Bangladesh is one of the first twenty-two signatories to the UN convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). It has ratified the CRC within three months of its adoption by the UN general assembly in November 1989,which came into force on 2 September 1990. The World Summit for children held at the end of the same month adopted a declaration on the Survival, Protection, Development and Participation of children. The subsequent SAARC Summit also affirmed the summit goals. As a state party to this, Bangladesh has taken a number of measures like (1) Launched the Decade Action Plan for the girl child (1991-2000), (2) Launched the first National Plan of Action (NPA) for children (1991-1995), (3) Adopted the National Children Policy in 1994, (4) Constituted the National Children Council and expanded the child focused activities and services through a number of Ministries. The NGOs also contribute significantly to supplement the Government efforts.

Pursuant to Article 44, Paragraph 1 of UNCRC, the state party should submit to the United Nations once in every five years and Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar Forum (BSAF) will submit the alternative report to the UN NGO committee on the situation of the children in Bangladesh. As such Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar Forum already submitted two alternative reports within 2001; one is in 1997 and another is in the year 2003. BSAF in fact, was established in the backdrop of adoption of the UNCRC with a commitment and promote CRC in Bangladesh.

Child Rights and Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar Forum:

Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar Forum (BSAF), a National Network of 193 Bangladeshi NGOs (as of March 2004) has been working since 1991 with the goal to promote the UNCRC in Bangladesh. Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar Forum (BSAF) has been working in close cooperation with the government from its inception to-date.

Some basic services have been expanded recently in response to the enormity of the needs. However, more a 3 million children have no access to education and about 40% of the enrolled children are drop out from school every year. These children are obviously at risk of vulnerability such as Worst form of child labour, trafficking, sexual abuse etc. This indicates that there are still big gap between the needs of the children in difficult circumstances and the services available. Meeting these needs and rights of the children certainly demands multi-sectorial interventions. A number of ministries have initiated actions in this regard but reducing and stopping abuse and exploitation of children is a very difficult task. To address such a complicated issue, a pro-active role and cooperate with the government in promoting child rights and implementing the programme is essential.

In this context, BSAF as an apex body of the NGOs in child rights sector can play an important role particularly in addressing the issues of the children in need of special protection on Worst form of child labor, trafficking, sexual abuse, street children, Vulnerability to HIV/AIDS of children and also ensuring children participation in all respects.

The Goal:

The Goal of the Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar Forum (BSAF) is to promote the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Vision: