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A Study on
Child Rights Governance
Situation in Bangladesh
AStudyonChildRightsGovernanceSituationinBangladesh
A Study on
Child Rights Governance
Situation in Bangladesh
House CWN (A)35, Road 43
Gulshan 2, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Phone: +88-02-9861690
Fax: +88-02-9886372
Researcher:
Dr. Charika Marasinghe
International Child Rights Law Consultant, Sri Lanka
Associate team members:
Md. Mokhlesur Rahman
Senior officer – Research & Publications
Child Rights Governance, Save the Children
Chowdhury Tayub Tazamul (Rana)
Senior Manager- Civil Society & Governance
Child Rights Governance, Save the Children
Coordinated and supervised by:
Birgit Lundbak
Director – Child Rights Governance
Published:
Child Rights Governance
Save the Children in Bangladesh
house – CWN(A) 35, Road- 43, Gulshan-2, Dhaka 1212
Cover design:
Raihan Ahmed
Member of Ichchey Meida
Printing:
ROOT Marketing Services
First edition:
December 2012
Copy right:
Save the Children
ISBN:
Save the Children in Bangladesh is working with Child Rights Governance with a vision that far more
children have their rights fulfilled. The programme comprise of child rights monitoring and advocacy,
strengthening child friendly governance systems and building awareness and capacity of civil society.
Your comments on child rights governance in general and this report in particularly are very much
welcome. Please write to birgit.lundbak@savethechildren.org.
Abbreviations VI
List of Tables VII
Preface X
Executive Summary 12
1 Introduction 16
1.1 Study on Child Rights Governance Analysis 16
1.1.1 Purpose, Objectives and Scope of the Study 16
1.1.2 Methodology 16
1.1.3 Conceptual Framework, Constraints and Limitations 16
2 Child Rights Governance Contextual Framework 17
2.1 Country Context 17
2.1.1 Demographic Features 17
2.1.2 Birth of a Nation and the Liberation Struggle 18
2.1.3 National Governance 19
2.1.4 Local Governance 21
2.1.5 Rule of Law and Governance 22
2.1.6 Socio-Economic Developments 24
2.2 International Human Rights Treaty Obligations 26
2.2.1 International Treaties Ratified or Acceded to by Bangladesh 27
2.2.2 Treaty Obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Child Rights of the Child 27
2.2.3 Achievements in and Impediments to Realization of Child Rights 28
2.3 Child Rights Governance: Theory and Practice 28
2.3.1 What is Child Rights Governance? 28
2.3.2 General Measures of Implementation 29
2.3.3 Interpretative Guidance from Good Governance 32
3 Strengthening National Systems 41
3.1 National Laws, Policies and Plans of Action 42
3.1.1 Enactment/Amendment of Laws 42
3.1.2 Law Enforcement 47
3.1.3 Interpretation of the Laws 52
3.1.4 National Strategies, Policies and Action Plans for Children 56
3.2 Coordination of Implementation of Children’s Rights 60
Research Team Table of Contents
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Child Rights Governance Analysis (CRGA) Bangladesh 2012
iii
Child Rights Governance Analysis (CRGA) Bangladesh 2012
2.6.1 The Anti-corruption Act of 2004 and the Anti-corruption Commission 127
2.6.2 Other Legislative Measures 128
2.6.3 Corruption Index 129
2.6.4 Trends in Corruption 130
2.6.5 UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) and Bangladesh’s International Treaty Obligations
133
2.7 Data collection 139
2.7.1 Institutions Responsible for Data Collection 140
3. Building Awareness and Capacity 143
5.1 Civil Society 143
5.1.1 Contribution of Civil Society 143
5.1.2 Politics and Civil Society 144
5.1.3 Civil Society and Government Partnerships 145
5.1.4 Civil Society and Child Rights 145
5.2 Government of Bangladesh 148
5.3 Children 149
5.3.1 Fundamentals of Capacity Building 149
5.3.2 Child Participation in Child Rights Governance 149
6. Conclusion 153
Annex 1 155
Bibliography 156
Annex 2 164
1.2.1 Ministry of Women and Children Affairs (MOWCA) 61
1.2.2 Inter-ministerial CRC Committee (also known as CRC Standing Committee) 63
1.2.3 National Council for Children (NCC) and National Council for Women and
Child Development (NCWCD) 63
1.2.4 Coordinating MDG Goals 64
1.2.5 Focal Points within Ministries 64
1.2.6 National Children’s Task Force (NCTF) 65
1.2.7 Coordination at Sub National Level 65
1.3 Local Government Structure and Functions relating to Children 67
1.3.1 Zila Parishad 68
1.3.2 Upazila Parishad 68
1.3.3 Union Parishad 69
1.3.4 City Corporations and Paurashavas 70
1.3.5 UNDP and Local Governance 70
1.4 Economic Governance 73
1.4.1 Budgetary Concepts and General Framework of the Budgetary Procedure 74
1.4.2 Taxation 82
1.5 Birth Registration and Citizenship 88
1.5.1 Birth Registration 88
1.5.2 Citizenship 93
4. Child Rights Monitoring 99
4.1 International Standard Setting on Independent Child Rights Monitoring Mechanisms 100
4.1.1 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 100
4.1.2 Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action 100
4.1.3 Paris Principles 101
4.1.4 Standards for Independent Human Rights Institutions, 101
European Network of Ombudspersons for Children (ENOC)
4.2 Essential characteristics of an independent child rights monitoring mechanism 101
2.2.1 Legality and Independence 101
2.2.2 Powers and Functions 103
2.3 National Human Rights Commission of Bangladesh 106
2.3.1 Legal Framework of the Commission 107
2.3.2 UNDP Capacity Development Project 113
2.4 Right to Information Act 115
2.4.1 Legal Framework of the Act 116
2.4.2 Powers and Functions of the Information Commission 117
2.5 Child-focussed Budget Analyses 120
2.6 Anti-Corruption 126
iv
Child Rights Governance Analysis (CRGA) Bangladesh 2012
v
Child Rights Governance Analysis (CRGA) Bangladesh 2012
ACC Anti-Corruption Commission
ADP Annual Development Programme
BAC Bureau of Anti-Corruption
BSA Bangladesh Shishu Academy
BSAF Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar Forum
CLU Child Labour Unit
CPI Corruption Perceptions Index
CRG Child Rights Governance
CSOs Civil Society Organizations
GDP Gross Domestic Product
ILO International Labour Organization
INGOs International Non-governmental organizations
JATI Judicial Administrative Training Institute
MoE Ministry of Education
MDG Millennium Development Goals
MoHFW Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
MoLE Ministry of Labour and Employment
MoPME Ministry of Primary and Mass Education
MoSW Ministry of Social Welfare
MoWCA Ministry of Women and Children
NBR National Board of Revenue
NCC National Council for Children
NCTF National Children’s Task Force
NCP National Child Parliament
NCC National Council for Children
NCWCD National Council for Women and Child Development
NGOs Non-governmental organizations
NHRC National Human Rights Commission
NPA National Plan of Action
RTI Right to Information
SSN Social Safety Net
UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund
UNCRC United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
UNDP United Nations Development Programme
Table No. Subject
Table 2.1 Demographic Status of Bangladesh
Table 2.2 Distribution of Children (0-17 years) by Geographic Regions
Table 2.3 National Governance Structure
Table: 2.4 Succession in Political Leadership Since Independence
Table 2.5 Local Governance Structure
Table 2.6 Status of Children Against Key MDG Indicators (per cent)
Table 2.7 Status of MDGs in Bangladesh
Table 2.8 International Treaty Obligations Undertaken by Bangladesh
Table 2.9 Rights-Based Approach to Governance
Table 2.10 Child Rights Governance Model
Table 2.11 Duty Bearers responsible for Governance at National Levels
Table 2.12 Duty Bearers responsible for Governance at Sub National Levels
Table 3.1 Comparison of the Mandate of MoWCA and Ministry of Social Welfare
Table 3.2 Functions of Upazila Parishads
Table 3.3 Budgetary Time Frame
Table 3.4 Total Revenue and Taxes as Percentage of GDP
Table 3.5 Birth Registration of Children under the Age of 5 years: Comparison of 2006 and 2009 MCIS Surveys
Table 3.6 Birth Registration by Educational Level of Mothers and Caretakers
Table 3.7 Birth Registration by Wealth Index Quintiles
Table 4.1 Complaints handled by the NHRC
Table 4.2 Five-Year Strategic Plan
Table 4.3 Budget Allocation of Child-Related Ministries
Table 4.4 Pattern in Budget Allocation
Table 4.5 Allocation in ADP for the Six Selected ministries
Table 4.6 Bangladesh’s Scores in CPI (2001-2011)
Table 4.7 CPI: Performance of South Asian Countries 2010-2011
Table 4.8 National Estimate of Bribery
Table 4.9 Percentage of Households Who Experienced Corruption
Table 4.10 Corruption – bias against poor
Table 4.11 Key Statistics Child Labour Unit, Ministry of Labour and Employment
Table 5.1 Rise of NGOs Receiving Foreign Funding Since 1990s in Bangladesh
Table 5.2 CSO Active at Different Geographic Levels
Table 5.3 Statistics of Registered CSOs in Bangladesh
Table 5.4 Statistics of CSOs and Total Population of Selected Countries in Asia
Table 5.5 Policy interests of civil society organizations
Table 5.6 Relationship of CSOs with Ruling Party and Opposition
Table 5.7 Presence of the National Children’s Task Force
Abbreviations List of Tables
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Child Rights Governance Analysis (CRGA) Bangladesh 2012
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Child Rights Governance Analysis (CRGA) Bangladesh 2012
viii
Child Rights Governance Analysis (CRGA) Bangladesh 2012
ix
Child Rights Governance Analysis (CRGA) Bangladesh 2012
Save the Children is working on Child Rights Governance with the aim of building societies that fulfill children rights.
Our long-term vision is that children have their rights fulfilled. This requires:
• All States to meet their obligations to monitor and implement children’s rights
• A strong civil society, including children, holding States and the international community to account for
children’s rights.
In Bangladesh, we are working with the government of Bangladesh and civil society, including children’s own
organizations, academia, media and the private sector, to reach this vision. Many good steps have been taken to
improve governance for children by enacting important new legislation. However more emphasis needs to be given
to implementation, resourcing, monitoring and coordination. Governance can be defined in many ways. Perhaps the
best indication that there is good governance is when even marginalized children have their rights met.
Securing good governance for children is complex. First of all it requires recognition of children as civil society actors
in their own rights. It also requires a whole range of policy areas to be integrated and coordinated, since the
fulfilment of children’s rights involves almost all sectors. It also requires good laws, implementation, coordination,
resourcing.
To get a better overview of the governance situation for children, Save the Children and the Child Rights
Governance Assembly (CRGA), a network of 17 NGOs and children’s networks, jointly commissioned this study. It
provides an overview of the most important legal frameworks, laws, institutions and actors important for children.
It analyzes the reports made to the UN CRC committee and the concluding observations and analyzes the
governance structure at both national and local level.
Under each section the report brings out a number of recommendations. Here I would like to particularly mention
two of the key recommendations:
1. The need for a single and empowered entity to strengthen the coordination of children’s issues by overseeing
the implementation and coordination of all work related to children. As of today there is not even a separate
directorate for children in the Ministry of Women and Children’s affairs, and the fact that the Ministry is headed
by a State Minister rather than a Cabinet Minister also gives it a relatively weaker position compared to other
ministries.
2. The need for an independent Child rights Commissioner or Childrens Ombudsman who can act as a watch dog
and independently monitor children’s rights, highlight violations of children’s rights, monitor standards of
service provision and demand accountability of duty bearers, and most importantly start immediate
investigation and enforcement measures on behalf of affected children, families and communities to get redress
and end the culture of impunity for child rights violations. The establishment of a Child Rights Commission is
part of the new National Policy on Children (2011). It is also mentioned in the Constitution and it has been
repeatedly recommended by the CRC Committee in its Concluding Observations.
We hope this analysis will be useful for all actors in government, civil society and private sector who want to work
for the best interest of children in Bangladesh.
Michael McGrath
Country Director Bangladesh
Save the Children
Introduction
The relational link and the importance of good governance for the promotion and protection of human rights have
long been discussed and debated. However, there was little or no reference to the subject of child rights governance
until Save the Children International innovated and incorporated the child rights governance into its comprehensive
child rights thematic programme areas. The child rights governance programme in its formative and evolving stage
has been unfolding and evolving simultaneously, learning and applying the lessons learned from other thematic areas.
This study aims at contributing to the child rights discourse by enriching and expanding both knowledge and
experiential resources that would provide guidance and direction for forging strategic direction in child rights
programme planning, implementation, evaluation and monitoring. Child rights governance is the most important
underpinning factor that provides a solid foundation upon which all other child rights thematic areas could
strategically build their child rights programming work.
Child Rights Governance: theory and practice
Drawing inspiration and guidance from the UNCRC Committee’s General Comment No.5 on general measures of
implementation, the Save the Children International’s own understanding of the concept and the UNDP’s definition
of good governance, the study has made a genuine effort of coming up with a definition that would succinctly and
correctly explain the essential characteristics of the concept of child rights governance. Within this contextual
understanding and framework the study proposes the following definition of child rights governance:
“Execution of law and policy and exercise of economic, political and administrative power, authority, and management
of monetary, human and material resources and governance of institutions, systems and processes in a manner
respectful of and responsive to promoting and protecting child rights guaranteed in the United Nations Convention on
the Rights of Child.”
Expanding on the definition of child rights governance the study has identified certain substantive and procedural
principles that could be applied as criteria for assessing the existing status of child rights governance and setting
benchmarks to enhance the same. The substantive principles identified by the study include best interests of the
child, non-discrimination, child participation, transparency, accountability, sustainability, integrity, impartiality,
efficiency and equity. The procedural principles of child rights governance are classified under the themes:
Institutional Mandates/Portfolios, Role Profiles/Terms of References, Child-friendly processes, procedures and
systems, Compatibility of Laws, Policies and Strategies, Implementation of Laws, Policies and Strategies,
Coordination among and within institutions, Review and Evaluation of Performance, Independent Monitoring,
Advocacy and Networking and Capacity Building.
Strengthening National Systems
Save the Children International’s child rights governance thematic area identifies strengthening national systems as
one of the three pillars on which the thematic area is built upon. The study examines national laws, policies and plans
of action to understand the extent to which they conform with the UNCRC treaty obligations. It appears that
although new laws, policies and action plans have been adopted and amendments have been made to existing laws,
problems have been encountered in implementing these laws and policies. In interpreting the law, the judiciary has
adopted a progressive approach by addressing the gaps in the laws relating to children and flaws in enforcement. One
of the major impediments in implementing child rights is the absence of a single body with a powerful portfolio to
Preface Executive Summary
effectively coordinate the multi-faceted powers and functions carried out by multi-sectoral agencies of the
government at national and sub national levels. Also, there is the need for ministerial level coordination work carried
out at national and sub national levels relating to children.
Economic governance can be considered as one of the most difficult and complex aspects of strengthening national
systems. An in-depth knowledge of the budgetary concepts and the budgetary procedure is required to understand
at which stages of the economic governance process interventions could be made to promote and protect child
rights. The study has extended the economic governance discussion to taxation and examines taxation system
thoroughly to ascertain ways and means of influencing child rights governance to enhance the revenue income
contribution to the Annual Development Programme (ADP) which would directly impact on the lives of children.
Save the Children International’s child rights governance thematic area recognizes birth registration and citizenship
as part of its endeavours to strengthening national systems. Birth registration legitimises and officially endorses the
existence of a child before the law. It is a kind of licence that qualifies the child to seek, claim and enjoy all the rights
guaranteed in the UNCRC. Birth registration is also the initial step towards claiming citizenship and nationality. The
study has observed the progress the country has made in achieving universal birth registration and avenues for
interventions for strengthening the system. Special attention was paid to political sensitivity surrounding citizenship
of enclave population, Rohingyas and Biharis in the study. It also emphasizes that child rights governance strategy
relating to birth registration and citizenship should acknowledge the work of other actors in the field to avoid
duplication and forge new collaborative interventions.
Child Rights Monitoring
International standard setting especially the UNCRC General Comment No.2 on Independent Monitoring
Mechanisms, Paris Principles and the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action provides valuable interpretative
guidance in defining child rights monitoring within a child rights governance framework. In light of these international
standards the study examines the powers and functions of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and
how effectively it could exercise its present powers and functions to engage in child rights monitoring work. The
NHRC has dealt with child rights issues during its brief period of existence and also its five-year strategic plan has
specifically identified child rights and child labour as strategic focus areas. The mandate and profile of the NHRC set
an ideal stage for promoting child rights governance.
The Right to Information Act is another resourceful tool for child rights governance, more specifically for monitoring
child rights violations. It is a law with the potential of being used even by children especially to acquaint themselves
of their entitlements, to access public services and facilities, to receive protection of the law, to track and detect
corrupt institutions, corrupt officials and corrupt practices, to strengthen the service delivery mechanisms and to
enhance the capacity of institutions. However, prior to any involvement of children in using the provisions of the
Right to Information Act, the child-friendly procedures for such interventions should be in place and also children
should be given a special training in applying the Act for child rights work to ensure that children possess accurate
knowledge of the legitimate use of the Act.
Child-focussed Budget Analyses
Influencing the budgetary process with the aim of making it more child-centred is an important dimension of child
rights governance. A recent study on child-centred budgeting by Save the Children International has revealed that
the key ministries with a substantial portfolio relating to children such as Ministry of Primary and Mass Education,
Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Ministry of Social Welfare, and Ministry of Labour
and Employment have not attracted even one fifth of the total budget. Resourcing for children is a highly technical
process which goes through different stages of planning, preparing proposals, reviewing, allocating, approving and
finally disbursing funds at national and sub national levels. A comprehensive understanding of this long drawn and
complex process is essential before moving forward with any interventions addressing the pertinent issues relating
to budgetary allocations for children. Assessment of the budgetary requirements would mean working with
ministries with different cabinet portfolios and a remit on children and also their counterparts at the sub national
level.
Anti-corruption
The value of anti-corruption indicators as child rights monitoring methods have been highlighted in the child
rights governance thematic area. Adverse impact of corruption drastically undermines the rights of children of today
and the generations to come. Corruption abates the country’s resources and weakens its capacity to finance child
rights implementation programmes. It also curtails the enjoyment of child rights and discriminatory outcomes
derived from corrupt practices deny the child’s right to non-discrimination and equality. Corruption decreases the
parents’ and care-givers’ purchasing power to care for the basic needs of children and accessing public services to
fulfilling children’s needs. When law enforcement institutions and the judiciary succumbed to corrupt practices the
rights of children who come into contact with the law as victims, offenders and witnesses get severely impaired.
Data Collection Systems
As an important child rights monitoring indicator, data collection systems provide insightful information not only to
assess, evaluate and review achievements made in any chosen area of child rights but also to identify gaps and
impediments in implementing child rights and initiate remedial action for rectification. Through statistical data
analyses, the national and regional disparities in terms of geographical, socio-economic, gender - and age-based
information and trends relating to fulfilment of child rights can be elicited.
