Allocate more for children
Bangladesh made significant progress in various indicators regarding the well-being of children, however, many areas remain that require attention, said Unicef Bangladesh yesterday.
Unicef Bangladesh held a media briefing at its office in the capital where it shared various activities and focused on the need for public financing for children ahead of the national budget.
It said over the years, Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in areas like access to drinking water, birth registration, stunting, under five mortality, primary education enrolment, and vaccination by age of 12 months.
On the other hand, 51 percent girls are married before their 18th birthday.
Sheldon Yett, Unicef representative to Bangladesh, said, "Violence against children is a huge issue… 89 percent children [1-14 years] experience violence. That's extremely high. Child marriage is another huge issue."
While considering allocation for children in the upcoming national budget, the government should put focus on areas like education, universal health coverage, nutrition, child protection, water sanitation, and social protection.
According to Sheldon's presentation, access to drinking water for children in Bangladesh has increased to 98 percent in 2018 from 68 percent in 1990.
Birth registration has increased to 56 percent in 2019 from 10 percent in 2001, whereas stunting decreased to 28 percent in 2019 from 42 percent in 2013.
Also, under five mortality dropped to 28 per 1,000 live births in 2020 from 82 in 2001. Net enrolment in primary education increased to 97.4 percent 2021 from 61.2 percent in 1987.
Moreover, the percentage of children fully vaccinated by age of 12 months has increased to 83.9 in 2019 from 52 in 2001.
On the other hand, lockdowns impacted children's learning and well-being amid the pandemic with education of about 37 million children was severely disrupted.
Also, poverty rate is higher for households with children (31.2 percent) than households without children (24.3 percent) while 75 percent of secondary graduates did not attain basic competencies in 2021.
Moreover, Bangladesh ranks 15th as per Children's Climate Risk Index-2021.
Ashiq Iqbal, social and economic analysis specialist at Unicef Bangladesh, said while considering allocation for children in the upcoming national budget, the government should put focus on areas like education, universal health coverage, nutrition, child protection, water sanitation, and social protection.
Besides increasing allocation, there is also need for enhancing budget spending capacities of different ministries, he said.
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