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Introduction
Human trafficking, particularly trafficking in women and children, is a leading international crime and the worst from of human rights abuse. Globalization and restrictive immigration policies in some countries are seen as crucial factors for the sharp rise of trafficking problem in the whole world. Human trafficking is also seen as the most prominent cause for the rapid growth of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, which in turn, has a negative effect on the development process. South Asia is widely considered to be a region where human trafficking is particularly prevalent but where preventive enforcement structures and institutions, policies and programs, regional approaches that might mitigate trafficking are inadequate and rather weak.

2. Bangladesh Scenario

Bangladesh is often identified as a country wherein women and children are particularly vulnerable to trafficking due to poverty. Bangladesh is a developing country having a total area of land about 147,570 square kilometers; with a population of about 140 million; where the literacy rate is 51% and the per capita GNP is about $ 470 US Dollars. Bangladesh shares its open borders with India and Myanmar, which is a pressing cause for cross border trafficking in women and children.

3. Trafficking Trends

In the recent past an increasing trend of human trafficking combined with irregular and improper migration has already generated concern among government authorities and civil societies in Bangladesh. According to recent evidences and information, Bangladeshi trafficked women and children are found in different countries of Asia including India, Pakistan and the Middle Eastern countries. In fact trafficking of adolescent girls and young women is one of the major forms of sexual exploitation both within the country and across the border, since the demand for these girls are on the rise. Boys are also trafficked to Middle Eastern countries as camel jockeys.

Poverty, illiteracy, unemployment & poor governance in the community as well as lure for a better life, better earning and false promises for good marriages are the root causes for this crime. The deep rooted racket of traffickers are involved to take advantage of vulnerable women and children and are engaged to cash in quickly by conducting the sex trade both inside & outside the country. UN scholar Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy said traffickers fish in the stream of migration. The scope of these heinous exploitations is wide and varied by typically involves victims being trapped into commercial and sexual exploitation such as prostitution, pornography and labour exploitation at sweat shops, construction sites and agricultural shades. Other forms of forced labour and abuse include domestic help, forced marriages & camel jockeys.

4. Trafficking Routs

Bangladesh shares her borders with India and Myanmar with thirty bordering districts. Among them twenty eight are on the border with India and two have common borders with Myanmar. Most of the trafficking to destinations outside Bangladesh takes place over the land borders. On the Bangladesh Myanmar border. Cox’s Bazar is said to be a major transit point. Traffickers use a number of border crossing points to India. In the northern region, the districts of Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari, Panchagarh, Thakurgaon, Dinajpur, Naogaon, Chapai Nawabganj and Rajshahi and in the south Jessor and Satkhira are areas through which trafficked persons are moved to India. The easiest and best known land route to India is through the Benapole border crossing in Jessore, which is the south-west transit point of crossing between Bangladesh and India. This land port is well connected with the Indian city of Kolkata. Trafficked persons constantly flow into Kolkata, some to serve in the city’s flourishing sex industry while a large portion are trafficked on to other parts of India and other South Asian countries to be employed in various exploitative situations.

5. Bangladesh Thematic Group

The government of Bangladesh is highly committed to combating trafficking. That is why the initiative by the Bangladesh thematic group was very important because it demonstrates our mutual commitment to common goals and the collective search for solutions to difficult development challenge: trafficking in person.

The IOM led thematic group mentioned in its findings that despite decades of efforts by various agencies to address the problems of trafficking in persons, there seems to be crucial gaps in the common understanding and in formulating effective interventions at various levels to address the trafficking process and its outcome.

The Bangladesh thematic group exercise has brought us to a new dimension of trafficking nexus that is a ``Second Generation`` understanding of the trafficking problem. Trafficking today is compounded by the presence of well organized criminal networks that operate within and cross border which is no doubt a multi billion dollar business. The acute poverty of parents who are tricked into giving their children to traffickers or selling them to traffickers is the single most important factor in this equation. We cannot simply focus our efforts on the trafficked persons only. Our efforts must be targeted to those who are at risk and vulnerable to trafficking, to their parents, husbands as well as families and communities, as much as to the causes of poverty alleviation programs, micro credit, micro entrepreneurship and empowerment of women. And simultaneously we have to attach importance to the safe labour migration policy as against combating trafficking policy.

6. Government Initiatives

The Government of Bangladesh has a concrete action plan in the domain of policy, programs and legislation in combating trafficking of women and children on the one hand and to promote safe labour migration on the other. The government is committed to develop a safe labour migration management policy, which is aimed at providing safety and security to its migrant workers and members of their families both at the place of origin and the place of destination. Government, NGOs & INGOs also have taken different programs to address poverty and vulnerability of the people at risk as preventive measures.
The preventive activities in Bangladesh have mainly targeted four components- i) awareness raising among the community members, vulnerable groups, community leaders, government officials, police, lawyers, doctors; ii) capacity development of stakeholders at different levels through training; iii) community empowerment through social mobilization; iv) improvement of livelihood opportunities and safe migration initiatives.

Bangladesh is a country rich in human resources including skilled and unskilled labour. Realizing the needs of the expatriate Bangladeshis, the Government of Bangladesh has established a separate Ministry to provide necessary support to address the needs of the Bangladeshis working abroad. This new Ministry is called the “Ministry of Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment” to facilitate safe labour migration world-wide. The Government believes that the safe and secure migration of service workers can assist equitable development in the country.

Insecurities and gaps in migration policy create spaces for a trafficker that is why the understanding of migration agenda of the poor is essential for designing anti-trafficking interventions. At this point priority of the government regarding safe migration are replacing many forms of trafficking with accessible, affordable migration and securing interregional technical assistance to help develop safe migration policies and opportunities. Also developing marketable skills and promoting pre departure preparedness programs and securing safety at the destination places as a means of accessing new labour markets.

7. Safe Migration

But trafficking of Women and children as a kind of migration makes safe labour migration issue complicated. It is much more complex in case of a women worker willing to work abroad. This issue has been described in a research work done by Ms Therese Blanchet on Bangladeshi migrant women, which called ``Beyond Boundaries-a critical look at women labour migration and the trafficking within.`` The study reveals that even legally migrated women also could face a trafficked like situation, and sexual exploitation if they are not trained and skilled. Also state and legal support are not there to protect their rights in a foreign land.

Therefore, there is a compelling need for a greater Mekong type of regional co-operation that will help Bangladesh and other regional actors to have an effective program against trafficking issue in one hand and promote accessible, affordable and safe labour migration on the other. Such migration denies traffickers opportunities for exploitation.

8. Legislative and Other Measures

On the legislative front, Government of Bangladesh has enacted `suppression of Women and Children Repression Act `2000 as amended in 2003, where death penalty is the maximum punishment provided for the trafficking offence. The Government of Bangladesh has brought relevant changes in the legislation and enactment of new law for the speedy disposal of violence related cases in the year 2002. To protect evidences against the offenders, a new rule is being framed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, so that a victim of violence can go to a government doctor first for medical examination and certification before registering the case at the police station.

Bangladesh Laws Concerning Trafficking of Women and children across borders and within countries for sexual purposes are
a. The penal code of 1860
b. The children (pledging of labour) Act 1933
c. The suppression of Immoral Traffic Act 1933
d. The Children’s Act 1974
e. The cruelty to Women (deterrent punishment) Ordinance 1983
f. Oppression against women and children Act 1995
g. Suppression of women and children repression Act 2000 as amended in 2003.

Besides government has taken initiatives to create massive awareness regarding trafficking in person. To improve juvenile justice and protection system against violence, abuse and trafficking, a new training module and guidebook are being developed for the police, magistrates and judges with the help of UNICEF. It is expected that child victim will get better judgment and protection of law for such initiative. To create a gender sensitive justice system training of officials including prosecutors, immigration officials and border security officials also has been started.

9. Socio Economic Approach

To combat trafficking socio economic initiatives are in place in Bangladesh. Poverty reduction strategy emphasizes on education, health, agriculture, social welfare, women and youth development, physical infrastructure and institutional development in the rural areas. Government of Bangladesh and other non-government institutions like Grameen Bank and NGOs have taken poverty alleviation steps through micro financing and micro entrepreneurship to improve women’s empowerment at the grass root level so that the rural economy could come out from the clutches of poverty, which is the root cause of human trafficking. Currently government is implementing poverty reduction strategy policy (PRSP) through a three years rolling plan to eradicate poverty at the grass root level.

10. Ministry of Women and children Affairs

The Ministry is implementing a multi-sectoral project called One Stop Crisis Center to provide legal and medical help & psycho social counseling to victim of violence, DNA Lab facilities also included in the program. Coordinated Project to Combat Child Trafficking was implemented by the Ministry to create awareness along the bordering districts. To create capacity building and employment, ``Empowerment & Protection of Children & Women`` project is being implemented by the Ministry.

