Children staged a drama at the Shilpakala Academy auditorium in the city yesterday to raise awareness about their rights set out by The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Save the Children Australia in cooperation with Manusher Jonno Foundation and Plan organised the event.
The drama titled 'Bemil' focused on various forms of violations of child rights such as corporal punishment, child abuse, child trafficking, sexual exploitation and drug abuse.
The main objective of the drama is to prepare children to draft an alternative report on child rights situation in Bangladesh by raising awareness and enhancing their skills to monitor the situation, said an official of the Save the Children Australia. The report will be submitted to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Children in 2012.
For the first time, the children will draft the alternative report under the coordination of Save the Children Australia. To this end, the organisation in collaboration with Manusher Jonno Foundation and Plan had undertaken a project titled 'Our Report Towards Our Bangladesh'.
The key articles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Children are to eliminate child discrimination, putting top most priority on child interest, effective role of parents to establish child rights and to respect children's opinion.
Representatives of the child rights organisation, 132 children and 48 guardians form 12 districts across the country attended the function.