Building Awareness and Capacity
Improving the child rights governance situation in the country is a phenomenal task that needs the active
participation and contribution of multiple stakeholders – the government, the civil society organizations and the
children themselves. The civil society resource pool in Bangladesh is a giant force if utilized appropriately and
effectively, it would pay great dividends to the child rights governance thematic area. Six different types of civil
society organizations that could play a catalytic role in the child rights governance discourse have been identified in
the study.
Given the politically sensitive nature of the issues in child rights governance, building awareness and capacity of the
civil society organizations on child rights governance is a priority. Furthermore, unlike good governance, child rights
governance is a recent phenomenon still in an infant phase. Hence the need for a precise understanding of the subject
prior to getting actively involved in the child rights governance landscape.
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Child Rights Governance Analysis (CRGA) Bangladesh 2012
xi
Child Rights Governance Analysis (CRGA) Bangladesh 2012
effectively coordinate the multi-faceted powers and functions carried out by multi-sectoral agencies of the
government at national and sub national levels. Also, there is the need for ministerial level coordination work carried
out at national and sub national levels relating to children.
Economic governance can be considered as one of the most difficult and complex aspects of strengthening national
systems. An in-depth knowledge of the budgetary concepts and the budgetary procedure is required to understand
at which stages of the economic governance process interventions could be made to promote and protect child
rights. The study has extended the economic governance discussion to taxation and examines taxation system
thoroughly to ascertain ways and means of influencing child rights governance to enhance the revenue income
contribution to the Annual Development Programme (ADP) which would directly impact on the lives of children.
Save the Children International’s child rights governance thematic area recognizes birth registration and citizenship
as part of its endeavours to strengthening national systems. Birth registration legitimises and officially endorses the
existence of a child before the law. It is a kind of licence that qualifies the child to seek, claim and enjoy all the rights
guaranteed in the UNCRC. Birth registration is also the initial step towards claiming citizenship and nationality. The
study has observed the progress the country has made in achieving universal birth registration and avenues for
interventions for strengthening the system. Special attention was paid to political sensitivity surrounding citizenship
of enclave population, Rohingyas and Biharis in the study. It also emphasizes that child rights governance strategy
relating to birth registration and citizenship should acknowledge the work of other actors in the field to avoid
duplication and forge new collaborative interventions.
Child Rights Monitoring
International standard setting especially the UNCRC General Comment No.2 on Independent Monitoring
Mechanisms, Paris Principles and the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action provides valuable interpretative
guidance in defining child rights monitoring within a child rights governance framework. In light of these international
standards the study examines the powers and functions of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and
how effectively it could exercise its present powers and functions to engage in child rights monitoring work. The
NHRC has dealt with child rights issues during its brief period of existence and also its five-year strategic plan has
specifically identified child rights and child labour as strategic focus areas. The mandate and profile of the NHRC set
an ideal stage for promoting child rights governance.
The Right to Information Act is another resourceful tool for child rights governance, more specifically for monitoring
child rights violations. It is a law with the potential of being used even by children especially to acquaint themselves
of their entitlements, to access public services and facilities, to receive protection of the law, to track and detect
corrupt institutions, corrupt officials and corrupt practices, to strengthen the service delivery mechanisms and to
enhance the capacity of institutions. However, prior to any involvement of children in using the provisions of the
Right to Information Act, the child-friendly procedures for such interventions should be in place and also children
should be given a special training in applying the Act for child rights work to ensure that children possess accurate
knowledge of the legitimate use of the Act.
Child-focussed Budget Analyses
Influencing the budgetary process with the aim of making it more child-centred is an important dimension of child
rights governance. A recent study on child-centred budgeting by Save the Children International has revealed that
the key ministries with a substantial portfolio relating to children such as Ministry of Primary and Mass Education,
Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Ministry of Social Welfare, and Ministry of Labour
and Employment have not attracted even one fifth of the total budget. Resourcing for children is a highly technical
x
Child Rights Governance Analysis (CRGA) Bangladesh 2012
Introduction
Introduction
1
Effective from October 1 2011, Save the Children in Bangladesh was restructured as one organization
amalgamating US, UK, Australia and Sweden-Denmark programmes under the title ‘Save the Children
International’.When the two organizations functioned as two separate entities, Save the Children Australia
focussed on Children's Participation through a national children's platform, NCTF, Child Parliament and
national Child rights monitoring and whereas Save the Children Sweden-Denmark emphasized on civil
society, media, budget analysis, capacity building, CRC in academia, media etc.
The newly formed CRG-team envisages developing a Child Rights Governance Programme in line with the
Child Rights Governance theme of the Save the Children International Global Strategy.
1.1 Study on Child Rights Governance Analysis
1.1.1 Purpose, Objectives and Scope of the Study
• To provide an updated status on the Child rights governance situation in Bangladesh to be shared
with partners, government and other stakeholders as a basis for developing strategies and action
plans
• To assist the CRG theme to sharpen the design of the CRG programme
• To serve as a baseline to measure future improvements
• To assist in developing an advocacy and policy strategy
• To explore the present status of child rights governance in key selected areas.
• To provide recommendation for Save the Children’s CRG programme both for programming and
advocacy.
1.1.2 Methodology
A desk review of key documents on the situation of children and child rights in Bangladesh and also
documentation relating to the UNCRC formed the basis of the Study.The desk review was supplemented by
in depth interviews with different stakeholders in the government sector institutions and civil society
organizations that provided valuable insights into the on-going dialogue relating to Child Rights Governance.
1.1.3 Conceptual Framework, Constraints and Limitations
The conceptual framework for the study is based on three areas: first, the understanding of the concept of
child rights governance in light of the provisions of the UNCRC and standard setting and practice of the
UNCRC Committee; second, the definition and interpretation of Save the Children International on the
concept of Child Rights Governance; third, the availability of primary and secondary literature sources and
information gathered during stakeholder interviews. In the absence of reliable and sufficient written
documentation on the local situation, the analysis could not cover each and every dimension of the child
rights governance situation in Bangladesh.
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Child Rights Governance Analysis (CRGA) Bangladesh 2012
Introduction
1
Page | 4
Child Rights Governance Analysis (CRGA) Bangladesh 2012
Child
Rights
Governance
Contextual
Framework2
• Population : 150 million
• Population under 15 years of age : 36 percent
• Population under 5 years of age : 12 percent
• Childhood Mortality(age 1-5) : 1 of every fifteen
• Child Mortality(before first birthday) : 1 of every nineteen
• ChildhoodVaccination Coverage : 82
(Source: Bangladesh Health and Demographic Survey, 2007)
Bangladesh in extent 55,598 Sq. Miles
(143,998 sq. Kilometres), located in the
North Eastern part of South Asia is
bounded by India on theWest,East and
the North, Myanmar on the East and
Bay of Bengal on the South. Bangladesh
with a population of 150 million
(Population: 158,570,535 (July 2011
est.) is the seventh in the world
population chart with a child
population of 61 million which is 45%
of the total population. The country
has an urban population of 27% of total population (2009 est.) and a rural population of 73% in 86,038 villages
in the country.
Population pyramid of Bangladesh shows that the majority is under 18 years of age and its demographic data
indicates that 1/3 of the population is under 15 year, 63% between 15 and 64 years and 4% above 65 years
which gives a fair assumption of the future child population of the country. Despite the rapid fertility decline
Bangladesh with its eco effect of high fertility level can expect a population growth of a sizeable nature.
Majority of Bangladeshi people about 98.90% of the population represent the Bengali ethno-linguistic group
and minority ethnic groups include Meitei, Khasi, Santhals, Chakma, Garo (tribe), Biharis, Oraons, Mundas and
Rohingyas. Bangladesh also has a tribal population of approximately 1586141 according to 2011 census.1
These tribal communities with Sino-Tibetan descent are mainly found in the Chittagong HillTracts and around
Mymensingh, Sylhet, and Rajshahi.There are significant differences in the social customs, religion, language and
level of development of these tribal groups compared to the rest of the population.2
According to the 2001 census,the religious profile of the population is:Islam 89.7%,Hinduism 9.2%,Buddhism
0.7%, Christianity 0.3% and others 0.1%.The majority of the Muslims are Sunni consisting of 95% of the
Muslim population, and the remaining are Shi'a and other sects.3
Child Rights Governance Contextual Framework
2.1 Country Context
2.1.1 Demographic Features
Table 2.1 Demographic Status of Bangladesh
1
Population and Housing Census 2011, http://www.bbs.gov.bd/PageSecureReport.aspx, accessed on November 14, 2012
2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Bangladesh.
3
ibid.
Demographic Status of Bangladesh
Child
Rights
Governance
Contextual
Framework2
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Child Rights Governance Analysis (CRGA) Bangladesh 2012
Child
Rights
Governance
Contextual
Framework2
Page | 5
Child Rights Governance Analysis (CRGA) Bangladesh 2012
Child
Rights
Governance
Contextual
Framework2
Out of 63.2 million children (0.-17 yrs),about 73
percent live in the rural areas and 27 percent
live in the urban areas. The majority of the
country’s children live in Dhaka Division (31%),
followed by Rajshahi (23%), Chittagong (21%),
Khulna (10%), Sylhet (8%), and Barisal (7%)
Divisions.4
2.1.2 Birth of a Nation and the
Liberation Struggle
For nearly two centuries from 1757-1947
Bangladesh was part of British Indian provinces
of Bengal and Assam. In 1947 at the end of the
British rule, the Indian subcontinent was
partitioned into India and Pakistan and
Bangladesh became part of Pakistan known as
East Bengal and later East Pakistan. Bengali people with a distinct language and culture inhabited East Pakistan
and Pakistani rulers denied Bengali people of their democratic and economic freedoms,rights and aspirations.
Since 1948 Bengali people aspired for a separate homeland and the Awami League led by Bangabandhu Sheikh
MujiburRahman won a landslide victory at the first-ever Parliamentary elections held in Pakistan in 1970
Awami League becoming the party with the largest majority in the whole of Pakistan. Increased political
discontent and cultural nationalism in East Pakistan was attacked byWest Pakistan establishment with violent
aggressive force.The systematic genocide against Bengali people was launched by Pakistan Military as an
attempt to crush the nationalistic movement of East Pakistan.These developments led to the Bangladesh
Liberation War supported by India and others friendly nations.
The newly independent State,Bangladesh was born on 16 December 1971 consequent to a liberation struggle
of nine months against Pakistan resulting in the worst form of genocide since theWorldWar II with 3 million
people killed, some 278,000 women raped and 10 million seeking refuge in neighbouring India.
2.1.3 National Governance
The newly founded nation was governed by a Parliamentary form of government till 1974 and later by
Presidential System of Government until the year 1991.A Parliamentary System of Government with Prime
Minister as the Chief Executive of the country and the cabinet was established in August 1991 abolishing the
Presidential system.Although the government was founded on democratic principles,the post- independence
Bangladesh for almost forty years has been embroiled in political upheavals, political assassinations and
military coups.
The governance structure throughout this period was based on the unitary model despite the country’s vast
land area with geographically inaccessible and isolated regions. Further the density and diversity of the
population with a large percentage in rural sector have added complexity to the country’s situation.Though
numerous changes were effected by successive governments, there was no decentralization of power that
Table 2.2 Distribution of Children (0-17 years) by geographic regions
4
National Report Bangladesh, GLOBAL STUDY ON CHILD POVERTY AND DISPARITIES 2009, p.13
Source: National Report, Bangladesh, Global Study on
Child Poverty and Disparities, p.13, 2009.
resulted in achieving an effective and efficient local government system equipped with local knowledge to be
responsive to the needs and priorities of the poor and the powerless in rural Bangladesh.
In the words of a renowned local government expert
“Thus,our elected local government leaders have never had the opportunity to exercise their leadership in solving
local problems through effective participation of the people.Consequently our system of governance has become
increasingly more centralised over the years.”5
For administrative purposes the country is divided into Seven administrative divisions, each named after their
respective divisional headquarters: Barisal, Chittagong, Dhaka, Khulna, Rajshahi, Sylhet and Rangpur.These
divisions are sub-divided into 64 districts and each further sub-divided into 483 Upazilas (sub-districts)6
. Each
Upazila, except for those in metropolitan areas, is divided into several unions, with each union consisting of
multiple villages. In the metropolitan areas, police stations are divided into wards, which are further divided
into Mahallas. Elected representatives were there in the Upazilas from 1985 to 1991. However, from 1992 to
2009, in the Upazila Parishad there were no elected representatives at the Upazila levels, and the
administration was composed only of Government officials. Direct elections are held for each union (or
ward), which elect a chairperson and a number of members.
5
Majumdar Alam Badiul , Local Governance and Political Reform Keys to Poverty Reduction, p.15, (2010).
6
Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, p.8 (2011)
Source: Local Government in Bangladesh, Kamal Siddiqui (edt.) (2005).Annex XVIII p.528
Executive
Prime
Minister
Council of
Ministers
Legislature
(Jatiya Sangsad)
Ministry/
Division
Supreme Court
High
Court
Division
Appellate
Division
President
Judiciary
Table 2.3 National Governance Structure
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The founder of the country,the Prime Minister- Sheikh Mujiber Rahman was assassinated in 1975 about a year
after he became President of the country. General Ziaur Rahaman, founder of the Bangladesh National Party
(BNP), took over power and became President in 1978. He was assassinated in 1981.
The army chief, General Hossain Mohammad Ershad, became his successor in 1982. However, he could not
legitimize his status through elections and kept political activity in banned till 1985, conducted a Presidential
election declaring himself President.A state of emergency was announced by General Ershad for three years
due to political violence. He surrendered power to a neutral interim government in December 1990.
Free elections were held in February 1991, when Begum Khaleda Zia, leader of the BNP, won the elections
and became Prime Minister. From 1991 onwards, regular elections were held in Bangladesh. The 1996
elections were won by allies of the Awami League while the BNP and its allies won the 2001 elections.Bangla-
desh yet experienced political instability. Once again in 2007 the army took over presumably with the hope
of stopping the violence between the two leading political parties.There was a caretaker government until the
ninth general Election in 2008, following which Sheikh Hasina, leader of the Awami League, became Prime
Minister in 2009.
2.1.4 Local Governance
Decentralized local government structure is divided into two: rural and urban.The local government struc-
ture in the rural sector comprises 3 tiers.At the highest level are Zila Parishad, then Upazila Parishad and
Union Parishad.The 483 Upazilas (or sub-districts) play a vitally important role throughout Bangladesh as a
strategic service delivery point. Rural local governments,known in Bangladesh as Union Parishads (UPs),have
been functioning as the lowest tier of local government units since the 1870s.The urban local governance
structure is divided as City Corporation and Paurashava (Municipality).
Decentralised system of governance has been adversely affected by bureaucratization of the system with a
Dhaka centred power base. City Corporation and Paurashava have also been made the extended arms of the
central government. The political history of the country is filled with numerous instances of appointed
officials yielding power in the local government institutions.Adopting a centralised system of governance from
the center,the colonial rulers appointed officials with overriding powers to the local government bodies.After
separation the Pakistani rulers too continued this trend.As a result the appointed members could overrule
the elected members in the governing bodies. Democracy Watch reports that there are frequent clashes
between Upazila Parishad Councils and appointed government officials. Another obstacle faced by local
government elected bodies is the dominant role played by the local members of Parliament in the affairs of
the local government institutions.
7
ibid p.15.
Elections are the initial access to democracy. This privilege was denied to people of Bangladesh. Local
government elections were not held regularly.Though hard to believe, it is a fact that in the last 38 years Zila
Parishad did not have elections except three hilly districts. Until 2009, the only functional local government
body was Union Parishad with no elected representatives at the divisional or district and the administration
comprised only government officials.
Each new regime civil or military came up with new models of local government.All these regimes either
amended or repealed the existing local government laws even going to the extent of abolishing local
government bodies etc.These were all superficial changes devoid of any attempt to remedy the many ills of
the system or to make improvements to increase their efficacy.Abolition of Upazila Parishad system in 1991
by the then elected government and re-establishing Upazila Parishads after 2009 January elections is a good
example of the constant changes made to the local governance landscape.
2.1.5 Rule of Law and Governance
On 16th January 2007 the military backed caretaker government of Bangladesh declared separation of
subordinate judiciary from the executive. The civil society organizations and the lawyers welcomed the
amendments of the Code of Criminal Procedure Act on 1st November 2007 guaranteeing independent
judiciary by empowering the Supreme Court to appoint lower courts judges and judicial magistrates.The
earlier system had the Prime Minister as Head of the Ministry of Establishment with powers to make
appointments of judges leading to political control over lower courts.
Political influence debars judges from giving impartial judgments.The government decision to send two judges
on retirement on 30th July 2009 using Section 9(2) of the Public Servants (Retirement) Act of 1974 is an
example where law was politically used to punish judges who are unwilling to listen to the executive.8
8
Asian Human Rights Commission, "Bangladesh: Judicial Independence," press release,August 5, 2009,
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0908/S00070.htm.
Table 2.5 Local Governance StructureTable 2.5 Local Governance Structure
Special Affairs
Division
Ministry of LGRD
& Cooperatives
UrbanRural
Zila
Parishad
61
Upazila
Parishad
482
Union
Parishad
4489
City
Cooperation
(6)
Hill District
Local Government
Parishad 3
Paurashava
298
Source: Local Government in Bangladesh, Kamal Siddiqui (edt.) (2005).Annex XVIII p.528
Table 2.4 Succession in Political Leadership Since Independence
(Awami League)
(BNP)
(BNP)
(BNP)
(Awami League)
(BNP)
(Awami League)
Sheikh Mujiber Rahaman
Ziaur Rahaman
Justice Sattar
Hossain Mohammad Ershad
Begum Khaleda Zia
Sheikh Hasina
Begum Khaleda Zia
CareTaker Government
Sheikh Hasina
1971 - 1975
1975 - 1981
1981 - 1982
1982 - 1991
1991 - 1996
1996 - 2001
2001 - 2006
2007 - 2009
2009 - present
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9
M.Abdul Latif Mondal, "Averting Controversy in Appointment of Chief Justice," Daily Star, October 10, 2010,
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=157772.
10
M.Anwar Hossain, "Appointment of the Judiciary Branch," My OpenVoice (blog),April 28, 2010,
http://www.myopenvoice.net/2010/04/awami-league-corruption_28.html.
11
Dr. M. Saidul Islam, "The State of Judiciary in Bangladesh," Weekly Holiday, March 25, 2011,
http://www.weeklyholiday.net/2011/250311/edit.html.
12
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC),The State of Human Rights in Bangladesh 2009 (AHRC, 2009): 23-24,
http://material.ahrchk.net/hrreport/2009/AHRC-SPR-001-2009-Bangladesh-HRReport2009.pdf.
13
TIB Findings Must Have Shaken People's Faith in Judiciary," New Age, December 25, 2010,
http://www.bdinn.com/articles/tib-findings-must-have-shaken-people%E2%80%99s-faith-in-judiciary/.