To monitor violence related issues including trafficking, Government of Bangladesh has set up a central cell under the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs which performs the follow up activities of reported cases. The Ministry of Women and Children Affairs has established a safe custody home for women and children, who are victims of a crime including trafficked victims. This is a temporary shelter for them during trial period. Under the Social Welfare Ministry similar shelter homes are in operation in other parts of the country.

11. National Plan of Action

The government has a national action plan against trafficking and sexual exploitation of children. The plan of action is prepared on the basis of seven themes, which include; a) prevention b) protection c) recovery and rehabilitation d) perpetrators e) child participation f) HIV/AIDS, STI and substance abuse and g) coordination and monitoring.

The National Action Plan for children 2002-2007 contains appropriate programs for children in need of special protection, which includes child victims of sexual abuse, exploitation and violence.

12. Ministry of Home Affairs

Ministry of Home Affairs has an important role in preventing trafficking incidents through strict enforcement of law against offenders. Ministry at present is implementing a project called ``Counter Trafficking Intervention in Prevention, Protection, Prosecution for victims of trafficking in person in Bangladesh``. In 2001, Home Ministry has implemented a one-year pilot project for capacity building of law enforcement officials to prevent trafficking of women and children with technical support of the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Additionally other border management projects also have been undertaken by the Ministry of Home Affairs and IOM that contribute to the overall counter trafficking initiatives of the government of Bangladesh.

Disposal of Selected Cases Relating to Trafficking in Women and Children Due to Monitoring (From 15 June 2004 to 15 March 2005)
 

      
1. Total No. of Cases disposed -- 72 cases
2. Total No. of Accused Convicted -- 47 persons
3. Percentage of Conviction -- 65.28%
4. Total No. of Accused Acquitted -- 25 persons
5. Percentage of Acquittal -- 34.72%

13. Best practices for prevention of trafficking

Recently The Government of Bangladesh has taken three ground breaking initiatives to combat trafficking. These are:

i) Counter Trafficking Framework Report: Bangladesh perspective (CTFR)
ii) National Anti-Trafficking Strategic Plan for Action (NATSPA)
iii) Road March to eradicate violence against women including trafficking.

i) In February 2004 Government of Bangladesh has prepared counter trafficking framework report under the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs with the technical assistance of IOM and supported by NORAD which provided a guideline to fight against this heinous crime through a multidimensional and multi-ministerial approach. This framework report has been developed to focus on how programming can be planned, implemented and monitored, who and which agency is responsible for different aspects and provides a timeframe against which concrete progress can be measured. Main issues of CTFR are prevention, interception, rescue, recovery and integration.

ii) Very recently Ministry of Women and Children Affairs with the technical assistance from IOM and supported by ADB has formulated a National Anti-trafficking Strategic Plan for Action (NATSPA) based on the findings and theme of CTFR. This is also a multidimensional and multi-sectoral initiative where different ministries and NGOs will be working together to counter this crime.

The NATSPA is presented in the form of a set of matrices which are clustered into five broad areas of interventions namely:
a. Prevention: All the strategic interventions that are aimed at protecting women and children from the risk of trafficking.
b. Rescue: All the strategic interventions targeted at rescuing the trafficking survivors both within and outside the country.
c. Repatriation: All the strategic interventions that are aimed at ensuring safe return of trafficked Bangladeshi national from abroad.
d. Prosecution: All the strategic interventions that aim at prosecuting the traffickers to ensure justice to the trafficking survivors.
e. Integration: All the strategic interventions that aim at recovery and sustainable social integration of the trafficking survivors.

iii) To Combat Violence against Women Including Trafficking, government in partnership with NGOs, civil society members and Donors led a “Road March” in 38 districts in Bangladesh.

The Road March created a massive awareness among the community people regarding domestic violence, acid throwing, dowry related crime and trafficking in women and children. This innovative program was implemented with the help of International Organization for Migration (IOM), US AID/Bangladesh and Australian High Commission.

14. NGO Initiatives

To address the trafficking harm Bangladeshi NGOs have formed local, regional, national as well as international networks. ATSEC Bangladesh Chapter maintains a list of NGOs and CBOs working on counter trafficking issues in different parts of Bangladesh. Most important NGOS are Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association, INCIDIN Bangladesh, Rights Jessore, ACD, Dhaka Ahsania Mission, and CWCS etc. These NGOs are working in the field of protection, prevention, rehabilitation and rescue for many years in cooperation with the government.

15. Regional Initiatives

Trafficking both domestic and cross border considered as a modern day slavery, cannot be solved by the effort of any single country alone. To combat the cross border trafficking, there is a compelling need for a regional co-operation that will help Bangladesh and other regional actors to have a strong program against trafficking.

Here I am recalling my experience from the Mokong region, during my visits of study to Manila and Bangkok, where I also participated in work shops and seminars arranged by ADB on combating trafficking of women and children through regional cooperation, I have observed that both the Govt. of Thailand and Cambodia are politically committed to solve the trafficking problem. In this region under the SAARC umbrella, this type of regional cooperation could be arranged to find out a meaningful and effective solution of this problem. Therefore, in this process the Rights of trafficked persons could be protected at the stage of rescue, prosecution and repatriation and sufficient opportunity could be created for their empowerment and rehabilitation.

Since this is a billion dollar business, to face these challenges at the home front, civil societies, NGOs common people should stand together with the government.

16. Honolulu Declaration

About two years back I have attended an international conference at Honolulu Hawaii, on the human rights challenge of globalization in Asia pacific and U.S. about the trafficking in persons, specially women and children. I will conclude quoting a part of the Honolulu declaration.

“We pledge ourselves to build broad coalitions that bring together the concerned agencies, organizations and individuals to effectively combat trafficking at local, national and international levels. We seek to establish a just and safe world for all the world’s people to live together in peace and prosperity’’.

Thank you.
 

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WOMEN AND VIOLENCE

Ferdous Ara Begum

Joint Secretary (Dev. & Pl.)

Ministry of Women and Children Affairs

Violence against women is a significant health & social problem affecting virtually all societies. This is a global phenomenon and an alarming concern for all of us. In many countries violence often goes unrecognized and unreported, sometimes it accepted as a part of normal behavior. Especially domestic violence which occurs in the shelter of privacy in the culture of silence.

Violence against women affects all spheres of a women's life, her autonomy, her productivity & her capacity to care for herself and her children and subsequently also her overall health status & quality of life.

Beijing Platform for Action identifies it as" an obstacle to the achievement of the objectives of equality". According to PFA " violence against women means any act of gender -based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life." Thus violence against women may arise in the family, within the community or may be perpetrated or condoned by the state. The following details gives a global overview of the nature and types of violence:

Violence in the family may occur in the form of physical assault & rape, acid attack, trafficking of women & children, forceful engagement of women in prostitution and other anti social activities, dowry related battering & torture and death due to violence, emotional abuse & confinement, forced marriage.

Community based harassment of a women includes the nature of violence as stated above and also media harassment and blackmailing, publishing half truth & distorted facts even using husband and family identity to abuse a women publicly. Commercialization of women's body for eye catching advertisement. Harassment at the workplace also fall under these category.

State based violence includes illegal detention, forced sterilization, custodial torture & death etc.

Globally violence against women has been recognized as a burning issue of international magnitude. Perhaps the most crucial consequence of violence against women & girls is the denial of their fundamental human rights. UN statistics indicates that world wide, in every 3 women one has been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused. More then 20% of women are reported to have been abused by men with whom they live.

KOFI ANNAN, UN Secretary General said during the Special Session, in the year 2000 violence against women is perhaps the most shameful human rights violation. It knows know boundaries of geography, culture or wealth as long as it continues we can not claim to be making real progress toward equality, development and peace.

In Bangladesh violence against women takes place both within the family and in public, taking the following forms, rape, acid burning, dowry, prostitution and trafficking, wife battering, sexual harassment and violence within the family. Domestic violence has now assumed serious problem in Bangladesh.

However, there is still no comprehensive official statistics on violence against women except data generated in the health related sectors and by some NGOs. Official Statistics from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) indicates that death due to unnatural causes among women is higher than deaths due to maternal complications. Demographic surveillance data of ICDDR,B reveals that over 14% maternal deaths are associated with injuries caused by various forms of violence.

Government of Bangladesh is very much aware of the situation and has been taking drastic measures by its own initiatives and also within the framework of CEDAW and Beijing PFA. Government under the able leadership of Honourable Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia is fully committed to eliminate all kinds of discriminations and inequalities between man and women and firmly believes in ZERO TOLLARANCE FOR VIOLENCE. Govt. has taken holistic integrated agenda of legal and policy interventions, programs, effective monitoring and allocation of resources for the realization of the goal of non discrimination against women.

Some of the important interventions of the govt. are as follows:

i) Socio-economic Interventions:

Women are considered as a distinct target group by the national development plans. The Fifth Five Year Plan aims at achieving the goal of equality between women and men. It has major thrust on integration of WID concerns and gender issues in the mainstream of developments. Government has initiated poverty reduction strategy policy in the planning and resource

allocation process where children and gender issues have been incorporated and women under poverty will be largely benefited. National Policy for the Advancement of Women was adopted with the commitment and policies for women on human rights, education and training, health and nutrition, political empowerment, administrative reforms, violence and oppression against women.

Honorable Prime Minister of Bangladesh Begum Khaleda Zia has special commitment towards women's empowerment. Her initiatives in different fields especially in education, employment and capacity building of women at grassroots have already made a difference in women's lives. Considering the fact that education contributes towards empowerment the Prime Minister has made education for females free up to secondary level and introduced special scholarship program for female students.

ii) Enforcement of Justice system and legal measures

Govt. has recently passed two laws on acid attack, ACID CRIME PREVENTION ACT 2002, ACID CONTROL ACT 2002, restricting import & sale of acid in open markets and awarding death penalty for acid throwing offence. The act contains a provision for making the accused non-bailable during the period of investigation. According to acid survivors foundation now-a-days acid crime has been coming down due to stricked application of law.

You know that the law entitled prevention of Women and Children Repression Act 2002 and as amended by 2003 has been enforced to deal with all sorts of Violence against Women including trafficking. It has been enacted to prevent and punish cruelty to women and children in the form of abuse injury and death caused by demand for dowry and domestic violence. The law deals with the cases of violence against women such as rape, acid attacks, forced prostitution and trafficking and dowry related crime more effectively and efficiently then previously existed provision. Death penalty is the maximum punishment provided under this provision.

Special Court's and speedy trial Tribunals have been set up with session judges or additional session judges in each district to deal with cases regarding violence. It provides for completion of the investigation of such offence within 60 days of the receipt of the First Information Report (FIR). To monitor the implementation of various policies, programs and laws the inter-ministerial coordination and evaluation committee provide institutional mechanism through which celebrities and leader in women's movement and representatives of various women's organizations are able to contribute.Other Important noteworthy measures towards combating violence against women are as follows:

1.   Special cells for women in the police head quarters and police stations have been formulated. Another special cell is working in the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs to monitor and speedy disposal of the reported cases regarding violence against women. From the Ministry details of the reported cases are regularly send to the respective police station for necessary action;

2.   There are Committees for the prevention of violence at the national, district and upazila levels headed by DC at the District level.

3.    Violence prevention cells in DWA and JMS;

4.    To ensure juvenile justice and gender friendly justice system special training module have been developed for the police magistrate and judges and other law enforcing agencies by the MWCA with the help of UNICEF;

5.     Safe custody homes and shelter homes are established by the Govt. under

the MWCA and Social Welfare Ministry and also NGOs for under trial women and abused and tortured women and children. Life skill training component also incorporated in the safe home management;

6.     Legal aid fund lying with judges courts also are being used for the victims of violence;

7.    A special pilot project is being implemented by the Ministry which is called coordinated project to combat child trafficking. The project has undertaken awareness creating activities at the 25 bordering upazilas;

8.   Special violence prevention cells are working for the acid survivors which seeks to provide treatment and overall rehabilitation and legal help for acid survivors by the Department of Women Affairs & Jatiyo Mohola Sangstha;

9.    Safety net development of disadvantaged women and children through Social Protection project with the help of Asian Development Bank;

10.  Step has been taken for the rehabilitation of the displaced sex workers.MWCA, Ministry of Social welfare have set up rehabilitation centers for the displaced sex workers.

11.  The govt. has set up a permanent Law Commission to review all laws related to protection of women's rights and provide recommendations wherever required;

12.  Ministry of Women and children Affairs have undertaken multi sectoral projects to eliminate violence against women including setting up One Stop Crises Center (OCC) in Dhaka and Rajshahi Medical College Hospitals mainly to deal with acid victims and rape victims to facilitate quick investigation and other required services. From these project Medical legal and psychosocial counseling also are being provided to the victims. DNA Lab and Hot Line Services also established in the OCC center to provide instant services to be victim.

13.   A nation wide road march from Tetulia to Teknaf covering 18 districts was  inaugurated by the Minister of Women and Children Affairs and was successfully completed under her leadership. This campaign was under taken to create awareness regarding domestic violence, dowry related crime, acid violence and trafficking of women and children, where NGOs, civil society members, donors also participated with the govt.

14.   Trafficking in women and children is an issue of vital concern to the government. Bangladesh is committed to the complete eradication of this social vice. But prostitution and trafficking are international racket and it is cross border issue. Without the cooperation and commitment of the countries which are involved in this racket Bangladesh can do little to stop it. Main destinations of trafficking from Bangladesh are India, Pakistan and Middle East. Government has already initiated and signed the SAARC Convention on Prevention of Trafficking of Women and Children.

Ministry of Women and Children Affairs with the help of donors and NGOs and civil society members has undertaken a noteworthy the initiatives to prepare a country frame work regarding trafficking in person in Bangladesh. A National Plan of Action is under formulation with the help of IOM. It will address women, children and adolescent girls for providing protection, dealing with domestic and cross border trafficking, alleviating poverty, ensuring safe migration, organizing capacity building and creating job options by providing proper safe service of  labour migration to poor women.

15.   Government has enacted several laws to ensure women's security. Prevention of Dowry Act 1980 makes both giving and taking dowry criminal offence and punishable by imprisonment of not less than one year. A person assisting in dowry transactions and a person demanding dowry are equally punishable;

16.   The another law also prohibits identification of the victims by publishing their photographs in the newspaper;

17.   There is a change brought in the evidence act. Now the victim of violence can go strait to the doctor or civil surgeon to register her case, instead of going to the police station first. The doctor will notify the police station and DC's office regarding the case. The doctors certificate will be accepted in the court as evidence;

18.    Government is continuously reviewing the process and identifying appropriate actions. In this context, a Social policy Paper is under preparation to address the issue of children under detention with help of UNICEF. Provision of unofficial Jail Visitor has been introduced to monitor the condition of women and children in the prison. A project has been set up to build separate jail for women prisoners. Step has been taken to utilize the unspent funds lying with Judges Court for the women and children who are under detention;

19.   In health sector several measures have been taken towards improving child and maternal health which include child and woman friendly hospital.

20.    A nation wide campaign to break the silence about AIDS and to create awareness regarding the deadly diseases has been launched by the honourable Minister, Ministry of women and children affairs;

21.  Govt. has also taken steps for birth registration utilizing the services of Union Parishad representatives and community leaders. Ministry of Local Govt. and Rural Development has taken elaborate program with the help of UNICEF for birth  registration and marriage registration and also eliminating early marriage.

22.  Govt. of Bangladesh is very much committed to eradicate violence from the society and continuously working its best to bring about changes in the condition of women and is harnessing resources and efforts, as far as possible, to bring about gender equality in all spheres of life.

Bangladesh is committed to implement millennium development goal and PRSP to eliminate discrimination against women.

23.   But to have a violence free society it is not the responsibility of the govt. alone What is needed now is to bring home to every body the knowledge and information about these actions and awaken awareness about the need to fulfill and implement the actions. Steps taken by the government are not enough unless people rise to the occasion so that both women and men could enjoy the fruits of the changes. It is here that the journalists can play the most decisive role. It is the journalist who can make the people aware of women's issues and steps taken by the government to improve the condition of women. They can give the widest publicity of the legal and other provision made by the Government and the provisions of the international

Covenant like CEDAW, CRC, BPFA and bring to light cases of violence against women and create public opinion against such vices. It is the journalist who can pursue the cases and ensure that the offenders are punished. We do appreciate the role of the media in Bangladesh in Trisha and Rima murder cases. We hope the media will keep up the tradition and orient their journalism against violence.

24.   Unfortunately, in spite of the positive role played by the journalists there is a dark side. As the BPFA has pointed out, "the continued projection of negative and degrading images of women in media communications--- electronic, print, visual and audio-must be changed. Print and electronic media in most countries do not provide a balanced picture of women's diverse lives and contributions to society in a changing world. In addition, violent and degrading or pornographic media products are also negatively affecting women and their participation in society. Programming that reinforces women's traditional roles can be equally limiting. The world-wide trend towards consumerism has created a climate in which advertisements and commercial messages often portray women primarily as consumers and target girls and women of all ages inappropriately."

25. The obligation to wipe out the blemishes devolves on the conscientious section of the journalists. I am confident that journalists of the SAARC region will play a positive role. In this connection, I would remind you the actions suggested by the BPFA: "national and international media system should develop, consistent with freedom of expression, regulatory mechanism, including voluntary ones, that promote balanced and diverse portrayals of women by the media and international communication systems" and "refrain from presenting women as inferior being and exploiting them as sexual objects and commodities, rather than presenting them as creative human beings, key actors and contributors to and beneficiaries of the process of development."

Thank you all

Allah Hafiz.

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Combating Trafficking of Women and Chidlren: Bangladesh Perspective & Developing Partnership for a Better Future

ADB Regional Workshop

27-29 May 2002

Ferdous Ara Begum

Joint Secretary

Ministry of Women & Children Affairs

Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh

The views expressed in this paper are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), or its Board of Directors or the governments they represent. ADB makes  no representation concerning and does not guarantee the source, originality, accuracy, completeness or reliability of any statement, information, data, finding, interpretation, advice, opinion, or view presented.

Distinguished Chairman and Honorable Ladies and Gentlemen,

1. I would like to thank ADB for sponsoring the workshop and would also like to thank all of the various participants in this workshop for their time and effort in addressing the harm that trafficking of women and children is inflicting on the people of South Asia and suggestions for its remedy. We are confident that by sharing our experiences and views, we will be able to better grasp the magnitude of the challenge we face to combat the problem of trafficking.

2. I would like to thank ADB: RETA Bangladesh Team Leader Ms. Helen Thomas and others in her Team for the preparation of pretty comprehensive Bangladesh Country Paper on human trafficking which is indeed a very excellent one. It has touched most of the aspects of trafficking issue including prevention, rescue, recovery and rehabilitation and yet pointed out that the demand factor of the problem has not been addressed on its

right perspective due to shortage of information.

3. I found the country report on Bangladesh to reflect many of our Government’s concerns and I could see that it offers us an opportunity to engage with ADB and other developing partners in formulating more effective program of action to come to grips with

this compelling and daunting task.

4. As a signatory to SAARC convention, Bangladesh Government is already committed to fighting against trafficking. We believe there is an urgent need for us to address the forces that sustain the evil of trafficking. Furthermore, through the execution of the National Action Plan we wish to consider how we might best educate women and children from the lure of such a risky venture while offering them alternative opportunities

to participate and benefit from more safe and sustainable income generating livelihood at home.

5. Government of Bangladesh also committed to develop a safe service labor migration management policy which is aimed at providing safety and security to its migrant workers and members of their families both at the place of origin and place of destination. Bangladesh is a country rich with both skilled and unskilled labor. Realizing the needs of the expatriates Bangleshis, our Prime Minister, Begum Khaleda Zia, has established a new ministry to facilitate the needs of the Bangladeshis working abroad. THIS NEW ministry is called “Ministry for Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment”. We wish to reiterate the importance of relaxing immigration policies of developed countries which encourage the export of our labor. This is considered as a very important source of earning compared to foreign aid received and is an important component to assist our development program particularly those of poverty alleviations. Needless to say poverty is the most significant single factor which contributes to women and children trafficking.

6. But trafficking of women and children as considered a kind of migration makes safe labor migrant issue complicated. It is much more complex in case of a woman worker willing to work abroad. Therefore, trafficking could be described as an intangible obstacle to successful migration and is a threat to our economy.

7. But cross border trafficking can not be solves by the effort of any single country alone. Therefore, there is a compelling need for a greater Mekong Type of regional cooperation that will help Bangladesh and other regional actors to have an effective program against trafficking issue in one hand and promote accessible, affordable and safe migration on the other. Such migration opportunities fir exploitation.

8. Here I am recalling my newly learnt experience from Macong region. Last week, I had an opportunity to attend a study tour in Bangkok arranged by ADB on Combating Trafficking of women and children though regional co-operation. I have observed that both Thailand and Cambodia are politically committed to solve the trafficking problem. They have developed MOU for bilateral agreement for mutual cooperation in the area. Also there are internal MOU within different Government agencies for synchronized and coordinated effort to face the problem.

9. ADB could also help us to develop a similar program of regional cooperation among countries like India and Pakistan, two major points of destination for trafficking victims with Bangladesh and Nepal, which are considered as a sending country.

10. ADB needs to examine how it can ensure increased protection for migrant workers as well as integrated program against exploitative, abusive and deceptive labor trafficking within the framework of ADB funded regions. We therefore hope that ADB will engage with us and others to ensure that ADB infrastructure projects will consider the need of migrant workers protection as well as gender protection. More and more women workers should be employed in the ADB funded projects which will serve as a part of their social commitment with the region.

11. Now I want to react with some of the comments raised in the country paper. This says in the para 170 “the issue of trafficking is considered within the scope of Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, as most of the victim are women and children. But in realityMWCA have very little scope to work for rescue repatriation recovery and reintegration.” ADB has correctly appreciated our difficulties and limitations.

12. As per national action plan, women affairs ministry is working as the lead ministry on woman issues. Due to resource constraint, the ministry is working with extreme limitations. At present, the Women’s Affairs Ministry, under the able leadership of Minister Khurshid Jahan Haq, is more focused on prioritizing and maximizing the utilization of the limited funds and resources that are allocated to the ministry to benefit the women and children of Bangladesh. Women Affairs Ministry is implementing 28 projects at present, which are directly linked with poverty eradication, gender mainstreaming, micro credit policy, empowerment of women, capacity building, etc. in the rural areas. Poverty and illiteracy is considered the root cause of trafficking, both cross border and domestic. So Ministry is contributing to that direction on the preventive side.

13. For the recovery and re-integration of trafficking victims, Women Affairs Ministry is presently implementing 3 years pilot project called “Child Development Coordinated project to Combat Child Trafficking” supported by NORAD. The main objective of this program is to conduct motivation activities and to support the efforts or organizations working in the areas of prevention, rescue repatriation and rehabilitation of Survivors of trafficking. Ministry of Women and Children Affairs also has another project titled “Improvement and Protection of Children and Women” supported by UNICEF. The project addresses children in especially difficult circumstance including street children and trafficked children.

14. According to national action plan, there are many areas of women issues which need to be given attention. However, due to fund constraint the Ministry is unable to take more initiatives. We need to have shelter homes along border areas for the traffic victims, also need to build rehabilitation centers for victims both women and children. We need to train our immigration people, Police and BDR, Social Welfare Workers, NGOs working in the field, for the safe handling of traffic victims. We need to take more initiatives to combat domestic trafficking too. But all these activities needs huge amount of money. ADB is making important contribution by way of funding various studies, surveys and infrastructure building activities in the field of child and women trafficking in Bangladesh but much more of its involvement is needed within its broader framework of activities towards poverty alleviation. We urge ADB and other donors to come forward and support our causes and strengthen the ability of the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs so that we can provide tangible benefit to our trafficking victims, children and women.

Thank you.

Ferdous Ara Begum

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Published in the Journal:
Orderly and Humane Migration. An Emerging Development Paradigm.
Edited by: P. K. Mitra, J. Hossain
Institute of Bangladesh Studies, University of Rajshahi, 2004


COMBATING TRAFFICKING: COMMITMENT, POLICIES AND PROGRAMS OF BANGLADESH GOVERNMENT

Ferdous Ara Begum

Human trafficking particularly trafficking of women and children is a leading international crime and worst form of human rights abuse. Globalization and free trade economy are seen as crucial factors for the sharp rise of trafficking problem in the whole world in recent years.

In the recent past an increasing trend of human trafficking combined with illegal and improper migration in Bangladesh has already generated grave concern among government authorities and national bodies. According to recent evidences and information, Bangladeshi trafficked women and children are found in different countries of Asia including India, Pakistan and the Middle East and even in Europe. In fact trafficking of adolescent girls is one of the major forms of sexual exploitations both within the country and cross border since the demand of these girls is on the rise and it is believed that they are free from HIV-AIDS diseases.

According to different estimations of NGOs and news reports, about five to seven hundred thousand children and women were trafficked out from Bangladesh to bordering India over the past two decades. Recent newspaper sources claimed that at least 2500 children and women are being trafficked out across the border every month mainly for the purpose of prostitution, sexual abuse, forced and bounded labour, camel jockey, slavery, sale of organ and forced marriages. In case of girls and women the destination is often the sex market. In case of the Middle Eastern countries the trafficked boys are engaged as camel jockeys. It is learnt from a very recent report that, in response to Bangladesh government’s recent request through International Organization for Migration (IOM), the UAE Government is in the process of taking some specific steps for prohibition of the use of young under aged boys as camel jockeys. This is, indeed, a very encouraging step towards combating trafficking problem. IOM has done a commendable job in this respect.

According to another recent report from the US State Department regarding global trafficking issue it is stated that approximately seven million people are bought, sold, transported and held in slavery for sex and exploited labour globally in a year. The scope of this heinous exploitation is wide and varied but typically involves victims being trapped into commercial and sexual exploitation at sweat shops, construction sites and agriculture. Other forms of forced labour and abuse include domestic help, forced marriage and camel jockeys. The State Department even mentioned that Bangladesh is one of the source countries.

Human trafficking today is directed through a wave of fraud, abductions, false promises of good marriages as well as lure of better earning through better jobs etc. In such cases, poverty, illiteracy, unemployment and poor governance in the relevant areas are the root causes of this crime. The deeply sited racket of traffickers are involved in taking advantage of vulnerabilities of women and children and are engaged to cash in quickly from the sex trade both inside and outside the country. A recent report of IOM has reported that almost 12 billion dollars of lucrative business for the traffickers all over the world.

To understand trafficking problem better, we need to understand the meaning and scope of trafficking. As per UN Protocol 2002, “Trafficking in persons shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at the minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices, similar to slavery, or removal of organs”

As per SAARC convention 2002 “Trafficking means the moving , selling or buying of women and children for prostitution within and outside a country for monetary or other considerations with or without the consent of the person subjected to trafficking.” Both of these definitions address the issue of both domestic and cross border trafficking.

The 1st World Congress against commercial sexual exploitation of children was held at Stockholm in Sweden in 1996. According to the declaration of the 1st Congress, Governments of the representative countries including Bangladesh, together with non-government organizations and UN bodies committed themselves to a global partnerships against the commercial sexual exploitation of children. In the past five years since it has attended the First World Congress, Government of Bangladesh has taken a series of significant steps in both international and domestic arenas to address this issue.

Bangladesh Government’s commitment in protecting and upholding the rights of children which underlines all efforts in this area – has been demonstrated by its early ratification of the UN Convention of the Rights of Children, and in September 2000 of the Optional Protocol to the CRC on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography. In march 2001, the Government of Bangladesh made a further pledge to protect children from sexual exploitation and trafficking through its rectification of ILO Convention 182 on the worst forms of child labour. In 2002, government has ratified SAARC Convention on preventing and combating trafficking in women and children for prostitution.

The Government of Bangladesh has a concrete action plan in the domain of policy, programs & legislation in combating trafficking of woman & children on-the one hand and to promote safe labour migration on the other. The government of Bangladesh is committed to develop a safe labour migration management policy, which is aimed at providing safety and security to its migrant workers and members of their families both at the place of origin and the place of destination. Bangladesh is a country rich in human resources including skilled and unskilled labour.

Realising the needs of the expatriate Bangladeshis, the GoB has established a new Ministry to provide necessary support to address the needs of the Bangladeshis working abroad. This new Ministry is called the “Ministry of Expatriates Welfare & Overseas Employment” to facilitate safe labour Migration world-wide, it is necessary to consider the importance of relaxing immigration policies of developed countries, which will encourage legal labour migration and will discourage illegal labour migration through trafficking. Foreign remittance from expatriate workers of Bangladesh is considered to be an important source of financing our development programs particularly those of poverty alleviation. It is worthwhile to mention that Government of Bangladesh earned about $ 2 Billion dollars from migrant remittance in the year 2001. This positive approach of Bangladesh Government towards successful migration management policy surely will act as an important step to combat trafficking.

On the legislative front, Government of Bangladesh has enacted “Suppression of Violence against Women and Children Act” in the year 2000 where death penalty is the maximum punishment for the trafficking offence. Important new provision include a new offence of sexual harassment and power to award any fine imposed following conviction under the act to the victim by way of compensation. This is the central piece of legislation intended to protect women and children from violence and oppression

The National Plan of Action for Children 1997-2002 contains appropriate programs for children in need of special protection, which includes child victim in sexual abuse, exploitation and violence. A separate chapter is included in the proposed sixth five year plan to address the issue of children and women. In the upcoming child rights week many activities including social awareness campaign against trafficking have been planed. Besides this, 30th September will be observed as girl child day to create positive attitude towards girl child in the society.

To improve juvenile justice and protection system against violence, abuse and trafficking, a new training module and guidebook are being developed for the police, migrates and judges with the help of UNICEF. It is expected that child victim will get better judgment and protection of law for such initiative.

The Ministry of Women and Children Affairs also adopted a separate National Plan of Action against the sexual abuse and exploitation of children including trafficking for the period 2002-2006 with the help of UNICEF. The focus of the program is to develop awareness among children, their families and communities regarding child rights and risk sexual abuse, sexual exploitation and trafficking. The plan of action is prepared on the basis of seven themes, which include; a) prevention b) protection c) recovery and rehabilitation d) perpetrators e) child participation f) HIV/AIDS , STI and substance abuse and g) co-ordination and monitoring.

The government of Bangladesh has ought relevant changes in the legislation and enactment of new law for the speedy disposal of violence related cases in the year 2002.
The protect evidences against the offenders, a new rule is being framed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, so that a victim of violence can go to a government doctor first for medical examination and certification before registering the case at the police station.

The Government of Bangladesh is committed to fight against trafficking through implementation of article 18 of the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). According to the commitment of the Beijing Platform for Action and UN special session 2000, Government of Bangladesh through the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs is implementing ‘National Policy for Women and National Plan of Action for Women’s Development’. Meanwhile, Allocation of Business of the MWCA has been revised, gender analysis tools has been developed, and women friendly laws have been enacted. In order to ensure gender mainstreaming in all government policies and activities WID focal point mechanism has been set up in all implementing agencies including 4 line ministries. The following are some of the laws formulated or amended to ensure equality and protect women’s right in order to strengthen the position of women which will enable them to protect women’s rights in order to strengthen the position of women which will enable them to protect from any sorts of exploitation including.

(a) The Muslim Family Laws Ordinance of 1961
(b) The Dowry Prohibition Act of 1980
(c) The Family Court Ordinance of 1985
(d) The Child Marriage Restraint Art of 1929
(e) The Muslim Marriage an Divorce (Registration) Act of 1974

As a signatory to SAARC convention, Bangladesh Government is already committed to fight against trafficking. The Government believes there is an urgent need to address the forces that sustain the evil of trafficking. Furthermore, through the execution of the National Plan of Action we would educate and women and children from the lure of such a risky venture and create opportunities for alternative employment and make them benefited from more safe and sustainable income generating livelihood at home.

To monitor violence related issues including trafficking, Government of Bangladesh has set up a central cell under the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs which performs the follow up activities of reported cases.

Beside this a special anti child trafficking call has been established in the Ministry of Home Affairs. Two other Cells are there, one in BDR and the other in Police (CID). The function of these cells is to identify those who are involved in the trafficking business and at the sane time arrest them and promptly rescue the trafficked victims.

To combat child trafficking , the Government of Bangladesh has taken a pilot project in January 2000 called Child development: Co-oriented Project to Combat Child Trafficking under Ministry of Women and Child Affairs with help of NORAD. The main activity of this Project is to develop a mass awareness campaign against trafficking in 25 sub-districts of border areas in 14 Districts through street drama, poster sticking, miking etc. 10 NGO’s have been selected to implement these activities where ACD of Rajshahi is one of those. Rescued children at the process of rehabilitation will be provided advocacy, psychosocial counseling, income generating training, entertainment, education and legal support from the project. Through this project Government of Bangladesh has set up a unique example GO-NGO collaboration. Other activities of this project such as rescue, repatriation, reintegration and rehabilitation will also be done by other sets of NGOs. BDR and CID of Police will also be included in the implementation process. The Project targets to rehabilitate and reintegrate 800 children through (a) parents (b) NGOs and (c) Foster homes.

The major activities of this project are (a) to activate multi sector institutional initiatives (b) to ensure quick disposal of trafficking cases (c) to rehabilitate and reintegrate rescued children.

The Ministry of Women and Children Affairs also implements another project called ILO-IPEC. Trafficking in children- South Asia (TICSA) project. This project has started awareness building campaign in the bordering districts through street drama based on tales of trafficking misery. Centre for Ethnic Children, an NGO is implementing this campaign.

Recently, the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs has established a safe custody home for women and children, who are victims of a crime including trafficked victims. This is a temporary shelter for them during trial period. Government is planning to build up similar shelter homes in other parts of country.

The above mentioned policies and programs taken by the Bangladesh government are major initiatives in relation to anti trafficking measure.

Trafficking as modern day slavery, can be solved with government initiatives alone. Since it is a billion dollar business, to face this challenge NGOs’ civil societies and common people should stand together with the government. Strict application of law is also needed to combat trafficking. Weakness and loopholes of legal procedure also helps offenders. Though, the trafficking offence is on the rise, we do not hear much about offenders getting death sentences. This is because most of the cases of trafficked women and children are not supported by proper witnesses and documentary evidences. Victims out of fear and other reasons do not normally come forward. As a result most of the cases of trafficked women and children are transferred under passport act, 1973, where punishment under 11(c) of the passport Act is Tk. 500.00 only which is very nominal. Taking advantage of this loophole of law, the traffickers do no get adequate punishment and do this crime again. So appropriate legislative changes also necessary for the effective implementation of law to punish those trafficking offenders.

But cross border trafficking can not be solved by the effort of any single country alone. Therefore there is compelling need for a regional cooperation that will help Bangladesh and other regional actors to have strong program against trafficking. In this region under SAARC umbrella regional cooperation could be arranged to find out a meaningful and effective solution of this problem. Therefore, in this process the right of trafficked persons could be protected at the satge of rescue, prosecution and repatriation and sufficient opportunity could be created for their empowerment and rehabilitation.

 

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INDEPENDENT COMMISSION FOR CHILDREN


Begum Ferdous Ara Begum
Joint Secretary (Development & Planning)
Ministry of Women and Children
Bangladesh Secretariat
Dhaka, Bangladesh


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Bangladesh Government is strongly committed to protecting the rights and opportunities of the children of Bangladesh. The Government, led by the Honourable Prime Minister, Begum Khaleda Zia, is committed to realizing the promises made in the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Children in 2002: “A World Fit for Children” and has passed through the cabinet a new National Plan for Action for Children. The Honourable Minister for Women and Children Affairs, Ms. Khurshid Zahan Haque, MP, has proposed a special commission that will oversee and defend the rights and opportunities of the children in Bangladesh. Last month a high-level government delegation went to three European countries: France, Norway and Sweden, to research their Offices of the Children’s Ombudsman, or the commissioner for children, in an effort to formulate a model for Bangladesh.

Offices of the Ombudsman were created in the Scandinavian countries in the 1800s as an agent of the public and arbitrator for citizen’s interests. Many European, North American and Asian countries now have similar offices to advocate and defend the interests of the citizens, offer equitable solutions and non-binding arbitrations.

This report details the issues and concerns studied by the delegation. It also elaborates implementation, roles, duties, authorities, funding and reporting structures of the offices of children’s Ombudsman in France, Norway and Sweden.

This report recommends that an office for children’s Ombudsman be established in Bangladesh to oversee and defend the rights and opportunities of the children of Bangladesh. Such an office for the children’s Ombudsman can be established based on the existing Ombudsman law of 1980 and Child Right Convention.

Acknowledgement
I would like to thank Ms. Khurshid Jahan Haque M.P. Honorable Minister, Ministry of Women and Children Affairs for her pro active and forward looking policy directives towards ensuring the protection of rights and opportunities of the children of Bangladesh. I would also like to thank the Governments of France, Norway and Sweden for inviting the government delegation to this Fact Finding Mission.

I would like to thank Madame Claire Brisset, Commissioner for Children and Mr. Christian Jacob, Minister of the family and his team and also Members of the Cabinet of Ministers of the France Government for their kind cooperation and sharing knowledge and experience about the Independent Commission for Children.

I would also like to thank Ms. Laila Davoy, Honorable Minister, Ministry of Children and Family Welfare, Mr. Trond Waage, Barneombud, Ombudsman for Children and Director General Ms. Arni Hole of the Government of Norway for their cooperation, warm hospitality and sharing knowledge and experience about Gender Equality and Children Ombudsman system in Norway.

I would also like to thank Mr. David Hansen, Political Advisor, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, other representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Development and Ministry of Justice and Officials from NORAD for their continued support and cooperation for coordinated approach to combat trafficking of Women and Children in Bangladesh.

I would like to thank Ms. Lena Nyberg, Ombudsman for Children of Sweden, Ms. Ewa Hollen, Children Obmud of Botkyrka Community, officials from Ministry of Health and Social Affairs, Ministry of Culture, representative from the Save the Children Alliance for their kind cooperation and sharing knowledge and experience about the Independent Commission for Children.
I also would like to thank to the Swedish Government for generous support to the Fact Finding Mission.

I would also like to express my thanks and gratitude to The UNICEF, Bangladesh specially Mr. Morten Giersing, Representative, UNICEF, Bangladesh and Ms. Lila Pieters, Chief, Child Protection Section, UNICEF, Bangladesh for providing sincere support and coordination to the whole Programme.

Finally, I would like to express my thanks to Mr. Jahangir Sadat, Honorable Ambassador of Bangladesh in France and Mr. Al- Harun, Honorable Ambassador of Bangladesh in Sweden and Mr. Piter Daae, Honorary Consul General of Bangladesh in Norway and Mr. A.K.M. Shahidul Karim, Second Secretary of the Embassy of Sweden for their kind cooperation and warm hospitality.

Lastly, I would like thank Dr. Kamal Uddin Siddiqui, the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister for his able guidance and assistance during this Fact Finding Mission.

INTRODUCTION

The Bangladesh Government is strongly committed to safeguarding the best interest of children. The Honourable Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia has reaffirmed this commitment at various national, regional and international fora, including the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Children in May 2002 at New York, where a new agenda for "A World Fit for Children" was adopted.

Following this agenda the government has secured cabinet approval in February 2003 for a National Plan for Action (NPA) against sexual abuse, exploitation and trafficking of children. The NPA also calls for promoting forums to ensure that the children’s views are heard on the matters that concern them. The Ministry of Women and Children Affairs has undertaken programs to empower adolescent girls through development of sustainable livelihoods. The government has also taken initiative to formulate social policies on alternative models of care and protection for children in contact with the law.

To further the government’s commitment to the children, the Honorable Minister for Women and Children Affairs, Ms. Khurshid Zahan Haque, M.P, announced at the Bangladesh Development Forum in 2002 the government’s intention to establish a commission for children to monitor the implementation of the new NPA for children and to defend and promote the rights of the children. This plan for an Ombudsman for children was reaffirmed by the Honourable Minister in the report to the Committee on the Rights of Children in September 2003.

This January, I, as a part of a high-level government delegation, visited three European countries to study the implementation and operations of such offices of Ombudsman for children and research a model appropriate for Bangladesh.

AN OMBUDSMAN

An Ombudsman, a Swedish term adopted in English, is a person who investigates complaints and offers fair and equitable settlements between aggrieved parties. The first office of the Ombudsman, a commissioner for public rights, was set up in Scandinavian countries to hear, investigate and mediate complaints lodged by the citizens against the government or other state actions or inactions. In 1809 the Office of Riksdagens Justice ombudsman was created in Sweden to act as the overseer of justice, a mechanism for reevaluating fairness and equitability in the affairs between the government and the citizens. This office was the precursor to all offices of Ombudsman elsewhere in the world. Other then, various governments in Europe and North America, many universities, trade unions, business and advocacy groups have established offices of Ombudsman as a means for checks-and-balances, and non-binding arbitration.

FACT FINDING MISSION TO FRANCE, NORWAY AND SWEDEN

A high-level government delegation led by Dr. Kamal Uddin Siddiqui, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, visited France, Norway and Sweden during the last week of January, 2004 at the invitation of the various governments to acquaint themselves with the process of creating and running an independent commission for children. The other members of this delegation were Mr. Habibul Awal, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Law and Parliamentary Affairs, and Mrs. Ferdous Ara Begum, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Women and Children Affairs.

ISSUES AND CONCERNS EXAMINED FROM A BANGLADESH PERSPECTIVE

The following issues and concerns were examined by the delegation during their tri-nation trip.

• What will be the appropriate legislation for the new office in Bangladesh?
• Independent status of the new institution: whether it will be placed under the parliament or under the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs.
• Mandate of the new office: whether it should be designed to focus on individual cases or group interest.
• Staffing, recruitment pattern and size of the new institution: whether the Ombudsman for children and other officials will be recruited by selection or through advertisement and selection or to be recruited by a search committee.
• How transparency and accountability will be built into the system.
• Funding for the new office: whether fund will come from government or individuals and donors who are also privileged to participate.
• Whether the new office will be run in a decentralized manner or will it have a strong central office with control over local offices.
• Whether elected representatives at the grass root level, such as the Union Parishad (UP), will be involved in the day to day functioning of the new office.
• What will be regular work schedule and functions of the new office?
• How this office will monitor the implementation of the new NPA for children for 2002-2007 and NPA for SEACT, MDG and World Fit for Children agenda.
• How this office will monitor the implementation process of Child Right Convention (CRC) and concluding observation.
• How this office will handle public complaints regarding the violation of child rights issues in schools, hospitals, day care centers, correctional centers, safe custody homes and shelter homes, detention centers, custodial abuse etc. and abuse at home.
• How the child rights issues, complaints, and suggestions will be reflected in the different reports including but not limited to the annual reports of the commission. Whether the annual report will be submitted to the ministry or Parliament or both.
• How parental care, community care towards children could be visualized and influenced as per CRC by this new office.
• How the new office can influence the existing rules and regulations and laws regarding children for amendment if needed in accordance with the CRC and National Plan of Action for children.
• Whether the new office will be authorized to ask for information on the progress made by different ministries and institutions in implementing measures aimed at protecting and promoting the rights of children and young people.
• Whether the office of the ombudsman will be empowered to monitor international and UN Commitments and also to monitor international developments with regard to the interpretation and application of the conventions provisions.
• In case of dispute with the legal system, how the issue will be handled by the office of the Ombudsman for children.

INDEPENDENT COMMISSION FOR CHILDREN: A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

Office of the Ombudsman for Children exists in a dozen of European countries and in as many as forty other countries. The most important reason for creating an independent office of Ombudsman for children lies in the unique vulnerability of the children worldwide. Children lack political, social and economic power to assert their rights and forwarded their interests at any stage of the political process, where legislation is framed, resources are allocated or policies implemented. They are generally ignored and are not aware their own rights.

An independent commission for children is needed both to advocate for new legislation to protect the children as well as to take action to improve enforcement of the laws already in existence in Bangladesh. The commission for children must seek greater justice for children, both by improving access to existing rights and by promoting recognition of human rights.

THE OFFICE OF THE OMBUDSMAN IN FRANCE

In France the Ombudsman for children – called Defensure des Enfants, meaning the Defender of Children – is appointed by a presidential decree following the recommendation of the Council of Ministers. He or she is appointed for a non-renewable six-year term. The Ombudsman's office is entirely dedicated to the protection and promotion of children's rights.

The French Office of the Ombudsman for Children was created by law on March 6, 2000. This law also guarantees his independence. No instructions can be given to the Ombudsman. He also cannot be prosecuted for any action done by his office.

The mission of this office is to inquire into individual complaints made by children, their legal representatives or approved charities, to make recommendation on legislative consistency with children's rights, to promote children's rights by sensitization, information, training and annual report.

REGULAR ACTIVITIES AND INTERVENTIONS BY THE OMBUDSMAN

• When the complaint is made against a public authority (courts, public social services, state services, school administration), the Ombudsman on Children has to refer the case to Mediator of the Republic, a specialized independent authority.

• If the complaint is made against an individual or a private agency, he can recommend to the individual or agency any solution within existing laws that makes it possible to solve the conflict.

• However, he cannot intervene in the court of judicial proceedings and has no access to court files. He can neither criticize a court decision nor make recommendations to courts. When the case justifies a judicial protection of the child or an intervention by social services, he refers the matters to the competent authority.

STAFF

The Ombudsman for Children is assisted by a staff of 25 he personally appoints. His staff includes a Board of Directors and several support staff specialized in judicial, social and communication matters.

The Ombudsman for Children works with two consultative committees. One of them is composed of people with strong legal background and meets several times a year to assist the Ombudsman. The second committee is composed of teenagers and meet twice a year to inform the Ombudsman of children’s perspectives and suggestions.

HANDLING COMPLAINTS REGARDING VIOLATION OF CHILD RIGHT ISSUES

Children can register individual complaints to the Ombudsman's office either by letters, e-mails or meeting with a regional correspondent regarding school matters, health problem, family problem and gender discrimination.

FUNDING

The Ombudsman’s budget is voted on by the parliament as part of the state's budget. It is not submitted to administrative control. The Ombudsman gives a financial account of his work to a special court.

REPORTING

Office of the Ombudsman is required to publish an annual report about the activities and cases handled during the year which details the issues raised and suggestions made in those cases. This report is submitted to both the government and the parliament.


THE OFFICE OF OMBUDSMAN IN NORWAY

Norway was the first country in the world to establish a commissioner or Ombudsman specifically with statutory powers to protect children and their rights. Since 1981, even before Norway ratified the CRC, the Ombudsman for children has worked continuously to improve national and international legislations affecting children's welfare.

The Ombudsman for children in Norway works under the Ministry of Children and Family Affairs. He is appointed for a period of four years, which can be renewed for another four-year term.

The Ombudsman serves as an independent non-partisan agent, spokesman and arbitrator of children’s rights issues. He tries to ensure that ministries, local authorities and others fulfill their legislative purpose and suggests improvements to various measures to protect the best interest of the children as a group.

The Ombudsman in Norway has the power to investigate, criticize and publicize, but not to reverses administrative action or revoke administrative decisions.

The Office of the Ombudsman is an active participant in both national and regional hearings concerning children's rights. The Ombudsman has also continued to work as an ambassador for various projects to show the media and the public a diverse picture of children's lives in Norway.

REGULAR ACTIVITIES AND INTERVENTIONS BY THE OMBUDSMAN

• The duties of the Ombudsman are to promote the interests of the children vis-à-vis public and private authorities and to follow up the improvement of the situation under which children grow up.

• The Ombudsman for children of his own initiative or as a hearing instance protect the interest of the children.

• Ensure that legislation relating to the protection of children's interests is in compliance of the UN convention on the rights of the children.

• Propose measures that can strengthen children's safety under the law.

• Put forward proposals for measures that can solve or prevent the conflicts between children and society.

• Ensure that sufficient information is given to the public and private sectors concerning children's rights and measures required for children.

• The Ombudsman may act on own initiative or at the request of other people. The Ombudsman for children himself decides whether an application merits sufficient grounds for action.
• The important role of the Norwegian Ombudsman is to strive for equality for all children and youth in the environment where young people live their lives. The goal is to reach optimal equality in standards of schooling, healthcare, social and leisure and cultural activities.

• Influencing and sensitizing the policy makers towards CRC is an essential task for the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman is required to be present in person at the public debates and have a public media presence.

STAFF

Office of the Ombudsman consists of 15 employees. This office mostly deals with complaints regarding violation of children’s rights issues concerning group interests. The staff of the office gives more personal advice on how to take best care of children and how to highlight the best interest of the child under potentially stressful circumstances.

HANDLING COMPLAINTS REGARDING VIOLATION OF CHILD RIGHT ISSUES

Office of the Ombudsman handles inquiries regarding children's procedural rights as a group when subject to legislative matters, court or administrative decisions. Most of the inquiries are referred to relevant offices. Individual cases provide guidelines for the Ombudsman for monitoring children's rights in practice as well as highlighting areas that require change of legislation. For instance, at present the Ombudsman’s office is working to stop bullying as it causes suffering to many children, both at school and their neighborhood. In the research and campaigns focusing on bullying, the Ombudsman emphasizes the need to focus on leadership and to hold the school administrations accountable for the situation in the schools.

FUNDING

The budget for the Ombudsman's office for 2003 was 7.4 million Norwegian Kroner. The budget is allocated from the state budget and approved by the parliament.

REPORTING

Office of the Ombudsman is required to publish an annual report about the activity and cases handled during the year which details the issues raised and suggestions made. The report is submitted to the government.

THE OFFICE OF THE OMBUDSMAN IN SWEDEN

The Swedish Office of the Ombudsman was set up in 1993 by an act of the Parliament following the Norwegian model. The Ombudsman is appointed for a term of six years. The Ombudsman oversees all principle issues concerning children and young people. He ensures that the rights and interests of the children, as resolved by the UNHCR, are protected.

The Ombudsman works to ensure that the Government, the central authorities, the municipalities and local councils use the UNHCR as the basis for all their activities concerning children and young people. However, issues falling outside the scope of the UNHCR can also be taken up if they involve the rights and areas of interest that the Ombudsman’s office monitors.

The Children's Ombudsman does not exercise any supervision over other authorities, but works at a strategic level to monitor complaint regarding violation of child rights issues as a group.

Individual complaints are also taken into consideration. The office provides legal advice and information over telephone and the Internet.

REGULAR ACTIVITIES AND INTERVENTIONS BY THE OMBUDSMAN

• The role of the Children's Ombudsman is to focus much more on opinion forming and defending the rights and interest of the children and young people in the public debate. Another important task of the Ombudsman is to contact the Swedish media on a daily basis on different child rights issues and participating in public debates, creating opinion in favour of important issues as well as influencing the attitudes of politicians, decision-makers and the general public on questions concerning children and young people.

• The Children's Ombudsman has the task of observing matters relating to the rights and interests of the children and young people. In particular the Ombudsman ensures the compliance of Acts of the Parliament, other statutory instruments and implementation of the same with Sweden's commitments under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

• The office of the Children's Ombudsman collaborates with a number and variety of authorities, organizations, individuals and children themselves.

