On
September 30, 2003 Bangladesh presented its 2nd periodic
report in Geneva to UNCRC Monitoring Committee. The
Concluding observations of the committee raised concern
about some key areas, which are:
1.
General Measures of Implementation
The committees Previous recommendations (Withdrawal
of Reservation, violence against children, review of
the legislation, data collection, birth registration,
child labour, and juvenile justice system including
Coordination, Independent Monitoring Structure, National
Plan of Action, Resources of children, Training / dissemination
of the Convention,
2. Definition of the Children
3. General Principles (Non-discrimination, best interests
of the children, Right to life, Respect for the views
of the child)
4. Civil Rights and freedoms (Birth registration, Name
and nationality, Torture and other cruel, inhuman or
regarding treatment or punishment, Corporate punishment)
5. Family environment and alternative care (Child deprived
of family environment, Adoption, Abuse, neglect and
violence)
6. Basic health and welfare (Environmental Pollution,
Children with disability, HIV/AIDS, Adolescent health,
Harmful traditional practices)
7. Education, leisure and cultural activities (Girl
Education)
8. Special protection measures (Refugee and internally
displaced children, Economic exploitation, including
child labour, Sexual exploitation including prostitution,
sale, trafficking and abduction, Children living and/or
working in the street, Administration of juvenile justice,
Minorities)
UNICEF
is the world's leading children's organization. Over
the last six decades, UNICEF has cultivated policy positions
on a wide range of issues that affect children. UNICEF
condemns any statement in any form that encourages children
to hate, discriminate, or to take to violent actions.
Education ensures a better quality of life for all children,
and a better world for us all. And every child has the
fundamental right to a quality basic education. Across
the world, girls are less likely to be enrolled in school,
and even less likely to complete a basic education,
than boys. In many countries, girls face much bigger
barriers to getting into school. Entrenched traditions,
poverty, and inadequate facilities are some of the many
hurdles that disproportionately affect girls. UNICEF
has five key priorities for children:
1
Child Protection
2 Immunization
3 Early Childhood
4 Fighting HIV/AIDS
5 Girls Education
UNICEF has five priorities, all of which focus on saving
children’s lives and improving their chances of
becoming productive citizens. UNICEF priorities underpin
the Millennium Development Goals and are central to
the programme of action adopted by the nations of the
world at the UN Special Session on Children 2002.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in his opening statement
to the General Assembly, addressed the children of the
world. "We, the grown-ups, have failed you deplorably,”
he said, adding, "One in three of you has suffered
from malnutrition before you turned five years old.
One in four of you have not been immunized against any
disease. Almost one in five of you are not attending
school. We, the grown-ups, must reverse this list of
failures."
UNICEF’s
Millennium Development Goals:
1 Two goals – achieve universal primary Education
and promote gender equality and empower women –
are critical to eradicating extreme poverty and hunger.
Every year of Schooling completed by girls is a step
towards eliminating poverty.
2 Gender equality in education and women’s empowerment
are critical to achieving universal primary education.
When school doors swing open for girls, both boys and
girls walk through.
3 Two goals – achieve universal primary Education
and promote gender equality and empower women –
are critical to reducing child mortality. As girls’
education rates rise, child mortality rates plummet.
4 Two goals – achieve universal primary Education
and promote gender equality and empower women –
are critical to improving maternal health. Education
is good medicine for mothers and their children.
5 Two goals – achieve universal primary Education
and promote gender equality and empower women –
are critical to combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other
diseases. Prevention and treatment are the most powerful
vehicles in this fight. Girl’s education drives
both.
6 Two goals – achieve universal primary Education
and promote gender equality and empower women –
are critical to ensuring environmental sustainability.
Schools with safe water and separate latrines improve
girls’ attendance and the equality of life for
communities.
7 Two goals – achieve universal primary Education
and promote gender equality and empower women –
are critical to ensuring environmental sustainability.
Schools with safe water and separate latrines improve
girls’ attendance and the equality of life for
communities.
2nd
World Congress against Commercial sex Exploitation of
Children at Yokohama on 17-20 December 2001:
The Congress aims to draw attention to the plight of
children in the world sex trade, review progress made
since the first World Congress Against Commercial Sexual
Exploitation of Children and devise further methods
to protect children from sexual exploitation.
Governments, Non-Governmental Organizations and others
came together for the first time in Stockholm, Sweden
five years ago, to work on a global basis against the
commercial sexual exploitation of children.
These
regional working meetings signify important progress
since 1996, because the discussions were based on data
and research from the field, bringing the process closer
to the work of implementing action on the ground. These
conferences have produced regional strategies, partnerships
and key interventions for tackling commercial sexual
exploitation of children.
