& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Benefit of economic growth not reaching the poorest

Say independent UN experts

Staff Correspondent
The benefit of Bangladesh's economic growth is not reaching the poorest people, contributing to the rise in inequality in society, two independent UN experts said yesterday.
" Even if poverty indicators point to a decline in poverty, some regions are lagging behind and segments of the population are not reaping the benefits, thus inequality is on the rise," Catarina de Albuquerque and Magdalena Sepulveda said in a joint statement at a press conference at Sonargaon Hotel in the city.
Albuquerque and Sepulveda - the two experts on safe drinking water and sanitation and extreme poverty respectively -- came to Bangladesh on an invitation from the government. They will submit a report to the UN Human Rights Council next year.
The two experts visited slums, Dalit colonies and Bihari camps in Dhaka. Rohingya camps in Cox's Bazar and poor communities in Comilla from Decembers to 10.
They also met the prime minister, high officials of various ministries, NGO officials and donor community to learn about social protection policies and access to water and sanitation.
"We found people living in tremendously difficult conditions, which are a cause and
consequence of a wide range of human rights violations," Albuquerque said while reading out the joint statement.
The state must put the extreme poor at the centre of national policies and public debate," she said, adding that poverty reduction measures will be in vain so long as corruption persists.
The urban poor, particularly slum dwellers, seem to be invisible for policymakers, she said and called for security of tenure to slum dwellers.
Albuquerque also urged the government to include explicit recognition of water and sanitation as human rights in the legislation, saying that a large number of people are denied of safe drinking water and sanitation.
Bangladesh must design an integrated and comprehensive social protection strategy, Sepulveda said, adding that such schemes are being implemented in a disconcertingly fragmented manner.
Expressing concern over child labour, she stressed the need to combat it fiercely.
fhe experts also called for giving some sorts of identity to about 2 lakh Rohingyas living outside the camps in Cox's Bazar so that they can have access to basic rights.