15pc under-9 children at risk of disabilities: Survey

Speakers at a discussion on a survey report titled "Replication of Mini-Model of Bangladesh Protibondhi Foundation (BPF) in Six Divisions". Save the Children and BPF jointly conducted the survey and organised the discussion at Jatiya Press Club in the capital yesterday. Photo: STAR

More than fifteen percent of the country's children below nine years of age are at risk of different forms of disabilities, a survey report claimed yesterday.
It said these at-risk children were being abused more than the non-risk ones.
Around 34 percent of the at-risk children fall victims to different forms of abuses, while 28 percent of the non-risk face the problems, it added.
The survey report, which was launched during a discussion at the capital's Jatiya Press Club, identified family members, relatives, and neighbours as the abusers.
The findings are based on the interviews of 3,005 under-nine children. Save the Children and Bangladesh Protibondhi Foundation (BPF) jointly conducted the survey across six divisions of Bangladesh between December 2011 and November 2012.
Forty-nine percent of the respondents were female children while 51 percent were male.
Titled "Replication of Mini-Model of BPF in Six Divisions", the stduy suggested that children in Sylhet, Chittagong and Rangpur divisions were at higher risk of disabilities.
The report said more than 40 percent of the children at risk of disabilities shared how they faced physical tortures. On the other hand, 23 percent of non-risk children shared the same stories, it said.
The report mentioned that parents of the at-risk children expressed their frustration about the negative social attitude and stigma against their children.
Participating in the discussion on the survey findings, speakers laid emphasis on proper steps for the children's safety in their own houses and shelter homes. They also highlighted the need for the guardians' active role in the safety measures.
The speakers proposed to include disability issue in the syllabus of medical students and called for a standard child protection policy and involvement of the civil society for mainstreaming the physically challenged children.
Kristine Zeuthen Jeppesen, programme manager of Save the Children in Asia and West Africa, and Dr Shamim Ferdous, executive director of BPF, among others, spoke on the occasion.