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Govt must consider anyone under 18 a child

Marta Mauras refers to UN definition in an interview with Whe ^far

Alpha Arzu
The Bangladesh government should adopt the definition of child as anyone under the age of 18 tyearS; said Marta Mauras, • a member of UN Comtnittee on the Rights of the Child. ’
In the country, there are different age limits for children under various rules and laws. Some consider children to be under 18, some define them as being 9-year-olds or younger and others set the child age limit as 14 years, she said.
In line with the recommendations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, the government should take necessary measures to define the child as a person under 18 years for a uniform age limit to curb trafficking in persons, eliminate child labour as well as to remove discriminatory attitude towards girls and boys.
Marta, who came to Dhaka on a five-day visit to attend a national consultation on the implementation of the Convention of the Rights of Child (CRC), said this during an interview with The Daily Star on Sunday. She left Dhaka yesterday.
The UN committee member also expressed concern about the age of criminal responsibility in Bangladesh, which is nine.
She also said, "The government should take an action immediately to abolish the Vagrant Act of 1943, which criminalises children. Other laws dealing with children, including family laws, should also be reviewed and brought in line with the CRC.”
"As a survival strategy, poor and street children in many cases get criminalised for shelter at vagrant homes," she added.
Unemployment and poverty force the parents to keep their child at shelter home, at street or elsewhere, said Marta, a sociologist.
She said the government has prepared a draft on the amendment to the Children Act 1974 in line with the CRC. The draft focuses on the rights of children in contact with the law, child victims and witnesses and children in need of care and protection, but it does not include other rights stated in the CRC.
So, the government should consider those
rights and the UN committee's recommendations while reforming the act, she added.
"All these depend on two things -- one is political will and the other is also political will --but it also.requireg hard work in terms^f setting up the iqstitutipnd all the way from Dhaka to all the districts," said Marta, a sociologist.
The government officials, ministers and even the parliamentarians are very knowledgeable and well informed about the child rights, but now the most important thing is to move forward, she added.
The government has submitted its 3rd and 4th periodic report on the implementation of CRC to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in June last, though Bangladesh was among the first countries to sign and ratify the CRC in 1990.
The CRC is a legally binding international instrument and state parties are required to report every five years to the committee.
Based on the periodic report, the UN committee issued some recommendations to ensure the child rights.
The committee recommended that the state party should increase the allocation for children to provide quality education, health services and social protection.
It also recommended establishing a children ombudsman, improving statistical systems that can help data and analysis for policy making and implementation of children's rights, appropriately disaggregated by age, gender, ethnic origin and location, and adopting a national policy to prevent detention for the children and adolescents under 18.