educational institutions.
Ethnic and linguistic groups
- According
to the latest population census (1991), more than 98 per cent of the population
of Bangladesh belong to the homogeneous
ethnic group known as Bengali. The
remainder is composed of indigenous tribal peoples, together with a small number
of migrants
from various parts of
India.[26]
- Tribal
peoples, consisting of at least 27 different groups, number
approximately 1.2 million. Over 40 per cent of the country’s
tribal population is concentrated in the three districts that
make up the Chittagong Hill Tracts area. In these districts, approximately
half the population are of tribal origin, a much lower proportion than several
decades ago. The largest tribal groups are the Chakma,
Marma and Tripura.
Outside the Hill Tracts, two other tribal groups are found in significant
numbers: the Santal, mainly in the
north-west of Bangladesh (Rajshahi
division), and the Garo, mainly in the north-central area of the country
(Dhaka division).
- Bengali,
declared to be the State language under article 3 of the Constitution, is the
mother tongue of the vast majority of people in Bangladesh. Amongst the tribal
peoples, however, a large number of different
languages are spoken. These
mainly belong to the TibetoBurman and Austric-Asiatic subfamilies and the
Dravidian family. Quite a
number of the tribal languages have no written form.
The languages spoken by those segments of the population who originally came
from India include Urdu, Hindi, Bihari and
Oriya.[27]
Religious groups
- In
Bangladesh, 88 per cent of the population are Muslim, 11 per cent Hindu, 0.6 per
cent Buddhist, 0.3 per cent Christian and 0.3
per cent “others”,
comprising mainly animists. The picture is quite different among the tribal
population, where the
main religion is Buddhism, but significant numbers of
Hindus, Christians, Muslims and animists are also found.
Chittagong Hill Tracts
- The
above statistics demonstrate that, from the point of view of ethnic background,
language and religion (and therefore culture also),
the Chittagong Hill Tracts
are quite distinct from the rest of Bangladesh. The recent history of the
region has also been different
from the rest of the country due to a two
decade-long conflict waged there from the mid-1970s by a tribal insurgency
group, the armed
wing of the Parbattya Chattagram Jano Sanghati Samity (PCJSS) -
Chittagong Hill Tracts People’s Solidarity Association.
- The
allocation of land, including land to which tribal groups claimed ownership, to
Bengali settlers together with a resistance to
assimilation into the majority
culture of Bangladesh were at the root of the insurgency. The conflict led to
the departure of tens
of thousands of tribal people for refugee camps across the
border in the Indian State of Tripura and to the internal displacement
of large
numbers within the Hill Tracts. On 2 December 1997, the conflict was brought to
an end by the signing of a Peace Accord
between the Government and PCJSS. The
terms of the Peace Accord include:
(a) The establishment of a
Regional Council (comprising the Councils of the three Hill Districts) as
the coordinating and supervisory
body of the Hill Tracts;
(b) The
settlement of land disputes;
(c) The allocation of additional funds by
the Government and implementation of development projects, especially enhancing
infrastructure,
in the Hill Tracts;
(d) A reduction in the military
presence in the Hill Tracts;
(e) The preservation of tribal culture and
support for its expression at the national level;
(f) The expansion of
educational stipends for tribal students;
(g) Education for children of
PCJSS members and acceptance of academic certificates obtained while refugees in
India;
(h) A compensation package (including a substantial lump sum
payment) for returning tribal families;
(i) The establishment of a
Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs.
By early 1998, more than
60,000 tribal refugees had returned from India. The process of rehabilitating
and reintegrating the returnees
is still continuing.
- The
Hill Tracts people have historically had a lower level of access to basic
services than the rest of the population because of
the difficult terrain,
scattered communities and protracted conflict. Furthermore, strategies and
service delivery systems developed
for the rest of the country are often
inappropriate for the Hill Tracts. The advent of peace in the region has been
followed by
a strong expression of interest from international development
partners and national NGOs in implementing programmes that will significantly
improve the quality of life for Hill Tracts children and the enjoyment of their
rights. International development partners who currently
support or are
interested in supporting programmes in the region include UNDP, UNICEF, World
Food Programme, World Bank, Asian Development
Bank and DANIDA. In conformity
with its obligations under the Peace Accord, the Government has made a special
allocation of funds
for projects in the Hill Tracts, with an emphasis on
improving local infrastructure.
