Stronger investment in children sought

Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury has said parliamentarians can play an important role in ensuring sufficient funding and allocation of resources for protection of the rights of children in the national budget.

She made the remark while addressing a function in the city.

The South Asia Parliamentarian Platform for Children being held in Dhaka, Bangladesh on Wednesday and Thursday aims to strengthen opportunities for children in the first two decades of their lives.

Lawmakers from all eight countries in South Asia are meeting to prioritise, promote, and safeguard children’s rights and discuss the prospects for further investment in early childhood and adolescent years.

Unicef is hosting parliamentarians from the entire South Asia region in an effort to increase investment in children and young adults, bringing about much needed change for millions of poor and improving the prospects for healthy economic growth in the region.

“While South Asia is home to one fourth of the world’s population, its share of global income is just 4 percent. This fact underlines one of the biggest challenges for South Asia’s progress on the social and economic front: namely the lack of investment in its largest asset, its Human Capital – and especially the young within the society,” said Jean Gough, Regional Director of Unicef South Asia.

Deputy Speaker of Bangladesh Parliament Fazle Rabbi Miah attended the meeting along with Showkat Ali Badsha, MP; Kazi Rosy, MP; Zebunnesa Afroz, MP; Shamsul Alam Dudu, MP; and Mahbub Ali, MP.

This year’s meeting focused on the region’s commitment to increased investment in children.

Some 300 million children in South Asia are so-called multi-dimensionally poor with too little to eat, a high risk of falling sick from preventable disease and a very slim chance of ever going to school, according to Unicef.