14
Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, http://www.bbs.gov.bd/na_wing/GDP_2008_09.pdf
15
UNDP, Human Development Report 2011: http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_2011_EN_Complete.pdf
16
The Multidimensional Poverty Index is introduced by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative
http://www.ophi.org.uk/policy/multidimensional-poverty-index/mpi-data-methodology/
17
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Bangladesh Demographic Data Sheet:
http://www.indexmundi.com/bangladesh/population_growth_rate.html
18
Directorate of Primary Education,
http://www.banbeis.gov.bd/webnew/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=342:gross-
and-net-enrolmentrate-in-primary-education&catid=61:primary-education-2010&Itemid=180
19
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Bangladesh Demographic Data Sheet,
http://www.dgfp.gov.bd/data%20sheet.htm.
20
Policy Study on Financing Growth and Poverty Reduction: Policy Challenges and Options in Bangladesh, UNDP, Bangladesh 2009, p.19.
21
ibid.
22
ibid.
23
http://www.undp.org.bd/mdgs.php.
Efforts seeking remedies towards independent judiciary becomes non-functional when the President in
consultation with the Prime Minister appoints judges, specially the Supreme Court judges. Serious questions
were asked when President Zillur Rahnman appointed Justice A.B.M. Khairul Haque from Appellate Division
as the Chief Justice of Bangladesh on 26th September 2010 ignoring two senior judges of the Appellate
Division. Lack of clarity of article 95 of the Constitution which empowers the President to appoint Chief
Justice, the most prestigious position in the country allows room for political manipulation.The Supreme
Court Bar Association (SCBA) which is headed by opposition parties condemned the act while pro President
Lawyers expressed jubilation.9
Two newly appointed additional judges to the High Court Division created sensation when the Chief Justice
refused to administer oath to advocates Rahul Quddus and M. Khasruzzam.10
Political based appointments
are a threat to the independence of judiciary.11
The long standing tradition of appointing party loyalists as Public Prosecutors continued even after the
democratically elected government in 2008.The governing party immediately replaced the entire group of
public prosecutors with party loyalists. According to a report by the Asian Human Rights Commission the
political appointees serve the government to the maximum and ‘perverts the course of justice’.12
A national household survey conducted from June 2009 to May 2010 revealed that the most corrupt service
was found in judiciary. It is reported that 88% of the people who turned to judiciary became victims due to
wide spread corruption and that justice was denied to people as they did not have access to independent
counsel and fair trial.13
2.1.6 Socio-Economic Developments
A number of socio-economic indicators show that the country has achieved impressive progress since
independence.From about 1990s it has been maintaining a pace of 5-6% economic growth (in GDP).At a time
when other countries were struggling to sail through the tidal waves of the global financial crisis, Bangladesh
has managed to sustain closer to 6 percent GDP growth.14
The increase of the country’s human development index (HDI) rating from 0.365 in 1980 to 0.566 in 2011 is
an example of this upward trend in the economic sphere.15
According to the Multi-dimensional Poverty
indicator 26.2% of the Bangladesh population are in severe poverty which is lower than the poverty levels of
Pakistan (28.6%), India and Nepal (37.1%)16
The decrease in the population growth from 2.5% per annum in
1980s to 1.39% by 2010 is another factor that contributed in sustaining the economic growth.17
In the
education front the gross primary enrolment showed a promising progress from 72% in 1980 to 93.5% in
201018
and in the field of health the child mortality rate has come down significantly from 239 per thousand
live births in 1970 to 65 per 1000 in 2010 which has been recognized by a UN Award.19
However, on many fronts the country needs to overcome challenges and address major drawbacks to
continue the progress made during the last two decades. Inadequacy of child-specific data, policy reviews and
programme evaluations make it difficult to accurately measure the actual progress made by Bangladesh on the
child-related indicators.
With the intention of reducing fiscal and external deficits Bangladesh government implemented policies for
macro stabilization and structural adjustment in 1980s. Fiscal measures were: (a) Reduction/elimination of
food subsidies, (b) Introduction of value added tax (VAT) in 1990s, (c) Curtailing government investment in
productive sectors and (d) Re-defining government role in investment relating to people – education, health
care, public utilities and physical infrastructure.20
With the introduction of a large tax payer unit and a central intelligence unit to monitor and strengthen
customs administration aimed at including non-tax payers government hopes to improve its revenue base. It
also intends to develop the professional skills of National Board of Revenue Officials.21
The revenue-GDP ratio has increased in 1990s but it has failed to reach the standard of other developing
countries.There is an increase in education sector and decrease in health sector expenditure during this
period mainly due to the decline in foreign aid. With the increase of government’s reliance on domestic
borrowing it had to face the risk of rising inflation and crowding the private sector out of credit market.22
It appears that sufficient attention has not been paid to planning the future of the children although they are
45% of the total population among whom 46% fall into below upper poverty line lacking basic needs. In
Bangladesh about 26.5 million children of the 63 million child population live below the national poverty line
and also 51% of all households with children are considered as poor applying the international poverty line
below $1 Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) threshold. It is revealed that increase in the number of children in a
household raises the poverty situation in the household. In its vision and mission towards future prosperity
Bangladesh needs investing in children.
It is desirable to understand the causal link between MDG goals and good governance.According to UNDP
Bangladesh out of the 52 MDG targets, the country is on track on 19 of them and 14 of them need
attention.23
The MDG Progress Report of the Government has concluded that different levels of progress
have been achieved in different goals: (i) some goals have been achieved or nearly achieved; (ii) progress is on
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track in case of some goals; they can be achieved with present level of efforts; and (iii) some goals can be
achieved with enhanced effort.Improving Governance has been cited as the first the intervention in achieving
MDGs. It states that the policy framework and the programmes and projects required for achieving the
MDGs need to be implemented as weak capacity of government and corruption undermine all efforts for
attainment of MDGs.24
The National Strategy for Accelerated Poverty Reduction II (FY 2009-2011) acknowledges the links between
poverty and children’s rights.It recognizes that “the survival and development of many Bangladeshi children is
still threatened by malnutrition, disease, poverty, illiteracy, abuse, exploitation and natural disaster.” In the
context of reducing poverty, it addresses children’s health and nutrition, food security, education, early
childhood education, sports and cultural activities, protection from abuse, exploitation, and violence, access
to clean water and sanitation, and child participation.25
24
The Millennium Development Goals, Bangladesh Progress Report 2009, p.139.
25
The National Strategy for Accelerated Poverty Reduction II (FY 2009-2011).
Table 2.6 Status of Children against Key MDG Indicators (per cent)
Figure1.8: Status of children against key MDG indicatiors (per cent)
Underweight children (0-5years)
Enrolled in primary education (6-11 years)
Completed primary education by proper age
Immunized against measles (1 year)
Children with sustainable access to an improved water
Children with access to improved sanitation
39.1
37.8
79.1
83.5
41.4
52.1
88.4
86.5
39.1
39.3
97.5
97.6
BoysGirls
Source: National Report, Bangladesh, Global Study on Child Poverty and Disparities, p.14, 2009.
Table 2.7 Status of MDGs in Bangladesh
Source: UNDP 2009
Indicator Current Status Target
Goal 1: Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger
1.1 Proportion of population below the national Upper-poverty line % 38.7 (2008) 29
1.2 Poverty Gap Ratio % 9.0 (2005) 8
1.8 Prevalence of underweight children under-five years of age % 45.0 (2009) 33
1.9 Proportion of population below minimum level of dietary
energy consumption % 19.5 (2005) 14
Goal 2:Achieve Universal Primary Education
2.1 Net Enrolment Ratio in Primary Education % 91.9 (2008) 100
2.2 Proportion of pupils starting grade 1 who reach grade 5 % 54.9 (2008) 100
2.3 Literacy rate of 15-24 years old population % 58.3 (2007) ---
Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality & Empower Women
3.1a Ratio of girls to boys in primary education 1.01 (2008) 1.0
3.1b Ratio of girls to boys in secondary education 1.20 (2008) 1.0
3.1c Ratio of girls to boys in tertiary education 0.32 (2006) 1.0
Goal 4: Reduce Child Mortality
4.1 Under-five mortality rate (per 1000 live births) 53.8 (2008) 48
4.2 Infant mortality rate (per 1000 live births) 41.3 (2008) 31
4.3 Proportion of 1 year-old children immunized against measles % 82.3 (2009) 100
Goal 5: Improve Maternal Health
5.1: Maternal Mortality Ratio (per 100000 live births) 348 (2008) 144
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases
6.1: HIV prevalence among population (per 100,000 population) 0.1 Halting
Goal 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability
7.1: Proportion of land area covered by forest (%) (tree cover) 19.2 (2007) 20.0
Tree density > Tree density >
10% 70%
2.2.2 Treaty Obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Child
Rights of the Child
While ratifying the UNCRC Bangladesh deposited reservations in relation to Articles 21 and 14(1) stating
that “the article would apply subject to the existing laws and practices in Bangladesh.”26
Pursuant to the
UNCRC treaty obligations Bangladesh submitted to the UN Child Rights Committee the initial report in
1995, the second in 2000 and third and fourth combined periodic period reports in 2007 respectively.
In 2003 the Committee expressed its remained deep concern about the reservations to articles 14,
paragraphs 1 and 21 of the Convention, which might impede the full implementation of the Convention, but
welcomed the information from the delegation that Bangladesh is willing to continue to review those
reservations with a view to withdrawing them.
In 2009 the UNCRC Committee encouraged Bangladesh to accelerate its reviewing process regarding the
withdrawal of their reservations to articles 14,paragraph 1,and 21 of the Convention,in accordance with the
Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action adopted by the World Conference on Human Rights in 1993.
Exercising the mandate given under Article 45(1) of the UNCRC to NGOs to monitor the implementation
of the Convention, 19 leading NGOs of Bangladesh together submitted the alternative report entitled “A
Critical Analysis of CRC Reporting Trends and Implementation Status in Bangladesh”.
2.2.3 Achievements in and Impediments to Realization of Child Rights
In 2003 the UNCRC Committee recognized with appreciation that Bangladesh has made clear and visible
progress, in the fields of child nutrition, health, education and labour. Similarly in 2009 the UNCRC
Committee recognized the progress made by Bangladesh towards achieving Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) 2, 3, and 4 with a significant reduction in child mortality, an increase in enrolment in primary school
and the attainment of gender parity at the primary and lower secondary levels.
The UNCRC Committee identified the following as Impediments for realising child rights in
Bangladesh:
• a large percentage of young population
• a large percentage of people who live below the poverty line
• natural disasters
• structural adjustment
• persistence of certain traditional practices and customs.
2.3 Child Rights Governance: Theory and Practice
2.3.1 What is Child Rights Governance?
Child Rights Governance is a thematic programme area for Save the Children.It aims at building societies that
fulfil child rights by establishing and strengthening the infrastructure necessary for states to effectively
implement the UNCRC and other child rights obligations. It is an attempt to synchronise the child rights and
governance agenda. It is about developing a vibrant civil society pushing children up the political agenda and
holding states to account for what they have or haven’t done to realize children’s rights. It is an effective
strategy for impacting on millions of children’s lives at scale, resulting in structural and therefore lasting change.
26
http://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV-11&chapter=4&lang=en.
2.2 International Human Rights Treaty Obligations
Under each programme area, the present situation of Bangladesh relating to Child Rights Governance will be
analysed in light of the UNCRC Concluding Observations, by identifying the duty bearers and the measures
adopted by them to implement the UNCRC, gaps in the implementation process and the strategy that Save
the Children could adopt in strengthening the Child Rights Governance procedure.
2.2.1 InternationalTreaties Ratified or Acceded to by Bangladesh
Table 2.8Table 2.2 Distribution of Children (0-17 years) by geographic regions
Treaty
Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
16 December 1966
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,
16 December 1966
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women (CEDAW), 18 December 1979
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against Women, 6 October 1999
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment10 December 1984
International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All
Migrant Workers and Members of their Families, 18 December
1990
Convention on the Rights of the Child, 20 November 1989
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Children
the Involvement of Children in armed conflict, 25 May 2000
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on
the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography 25
May 2000
Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999
Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957
6 Sep 2000 (a)
5 Oct 1998 (a)
6 Nov 1984 (a)
6 Sep 2000
5 Oct 1998 (a)
24 Aug 2011
August 3 1990
6 Sep 2000
6 Sep 2000
12 March2001
22 June 1972
Date of Ratification (r) &
Accession (a)
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The general measures of implementation identified by the Committee and described in the general comment
are intended to promote the full enjoyment of all rights in the Convention by all children, through legislation,
coordinating and monitoring bodies - governmental and independent - comprehensive data collection,
awareness-raising and training and the development and implementation of appropriate policies, services and
programmes.
While some of these developments may seem largely cosmetic, their emergence at the least indicates a
change in the perception of the child’s place in society,a willingness to give higher political priority to children
and an increasing sensitivity to the impact of governance on children and their human rights.
The Committee has emphasized that, in the context of the Convention, States must see their role as fulfilling
clear legal obligations to each and every child. Implementation of the human rights of children must not be
seen as a charitable process, bestowing favours on children.
The development of a children’s rights perspective throughout Government, parliament and the judiciary is
required for effective implementation of the whole Convention and, in particular, in light of the articles in the
Convention identified by the Committee as general principles.
(a) Principle of non-discrimination
The UNCRC Committee has emphasized the need to understand and interpret the general measures of
implementation in conjunction with the general principles of the UNCRC especially the principle of
non-discrimination which obliges States to respect and ensure the rights set forth in the Convention to each
child within their jurisdiction without discrimination of any kind.This non-discrimination obligation requires
States to actively identify individual children and groups of children the recognition and realization of whose
rights may demand special measures. For example, the Committee has highlighted, in particular, the need for
data collection to be disaggregated to enable discrimination or potential discrimination to be identified.
Addressing discrimination may require changes in legislation, administration and resource allocation, as well
as educational measures to change attitudes. It should be emphasized that the application of the
non-discrimination principle of equal access to rights does not mean identical treatment.A general comment
by the Human Rights Committee has underlined the importance of taking special measures in order to
diminish or eliminate conditions that cause discrimination.28
(b) Article 12: the child’s right to express his or her views freely in “all matters affecting the
child”, those views being given due weight.
This principle, which highlights the role of the child as an active participant in the promotion, protection and
monitoring of his or her rights, applies equally to all measures adopted by States to implement the
Convention. Opening government decision-making processes to children is a positive challenge which the
Committee finds States are increasingly responding to. Given that few States as yet have reduced the voting
age below 18, there is all the more reason to ensure respect for the views of disenfranchised children in
Government and parliament. If consultation is to be meaningful, documents as well as processes need to be
made accessible. But appearing to “listen” to children is relatively unchallenging; giving due weight to their
views requires real change. Listening to children should not be seen as an end in itself, but rather as a means
by which States make their interactions with children and their actions on behalf of children ever more
sensitive to the implementation of children’s rights.29
27
In 1999, the Committee on the Rights of the Child held a two-day workshop to commemorate the tenth anniversary of
adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by the United Nations General Assembly.The workshop focused
on general measures of implementation following which the Committee adopted detailed conclusions and
recommendations (see CRC/C/90, para. 291).
28
Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 18 (1989), HRI/GEN/1/Rev.6, pp. 147 et seq.
29
UNCRC Committee General Comment 5 (2003), CRC/GC/2003/5, 0310.2003.
Save the Children has identified the following three sub themes under its Child Rights Programming thematic
area:
(i) Child rights monitoring:
Save the Children will support better data collection on children’s lives;studies and research,including analysis
of national and sub-national budgets for children’s issues; the establishment of independent child rights
monitoring institutions; the preparation of child-informed supplementary reports to the UN Committee on
the Rights of the Child and the Human Rights Council.
(ii)Strengthening national systems:
Save the Children will push for the amendment of national legislation to comply with the UNCRC; influence
law reform; push for resourced strategies and action plans for children; support public administrations and
services to become child-friendly and take the best interests of children into account; support the effective
coordination of all the ministries and agencies dealing with children’s issues. Save the Children will work at all
levels of government and administration.
(iii) Building awareness and capacity on child rights governance:
Save the Children will facilitate child rights education for children and their communities, build capacity to
respect children’s rights among service providers and other professionals in regular and close contact with
children; build organisational capacity of civil society organizations enabling them to promote and advocate
for children’s rights to be respected and to claim accountability from those responsible; support children to
organise and build their capacity to promote their rights.
2.3.2 General Measures of Implementation
2.3.2.1 UN Child Rights Committee
Effective implementation of the rights guaranteed in the UNCRC depends on the extent to which States
parties uphold the principles of good governance.
The Article in the UNCRC that directly relates to child rights governance is Article 4 which stipulates that
States parties take “all appropriate legislative, administrative and other measures” for implementation of the
rights contained therein.
The UNCRC’s General Measures of Implementation have been identified as concrete steps that need be
adopted by States parties towards establishing the systems and mechanisms that are necessary to ensure that
rights are delivered for all children.The UN Committee’s General Comment 5 provides an in depth reading
on Article 4 of the UNCRC and should be considered a key point of reference for the process.
While it is the State which takes on obligations under the Convention, its task of implementation - of making
reality of the human rights of children - needs to engage all sectors of society and, of course, children
themselves. Ensuring that all domestic legislation is fully compatible with the Convention and that the
Convention’s principles and provisions can be directly applied and appropriately enforced is fundamental. In
addition, the UNCRC Committee has identified a wide range of measures that are needed for effective
implementation, including the development of special structures and monitoring, training and other activities
in Government, parliament and the judiciary at all levels.27
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United Nations Development Programme, Governance for sustainable human development, UNDP policy document, NewYork
1997; UNDP AND GOVERNANCE Experiences and Lessons Learned, Management Development and Governance Division,
Lessons-Learned Series No. 1; Definition of basic concepts and terminologies in governance and public administration,
Note by the Secretariat, UN Economic and Social Council, Committee of Experts on Public Administration Fifth session
NewYork, 27-31 March 2006.
31
ibid.
2.3.3 Interpretative Guidance from Good Governance
In the human rights discourse good governance is identified as an essential pre requisite for promoting and
protecting human rights.The rights-based approach to development recognizes four types of core obligations
for duty-bearers:
• Respect rights, i.e. do not interfere with their enjoyment by everyone.
• Protect rights from abuse by others, i.e. do not allow others to interfere with these rights.
• Facilitate the fulfilment of rights, i.e. create an enabling and supportive environment.
• Fulfil rights, i.e. support and assist those who cannot meet their own needs.
2.3.2.2 Save the Children and Child Rights Governance
Save the Children’s Child Rights Governance work follows the General Measures of Implementation as set
out in Article 4 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and interpreted by the United
Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child.
The UNCRC provisions and the UN Committee’s discussions encompass the following:
• National agenda - does the State have a national agenda for children?
• Legislation - Is the UNCRC reflected in national laws?
• Budget -are sufficient resources allocated to children’s rights?
• Coordination -How are child rights issues coordinated across state structures?
• Impact assessment -Does the government carry out impact assessments of policy, law and budget
decisions as to their impact on children?
• Data -Is there reliable, publicly available disaggregated data on children?
• Information and training -Do children, their caregivers and professionals in contact with children
have information about and training on child rights?
• Participation -Are children’s civil and political rights being respected?
• Civil society-Does the government engage in an on-going and inclusive dialogue with civil society?
• Ombudsman - Are there any independent mechanisms in place that support and protect children’s
rights?
However, the Child Rights Governance thematic area will look beyond the general measures of
implementation and explore other factors that strongly influence realization of child rights for example
transparency in budget formulation, taxation, decentralization, privatization, international aid prioritisation etc.
Focus of Child Rights Programming
Save the Children’s Child Rights Governance programming has identified three focus areas:
• The UNCRC’s General Measures of Implementation; which are the concrete steps as set out by the
UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (the Committee) for the state to establish the systems
and mechanisms that are necessary to ensure that rights are delivered for all children.The UN
Committee’s General Comment 5 provides in depth reading and should be considered a key point
of reference for the process.
• The political, economic, social and cultural factors at all levels that help or hinder state and the
society at large in the implementation of these measures. It has decided to focus on issues of
citizenship and economic governance. CRG analysis therefore will identify key factors in those areas
depending on the country context.
• Achieving quality interaction between key stakeholders to deliver rights including non-state actors
(the private sector, media, civil society, academia), children and the state. Child Rights Governance is
not just about building systems and mechanisms it is about improving the quality of relationships and
interaction. CRG aims to increase accountability for child rights through dialogue, regulation,
accountability and increased transparency.
Meeting these strategic objectives requires the generation of political will and support,social mobilisation,the
creation of new systems and institutions, and innovations and shifts in social norms.
Table 2.9 Rights-Based Approach to Governance
Source:Applying A Rights-based Approach An Inspirational guide for Civil Society, Jakob Kirrkemann Boesen &Tomas Martin (2007)
Strenthen the accountability
of duty bearers
Duty-bearers Fulfil their obligations
towards rights-holders
rights- holders
demoand their
rights from
duty-bearers
Support rights-holders
demanding their rights
Change:
• Institutional and legal
• Environmental
• Economical / technical
• Social / cultural
Rights-based
organisation Changes in
people’s lives
United Nations Development Programme defines governance as "the exercise of economic, political, and
administrative authority to manage a country’s affairs at all levels and the means by which states promote
social cohesion and integration, and ensure the well-being of their populations. It embraces all methods used
to distribute power and manage public resources, and the organizations that shape government and the
execution of policy. It encompasses the mechanisms, processes and institutions, through which citizens and
groups articulate their interests, exercise their legal rights, meet their obligations and resolve their
differences."30
According to this definition, "good governance therefore depends on public participation to ensure that
political, social and economic priorities are based on a broad societal consensus and that the poorest and
most vulnerable populations can directly influence political decision making, particularly with respect to the
allocation of development resources. Good governance is also effective and equitable, and promotes the rule
of law and the transparency of institutions, officials, and transactions".31
In brief, good governance refers to a high quality in processes by which decisions affecting public affairs are
reached and implemented.
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ibid.
Good governance ensures that all, including the poor and other disadvantaged groups, are included and have
the means
(a) to influence the direction of development in particular as far as it affects their lives,
(b) to make contributions to development and have these recognized, and
(c) to share in the benefits of development and improve their lives and livelihoods. Good governance
helps to ensure that all people have adequate access to basic services.
The following have been identified as principles of good governance:32
• Participation - All men and women should have a voice in decision-making, either directly or through
legitimate intermediate institutions that represent their interests. Such broad participation is built on
freedom of association and speech, as well as capacities to participate constructively.
• Rule of law - Legal frameworks should be fair and enforced impartially, particularly the laws on human rights.
• Transparency -Transparency is built on the free flow of information. Processes, institutions and informa-
tion are directly accessible to those concerned with them, and enough information is provided to under-
stand and monitor them.
• Responsiveness - Institutions and processes try to serve all stakeholders.
• Consensus orientation - Good governance mediates differing interests to reach a broad consensus on
what is in the best interests of the group and, where possible, on policies and procedures.
• Equity - All men and women have opportunities to improve or maintain their well-being.
• Effectiveness and efficiency - Processes and institutions produce results that meet needs while making
the best use of resources.
• Accountability - Decision-makers in government, the private sector and civil society organisations are
accountable to the public, as well as to institutional stakeholders.This accountability differs depending on
the organisation and whether the decision is internal or external to an organisation.
• Strategic vision - Leaders and the public have a broad and long-term perspective on good governance
and human development, along with a sense of what is needed for such development.There is also an
understanding of the historical, cultural and social complexities in which that perspective is grounded.
2.3.3.1 Evolving a Definition and Principles of Child Rights Governance
Drawing inspiration and guidance from the definition of Good Governance, Child Rights Governance could
be interpreted as
“Execution of law and policy and exercise of economic, political and administrative power and authority, and
management of monetary, human and material resources and governance of institutions, systems and
processes in a manner respectful of and responsive to promoting and protecting child rights guaranteed in
the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Child.”
Table 2.10 Child Rights Governance Model
ResourcesAuthorityPower
Strengthening National Systems
Child Rights Monitoring
Child Rights Realised
Awareness & Capacity Building
(Children, Civil Society, Government)
Child rights governance involves observance of certain substantive and procedural principles since the
ultimate goal of child rights governance is to forge a strong link between child rights and the governance
agenda of a country thereby making governments accountable to children and civil society. As the key
challenge is to mainstream child rights, a set of substantive and procedural principles would provide valuable
guidance and direction in addition to formulating a framework for the assessment of child rights governance
status within the State machinery.
2.3.3.2 Substantive Principles of Child Rights Governance
Best Interests of the Child: Promoting and protecting the principle of best interests of the child in all
decisions and actions affecting children
Non-discrimination: Ensuring that laws and policies are implemented and services are delivered on the
basis of non-discrimination
Child Participation: Facilitating opportunities for children who are capable of forming their opinions to
participate in decisions and actions affecting them
Transparency: Ensuring that the rules,standards and procedures for decision-making,allocating and distrib-
uting resources and delivering of services are open, clear, verifiable and predictable
Accountability:Making institutions and officials responsible for their decisions and actions by availing opportu-
nities for them to explain and justify their decisions and actions, their implementation and the results
achieved.
Sustainability: Ensuring uninterrupted and continuous delivery of services for children by facilitating
sustainable institutions, processes and systems at national and sub national levels
Integrity: Inspiring and linking child rights promoters,defenders and activists to maintain integrity,conviction
and ethical coherence in child rights work
Impartiality: Guaranteeing impartiality at every level without nepotism,prejudice,partisanship and partiality
and discrimination on the basis of sex, religion, caste and place of birth.
Efficiency: Enhancing the efficiency of child rights governance at national and subnational levels through
accountable, result-oriented and clearly identifiable processes and goals
Equity: Ensuring equitable allocation and distribution of resources for institutions working for and with
children
2.3.3.3 Procedural Principles of Child Rights Governance
Institutional Mandates/Portfolios: Promoting and facilitating formulation of child rights - oriented
mandates and portfolios for institutions working for and with children at national and subnational levels
Role Profiles/Terms of References: Promoting and facilitating formulation of child rights-based role
profiles and terms of references of officials working for and with children
Child-friendly processes, procedures and systems: Promoting, facilitating and strengthening child-
friendly processes, procedures and systems within the executive, legislative and judicial branches of the
government at national and subnational levels
Compatibility of Laws, Policies and Strategies: Harmonizing laws, policies and strategies relating to
children with the rights, principles and standards recognized in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of
the Child
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ibid.
Implementation of Laws, Policies and Strategies: Strengthening institutional and human resource
capacity necessary for effective implementation of laws, policies and strategies
Coordination among and within institutions: Designing pragmatic, viable, workable and sustainable
mechanisms for efficient coordination within and among multi-sectoral institutions working for and with
children at national and sub national levels
Review and Evaluation of Performance:Introducing methodologies and techniques to constantly review
and evaluate the performance of institutions and officials
Independent Monitoring: Introducing and facilitating independent monitoring of implementation of the
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child at national and sub national levels
Advocacy and Networking: Promoting and advocating child rights governance through children’s and civil
society initiatives and networks
Capacity Building: Enhancing the capacity of children and adults working for and with children to equip
themselves with knowledge and skills for promoting and ensuring child rights governance.
2.3.3.4 Mapping of Duty Bearers within aThematic Child Rights Governance Structure
Comprehensive mapping of various duty bearers (institutions as well as officials) responsible for the promo-
tion and protection of child rights in different sectors and at national and subnational levels would help
identify where interventions are essential to strengthen institutions,systems and human resources.At present
no such mapping has been done with a view to assessing the capacities of institutions and officials and the
strengths and weaknesses of the systems. Information relating to the level of acquaintance of public officials
on child rights issues and also the extent to which issues relating to children are perceived within a child
rights framework are not available.The general opinion is that the capacity building of institutions and person-
nel had been carried out on an ad hoc basis as opposed to a systematic manner and also more with the aim
of “sensitizing” them on child rights than educating them on how child rights could be interpreted and
integrated into their work.
Child-rights being a cross-cutting and multi-sectoral issue involving multiple stakeholders,any analysis of child
rights governance also requires examination of the mandate and performance of a whole range of govern-
ment agencies at national and sub national levels responsible for implementing the UNCRC. Linking child
rights governance programming to specific child rights thematic areas will help Save the Children to clearly
identify areas for its interventions and setting achievable targets relating to child rights governance. In this
connection six thematic areas may be identified:
(a) Child Protection: Child victims of Violence, Abuse, Exploitation (sexual, economic), children in care,
street children, child marriages
Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice: Police and Courts
Victim Protection and care: Department of Social Services, Probation Officers, Care-givers in child-care
institutions
Victims of economic exploitation: Ministry of Labour in addition to the above mentioned institutions
(b) Education: formal and informal education; compulsory education; school dropouts
(c) Health: Nutrition, immunisation,
(d) Juvenile Justice
(e) Civil and Political Rights: Birth Registration, Citizenship,Adaptation, Opinion and Participation
(f) Social Protection, Social Safety Nets, Social Welfare: Ministry of Food and Disaster Management,
Department of Social Services
All the above mentioned Ministries responsible for different thematic areas have to work closely with two
Ministries namely, Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs that are
responsible for law making, law enforcement and adjudication of justice and the Ministry of Women and
Children Affairs which is the key Ministry responsible for coordinating all affairs relating to children.
Subject Institution Officials/ Unit
Ministry of Social Welfare,
Department of Social Services
Ministry of Social Welfare,
Department of Social Services,
Ministry of Law, Justice and
Parliamentary Affairs/
Supreme Court
Ministry of Primary and
Mass Education Ministry of
Education
Ministry of Labour and
Employment
Ministry of Law, Justice and
Parliamentary Affairs, Law
Commission Parliament
Ministry of Home Affairs
Ministry of Home Affairs
Ministry of Law, Justice
and Parliamentary Affairs
Child Protection including
child-care institutions
(Children Act 1974)
Children in Conflict with the
Law (Children Act - 1974)
Education (eg. Corporal
punishment, Primary
Education (Compulsory)
Act 1990:
Child Labour
Enactment of Laws/
Amendment of Laws
Law Enforcement
Administration of Justice
Social Protection. Social
Welfare and Social Safety
Nets
Ministry of Food
Ministry of Disaster Management
Ministry of Women and
Children Affairs
Ministry of Social Welfare
Probation Officers
Department of Primary Education-
Compulsory Primary Education
Implementation, Cell/Unit,
Primary and Mass Education
Division, Compulsory Primary
Education Implementation
Monitoring Unit
Directorate of Labour-Child
Labour Unit
Police Officers
Courts of Law and Judges
Department of Food Department
of Relief and Rehabilitation
Department of Social Services
Table 2.11 Duty Bearers responsible for Governance at National Levels
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ibid.
During the consultation process Mrs Irene Khan, proposed that Save the Children adopt an index or indica-
tors similar to the MDGs to measure the progress made by the government in ensuring good governance in
the field of child rights.In developing an index or indicators attention may be drawn under each thematic area
to the following issues pertaining to child rights governance:
Under each thematic area it is important to address At National Level
1 What is the mandate of the Ministry regarding the Child Rights related thematic issues? Is there any refer-
ence to child rights in the mandate?
2 What are the laws and regulations that empower the Ministry with the powers relating to the child rights
related thematic issues?
3 What are the units and Departments within the Ministry at the national level that are responsible for
implementing the mandate?
4 Who are the key officials at the Ministry at national level responsible for implementing the Ministry
Mandate relating to child rights?
5 What are the role profiles and terms of reference of the concerned officials? Are there any references to
child rights?
6 What are the internal administrative and management systems, procedures and processes for implement-
ing the mandate and coordinating the work?
7 What are the mechanisms adopted by the Ministry and all units and departments within the Ministry
concerning children’s issues to review and monitor the child related work at the national level?
8 What are the other Ministries and government agencies that the Ministry liaises with at the national level?
If so what working arrangements are there to maintain efficiency?
9 Are there any permanent mechanisms to obtain the input of civil society organizations and children in the
work of the said Ministry?
10 What are the guiding principles and procedures for deciding on resource allocation and disbursment of
resources for child related work?
12. What is the level of acquaintance/knowledge of officials on child rights and the UNCRC?
At Sub National Level
1 How has the Ministry decentralised its power to the sub national level – Zila Parishad, Upazila Parishad
and Union Parishad levels?
2 What are the key agencies responsible at the Zila Parishad, Upazila Parishad and Union Parishad levels
implementing the Ministry mandate ?
3 What is the mandate of the said government agencies at the Zila Parishad, Upazila Parishad and Union
Parishad levels relating to child related issues?
4 Is there any reference to child rights in the mandate of the said government agencies at the Zila Parishad,
Upazila Parishad and Union Parishad levels?
5 Who are the officials responsible at Zila Parishad, Upazila Parishad and Union Parishad levels concerning
child related issues?
6 What are the role profiles and terms of reference of the said officials? Is there any reference to child rights
in their role profiles or terms of reference?
7 What governing mechanisms are in place linking the national level with the Zila Parishad, Upazila Parishad
and Union Parishad levels?
8 Are there any mechanisms including data collection for reviewing and evaluating the performance of the
subnational level agencies and their officials?
9. What are the guiding principles governing allocation and disbursement of resources?
10. What mechanisms are in place for connecting the agencies working for children at Zila Parishad, Upazila
Parishad and Union Parishad levels with children, civil society organizations and communities?
11. What are the responsibilities/roles/functions of the elected members at the Upazila Parishad and Union
Parishad levels in relation to children’s issues?
12. What is the level of acquaintance/knowledge of officials and elected members on child rights and the UNCRC?
Analysis
Without any indicators or an index it would not be feasible to assess the strengths, weaknesses and gaps in
the existing governance structure at the national and sub national levels especially for service delivery and
budgetary disbursements
• Usefulness of coming up with an index (something similar to MDG goals) to assess the progress of child
rights governance was suggested during the stakeholder interview process.
• Vastness of the country in terms of population and geographical area demands systematic indicators or
indexes to set benchmarks and measure the progress.
• The substantive and procedural principles of child rights governance can be used as metaphors to track
the progress made in improving the status of governance in respective government agencies.
Recommendations
• Develop an Index or an Indicator to review Child Rights Governance. (The substantive and procedural
principles may provide some guidance).
• Identify two specific thematic areas to implement a Child Rights Governance Baseline Study Project. It
would be feasible and pragmatic to identify one broad area such as child protection and one narrow area
for example birth registration.
• Tracking the child rights governance structure from national level to Zila Parishad, Upazila Parishad and
Union Parishad levels. Selecting one set of Parishad representing a relatively developed region with high
performance on the MDGs and another set of Parishads from a under developed region with relatively
low performance on MDGs would help compare and contrast the situation and understand regional
disparities relating to child rights governance.
• Tracking the child rights governance structure needs to identify the key institutions and officials respon-
sible at each level of the governance structure from national to subnational levels.
Name of Ministry/Department List ofTransferred Subject or Department
Ministry of Health and Family Planning Health and Family Planning including Upazila
Health Complex, MCH and all Population
Control Services
Ministry of Women and Children Affairs Women’s Department (Upazila Women
Affairs Officer and staff and their activities)
Primary Education Division Department of Primary Education (Upazila
Primary Education Officer and staff and their
activities)
Ministry of Disaster and Relief Relief and Rehabilitation Department
(Upazila PIO and staff and their activities)
Ministry of Social Welfare Department of Social Welfare (Upazila Social
Welfare Officer and staff and their activities)
Table 2.12 Duty Bearers responsible for Governance at Sub National Levels
The following functions (these have direct bearing on children) are transferred to the Upazila Parishad from
the different departments:
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34
Situation Assessment and Analysis of Children And Women in Bangladesh, UNICEF, 2009, p.23-24; see also Protection of
Children in Conflict with the Law in Bangladesh: Dr Borhan Uddin Khan, Mohammad Mahbudur Rahman (2008)
Save the Children UK;Tracing the Missing Cord:A Study on the Children Act, 1974,A study conducted by
Professor Mizanur Rahman, Ph.D. & Team For Save the Children - UK Dhaka.
Strengthening
National
Systems
3
The institutions and processes that are vested with power and authority and the decision making processes
exert primordial influence over the country’s ability to promote and protect child rights. Hence, a solidly
grounded child rights governance structure that is effective,efficient and a strong national system is crucial for
the realization of child rights for the 45% of Bangladesh’s child population. Strengthening transparency and
accountability of public officials are equally essential in ensuring child rights governance.
3.1 National Laws, Policies and Plans of Action
In a democratic system of governance, the power and authority to govern are derived from laws and policies.
Allocation and distribution of State resources are also prescribed by laws and policies of the government.
Hence, the need to review the government’s law and policy reform process and ascertain whether they are
in conformity with the international standards applicable to child rights.
3.1.1 Enactment/Amendment of Laws
Upon ratification of the UNCRC and its Optional Protocols the States parties have an obligation to bring
their domestic laws in conformity with the Principles and standards set by the UNCRC and the Protocols.
This obligation can be fulfilled either by amending the existing laws or enacting new laws. In addition to the
findings of law reviews carried out by UNICEF and Save the Children, the UNCRC Committee’s concluding
observations clearly demonstrate that national laws of Bangladesh are yet to conform with the principles and
rights enshrined in the UNCRC. It has been clearly established that certain national laws and policies
especially those relating to age and gender equality are inconsistent with the UNCRC and even the laws and
policies that are consistent with the UNCRC appear to be inactive and inoperative because of the
weaknesses in the law enforcement mechanisms.34
Concluding Observations of the UNCRC Committee,
Initial Report of Bangladesh to the UNCRC (1995)
Positive developments
Legislative Measures (1997)
A plan of action was proposed for the creation of task forces on law reform, juvenile justice and girl child. In
1995 Repression against Women and Children (Special Act) was adopted. Also, there was occasion for
UNCRC to appreciate Bangladesh’ active participation in the SAARC Conference on Decade of the Girl
Child.
UNCRC Committee’s Concerns (1997)
The domestic legal framework does not give a clear picture of Convention’s status and there appears to be
inadequacy in the steps taken to bring legislature into full conformity with the Convention in the areas such
as non-discrimination (art 2) best interests of the child (art. 3), right to life, survival and development (art. 6)
and respect for the views of the child (art. 12).
The current legislative provisions such as age limits set by the law, lack of definition of the child, the age of
criminal responsibility which is set at too young an age, the possibility of imposing death penalty and/ or
imprisonment of children in ordinary prisons (1997) too fall short of those expected by the Convention.
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Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
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Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
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Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis
Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis

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Study report on Child Rights Governance situation analysis

  • 1. A Study on Child Rights Governance Situation in Bangladesh AStudyonChildRightsGovernanceSituationinBangladesh
  • 2. A Study on Child Rights Governance Situation in Bangladesh House CWN (A)35, Road 43 Gulshan 2, Dhaka, Bangladesh Phone: +88-02-9861690 Fax: +88-02-9886372
  • 3. Researcher: Dr. Charika Marasinghe International Child Rights Law Consultant, Sri Lanka Associate team members: Md. Mokhlesur Rahman Senior officer – Research & Publications Child Rights Governance, Save the Children Chowdhury Tayub Tazamul (Rana) Senior Manager- Civil Society & Governance Child Rights Governance, Save the Children Coordinated and supervised by: Birgit Lundbak Director – Child Rights Governance Published: Child Rights Governance Save the Children in Bangladesh house – CWN(A) 35, Road- 43, Gulshan-2, Dhaka 1212 Cover design: Raihan Ahmed Member of Ichchey Meida Printing: ROOT Marketing Services First edition: December 2012 Copy right: Save the Children ISBN: Save the Children in Bangladesh is working with Child Rights Governance with a vision that far more children have their rights fulfilled. The programme comprise of child rights monitoring and advocacy, strengthening child friendly governance systems and building awareness and capacity of civil society. Your comments on child rights governance in general and this report in particularly are very much welcome. Please write to birgit.lundbak@savethechildren.org. Abbreviations VI List of Tables VII Preface X Executive Summary 12 1 Introduction 16 1.1 Study on Child Rights Governance Analysis 16 1.1.1 Purpose, Objectives and Scope of the Study 16 1.1.2 Methodology 16 1.1.3 Conceptual Framework, Constraints and Limitations 16 2 Child Rights Governance Contextual Framework 17 2.1 Country Context 17 2.1.1 Demographic Features 17 2.1.2 Birth of a Nation and the Liberation Struggle 18 2.1.3 National Governance 19 2.1.4 Local Governance 21 2.1.5 Rule of Law and Governance 22 2.1.6 Socio-Economic Developments 24 2.2 International Human Rights Treaty Obligations 26 2.2.1 International Treaties Ratified or Acceded to by Bangladesh 27 2.2.2 Treaty Obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Child Rights of the Child 27 2.2.3 Achievements in and Impediments to Realization of Child Rights 28 2.3 Child Rights Governance: Theory and Practice 28 2.3.1 What is Child Rights Governance? 28 2.3.2 General Measures of Implementation 29 2.3.3 Interpretative Guidance from Good Governance 32 3 Strengthening National Systems 41 3.1 National Laws, Policies and Plans of Action 42 3.1.1 Enactment/Amendment of Laws 42 3.1.2 Law Enforcement 47 3.1.3 Interpretation of the Laws 52 3.1.4 National Strategies, Policies and Action Plans for Children 56 3.2 Coordination of Implementation of Children’s Rights 60 Research Team Table of Contents ii Child Rights Governance Analysis (CRGA) Bangladesh 2012 iii Child Rights Governance Analysis (CRGA) Bangladesh 2012
  • 4. 2.6.1 The Anti-corruption Act of 2004 and the Anti-corruption Commission 127 2.6.2 Other Legislative Measures 128 2.6.3 Corruption Index 129 2.6.4 Trends in Corruption 130 2.6.5 UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) and Bangladesh’s International Treaty Obligations 133 2.7 Data collection 139 2.7.1 Institutions Responsible for Data Collection 140 3. Building Awareness and Capacity 143 5.1 Civil Society 143 5.1.1 Contribution of Civil Society 143 5.1.2 Politics and Civil Society 144 5.1.3 Civil Society and Government Partnerships 145 5.1.4 Civil Society and Child Rights 145 5.2 Government of Bangladesh 148 5.3 Children 149 5.3.1 Fundamentals of Capacity Building 149 5.3.2 Child Participation in Child Rights Governance 149 6. Conclusion 153 Annex 1 155 Bibliography 156 Annex 2 164 1.2.1 Ministry of Women and Children Affairs (MOWCA) 61 1.2.2 Inter-ministerial CRC Committee (also known as CRC Standing Committee) 63 1.2.3 National Council for Children (NCC) and National Council for Women and Child Development (NCWCD) 63 1.2.4 Coordinating MDG Goals 64 1.2.5 Focal Points within Ministries 64 1.2.6 National Children’s Task Force (NCTF) 65 1.2.7 Coordination at Sub National Level 65 1.3 Local Government Structure and Functions relating to Children 67 1.3.1 Zila Parishad 68 1.3.2 Upazila Parishad 68 1.3.3 Union Parishad 69 1.3.4 City Corporations and Paurashavas 70 1.3.5 UNDP and Local Governance 70 1.4 Economic Governance 73 1.4.1 Budgetary Concepts and General Framework of the Budgetary Procedure 74 1.4.2 Taxation 82 1.5 Birth Registration and Citizenship 88 1.5.1 Birth Registration 88 1.5.2 Citizenship 93 4. Child Rights Monitoring 99 4.1 International Standard Setting on Independent Child Rights Monitoring Mechanisms 100 4.1.1 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 100 4.1.2 Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action 100 4.1.3 Paris Principles 101 4.1.4 Standards for Independent Human Rights Institutions, 101 European Network of Ombudspersons for Children (ENOC) 4.2 Essential characteristics of an independent child rights monitoring mechanism 101 2.2.1 Legality and Independence 101 2.2.2 Powers and Functions 103 2.3 National Human Rights Commission of Bangladesh 106 2.3.1 Legal Framework of the Commission 107 2.3.2 UNDP Capacity Development Project 113 2.4 Right to Information Act 115 2.4.1 Legal Framework of the Act 116 2.4.2 Powers and Functions of the Information Commission 117 2.5 Child-focussed Budget Analyses 120 2.6 Anti-Corruption 126 iv Child Rights Governance Analysis (CRGA) Bangladesh 2012 v Child Rights Governance Analysis (CRGA) Bangladesh 2012
  • 5. ACC Anti-Corruption Commission ADP Annual Development Programme BAC Bureau of Anti-Corruption BSA Bangladesh Shishu Academy BSAF Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar Forum CLU Child Labour Unit CPI Corruption Perceptions Index CRG Child Rights Governance CSOs Civil Society Organizations GDP Gross Domestic Product ILO International Labour Organization INGOs International Non-governmental organizations JATI Judicial Administrative Training Institute MoE Ministry of Education MDG Millennium Development Goals MoHFW Ministry of Health and Family Welfare MoLE Ministry of Labour and Employment MoPME Ministry of Primary and Mass Education MoSW Ministry of Social Welfare MoWCA Ministry of Women and Children NBR National Board of Revenue NCC National Council for Children NCTF National Children’s Task Force NCP National Child Parliament NCC National Council for Children NCWCD National Council for Women and Child Development NGOs Non-governmental organizations NHRC National Human Rights Commission NPA National Plan of Action RTI Right to Information SSN Social Safety Net UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund UNCRC United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child UNDP United Nations Development Programme Table No. Subject Table 2.1 Demographic Status of Bangladesh Table 2.2 Distribution of Children (0-17 years) by Geographic Regions Table 2.3 National Governance Structure Table: 2.4 Succession in Political Leadership Since Independence Table 2.5 Local Governance Structure Table 2.6 Status of Children Against Key MDG Indicators (per cent) Table 2.7 Status of MDGs in Bangladesh Table 2.8 International Treaty Obligations Undertaken by Bangladesh Table 2.9 Rights-Based Approach to Governance Table 2.10 Child Rights Governance Model Table 2.11 Duty Bearers responsible for Governance at National Levels Table 2.12 Duty Bearers responsible for Governance at Sub National Levels Table 3.1 Comparison of the Mandate of MoWCA and Ministry of Social Welfare Table 3.2 Functions of Upazila Parishads Table 3.3 Budgetary Time Frame Table 3.4 Total Revenue and Taxes as Percentage of GDP Table 3.5 Birth Registration of Children under the Age of 5 years: Comparison of 2006 and 2009 MCIS Surveys Table 3.6 Birth Registration by Educational Level of Mothers and Caretakers Table 3.7 Birth Registration by Wealth Index Quintiles Table 4.1 Complaints handled by the NHRC Table 4.2 Five-Year Strategic Plan Table 4.3 Budget Allocation of Child-Related Ministries Table 4.4 Pattern in Budget Allocation Table 4.5 Allocation in ADP for the Six Selected ministries Table 4.6 Bangladesh’s Scores in CPI (2001-2011) Table 4.7 CPI: Performance of South Asian Countries 2010-2011 Table 4.8 National Estimate of Bribery Table 4.9 Percentage of Households Who Experienced Corruption Table 4.10 Corruption – bias against poor Table 4.11 Key Statistics Child Labour Unit, Ministry of Labour and Employment Table 5.1 Rise of NGOs Receiving Foreign Funding Since 1990s in Bangladesh Table 5.2 CSO Active at Different Geographic Levels Table 5.3 Statistics of Registered CSOs in Bangladesh Table 5.4 Statistics of CSOs and Total Population of Selected Countries in Asia Table 5.5 Policy interests of civil society organizations Table 5.6 Relationship of CSOs with Ruling Party and Opposition Table 5.7 Presence of the National Children’s Task Force Abbreviations List of Tables vi Child Rights Governance Analysis (CRGA) Bangladesh 2012 vii Child Rights Governance Analysis (CRGA) Bangladesh 2012
  • 6. viii Child Rights Governance Analysis (CRGA) Bangladesh 2012 ix Child Rights Governance Analysis (CRGA) Bangladesh 2012 Save the Children is working on Child Rights Governance with the aim of building societies that fulfill children rights. Our long-term vision is that children have their rights fulfilled. This requires: • All States to meet their obligations to monitor and implement children’s rights • A strong civil society, including children, holding States and the international community to account for children’s rights. In Bangladesh, we are working with the government of Bangladesh and civil society, including children’s own organizations, academia, media and the private sector, to reach this vision. Many good steps have been taken to improve governance for children by enacting important new legislation. However more emphasis needs to be given to implementation, resourcing, monitoring and coordination. Governance can be defined in many ways. Perhaps the best indication that there is good governance is when even marginalized children have their rights met. Securing good governance for children is complex. First of all it requires recognition of children as civil society actors in their own rights. It also requires a whole range of policy areas to be integrated and coordinated, since the fulfilment of children’s rights involves almost all sectors. It also requires good laws, implementation, coordination, resourcing. To get a better overview of the governance situation for children, Save the Children and the Child Rights Governance Assembly (CRGA), a network of 17 NGOs and children’s networks, jointly commissioned this study. It provides an overview of the most important legal frameworks, laws, institutions and actors important for children. It analyzes the reports made to the UN CRC committee and the concluding observations and analyzes the governance structure at both national and local level. Under each section the report brings out a number of recommendations. Here I would like to particularly mention two of the key recommendations: 1. The need for a single and empowered entity to strengthen the coordination of children’s issues by overseeing the implementation and coordination of all work related to children. As of today there is not even a separate directorate for children in the Ministry of Women and Children’s affairs, and the fact that the Ministry is headed by a State Minister rather than a Cabinet Minister also gives it a relatively weaker position compared to other ministries. 2. The need for an independent Child rights Commissioner or Childrens Ombudsman who can act as a watch dog and independently monitor children’s rights, highlight violations of children’s rights, monitor standards of service provision and demand accountability of duty bearers, and most importantly start immediate investigation and enforcement measures on behalf of affected children, families and communities to get redress and end the culture of impunity for child rights violations. The establishment of a Child Rights Commission is part of the new National Policy on Children (2011). It is also mentioned in the Constitution and it has been repeatedly recommended by the CRC Committee in its Concluding Observations. We hope this analysis will be useful for all actors in government, civil society and private sector who want to work for the best interest of children in Bangladesh. Michael McGrath Country Director Bangladesh Save the Children Introduction The relational link and the importance of good governance for the promotion and protection of human rights have long been discussed and debated. However, there was little or no reference to the subject of child rights governance until Save the Children International innovated and incorporated the child rights governance into its comprehensive child rights thematic programme areas. The child rights governance programme in its formative and evolving stage has been unfolding and evolving simultaneously, learning and applying the lessons learned from other thematic areas. This study aims at contributing to the child rights discourse by enriching and expanding both knowledge and experiential resources that would provide guidance and direction for forging strategic direction in child rights programme planning, implementation, evaluation and monitoring. Child rights governance is the most important underpinning factor that provides a solid foundation upon which all other child rights thematic areas could strategically build their child rights programming work. Child Rights Governance: theory and practice Drawing inspiration and guidance from the UNCRC Committee’s General Comment No.5 on general measures of implementation, the Save the Children International’s own understanding of the concept and the UNDP’s definition of good governance, the study has made a genuine effort of coming up with a definition that would succinctly and correctly explain the essential characteristics of the concept of child rights governance. Within this contextual understanding and framework the study proposes the following definition of child rights governance: “Execution of law and policy and exercise of economic, political and administrative power, authority, and management of monetary, human and material resources and governance of institutions, systems and processes in a manner respectful of and responsive to promoting and protecting child rights guaranteed in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Child.” Expanding on the definition of child rights governance the study has identified certain substantive and procedural principles that could be applied as criteria for assessing the existing status of child rights governance and setting benchmarks to enhance the same. The substantive principles identified by the study include best interests of the child, non-discrimination, child participation, transparency, accountability, sustainability, integrity, impartiality, efficiency and equity. The procedural principles of child rights governance are classified under the themes: Institutional Mandates/Portfolios, Role Profiles/Terms of References, Child-friendly processes, procedures and systems, Compatibility of Laws, Policies and Strategies, Implementation of Laws, Policies and Strategies, Coordination among and within institutions, Review and Evaluation of Performance, Independent Monitoring, Advocacy and Networking and Capacity Building. Strengthening National Systems Save the Children International’s child rights governance thematic area identifies strengthening national systems as one of the three pillars on which the thematic area is built upon. The study examines national laws, policies and plans of action to understand the extent to which they conform with the UNCRC treaty obligations. It appears that although new laws, policies and action plans have been adopted and amendments have been made to existing laws, problems have been encountered in implementing these laws and policies. In interpreting the law, the judiciary has adopted a progressive approach by addressing the gaps in the laws relating to children and flaws in enforcement. One of the major impediments in implementing child rights is the absence of a single body with a powerful portfolio to Preface Executive Summary
  • 7. effectively coordinate the multi-faceted powers and functions carried out by multi-sectoral agencies of the government at national and sub national levels. Also, there is the need for ministerial level coordination work carried out at national and sub national levels relating to children. Economic governance can be considered as one of the most difficult and complex aspects of strengthening national systems. An in-depth knowledge of the budgetary concepts and the budgetary procedure is required to understand at which stages of the economic governance process interventions could be made to promote and protect child rights. The study has extended the economic governance discussion to taxation and examines taxation system thoroughly to ascertain ways and means of influencing child rights governance to enhance the revenue income contribution to the Annual Development Programme (ADP) which would directly impact on the lives of children. Save the Children International’s child rights governance thematic area recognizes birth registration and citizenship as part of its endeavours to strengthening national systems. Birth registration legitimises and officially endorses the existence of a child before the law. It is a kind of licence that qualifies the child to seek, claim and enjoy all the rights guaranteed in the UNCRC. Birth registration is also the initial step towards claiming citizenship and nationality. The study has observed the progress the country has made in achieving universal birth registration and avenues for interventions for strengthening the system. Special attention was paid to political sensitivity surrounding citizenship of enclave population, Rohingyas and Biharis in the study. It also emphasizes that child rights governance strategy relating to birth registration and citizenship should acknowledge the work of other actors in the field to avoid duplication and forge new collaborative interventions. Child Rights Monitoring International standard setting especially the UNCRC General Comment No.2 on Independent Monitoring Mechanisms, Paris Principles and the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action provides valuable interpretative guidance in defining child rights monitoring within a child rights governance framework. In light of these international standards the study examines the powers and functions of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and how effectively it could exercise its present powers and functions to engage in child rights monitoring work. The NHRC has dealt with child rights issues during its brief period of existence and also its five-year strategic plan has specifically identified child rights and child labour as strategic focus areas. The mandate and profile of the NHRC set an ideal stage for promoting child rights governance. The Right to Information Act is another resourceful tool for child rights governance, more specifically for monitoring child rights violations. It is a law with the potential of being used even by children especially to acquaint themselves of their entitlements, to access public services and facilities, to receive protection of the law, to track and detect corrupt institutions, corrupt officials and corrupt practices, to strengthen the service delivery mechanisms and to enhance the capacity of institutions. However, prior to any involvement of children in using the provisions of the Right to Information Act, the child-friendly procedures for such interventions should be in place and also children should be given a special training in applying the Act for child rights work to ensure that children possess accurate knowledge of the legitimate use of the Act. Child-focussed Budget Analyses Influencing the budgetary process with the aim of making it more child-centred is an important dimension of child rights governance. A recent study on child-centred budgeting by Save the Children International has revealed that the key ministries with a substantial portfolio relating to children such as Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Ministry of Social Welfare, and Ministry of Labour and Employment have not attracted even one fifth of the total budget. Resourcing for children is a highly technical process which goes through different stages of planning, preparing proposals, reviewing, allocating, approving and finally disbursing funds at national and sub national levels. A comprehensive understanding of this long drawn and complex process is essential before moving forward with any interventions addressing the pertinent issues relating to budgetary allocations for children. Assessment of the budgetary requirements would mean working with ministries with different cabinet portfolios and a remit on children and also their counterparts at the sub national level. Anti-corruption The value of anti-corruption indicators as child rights monitoring methods have been highlighted in the child rights governance thematic area. Adverse impact of corruption drastically undermines the rights of children of today and the generations to come. Corruption abates the country’s resources and weakens its capacity to finance child rights implementation programmes. It also curtails the enjoyment of child rights and discriminatory outcomes derived from corrupt practices deny the child’s right to non-discrimination and equality. Corruption decreases the parents’ and care-givers’ purchasing power to care for the basic needs of children and accessing public services to fulfilling children’s needs. When law enforcement institutions and the judiciary succumbed to corrupt practices the rights of children who come into contact with the law as victims, offenders and witnesses get severely impaired. Data Collection Systems As an important child rights monitoring indicator, data collection systems provide insightful information not only to assess, evaluate and review achievements made in any chosen area of child rights but also to identify gaps and impediments in implementing child rights and initiate remedial action for rectification. Through statistical data analyses, the national and regional disparities in terms of geographical, socio-economic, gender - and age-based information and trends relating to fulfilment of child rights can be elicited. Building Awareness and Capacity Improving the child rights governance situation in the country is a phenomenal task that needs the active participation and contribution of multiple stakeholders – the government, the civil society organizations and the children themselves. The civil society resource pool in Bangladesh is a giant force if utilized appropriately and effectively, it would pay great dividends to the child rights governance thematic area. Six different types of civil society organizations that could play a catalytic role in the child rights governance discourse have been identified in the study. Given the politically sensitive nature of the issues in child rights governance, building awareness and capacity of the civil society organizations on child rights governance is a priority. Furthermore, unlike good governance, child rights governance is a recent phenomenon still in an infant phase. Hence the need for a precise understanding of the subject prior to getting actively involved in the child rights governance landscape. x Child Rights Governance Analysis (CRGA) Bangladesh 2012 xi Child Rights Governance Analysis (CRGA) Bangladesh 2012
  • 8. effectively coordinate the multi-faceted powers and functions carried out by multi-sectoral agencies of the government at national and sub national levels. Also, there is the need for ministerial level coordination work carried out at national and sub national levels relating to children. Economic governance can be considered as one of the most difficult and complex aspects of strengthening national systems. An in-depth knowledge of the budgetary concepts and the budgetary procedure is required to understand at which stages of the economic governance process interventions could be made to promote and protect child rights. The study has extended the economic governance discussion to taxation and examines taxation system thoroughly to ascertain ways and means of influencing child rights governance to enhance the revenue income contribution to the Annual Development Programme (ADP) which would directly impact on the lives of children. Save the Children International’s child rights governance thematic area recognizes birth registration and citizenship as part of its endeavours to strengthening national systems. Birth registration legitimises and officially endorses the existence of a child before the law. It is a kind of licence that qualifies the child to seek, claim and enjoy all the rights guaranteed in the UNCRC. Birth registration is also the initial step towards claiming citizenship and nationality. The study has observed the progress the country has made in achieving universal birth registration and avenues for interventions for strengthening the system. Special attention was paid to political sensitivity surrounding citizenship of enclave population, Rohingyas and Biharis in the study. It also emphasizes that child rights governance strategy relating to birth registration and citizenship should acknowledge the work of other actors in the field to avoid duplication and forge new collaborative interventions. Child Rights Monitoring International standard setting especially the UNCRC General Comment No.2 on Independent Monitoring Mechanisms, Paris Principles and the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action provides valuable interpretative guidance in defining child rights monitoring within a child rights governance framework. In light of these international standards the study examines the powers and functions of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and how effectively it could exercise its present powers and functions to engage in child rights monitoring work. The NHRC has dealt with child rights issues during its brief period of existence and also its five-year strategic plan has specifically identified child rights and child labour as strategic focus areas. The mandate and profile of the NHRC set an ideal stage for promoting child rights governance. The Right to Information Act is another resourceful tool for child rights governance, more specifically for monitoring child rights violations. It is a law with the potential of being used even by children especially to acquaint themselves of their entitlements, to access public services and facilities, to receive protection of the law, to track and detect corrupt institutions, corrupt officials and corrupt practices, to strengthen the service delivery mechanisms and to enhance the capacity of institutions. However, prior to any involvement of children in using the provisions of the Right to Information Act, the child-friendly procedures for such interventions should be in place and also children should be given a special training in applying the Act for child rights work to ensure that children possess accurate knowledge of the legitimate use of the Act. Child-focussed Budget Analyses Influencing the budgetary process with the aim of making it more child-centred is an important dimension of child rights governance. A recent study on child-centred budgeting by Save the Children International has revealed that the key ministries with a substantial portfolio relating to children such as Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Ministry of Social Welfare, and Ministry of Labour and Employment have not attracted even one fifth of the total budget. Resourcing for children is a highly technical x Child Rights Governance Analysis (CRGA) Bangladesh 2012
  • 9. Introduction Introduction 1 Effective from October 1 2011, Save the Children in Bangladesh was restructured as one organization amalgamating US, UK, Australia and Sweden-Denmark programmes under the title ‘Save the Children International’.When the two organizations functioned as two separate entities, Save the Children Australia focussed on Children's Participation through a national children's platform, NCTF, Child Parliament and national Child rights monitoring and whereas Save the Children Sweden-Denmark emphasized on civil society, media, budget analysis, capacity building, CRC in academia, media etc. The newly formed CRG-team envisages developing a Child Rights Governance Programme in line with the Child Rights Governance theme of the Save the Children International Global Strategy. 1.1 Study on Child Rights Governance Analysis 1.1.1 Purpose, Objectives and Scope of the Study • To provide an updated status on the Child rights governance situation in Bangladesh to be shared with partners, government and other stakeholders as a basis for developing strategies and action plans • To assist the CRG theme to sharpen the design of the CRG programme • To serve as a baseline to measure future improvements • To assist in developing an advocacy and policy strategy • To explore the present status of child rights governance in key selected areas. • To provide recommendation for Save the Children’s CRG programme both for programming and advocacy. 1.1.2 Methodology A desk review of key documents on the situation of children and child rights in Bangladesh and also documentation relating to the UNCRC formed the basis of the Study.The desk review was supplemented by in depth interviews with different stakeholders in the government sector institutions and civil society organizations that provided valuable insights into the on-going dialogue relating to Child Rights Governance. 1.1.3 Conceptual Framework, Constraints and Limitations The conceptual framework for the study is based on three areas: first, the understanding of the concept of child rights governance in light of the provisions of the UNCRC and standard setting and practice of the UNCRC Committee; second, the definition and interpretation of Save the Children International on the concept of Child Rights Governance; third, the availability of primary and secondary literature sources and information gathered during stakeholder interviews. In the absence of reliable and sufficient written documentation on the local situation, the analysis could not cover each and every dimension of the child rights governance situation in Bangladesh. Page | 2 Child Rights Governance Analysis (CRGA) Bangladesh 2012 Introduction 1
  • 10. Page | 4 Child Rights Governance Analysis (CRGA) Bangladesh 2012 Child Rights Governance Contextual Framework2 • Population : 150 million • Population under 15 years of age : 36 percent • Population under 5 years of age : 12 percent • Childhood Mortality(age 1-5) : 1 of every fifteen • Child Mortality(before first birthday) : 1 of every nineteen • ChildhoodVaccination Coverage : 82 (Source: Bangladesh Health and Demographic Survey, 2007) Bangladesh in extent 55,598 Sq. Miles (143,998 sq. Kilometres), located in the North Eastern part of South Asia is bounded by India on theWest,East and the North, Myanmar on the East and Bay of Bengal on the South. Bangladesh with a population of 150 million (Population: 158,570,535 (July 2011 est.) is the seventh in the world population chart with a child population of 61 million which is 45% of the total population. The country has an urban population of 27% of total population (2009 est.) and a rural population of 73% in 86,038 villages in the country. Population pyramid of Bangladesh shows that the majority is under 18 years of age and its demographic data indicates that 1/3 of the population is under 15 year, 63% between 15 and 64 years and 4% above 65 years which gives a fair assumption of the future child population of the country. Despite the rapid fertility decline Bangladesh with its eco effect of high fertility level can expect a population growth of a sizeable nature. Majority of Bangladeshi people about 98.90% of the population represent the Bengali ethno-linguistic group and minority ethnic groups include Meitei, Khasi, Santhals, Chakma, Garo (tribe), Biharis, Oraons, Mundas and Rohingyas. Bangladesh also has a tribal population of approximately 1586141 according to 2011 census.1 These tribal communities with Sino-Tibetan descent are mainly found in the Chittagong HillTracts and around Mymensingh, Sylhet, and Rajshahi.There are significant differences in the social customs, religion, language and level of development of these tribal groups compared to the rest of the population.2 According to the 2001 census,the religious profile of the population is:Islam 89.7%,Hinduism 9.2%,Buddhism 0.7%, Christianity 0.3% and others 0.1%.The majority of the Muslims are Sunni consisting of 95% of the Muslim population, and the remaining are Shi'a and other sects.3 Child Rights Governance Contextual Framework 2.1 Country Context 2.1.1 Demographic Features Table 2.1 Demographic Status of Bangladesh 1 Population and Housing Census 2011, http://www.bbs.gov.bd/PageSecureReport.aspx, accessed on November 14, 2012 2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Bangladesh. 3 ibid. Demographic Status of Bangladesh Child Rights Governance Contextual Framework2
  • 11. Page | 6 Child Rights Governance Analysis (CRGA) Bangladesh 2012 Child Rights Governance Contextual Framework2 Page | 5 Child Rights Governance Analysis (CRGA) Bangladesh 2012 Child Rights Governance Contextual Framework2 Out of 63.2 million children (0.-17 yrs),about 73 percent live in the rural areas and 27 percent live in the urban areas. The majority of the country’s children live in Dhaka Division (31%), followed by Rajshahi (23%), Chittagong (21%), Khulna (10%), Sylhet (8%), and Barisal (7%) Divisions.4 2.1.2 Birth of a Nation and the Liberation Struggle For nearly two centuries from 1757-1947 Bangladesh was part of British Indian provinces of Bengal and Assam. In 1947 at the end of the British rule, the Indian subcontinent was partitioned into India and Pakistan and Bangladesh became part of Pakistan known as East Bengal and later East Pakistan. Bengali people with a distinct language and culture inhabited East Pakistan and Pakistani rulers denied Bengali people of their democratic and economic freedoms,rights and aspirations. Since 1948 Bengali people aspired for a separate homeland and the Awami League led by Bangabandhu Sheikh MujiburRahman won a landslide victory at the first-ever Parliamentary elections held in Pakistan in 1970 Awami League becoming the party with the largest majority in the whole of Pakistan. Increased political discontent and cultural nationalism in East Pakistan was attacked byWest Pakistan establishment with violent aggressive force.The systematic genocide against Bengali people was launched by Pakistan Military as an attempt to crush the nationalistic movement of East Pakistan.These developments led to the Bangladesh Liberation War supported by India and others friendly nations. The newly independent State,Bangladesh was born on 16 December 1971 consequent to a liberation struggle of nine months against Pakistan resulting in the worst form of genocide since theWorldWar II with 3 million people killed, some 278,000 women raped and 10 million seeking refuge in neighbouring India. 2.1.3 National Governance The newly founded nation was governed by a Parliamentary form of government till 1974 and later by Presidential System of Government until the year 1991.A Parliamentary System of Government with Prime Minister as the Chief Executive of the country and the cabinet was established in August 1991 abolishing the Presidential system.Although the government was founded on democratic principles,the post- independence Bangladesh for almost forty years has been embroiled in political upheavals, political assassinations and military coups. The governance structure throughout this period was based on the unitary model despite the country’s vast land area with geographically inaccessible and isolated regions. Further the density and diversity of the population with a large percentage in rural sector have added complexity to the country’s situation.Though numerous changes were effected by successive governments, there was no decentralization of power that Table 2.2 Distribution of Children (0-17 years) by geographic regions 4 National Report Bangladesh, GLOBAL STUDY ON CHILD POVERTY AND DISPARITIES 2009, p.13 Source: National Report, Bangladesh, Global Study on Child Poverty and Disparities, p.13, 2009. resulted in achieving an effective and efficient local government system equipped with local knowledge to be responsive to the needs and priorities of the poor and the powerless in rural Bangladesh. In the words of a renowned local government expert “Thus,our elected local government leaders have never had the opportunity to exercise their leadership in solving local problems through effective participation of the people.Consequently our system of governance has become increasingly more centralised over the years.”5 For administrative purposes the country is divided into Seven administrative divisions, each named after their respective divisional headquarters: Barisal, Chittagong, Dhaka, Khulna, Rajshahi, Sylhet and Rangpur.These divisions are sub-divided into 64 districts and each further sub-divided into 483 Upazilas (sub-districts)6 . Each Upazila, except for those in metropolitan areas, is divided into several unions, with each union consisting of multiple villages. In the metropolitan areas, police stations are divided into wards, which are further divided into Mahallas. Elected representatives were there in the Upazilas from 1985 to 1991. However, from 1992 to 2009, in the Upazila Parishad there were no elected representatives at the Upazila levels, and the administration was composed only of Government officials. Direct elections are held for each union (or ward), which elect a chairperson and a number of members. 5 Majumdar Alam Badiul , Local Governance and Political Reform Keys to Poverty Reduction, p.15, (2010). 6 Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, p.8 (2011) Source: Local Government in Bangladesh, Kamal Siddiqui (edt.) (2005).Annex XVIII p.528 Executive Prime Minister Council of Ministers Legislature (Jatiya Sangsad) Ministry/ Division Supreme Court High Court Division Appellate Division President Judiciary Table 2.3 National Governance Structure
  • 12. Page | 8 Child Rights Governance Analysis (CRGA) Bangladesh 2012 Child Rights Governance Contextual Framework2 Page | 7 Child Rights Governance Analysis (CRGA) Bangladesh 2012 Child Rights Governance Contextual Framework2 The founder of the country,the Prime Minister- Sheikh Mujiber Rahman was assassinated in 1975 about a year after he became President of the country. General Ziaur Rahaman, founder of the Bangladesh National Party (BNP), took over power and became President in 1978. He was assassinated in 1981. The army chief, General Hossain Mohammad Ershad, became his successor in 1982. However, he could not legitimize his status through elections and kept political activity in banned till 1985, conducted a Presidential election declaring himself President.A state of emergency was announced by General Ershad for three years due to political violence. He surrendered power to a neutral interim government in December 1990. Free elections were held in February 1991, when Begum Khaleda Zia, leader of the BNP, won the elections and became Prime Minister. From 1991 onwards, regular elections were held in Bangladesh. The 1996 elections were won by allies of the Awami League while the BNP and its allies won the 2001 elections.Bangla- desh yet experienced political instability. Once again in 2007 the army took over presumably with the hope of stopping the violence between the two leading political parties.There was a caretaker government until the ninth general Election in 2008, following which Sheikh Hasina, leader of the Awami League, became Prime Minister in 2009. 2.1.4 Local Governance Decentralized local government structure is divided into two: rural and urban.The local government struc- ture in the rural sector comprises 3 tiers.At the highest level are Zila Parishad, then Upazila Parishad and Union Parishad.The 483 Upazilas (or sub-districts) play a vitally important role throughout Bangladesh as a strategic service delivery point. Rural local governments,known in Bangladesh as Union Parishads (UPs),have been functioning as the lowest tier of local government units since the 1870s.The urban local governance structure is divided as City Corporation and Paurashava (Municipality). Decentralised system of governance has been adversely affected by bureaucratization of the system with a Dhaka centred power base. City Corporation and Paurashava have also been made the extended arms of the central government. The political history of the country is filled with numerous instances of appointed officials yielding power in the local government institutions.Adopting a centralised system of governance from the center,the colonial rulers appointed officials with overriding powers to the local government bodies.After separation the Pakistani rulers too continued this trend.As a result the appointed members could overrule the elected members in the governing bodies. Democracy Watch reports that there are frequent clashes between Upazila Parishad Councils and appointed government officials. Another obstacle faced by local government elected bodies is the dominant role played by the local members of Parliament in the affairs of the local government institutions. 7 ibid p.15. Elections are the initial access to democracy. This privilege was denied to people of Bangladesh. Local government elections were not held regularly.Though hard to believe, it is a fact that in the last 38 years Zila Parishad did not have elections except three hilly districts. Until 2009, the only functional local government body was Union Parishad with no elected representatives at the divisional or district and the administration comprised only government officials. Each new regime civil or military came up with new models of local government.All these regimes either amended or repealed the existing local government laws even going to the extent of abolishing local government bodies etc.These were all superficial changes devoid of any attempt to remedy the many ills of the system or to make improvements to increase their efficacy.Abolition of Upazila Parishad system in 1991 by the then elected government and re-establishing Upazila Parishads after 2009 January elections is a good example of the constant changes made to the local governance landscape. 2.1.5 Rule of Law and Governance On 16th January 2007 the military backed caretaker government of Bangladesh declared separation of subordinate judiciary from the executive. The civil society organizations and the lawyers welcomed the amendments of the Code of Criminal Procedure Act on 1st November 2007 guaranteeing independent judiciary by empowering the Supreme Court to appoint lower courts judges and judicial magistrates.The earlier system had the Prime Minister as Head of the Ministry of Establishment with powers to make appointments of judges leading to political control over lower courts. Political influence debars judges from giving impartial judgments.The government decision to send two judges on retirement on 30th July 2009 using Section 9(2) of the Public Servants (Retirement) Act of 1974 is an example where law was politically used to punish judges who are unwilling to listen to the executive.8 8 Asian Human Rights Commission, "Bangladesh: Judicial Independence," press release,August 5, 2009, http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0908/S00070.htm. Table 2.5 Local Governance StructureTable 2.5 Local Governance Structure Special Affairs Division Ministry of LGRD & Cooperatives UrbanRural Zila Parishad 61 Upazila Parishad 482 Union Parishad 4489 City Cooperation (6) Hill District Local Government Parishad 3 Paurashava 298 Source: Local Government in Bangladesh, Kamal Siddiqui (edt.) (2005).Annex XVIII p.528 Table 2.4 Succession in Political Leadership Since Independence (Awami League) (BNP) (BNP) (BNP) (Awami League) (BNP) (Awami League) Sheikh Mujiber Rahaman Ziaur Rahaman Justice Sattar Hossain Mohammad Ershad Begum Khaleda Zia Sheikh Hasina Begum Khaleda Zia CareTaker Government Sheikh Hasina 1971 - 1975 1975 - 1981 1981 - 1982 1982 - 1991 1991 - 1996 1996 - 2001 2001 - 2006 2007 - 2009 2009 - present