- One
of the strategies that has been adopted to increase access to basic services is
the establishment from 1997 of nearly 2,000 small
para (community)
centres, each serving 25 to 30 households in a UNICEF-supported
initiative. Each centre has one para worker, who provides pre-school
education to young children and promotes public health messages. There are
plans to increase the
number of para centres and to expand their role to
include additional health and educational services, such as immunization,
demonstration of safe
water and sanitation facilities, multi-grade teaching for
school dropouts and parenting education.
Culture and language
- Bangladesh
is committed under article 23 of the Constitution to taking the necessary steps
to “conserve the cultural traditions and heritage of the people”.
The preservation of
tribal culture in the Hill Tracts region is expressly
provided for in the Peace Accord. The education sector provides a number of
examples of measures that are being adopted to this end. In the preprimary
classes run by para centres, for instance, para workers speak to
tribal children in their mother tongue in order to ease the children’s
transition from home to school life.
At the primary level, special teaching and
learning materials are being developed for tribal communities under the
PEDF.
- A
number of Bangladesh’s tribal groups have faced problems in preserving
their cultural traditions as a result of loss of land
due to deforestation of
their natural habitat, encroachment by surrounding communities and settlement of
families from other areas.
This has led to a substantial dilution of tribal
populations and the displacement of communities.
Rights of religious minorities
- The
measures taken to protect the right of Hindu, Buddhist, Christian and animist
children to profess or practise their religion are
described under article 14.
No specific examples have come to light of children being denied this
right.
Selected references
Ain o Salish Kendro, Bangladesh Legal Aid
Services Trust, Madaripur Legal Aid Association, Odhikar, 1998, Human Rights
in Bangladesh 1997.
Ain o Salish Kendro, 1999, Human Rights in
Bangladesh 1998.
Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and
Statistics, 1998, Bangladesh Educational Statistics
1997.
Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, 1996, Status of Adolescent
Girls of Bangladesh 1995.
Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, 1999,
Statistical Pocketbook of Bangladesh 1998.
Bangladesh Bureau of
Statistics, 1999, 1998 Statistical Yearbook of
Bangladesh.
Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics/UNICEF, 1998, Progotir
Pathey.
Directorate of Non-Formal Education, GoB, 1999, Non-formal
Education in Bangladesh.
Directorate of Primary Education, GoB, 1998,
Primary Education in Bangladesh.
GoB/UNICEF, 1999,
Situation Assessment and Analysis of Children and Women in Bangladesh
(Draft).
GoB/UNICEF, 2000, Master Plan of Operations for a Programme
of Services for Children and Women in Bangladesh 2001-2005
(Draft).
Hossain, M/UNDCP, 1997, A Rapid Assessment Study on
Bangladesh Drug Abuse Situation.
Huda, Sigma, 1991, The Convention
on the Rights of the Child and the Bangladeshi Child in the
Nineties.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, GoB, 1998, Health
and Population Sector Programme 1998-2003: Programme Implementation
Plan.
Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, GoB, 1996,
Bangladesh Constitution.
Ministry of Women and Children Affairs,
GoB, 1994, National Children Policy.
Ministry of Women and
Children Affairs, GoB, 1999, National Plan of Action for Children
1997-2002.
Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, GoB, 2000,
National Report on Follow-up to the World Summit for Children.
Mohsin, Amena, 2000, The State of Minority Rights in
Bangladesh.
Primary and Mass Education Division, GoB, 1999,
Education for All: The Year 2000 Assessment.
UNICEF, 1997,
Children of Bangladesh and Their Rights.
UNICEF, 1999,
Adolescent Girls in Bangladesh.
UNICEF, 1999, A Selective
Review of Interventions for Adolescent Girls in Bangladesh.
World
Bank, 1998, Primary Education Development Project (Project Appraisal
Document).