An
estimated one million children (mainly girls) enter
the multi-billion dollar commercial sex trade every
year. These children are often lured with the promises
of an education or a "good job." Girls appear
to be forced into the sex industry at increasingly younger
ages partly as a result of the mistaken belief that
younger girls are unlikely to be infected with the HIV/AIDS
virus.
Optional Protocol
The Optional Protocol calls for governments to take
tangible steps to ensure that adults involved in the
exploitation of children are punished. It also urges
governments to take decisive action when their nationals
take part in the abuse of children abroad. Countries
are encouraged to co-operate to ensure the protection
of children trafficked across borders. The Protocol
also stipulates the need to protect particularly vulnerable
groups of children and to further protect the rights
of child victims - especially those who are witnesses
in court proceedings. The Optional Protocol also calls
on State Parties to ensure that children who have been
sexually trafficked, exploited or sexually abused receive
services designed to allow for their full social reintegration
as well as their physical and psychological recovery.
The Protocol has been signed by 89 countries and ratified
by 16. These include: Andorra, Bangladesh, Cuba, Democratic
Republic of Congo, Holy See, Iceland, Kazakhtan, Morocco,
Norway, Panama, Qatar, Romania, Sierra Leone, Spain,
Uganda and Viet Nam. UNICEF urges those countries that
have already signed to now confirm their commitment
through ratification and for all remaining countries
to guarantee the standards in the Optional Protocol
to their children.
"Universal ratification of the Optional Protocol
by the upcoming Special Session on Children would send
a powerful message of commitment" Bellamy said.
"The momentum created through the Yokohama Conference
must be maintained. The first tangible step is the ratification
of this Optional Protocol. It is now urgent that governments
implement the standards. Children who are victims of
child prostitution, exploitation, trafficking and sexual
abuse deserve every protection we can offer."
At the UN General Assembly a proposal for Year 2004
to be declared as the International Year against Trafficking
is under discussion. International Day on Child Trafficking
should be a logical outcome of the year too.
However
to ensure that 2004 is declared the year against Human
Trafficking we will have to lobby both nationally and
internationally. The International Campaign against
Child Trafficking, of which CACT is also a part, has
taken on itself the role for International lobbying.
ICaCT clearly express the need for backing of same States.
Let us begin this year itself to plan our demands accordingly,
if the year is adopted.
South
Asia Regional Policy Dialogue on Human Trafficking organized
by Himalayan Human rights Monitors (Him Rights) in collaboration
with Plan Nepal on December 21 – 22, 2003 in Lalitpur,
Nepal at the threshold of the 12th South Asian Association
for Regional Cooperation Summit unanimously adopt the
following “PEOPLE’S PLEDGE” with a
mission to develop functional partnership on the issues
of common critical concern as identify by Assembly and
lobby for appropriate action by the member states of
the SAARC. The summit recommended 14 points. Among these
14 points the summit has given emphasis on; to ratify
the UN protocol to Prevent, suppress and Punish Trafficking
in persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing
the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized crime-2000
and the International Labour Organization Convention
182.
Save
the Children Alliance members, increasingly moving towards
rights based programming have diverse and rich experiences
in country level programming to promote children’s
rights. Child Rights programming (CRP) is a priority
area for save the children at global, regional and country
levels. The overall vision is to achieve greater benefits
for children by operating a coherent programe based
on children’s rights and key child rights issue.
Child
Issue in Poverty Reduction Strategic Paper (PRSP):
Bangladesh
has one of the most vulnerable economics, characterized
by extremely high population density, low resource base,
and high incidence of natural disasters. These have
adverse implications for long-term savings, investment
and growth. Such defining features impart certain uniqueness
to the formulation of the poverty reduction strategy.
Among
12 thematic groups of PRSP; Women and Children Advancement
and Rights is one of them. Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar
Forum is one of the members of this group.
The
vision in the present strategy embraces a comprehensive
approach premised on a rights-based framework, that
highlights the need of progressive realization of rights
in the shortest possible time. For this, poverty reduction
(with special focus on the removal of hunger and chronic
poverty) and accelerating the pace of social development
(with particular emphasis on empowering the poor and
achieving gender equality) have been made the overarching
strategic goals.
The
draft focuses on the following areas related to CRC/children
advancement and rights:
1 Prevention
2 Protection
3 Recovery and Reintegration
4 Perpetrators
5 Child Participation
6 HIV/AIDS, STIs and Substance Abuse
7 Coordination and Monitoring
Adopting
a comprehensive approach and taking into account the
country's past international commitments (such as the
MDGs) and evolving national realities, the strategy
envisions that, by the year 2015, Bangladesh would achieve
the following targets:
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