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50pc children live in poverty: Unicef

25pc deprived of basic needs

Staff Correspondent
Some 3.3 crore children in Bangladesh -- about half of the child population -- are living in poverty while about one in four children is deprived of at least four basic needs, a Unicef study revealed yesterday.
According to the study, 64 percent of children are deprived of sanitation facilities, 57 percent of nutrition, 52 percent of information, 41 percent of shelter, 16 percent of healthcare and 8 percent of education.
The study on Child Poverty and Disparities in Bangladesh' was conducted for the first time in the country.
"During the one-year study period, we found the trend of poverty level is increasing among the children with the growing number of population among the poor people," said Prof Abul Barakat, the lead consultant for the national study, con-
ducted by Human Development Research Centre (HDRC).
State Minister for Women and Children Affairs Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury launched the study report at a ceremony at a city hotel. Chief Information Commissioner M Azizur Rahman, Secretary to the external resource division of planning ministry Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, secretary to health ministry Shaikh Altaf Ali and Unicef representative Carel de Rooy were also present.
Sharmin Chowdhury said, "The Awami League government is working to eradicate poverty as a whole and now we will give emphasis to the eradication of child poverty. The government will also work to ensure welfare of underprivileged children, who are deprived of the basic needs."
The Unicef initiated the study as part of a global initiative involving 46
countries in seven regions, working closely with government and nongovernmental organizations, to pool expertise, knowledge and evidence on children.
Prof Abul Barakat said tHere is a corelation among the deprivation level of children and their mothers’ education level. Educated mother can help their children come out of deprivation.
"Child poverty in Bangladesh remains a grave concern," said Unicef representative Carel de Rooy.
"The majority of the Millennium Development Goals and its targets are related to children. Therefore, it is absolutely impossible to achieve MDGs without giving proper attention to the children," he said.
He also said the children need to be at the centre of national programmes, which address poverty, such as safety nets and social protection interventions.