  • 13. Page | 10 Child Rights Governance Analysis (CRGA) Bangladesh 2012 Child Rights Governance Contextual Framework2 Page | 9 Child Rights Governance Analysis (CRGA) Bangladesh 2012 Child Rights Governance Contextual Framework2 9 M.Abdul Latif Mondal, "Averting Controversy in Appointment of Chief Justice," Daily Star, October 10, 2010, http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=157772. 10 M.Anwar Hossain, "Appointment of the Judiciary Branch," My OpenVoice (blog),April 28, 2010, http://www.myopenvoice.net/2010/04/awami-league-corruption_28.html. 11 Dr. M. Saidul Islam, "The State of Judiciary in Bangladesh," Weekly Holiday, March 25, 2011, http://www.weeklyholiday.net/2011/250311/edit.html. 12 Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC),The State of Human Rights in Bangladesh 2009 (AHRC, 2009): 23-24, http://material.ahrchk.net/hrreport/2009/AHRC-SPR-001-2009-Bangladesh-HRReport2009.pdf. 13 TIB Findings Must Have Shaken People's Faith in Judiciary," New Age, December 25, 2010, http://www.bdinn.com/articles/tib-findings-must-have-shaken-people%E2%80%99s-faith-in-judiciary/. 14 Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, http://www.bbs.gov.bd/na_wing/GDP_2008_09.pdf 15 UNDP, Human Development Report 2011: http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_2011_EN_Complete.pdf 16 The Multidimensional Poverty Index is introduced by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative http://www.ophi.org.uk/policy/multidimensional-poverty-index/mpi-data-methodology/ 17 Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Bangladesh Demographic Data Sheet: http://www.indexmundi.com/bangladesh/population_growth_rate.html 18 Directorate of Primary Education, http://www.banbeis.gov.bd/webnew/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=342:gross- and-net-enrolmentrate-in-primary-education&catid=61:primary-education-2010&Itemid=180 19 Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Bangladesh Demographic Data Sheet, http://www.dgfp.gov.bd/data%20sheet.htm. 20 Policy Study on Financing Growth and Poverty Reduction: Policy Challenges and Options in Bangladesh, UNDP, Bangladesh 2009, p.19. 21 ibid. 22 ibid. 23 http://www.undp.org.bd/mdgs.php. Efforts seeking remedies towards independent judiciary becomes non-functional when the President in consultation with the Prime Minister appoints judges, specially the Supreme Court judges. Serious questions were asked when President Zillur Rahnman appointed Justice A.B.M. Khairul Haque from Appellate Division as the Chief Justice of Bangladesh on 26th September 2010 ignoring two senior judges of the Appellate Division. Lack of clarity of article 95 of the Constitution which empowers the President to appoint Chief Justice, the most prestigious position in the country allows room for political manipulation.The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) which is headed by opposition parties condemned the act while pro President Lawyers expressed jubilation.9 Two newly appointed additional judges to the High Court Division created sensation when the Chief Justice refused to administer oath to advocates Rahul Quddus and M. Khasruzzam.10 Political based appointments are a threat to the independence of judiciary.11 The long standing tradition of appointing party loyalists as Public Prosecutors continued even after the democratically elected government in 2008.The governing party immediately replaced the entire group of public prosecutors with party loyalists. According to a report by the Asian Human Rights Commission the political appointees serve the government to the maximum and ‘perverts the course of justice’.12 A national household survey conducted from June 2009 to May 2010 revealed that the most corrupt service was found in judiciary. It is reported that 88% of the people who turned to judiciary became victims due to wide spread corruption and that justice was denied to people as they did not have access to independent counsel and fair trial.13 2.1.6 Socio-Economic Developments A number of socio-economic indicators show that the country has achieved impressive progress since independence.From about 1990s it has been maintaining a pace of 5-6% economic growth (in GDP).At a time when other countries were struggling to sail through the tidal waves of the global financial crisis, Bangladesh has managed to sustain closer to 6 percent GDP growth.14 The increase of the country’s human development index (HDI) rating from 0.365 in 1980 to 0.566 in 2011 is an example of this upward trend in the economic sphere.15 According to the Multi-dimensional Poverty indicator 26.2% of the Bangladesh population are in severe poverty which is lower than the poverty levels of Pakistan (28.6%), India and Nepal (37.1%)16 The decrease in the population growth from 2.5% per annum in 1980s to 1.39% by 2010 is another factor that contributed in sustaining the economic growth.17 In the education front the gross primary enrolment showed a promising progress from 72% in 1980 to 93.5% in 201018 and in the field of health the child mortality rate has come down significantly from 239 per thousand live births in 1970 to 65 per 1000 in 2010 which has been recognized by a UN Award.19 However, on many fronts the country needs to overcome challenges and address major drawbacks to continue the progress made during the last two decades. Inadequacy of child-specific data, policy reviews and programme evaluations make it difficult to accurately measure the actual progress made by Bangladesh on the child-related indicators. With the intention of reducing fiscal and external deficits Bangladesh government implemented policies for macro stabilization and structural adjustment in 1980s. Fiscal measures were: (a) Reduction/elimination of food subsidies, (b) Introduction of value added tax (VAT) in 1990s, (c) Curtailing government investment in productive sectors and (d) Re-defining government role in investment relating to people – education, health care, public utilities and physical infrastructure.20 With the introduction of a large tax payer unit and a central intelligence unit to monitor and strengthen customs administration aimed at including non-tax payers government hopes to improve its revenue base. It also intends to develop the professional skills of National Board of Revenue Officials.21 The revenue-GDP ratio has increased in 1990s but it has failed to reach the standard of other developing countries.There is an increase in education sector and decrease in health sector expenditure during this period mainly due to the decline in foreign aid. With the increase of government’s reliance on domestic borrowing it had to face the risk of rising inflation and crowding the private sector out of credit market.22 It appears that sufficient attention has not been paid to planning the future of the children although they are 45% of the total population among whom 46% fall into below upper poverty line lacking basic needs. In Bangladesh about 26.5 million children of the 63 million child population live below the national poverty line and also 51% of all households with children are considered as poor applying the international poverty line below $1 Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) threshold. It is revealed that increase in the number of children in a household raises the poverty situation in the household. In its vision and mission towards future prosperity Bangladesh needs investing in children. It is desirable to understand the causal link between MDG goals and good governance.According to UNDP Bangladesh out of the 52 MDG targets, the country is on track on 19 of them and 14 of them need attention.23 The MDG Progress Report of the Government has concluded that different levels of progress have been achieved in different goals: (i) some goals have been achieved or nearly achieved; (ii) progress is on
  • 14. Page | 12 Child Rights Governance Analysis (CRGA) Bangladesh 2012 Child Rights Governance Contextual Framework2 Page | 11 Child Rights Governance Analysis (CRGA) Bangladesh 2012 Child Rights Governance Contextual Framework2 track in case of some goals; they can be achieved with present level of efforts; and (iii) some goals can be achieved with enhanced effort.Improving Governance has been cited as the first the intervention in achieving MDGs. It states that the policy framework and the programmes and projects required for achieving the MDGs need to be implemented as weak capacity of government and corruption undermine all efforts for attainment of MDGs.24 The National Strategy for Accelerated Poverty Reduction II (FY 2009-2011) acknowledges the links between poverty and children’s rights.It recognizes that “the survival and development of many Bangladeshi children is still threatened by malnutrition, disease, poverty, illiteracy, abuse, exploitation and natural disaster.” In the context of reducing poverty, it addresses children’s health and nutrition, food security, education, early childhood education, sports and cultural activities, protection from abuse, exploitation, and violence, access to clean water and sanitation, and child participation.25 24 The Millennium Development Goals, Bangladesh Progress Report 2009, p.139. 25 The National Strategy for Accelerated Poverty Reduction II (FY 2009-2011). Table 2.6 Status of Children against Key MDG Indicators (per cent) Figure1.8: Status of children against key MDG indicatiors (per cent) Underweight children (0-5years) Enrolled in primary education (6-11 years) Completed primary education by proper age Immunized against measles (1 year) Children with sustainable access to an improved water Children with access to improved sanitation 39.1 37.8 79.1 83.5 41.4 52.1 88.4 86.5 39.1 39.3 97.5 97.6 BoysGirls Source: National Report, Bangladesh, Global Study on Child Poverty and Disparities, p.14, 2009. Table 2.7 Status of MDGs in Bangladesh Source: UNDP 2009 Indicator Current Status Target Goal 1: Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger 1.1 Proportion of population below the national Upper-poverty line % 38.7 (2008) 29 1.2 Poverty Gap Ratio % 9.0 (2005) 8 1.8 Prevalence of underweight children under-five years of age % 45.0 (2009) 33 1.9 Proportion of population below minimum level of dietary energy consumption % 19.5 (2005) 14 Goal 2:Achieve Universal Primary Education 2.1 Net Enrolment Ratio in Primary Education % 91.9 (2008) 100 2.2 Proportion of pupils starting grade 1 who reach grade 5 % 54.9 (2008) 100 2.3 Literacy rate of 15-24 years old population % 58.3 (2007) --- Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality & Empower Women 3.1a Ratio of girls to boys in primary education 1.01 (2008) 1.0 3.1b Ratio of girls to boys in secondary education 1.20 (2008) 1.0 3.1c Ratio of girls to boys in tertiary education 0.32 (2006) 1.0 Goal 4: Reduce Child Mortality 4.1 Under-five mortality rate (per 1000 live births) 53.8 (2008) 48 4.2 Infant mortality rate (per 1000 live births) 41.3 (2008) 31 4.3 Proportion of 1 year-old children immunized against measles % 82.3 (2009) 100 Goal 5: Improve Maternal Health 5.1: Maternal Mortality Ratio (per 100000 live births) 348 (2008) 144 Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases 6.1: HIV prevalence among population (per 100,000 population) 0.1 Halting Goal 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability 7.1: Proportion of land area covered by forest (%) (tree cover) 19.2 (2007) 20.0 Tree density > Tree density > 10% 70%
  • 15. 2.2.2 Treaty Obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Child Rights of the Child While ratifying the UNCRC Bangladesh deposited reservations in relation to Articles 21 and 14(1) stating that “the article would apply subject to the existing laws and practices in Bangladesh.”26 Pursuant to the UNCRC treaty obligations Bangladesh submitted to the UN Child Rights Committee the initial report in 1995, the second in 2000 and third and fourth combined periodic period reports in 2007 respectively. In 2003 the Committee expressed its remained deep concern about the reservations to articles 14, paragraphs 1 and 21 of the Convention, which might impede the full implementation of the Convention, but welcomed the information from the delegation that Bangladesh is willing to continue to review those reservations with a view to withdrawing them. In 2009 the UNCRC Committee encouraged Bangladesh to accelerate its reviewing process regarding the withdrawal of their reservations to articles 14,paragraph 1,and 21 of the Convention,in accordance with the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action adopted by the World Conference on Human Rights in 1993. Exercising the mandate given under Article 45(1) of the UNCRC to NGOs to monitor the implementation of the Convention, 19 leading NGOs of Bangladesh together submitted the alternative report entitled “A Critical Analysis of CRC Reporting Trends and Implementation Status in Bangladesh”. 2.2.3 Achievements in and Impediments to Realization of Child Rights In 2003 the UNCRC Committee recognized with appreciation that Bangladesh has made clear and visible progress, in the fields of child nutrition, health, education and labour. Similarly in 2009 the UNCRC Committee recognized the progress made by Bangladesh towards achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 2, 3, and 4 with a significant reduction in child mortality, an increase in enrolment in primary school and the attainment of gender parity at the primary and lower secondary levels. The UNCRC Committee identified the following as Impediments for realising child rights in Bangladesh: • a large percentage of young population • a large percentage of people who live below the poverty line • natural disasters • structural adjustment • persistence of certain traditional practices and customs. 2.3 Child Rights Governance: Theory and Practice 2.3.1 What is Child Rights Governance? Child Rights Governance is a thematic programme area for Save the Children.It aims at building societies that fulfil child rights by establishing and strengthening the infrastructure necessary for states to effectively implement the UNCRC and other child rights obligations. It is an attempt to synchronise the child rights and governance agenda. It is about developing a vibrant civil society pushing children up the political agenda and holding states to account for what they have or haven’t done to realize children’s rights. It is an effective strategy for impacting on millions of children’s lives at scale, resulting in structural and therefore lasting change. 26 http://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV-11&chapter=4&lang=en. 2.2 International Human Rights Treaty Obligations Under each programme area, the present situation of Bangladesh relating to Child Rights Governance will be analysed in light of the UNCRC Concluding Observations, by identifying the duty bearers and the measures adopted by them to implement the UNCRC, gaps in the implementation process and the strategy that Save the Children could adopt in strengthening the Child Rights Governance procedure. 2.2.1 InternationalTreaties Ratified or Acceded to by Bangladesh Table 2.8Table 2.2 Distribution of Children (0-17 years) by geographic regions Treaty Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 16 December 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 16 December 1966 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), 18 December 1979 Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, 6 October 1999 Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment10 December 1984 International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families, 18 December 1990 Convention on the Rights of the Child, 20 November 1989 Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Children the Involvement of Children in armed conflict, 25 May 2000 Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography 25 May 2000 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 6 Sep 2000 (a) 5 Oct 1998 (a) 6 Nov 1984 (a) 6 Sep 2000 5 Oct 1998 (a) 24 Aug 2011 August 3 1990 6 Sep 2000 6 Sep 2000 12 March2001 22 June 1972 Date of Ratification (r) & Accession (a) Page | 14 Child Rights Governance Analysis (CRGA) Bangladesh 2012 Child Rights Governance Contextual Framework2 Page | 13 Child Rights Governance Analysis (CRGA) Bangladesh 2012 Child Rights Governance Contextual Framework2
  • 16. The general measures of implementation identified by the Committee and described in the general comment are intended to promote the full enjoyment of all rights in the Convention by all children, through legislation, coordinating and monitoring bodies - governmental and independent - comprehensive data collection, awareness-raising and training and the development and implementation of appropriate policies, services and programmes. While some of these developments may seem largely cosmetic, their emergence at the least indicates a change in the perception of the child’s place in society,a willingness to give higher political priority to children and an increasing sensitivity to the impact of governance on children and their human rights. The Committee has emphasized that, in the context of the Convention, States must see their role as fulfilling clear legal obligations to each and every child. Implementation of the human rights of children must not be seen as a charitable process, bestowing favours on children. The development of a children’s rights perspective throughout Government, parliament and the judiciary is required for effective implementation of the whole Convention and, in particular, in light of the articles in the Convention identified by the Committee as general principles. (a) Principle of non-discrimination The UNCRC Committee has emphasized the need to understand and interpret the general measures of implementation in conjunction with the general principles of the UNCRC especially the principle of non-discrimination which obliges States to respect and ensure the rights set forth in the Convention to each child within their jurisdiction without discrimination of any kind.This non-discrimination obligation requires States to actively identify individual children and groups of children the recognition and realization of whose rights may demand special measures. For example, the Committee has highlighted, in particular, the need for data collection to be disaggregated to enable discrimination or potential discrimination to be identified. Addressing discrimination may require changes in legislation, administration and resource allocation, as well as educational measures to change attitudes. It should be emphasized that the application of the non-discrimination principle of equal access to rights does not mean identical treatment.A general comment by the Human Rights Committee has underlined the importance of taking special measures in order to diminish or eliminate conditions that cause discrimination.28 (b) Article 12: the child’s right to express his or her views freely in “all matters affecting the child”, those views being given due weight. This principle, which highlights the role of the child as an active participant in the promotion, protection and monitoring of his or her rights, applies equally to all measures adopted by States to implement the Convention. Opening government decision-making processes to children is a positive challenge which the Committee finds States are increasingly responding to. Given that few States as yet have reduced the voting age below 18, there is all the more reason to ensure respect for the views of disenfranchised children in Government and parliament. If consultation is to be meaningful, documents as well as processes need to be made accessible. But appearing to “listen” to children is relatively unchallenging; giving due weight to their views requires real change. Listening to children should not be seen as an end in itself, but rather as a means by which States make their interactions with children and their actions on behalf of children ever more sensitive to the implementation of children’s rights.29 27 In 1999, the Committee on the Rights of the Child held a two-day workshop to commemorate the tenth anniversary of adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by the United Nations General Assembly.The workshop focused on general measures of implementation following which the Committee adopted detailed conclusions and recommendations (see CRC/C/90, para. 291). 28 Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 18 (1989), HRI/GEN/1/Rev.6, pp. 147 et seq. 29 UNCRC Committee General Comment 5 (2003), CRC/GC/2003/5, 0310.2003. Save the Children has identified the following three sub themes under its Child Rights Programming thematic area: (i) Child rights monitoring: Save the Children will support better data collection on children’s lives;studies and research,including analysis of national and sub-national budgets for children’s issues; the establishment of independent child rights monitoring institutions; the preparation of child-informed supplementary reports to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Human Rights Council. (ii)Strengthening national systems: Save the Children will push for the amendment of national legislation to comply with the UNCRC; influence law reform; push for resourced strategies and action plans for children; support public administrations and services to become child-friendly and take the best interests of children into account; support the effective coordination of all the ministries and agencies dealing with children’s issues. Save the Children will work at all levels of government and administration. (iii) Building awareness and capacity on child rights governance: Save the Children will facilitate child rights education for children and their communities, build capacity to respect children’s rights among service providers and other professionals in regular and close contact with children; build organisational capacity of civil society organizations enabling them to promote and advocate for children’s rights to be respected and to claim accountability from those responsible; support children to organise and build their capacity to promote their rights. 2.3.2 General Measures of Implementation 2.3.2.1 UN Child Rights Committee Effective implementation of the rights guaranteed in the UNCRC depends on the extent to which States parties uphold the principles of good governance. The Article in the UNCRC that directly relates to child rights governance is Article 4 which stipulates that States parties take “all appropriate legislative, administrative and other measures” for implementation of the rights contained therein. The UNCRC’s General Measures of Implementation have been identified as concrete steps that need be adopted by States parties towards establishing the systems and mechanisms that are necessary to ensure that rights are delivered for all children.The UN Committee’s General Comment 5 provides an in depth reading on Article 4 of the UNCRC and should be considered a key point of reference for the process. While it is the State which takes on obligations under the Convention, its task of implementation - of making reality of the human rights of children - needs to engage all sectors of society and, of course, children themselves. Ensuring that all domestic legislation is fully compatible with the Convention and that the Convention’s principles and provisions can be directly applied and appropriately enforced is fundamental. In addition, the UNCRC Committee has identified a wide range of measures that are needed for effective implementation, including the development of special structures and monitoring, training and other activities in Government, parliament and the judiciary at all levels.27 Page | 16 Child Rights Governance Analysis (CRGA) Bangladesh 2012 Child Rights Governance Contextual Framework2 Page | 15 Child Rights Governance Analysis (CRGA) Bangladesh 2012 Child Rights Governance Contextual Framework2
  • 17. 30 United Nations Development Programme, Governance for sustainable human development, UNDP policy document, NewYork 1997; UNDP AND GOVERNANCE Experiences and Lessons Learned, Management Development and Governance Division, Lessons-Learned Series No. 1; Definition of basic concepts and terminologies in governance and public administration, Note by the Secretariat, UN Economic and Social Council, Committee of Experts on Public Administration Fifth session NewYork, 27-31 March 2006. 31 ibid. 2.3.3 Interpretative Guidance from Good Governance In the human rights discourse good governance is identified as an essential pre requisite for promoting and protecting human rights.The rights-based approach to development recognizes four types of core obligations for duty-bearers: • Respect rights, i.e. do not interfere with their enjoyment by everyone. • Protect rights from abuse by others, i.e. do not allow others to interfere with these rights. • Facilitate the fulfilment of rights, i.e. create an enabling and supportive environment. • Fulfil rights, i.e. support and assist those who cannot meet their own needs. 2.3.2.2 Save the Children and Child Rights Governance Save the Children’s Child Rights Governance work follows the General Measures of Implementation as set out in Article 4 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and interpreted by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child. The UNCRC provisions and the UN Committee’s discussions encompass the following: • National agenda - does the State have a national agenda for children? • Legislation - Is the UNCRC reflected in national laws? • Budget -are sufficient resources allocated to children’s rights? • Coordination -How are child rights issues coordinated across state structures? • Impact assessment -Does the government carry out impact assessments of policy, law and budget decisions as to their impact on children? • Data -Is there reliable, publicly available disaggregated data on children? • Information and training -Do children, their caregivers and professionals in contact with children have information about and training on child rights? • Participation -Are children’s civil and political rights being respected? • Civil society-Does the government engage in an on-going and inclusive dialogue with civil society? • Ombudsman - Are there any independent mechanisms in place that support and protect children’s rights? However, the Child Rights Governance thematic area will look beyond the general measures of implementation and explore other factors that strongly influence realization of child rights for example transparency in budget formulation, taxation, decentralization, privatization, international aid prioritisation etc. Focus of Child Rights Programming Save the Children’s Child Rights Governance programming has identified three focus areas: • The UNCRC’s General Measures of Implementation; which are the concrete steps as set out by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (the Committee) for the state to establish the systems and mechanisms that are necessary to ensure that rights are delivered for all children.The UN Committee’s General Comment 5 provides in depth reading and should be considered a key point of reference for the process. • The political, economic, social and cultural factors at all levels that help or hinder state and the society at large in the implementation of these measures. It has decided to focus on issues of citizenship and economic governance. CRG analysis therefore will identify key factors in those areas depending on the country context. • Achieving quality interaction between key stakeholders to deliver rights including non-state actors (the private sector, media, civil society, academia), children and the state. Child Rights Governance is not just about building systems and mechanisms it is about improving the quality of relationships and interaction. CRG aims to increase accountability for child rights through dialogue, regulation, accountability and increased transparency. Meeting these strategic objectives requires the generation of political will and support,social mobilisation,the creation of new systems and institutions, and innovations and shifts in social norms. Table 2.9 Rights-Based Approach to Governance Source:Applying A Rights-based Approach An Inspirational guide for Civil Society, Jakob Kirrkemann Boesen &Tomas Martin (2007) Strenthen the accountability of duty bearers Duty-bearers Fulfil their obligations towards rights-holders rights- holders demoand their rights from duty-bearers Support rights-holders demanding their rights Change: • Institutional and legal • Environmental • Economical / technical • Social / cultural Rights-based organisation Changes in people’s lives United Nations Development Programme defines governance as "the exercise of economic, political, and administrative authority to manage a country’s affairs at all levels and the means by which states promote social cohesion and integration, and ensure the well-being of their populations. It embraces all methods used to distribute power and manage public resources, and the organizations that shape government and the execution of policy. It encompasses the mechanisms, processes and institutions, through which citizens and groups articulate their interests, exercise their legal rights, meet their obligations and resolve their differences."30 According to this definition, "good governance therefore depends on public participation to ensure that political, social and economic priorities are based on a broad societal consensus and that the poorest and most vulnerable populations can directly influence political decision making, particularly with respect to the allocation of development resources. Good governance is also effective and equitable, and promotes the rule of law and the transparency of institutions, officials, and transactions".31 In brief, good governance refers to a high quality in processes by which decisions affecting public affairs are reached and implemented. 