Acronyms
AIDS Acquired
immunodeficiency syndrome
ARI Acute respiratory
infection
ARISE Appropriate Resources for Improving Street Children’s
Environment
BGMEA Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers’ and
Exporters’ Association
BMS Breastmilk substitute
CIDA Canadian
International Development Agency
DANIDA Danish International Development
Assistance
DFID Department for International
Development
DNFE Directorate of Non-formal Education
DYD Department
of Youth Development
EPI Expanded Programme on
Immunization
ESP Essential Services Package
GDP Gross domestic
product
GNP Gross national product
GoB Government of
Bangladesh
GTZ Gesellschaft für Technische
Zusammenarbeit
HAPIC Hygiene Awareness and Product Information
Campaign
HIV Human immunodeficiency virus
HPSP Health and Population
Sector Programme
HPSS Health and Population Sector Strategy
IDD Iodine
deficiency disorder
IDEAL Intensive District Approach to Education for
All
ILO International Labour Organization
IMCI Integrated Management
of Childhood Illness
IPEC International Programme on the Elimination of
Child Labour
JICA Japanese International Cooperation
Agency
KfW Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau
MOHFW Ministry of Health
and Family Welfare
MoWCA Ministry of Women and Children Affairs
NFE Non-formal education
NGO Non-governmental
organization
OPEC Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries
ORT Oral rehydration therapy
PCJSS Parbattya Chattagram Jano
Sanghati Samity
PEDP Primary Education Development
Programme
SAARC South Asian Association for Regional
Cooperation
SDC Swiss Development Corporation
SSC Secondary school
certificate
STD Sexually transmitted disease
TTC Technical training
centre
UHC Upazila Health Complex
UNDCP United Nations Drug Control
Programme
UNDP United Nations Development Programme
UNESCO United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
UNFPA United
Nations Population Fund
UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees
UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund
UPHCP Urban Primary
Health Care Programme
USAID United States Agency for International
Development
VTI Vocational training institute
WATSAN Water and
sanitation
WHO World Health Organization
Glossary
bidi a
kind of indigenous cigarette
char small island created from alluvial
deposits
Jatiyo Sangsad National Parliament
mahalla neighbourhood
(urban)
para community
shalish traditional village mediation
council
sardarni “madam” (in a brothel)
thana police
station
union parishad union council
upazila administrative
subdistrict
zila administrative district
-----
Notes
1 The next population census is due to be carried out
in January 2001.
[2] However, for minors in
respect of whom or whose property a guardian is appointed or in respect of whose
property the Court of Wards
assumes superintendence, the age of majority
is 21 years.
[3] ARISE stands for
Appropriate Resources for Improving Street Children’s Environment.
[4] Ain o Salish Kendro
Documentation Unit, 2000, Violence against Women, 1999.
[5] An “abandoned
child” was defined in the repealed Bangladesh Abandoned Children (Special
Provision) Order 1972 as “a
child which, in the opinion of the Government,
is deserted or unclaimed or born out of wedlock”.
[6] A boy or girl under 18
years of age who has lost his or her father or has been abandoned by his or her
parents or guardians.
[7] The Government has six
shelter homes, one in each of the six divisions.
[8] Ed. Naila Z Khan,
Destroying Our Children’ Brains with Lead Pollution, 2000.
[9] Directorate of Primary
Education/GoB, 1999, A Study of Unenrolled Children and Dropouts at Primary
Level in Four Districts.
[10] GoB/UNICEF/BRAC,
1992, Assessment of Basic Competencies of Children in Bangladesh.
[11] GoB, 1999, An
Assessment of the Achievement of Pupils Completing Grade 4 of Primary
Education.
[12] The one-year
Certificate-in-Education course covers the following subjects: education
policy, child psychology, primary education
and modern educational theory,
Bengali, maths, English, environmental studies, art and craft, physical
education and religion. Trainee
teachers also learn about child rights.
[13] Stipends are
available under four different projects: Female Secondary Stipend Project,
Female Secondary School Assistance Project,
Secondary Education Development
Project and Female Secondary Education Stipend Project. The first project is
funded by the Government
alone, the other three are supported, respectively, by
the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and Norway.
[14] Thirteen additional
VTIs are to be established in district headquarters with no VTI or TTC.
[15] The Government plans
to establish a further 20 Polytechnic Institutes.
[16] The security forces
in the camps include Bangladesh Police, Bangladesh Police Rifles, Armed Force
Battalion and Ansar Forces.
[17] Information obtained
by the probation officer includes the child’s antecedents, family history
and other material circumstances
likely to assist the court in making any
orders.
18 Brought before the court by a probation
officer, senior police officer or any other person authorized by the
Government.
[19] Under the Penal Code
1860 “imprisonment for life” means rigorous imprisonment
for 30 years. In every case where life
imprisonment is imposed, the
Government has discretion to commute the sentence to a term of imprisonment not
exceeding 20 years.
[20] Under the
UNDP-supported project Capacity-Building, Poverty Alleviation and Sustainable
Livelihood of the Socially Disadvantaged
Women and Their Children.
[21] Bangladesh National
Women Lawyers Association Documentation Cell.
[22] Ain o Salish Kendro
Documentation Unit.
[23] Bangladesh National
Women Lawyers Association Documentation Cell.
[24] Lawyers for Human
Rights and Legal Aid, Pakistan.
[25] Bangladesh National
Women Lawyers Association, Survey in the Area of Child and Woman
Trafficking, 1997.
[26] Haroun Er Rashid,
Geography of Bangladesh, 1991.
[27]
Ibid.
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