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  • 18. 32 ibid. Good governance ensures that all, including the poor and other disadvantaged groups, are included and have the means (a) to influence the direction of development in particular as far as it affects their lives, (b) to make contributions to development and have these recognized, and (c) to share in the benefits of development and improve their lives and livelihoods. Good governance helps to ensure that all people have adequate access to basic services. The following have been identified as principles of good governance:32 • Participation - All men and women should have a voice in decision-making, either directly or through legitimate intermediate institutions that represent their interests. Such broad participation is built on freedom of association and speech, as well as capacities to participate constructively. • Rule of law - Legal frameworks should be fair and enforced impartially, particularly the laws on human rights. • Transparency -Transparency is built on the free flow of information. Processes, institutions and informa- tion are directly accessible to those concerned with them, and enough information is provided to under- stand and monitor them. • Responsiveness - Institutions and processes try to serve all stakeholders. • Consensus orientation - Good governance mediates differing interests to reach a broad consensus on what is in the best interests of the group and, where possible, on policies and procedures. • Equity - All men and women have opportunities to improve or maintain their well-being. • Effectiveness and efficiency - Processes and institutions produce results that meet needs while making the best use of resources. • Accountability - Decision-makers in government, the private sector and civil society organisations are accountable to the public, as well as to institutional stakeholders.This accountability differs depending on the organisation and whether the decision is internal or external to an organisation. • Strategic vision - Leaders and the public have a broad and long-term perspective on good governance and human development, along with a sense of what is needed for such development.There is also an understanding of the historical, cultural and social complexities in which that perspective is grounded. 2.3.3.1 Evolving a Definition and Principles of Child Rights Governance Drawing inspiration and guidance from the definition of Good Governance, Child Rights Governance could be interpreted as “Execution of law and policy and exercise of economic, political and administrative power and authority, and management of monetary, human and material resources and governance of institutions, systems and processes in a manner respectful of and responsive to promoting and protecting child rights guaranteed in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Child.” Table 2.10 Child Rights Governance Model ResourcesAuthorityPower Strengthening National Systems Child Rights Monitoring Child Rights Realised Awareness & Capacity Building (Children, Civil Society, Government) Child rights governance involves observance of certain substantive and procedural principles since the ultimate goal of child rights governance is to forge a strong link between child rights and the governance agenda of a country thereby making governments accountable to children and civil society. As the key challenge is to mainstream child rights, a set of substantive and procedural principles would provide valuable guidance and direction in addition to formulating a framework for the assessment of child rights governance status within the State machinery. 2.3.3.2 Substantive Principles of Child Rights Governance Best Interests of the Child: Promoting and protecting the principle of best interests of the child in all decisions and actions affecting children Non-discrimination: Ensuring that laws and policies are implemented and services are delivered on the basis of non-discrimination Child Participation: Facilitating opportunities for children who are capable of forming their opinions to participate in decisions and actions affecting them Transparency: Ensuring that the rules,standards and procedures for decision-making,allocating and distrib- uting resources and delivering of services are open, clear, verifiable and predictable Accountability:Making institutions and officials responsible for their decisions and actions by availing opportu- nities for them to explain and justify their decisions and actions, their implementation and the results achieved. Sustainability: Ensuring uninterrupted and continuous delivery of services for children by facilitating sustainable institutions, processes and systems at national and sub national levels Integrity: Inspiring and linking child rights promoters,defenders and activists to maintain integrity,conviction and ethical coherence in child rights work Impartiality: Guaranteeing impartiality at every level without nepotism,prejudice,partisanship and partiality and discrimination on the basis of sex, religion, caste and place of birth. Efficiency: Enhancing the efficiency of child rights governance at national and subnational levels through accountable, result-oriented and clearly identifiable processes and goals Equity: Ensuring equitable allocation and distribution of resources for institutions working for and with children 2.3.3.3 Procedural Principles of Child Rights Governance Institutional Mandates/Portfolios: Promoting and facilitating formulation of child rights - oriented mandates and portfolios for institutions working for and with children at national and subnational levels Role Profiles/Terms of References: Promoting and facilitating formulation of child rights-based role profiles and terms of references of officials working for and with children Child-friendly processes, procedures and systems: Promoting, facilitating and strengthening child- friendly processes, procedures and systems within the executive, legislative and judicial branches of the government at national and subnational levels Compatibility of Laws, Policies and Strategies: Harmonizing laws, policies and strategies relating to children with the rights, principles and standards recognized in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child Page | 20 Child Rights Governance Analysis (CRGA) Bangladesh 2012 Child Rights Governance Contextual Framework2 Page | 19 Child Rights Governance Analysis (CRGA) Bangladesh 2012 Child Rights Governance Contextual Framework2
  • 19. 32 ibid. Implementation of Laws, Policies and Strategies: Strengthening institutional and human resource capacity necessary for effective implementation of laws, policies and strategies Coordination among and within institutions: Designing pragmatic, viable, workable and sustainable mechanisms for efficient coordination within and among multi-sectoral institutions working for and with children at national and sub national levels Review and Evaluation of Performance:Introducing methodologies and techniques to constantly review and evaluate the performance of institutions and officials Independent Monitoring: Introducing and facilitating independent monitoring of implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child at national and sub national levels Advocacy and Networking: Promoting and advocating child rights governance through children’s and civil society initiatives and networks Capacity Building: Enhancing the capacity of children and adults working for and with children to equip themselves with knowledge and skills for promoting and ensuring child rights governance. 2.3.3.4 Mapping of Duty Bearers within aThematic Child Rights Governance Structure Comprehensive mapping of various duty bearers (institutions as well as officials) responsible for the promo- tion and protection of child rights in different sectors and at national and subnational levels would help identify where interventions are essential to strengthen institutions,systems and human resources.At present no such mapping has been done with a view to assessing the capacities of institutions and officials and the strengths and weaknesses of the systems. Information relating to the level of acquaintance of public officials on child rights issues and also the extent to which issues relating to children are perceived within a child rights framework are not available.The general opinion is that the capacity building of institutions and person- nel had been carried out on an ad hoc basis as opposed to a systematic manner and also more with the aim of “sensitizing” them on child rights than educating them on how child rights could be interpreted and integrated into their work. Child-rights being a cross-cutting and multi-sectoral issue involving multiple stakeholders,any analysis of child rights governance also requires examination of the mandate and performance of a whole range of govern- ment agencies at national and sub national levels responsible for implementing the UNCRC. Linking child rights governance programming to specific child rights thematic areas will help Save the Children to clearly identify areas for its interventions and setting achievable targets relating to child rights governance. In this connection six thematic areas may be identified: (a) Child Protection: Child victims of Violence, Abuse, Exploitation (sexual, economic), children in care, street children, child marriages Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice: Police and Courts Victim Protection and care: Department of Social Services, Probation Officers, Care-givers in child-care institutions Victims of economic exploitation: Ministry of Labour in addition to the above mentioned institutions (b) Education: formal and informal education; compulsory education; school dropouts (c) Health: Nutrition, immunisation, (d) Juvenile Justice (e) Civil and Political Rights: Birth Registration, Citizenship,Adaptation, Opinion and Participation (f) Social Protection, Social Safety Nets, Social Welfare: Ministry of Food and Disaster Management, Department of Social Services All the above mentioned Ministries responsible for different thematic areas have to work closely with two Ministries namely, Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs that are responsible for law making, law enforcement and adjudication of justice and the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs which is the key Ministry responsible for coordinating all affairs relating to children. Subject Institution Officials/ Unit Ministry of Social Welfare, Department of Social Services Ministry of Social Welfare, Department of Social Services, Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs/ Supreme Court Ministry of Primary and Mass Education Ministry of Education Ministry of Labour and Employment Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Law Commission Parliament Ministry of Home Affairs Ministry of Home Affairs Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Child Protection including child-care institutions (Children Act 1974) Children in Conflict with the Law (Children Act - 1974) Education (eg. Corporal punishment, Primary Education (Compulsory) Act 1990: Child Labour Enactment of Laws/ Amendment of Laws Law Enforcement Administration of Justice Social Protection. Social Welfare and Social Safety Nets Ministry of Food Ministry of Disaster Management Ministry of Women and Children Affairs Ministry of Social Welfare Probation Officers Department of Primary Education- Compulsory Primary Education Implementation, Cell/Unit, Primary and Mass Education Division, Compulsory Primary Education Implementation Monitoring Unit Directorate of Labour-Child Labour Unit Police Officers Courts of Law and Judges Department of Food Department of Relief and Rehabilitation Department of Social Services Table 2.11 Duty Bearers responsible for Governance at National Levels Page | 22 Child Rights Governance Analysis (CRGA) Bangladesh 2012 Child Rights Governance Contextual Framework2 Page | 21 Child Rights Governance Analysis (CRGA) Bangladesh 2012 Child Rights Governance Contextual Framework2
  • 20. 32 ibid. During the consultation process Mrs Irene Khan, proposed that Save the Children adopt an index or indica- tors similar to the MDGs to measure the progress made by the government in ensuring good governance in the field of child rights.In developing an index or indicators attention may be drawn under each thematic area to the following issues pertaining to child rights governance: Under each thematic area it is important to address At National Level 1 What is the mandate of the Ministry regarding the Child Rights related thematic issues? Is there any refer- ence to child rights in the mandate? 2 What are the laws and regulations that empower the Ministry with the powers relating to the child rights related thematic issues? 3 What are the units and Departments within the Ministry at the national level that are responsible for implementing the mandate? 4 Who are the key officials at the Ministry at national level responsible for implementing the Ministry Mandate relating to child rights? 5 What are the role profiles and terms of reference of the concerned officials? Are there any references to child rights? 6 What are the internal administrative and management systems, procedures and processes for implement- ing the mandate and coordinating the work? 7 What are the mechanisms adopted by the Ministry and all units and departments within the Ministry concerning children’s issues to review and monitor the child related work at the national level? 8 What are the other Ministries and government agencies that the Ministry liaises with at the national level? If so what working arrangements are there to maintain efficiency? 9 Are there any permanent mechanisms to obtain the input of civil society organizations and children in the work of the said Ministry? 10 What are the guiding principles and procedures for deciding on resource allocation and disbursment of resources for child related work? 12. What is the level of acquaintance/knowledge of officials on child rights and the UNCRC? At Sub National Level 1 How has the Ministry decentralised its power to the sub national level – Zila Parishad, Upazila Parishad and Union Parishad levels? 2 What are the key agencies responsible at the Zila Parishad, Upazila Parishad and Union Parishad levels implementing the Ministry mandate ? 3 What is the mandate of the said government agencies at the Zila Parishad, Upazila Parishad and Union Parishad levels relating to child related issues? 4 Is there any reference to child rights in the mandate of the said government agencies at the Zila Parishad, Upazila Parishad and Union Parishad levels? 5 Who are the officials responsible at Zila Parishad, Upazila Parishad and Union Parishad levels concerning child related issues? 6 What are the role profiles and terms of reference of the said officials? Is there any reference to child rights in their role profiles or terms of reference? 7 What governing mechanisms are in place linking the national level with the Zila Parishad, Upazila Parishad and Union Parishad levels? 8 Are there any mechanisms including data collection for reviewing and evaluating the performance of the subnational level agencies and their officials? 9. What are the guiding principles governing allocation and disbursement of resources? 10. What mechanisms are in place for connecting the agencies working for children at Zila Parishad, Upazila Parishad and Union Parishad levels with children, civil society organizations and communities? 11. What are the responsibilities/roles/functions of the elected members at the Upazila Parishad and Union Parishad levels in relation to children’s issues? 12. What is the level of acquaintance/knowledge of officials and elected members on child rights and the UNCRC? Analysis Without any indicators or an index it would not be feasible to assess the strengths, weaknesses and gaps in the existing governance structure at the national and sub national levels especially for service delivery and budgetary disbursements • Usefulness of coming up with an index (something similar to MDG goals) to assess the progress of child rights governance was suggested during the stakeholder interview process. • Vastness of the country in terms of population and geographical area demands systematic indicators or indexes to set benchmarks and measure the progress. • The substantive and procedural principles of child rights governance can be used as metaphors to track the progress made in improving the status of governance in respective government agencies. Recommendations • Develop an Index or an Indicator to review Child Rights Governance. (The substantive and procedural principles may provide some guidance). • Identify two specific thematic areas to implement a Child Rights Governance Baseline Study Project. It would be feasible and pragmatic to identify one broad area such as child protection and one narrow area for example birth registration. • Tracking the child rights governance structure from national level to Zila Parishad, Upazila Parishad and Union Parishad levels. Selecting one set of Parishad representing a relatively developed region with high performance on the MDGs and another set of Parishads from a under developed region with relatively low performance on MDGs would help compare and contrast the situation and understand regional disparities relating to child rights governance. • Tracking the child rights governance structure needs to identify the key institutions and officials respon- sible at each level of the governance structure from national to subnational levels. Name of Ministry/Department List ofTransferred Subject or Department Ministry of Health and Family Planning Health and Family Planning including Upazila Health Complex, MCH and all Population Control Services Ministry of Women and Children Affairs Women’s Department (Upazila Women Affairs Officer and staff and their activities) Primary Education Division Department of Primary Education (Upazila Primary Education Officer and staff and their activities) Ministry of Disaster and Relief Relief and Rehabilitation Department (Upazila PIO and staff and their activities) Ministry of Social Welfare Department of Social Welfare (Upazila Social Welfare Officer and staff and their activities) Table 2.12 Duty Bearers responsible for Governance at Sub National Levels The following functions (these have direct bearing on children) are transferred to the Upazila Parishad from the different departments: Page | 24 Child Rights Governance Analysis (CRGA) Bangladesh 2012 Child Rights Governance Contextual Framework2 Page | 23 Child Rights Governance Analysis (CRGA) Bangladesh 2012 Child Rights Governance Contextual Framework2
  • 21. Strengthening National Systems 34 Situation Assessment and Analysis of Children And Women in Bangladesh, UNICEF, 2009, p.23-24; see also Protection of Children in Conflict with the Law in Bangladesh: Dr Borhan Uddin Khan, Mohammad Mahbudur Rahman (2008) Save the Children UK;Tracing the Missing Cord:A Study on the Children Act, 1974,A study conducted by Professor Mizanur Rahman, Ph.D. & Team For Save the Children - UK Dhaka. Strengthening National Systems 3 The institutions and processes that are vested with power and authority and the decision making processes exert primordial influence over the country’s ability to promote and protect child rights. Hence, a solidly grounded child rights governance structure that is effective,efficient and a strong national system is crucial for the realization of child rights for the 45% of Bangladesh’s child population. Strengthening transparency and accountability of public officials are equally essential in ensuring child rights governance. 3.1 National Laws, Policies and Plans of Action In a democratic system of governance, the power and authority to govern are derived from laws and policies. Allocation and distribution of State resources are also prescribed by laws and policies of the government. Hence, the need to review the government’s law and policy reform process and ascertain whether they are in conformity with the international standards applicable to child rights. 3.1.1 Enactment/Amendment of Laws Upon ratification of the UNCRC and its Optional Protocols the States parties have an obligation to bring their domestic laws in conformity with the Principles and standards set by the UNCRC and the Protocols. This obligation can be fulfilled either by amending the existing laws or enacting new laws. In addition to the findings of law reviews carried out by UNICEF and Save the Children, the UNCRC Committee’s concluding observations clearly demonstrate that national laws of Bangladesh are yet to conform with the principles and rights enshrined in the UNCRC. It has been clearly established that certain national laws and policies especially those relating to age and gender equality are inconsistent with the UNCRC and even the laws and policies that are consistent with the UNCRC appear to be inactive and inoperative because of the weaknesses in the law enforcement mechanisms.34 Concluding Observations of the UNCRC Committee, Initial Report of Bangladesh to the UNCRC (1995) Positive developments Legislative Measures (1997) A plan of action was proposed for the creation of task forces on law reform, juvenile justice and girl child. In 1995 Repression against Women and Children (Special Act) was adopted. Also, there was occasion for UNCRC to appreciate Bangladesh’ active participation in the SAARC Conference on Decade of the Girl Child. UNCRC Committee’s Concerns (1997) The domestic legal framework does not give a clear picture of Convention’s status and there appears to be inadequacy in the steps taken to bring legislature into full conformity with the Convention in the areas such as non-discrimination (art 2) best interests of the child (art. 3), right to life, survival and development (art. 6) and respect for the views of the child (art. 12). The current legislative provisions such as age limits set by the law, lack of definition of the child, the age of criminal responsibility which is set at too young an age, the possibility of imposing death penalty and/ or imprisonment of children in ordinary prisons (1997) too fall short of those expected by the Convention. Page | 26 Child Rights Governance Analysis (CRGA) Bangladesh 2012 Strengthening National Systems 3