• The office of the Children's Ombudsman has a key role in the task of implementing the national strategy and is responsible for the measures of information and education addressed to local, regional and national authorities.
• The Office is also active in increasing the children's and young people's knowledge about their rights according to the UNCRC and Swedish legislation and increasing their opportunities to participate in the process.
• The Office collects data and is involved in increasing public knowledge in reference to issues concerning children and young people. It also raises awareness concerning the UNCRC.

STAFF

The Office of the Ombudsman for Children is a national office of the Swedish government under the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare. There are a few children's Ombudsmen in the municipal level. The Ombudsman for children is appointed by the Swedish Government for six years and renewable for another three years.

A seven-member Committee of Experts appointed by the Swedish Government assists the Office of the Children's Ombudsman. The Committee holds two meetings annually, and topics discussed have comprised of living conditions for girls and boys, children and stress, and problems and opportunities for children with functional impairment.

There is another committee, the Child and Youth Council, has about fifteen members to advise on child rights issues and to make direct contact with children and youth.

HANDLING COMPLAINTS REGARDING VIOLATION OF CHILD RIGHT ISSUES

The office of the Ombudsman in Sweden looks after the issues as follows:

• Children with disability, children and health protection, children in social services, children in the asylum process, children in the legal process, children and discrimination, children and culture, children and school and children participation.
• The CRC is an active policy instrument that permeates all child related decision made in the various ministries.
• The Government employees whose work has an impact on children and young people are offered in-service training to boost their knowledge of children and familiarity with the contents of the convention. Similarly, municipalities and local councils also offer their employees in-service training.

FUNDING

Annual expenditure of the Ombudsman's office is borne by the Swedish Government. The Swedish Children's Ombudsman also has received SIDA funding for the inauguration of a statistical project in about six countries worldwide, aimed at canvassing children's own views of their situation and compiling comparative statistics on the subject.

REPORTING

The Children's Ombudsman has the task of reporting annually to the Government. The report contains viewpoints and proposals, which the Government should consider and serves as a platform for important discussion between the Children's Ombudsman and the Government.

THE OFFICE OF THE OMBUDSMAN FOR CHILDREN IN THE CONTEXT OF BANGLADESH

• Considering that a large percentage of our population are children, there is a need for an Ombudsman for children in Bangladesh, especially to safeguard the best interest of children, promote respect for views of the children and raise awareness of child right issues and above all to ensure effective means to redress when rights are violated. There is also a necessity to ensure children participation at all levels of children focused policy planning.
• This new office of Ombudsman for Children could be established by promulgation of a new law based on the Ombudsman law of 1980, Child Right Convention and the “World Fit for Children” agenda.
• It is preferable that the Office of the Ombudsman for Children be created under the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs as a separate and identified independent body.

PROPOSED ROLES AND SCOPE OF ACTIVITIES FOR THE NEW OMBUDSMAN

• The new office could protect and monitor the rights of the children as a group. It could handle the violation of children's best interests at schools, hospitals, day care centres, correctional centres, safe custody homes, detention centres, custodial abuse and abuse at home. The new office can monitor the implementation process of the New NPA for children for 2002-2007 and NPA for SEACT, MDG and the “World Fit for Children” agenda. It could also monitor the implementation process of CRC and concluding observations.
• This office could influence the parental care, community care towards children as per CRC and concluding observation through media campaign and raising awareness about CRC.
• This new office can influence the existing rules and regulations and laws regarding children to make them more gender and child sensitive as per CRC and National Plan of Action through strong lobbing with lawmakers.
• The new office could be empowered by law to ask for information on the progress made by different ministries and institutions in implementing the measures aimed at protecting and promoting the rights of children and young people.
• The new office could be empowered by law to monitor international and UN commitments with regard to the interpretation and application of the convention’s provisions.
• In case of dispute with the legal system regarding custody rights, adoption or other similar issues, the new office could try to influence the legal system through lobbying on the basis of the best interest of the child.
• The proposed new office can study public opinion regarding protection of the rights and interest of the children and young people and monitor the public debates.
• The new office could take initiative to improve and promote child participation and visibility of children and young people at all levels.

STAFFING PATTERN, RECRUITMENT PROCESS AND SIZE OF THE NEW OFFICE

The proposed new office could comprise of one Ombudsman for children and a 10-member Board of Directors, which will include 3 representatives from teenagers. Besides this, officials from the various departments of the government could be posted on deputation in this office.

The Ombudsman for Children and members of the Board of Directors could be recruited by open advertisement and through a Search Committee. Most of the members including other and government officials should come from the legal and social services background. They should have sufficient knowledge about CRC and CEDAW and gender issues. The Ombudsman for children may be authorized to recruit his or her office staff as required.

FUNDING

Primary funding for this new office should come from the government. There could be provisions made to receive fund from donors, individual person or other national sources as well.

A CENTRAL OFFICE WITH INDEPENDENT STATUS

The proposed new office should be a national office with central policy making and arbitration authority. There could be smaller local offices set up in steps to extend the services locally. These local offices should report to the central office and operate under the directives of the national office. The office should have statutory independence and devoid of interference from other governmental and non-governmental agencies in regards to its day-to-day operations.

REPORTING

The office should generate an annual report explaining its operations, cases handled, arbitration resolutions, media and lobbying campaigns and educational initiatives conducted during the prior year. This report, submitted to both the minister for Women and Children Affairs and the parliament, should also include legislative and social practices recommendations to further the government’s continual commitment to defend the rights of the children and promote their opportunities.

                                                                    

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Universal Primary Education and Closing the Gender Gap
By
Ferdous Ara Begum
Additional Secretary
Ministry of Establishment
Government of Bangladesh



Date: 21, December 2004



Symposium on ICPD+10 and Bangladesh: Progress and Challenges
Organized by
Department of Population Sciences
University of Dhaka.


“Education for All” is the key Government Policy in Bangladesh that plays a vital role for establishing gender equity and equality, justice and good governance. This is also essential for sustainable economic development. Nevertheless, the Universal Primary Education is the base for such development vision.

Gender, Education and Development discourses are the recent origin. A popular discourse was first established by the highly influential World Bank statement of priorities in educational policy in which basic education especially that of girls, became the first priority. Firmly, within the framework of classical liberal economics, the Bank’s state argued that investing in the education of girls would yield externalities in reduced fertility rates and improve child health and also raising voices against violence.

In 1994, the UN Conference on Population was held in Cairo. This was a milestone in the field of population and development as well as in women’s rights history. The conference adopted a twenty-year forward looking Program of Action (PoA) on population, gender and reproductive health and reproductive rights, building on the success of the previous decades and addressing the needs of the early years of twenty-first century. This was a very difficult meeting, with strained relations caused by the issue of birth control. But girls’ education was a policy that all could support as means of reducing population. The gender, education and development discourse was increasingly dominated by this policy as a medium term economic investment to reduce fertility rates.

In March 1995, the UN Conference on Poverty convened in Copenhagen and Hillary Clinton made a widely publicized speech in support of the girls’ education as a means of reducing poverty by lowering fertility, improving child health and raising women’s income from the labour market.

At the fourth World Conference of Women held in Beijing in 1995, where the rights perspective was strongly pressed also the continuing disadvantages in women’s access to health and education services and issues of girl child were at the top of the agenda.

In the year 2000, United Nations Millennium Development Goal set eight targets for development and poverty eradication to be achieved by the year 2015, where Universal Primary Education, gender equality and empowerment of women are important issues to promote freedom, democracy and human rights in the society. The Government of Bangladesh is committed to implement those goals by the year 2015.

The Government of Bangladesh runs one of the biggest Primary Education Systems in the World. Development of Primary education poses a daunting challenge because of inaccessibility & resources constraint situation. Despite these, Bangladesh has achieved remarkable progress in primary education. The gross enrolment rate is now about 97%.

The Government of Bangladesh made substantial investment in both primary and secondary education of girls including scholarships stipend & the provision of free and compulsory primary education for girls’ up to the twelfth grade, these measures had led to gender parity and dramatic increase in the enrolment of girls in primary school. In accordance to goal no. 3 of MDG, Bangladesh has been working towards eliminating gender disparity in primary & secondary education. Keeping the goal in consistence with the national action plan towards implementation of Beijing Platform for Action.

Primary education stipend is being given to both poor girls and boys. The poor parents receive Tk. 100 per month for sending one child and Tk. 125 for two or more children. This is to encourage parents to send their girl child to school. The number of female students in primary and secondary level has been increasing gradually. Enrolment ratio of female/male student was 45:55 in 1991, which enhanced to 50:50 in 2002. Available data of (BANBEIS) reveal that dropout rates of female students at junior level (grade 6-8) & secondary level (grade 9-10) have decreased to 16.8% and 53.4% respectively in 2003 from 17.2% and 54.8% respectively in 2001.

As per World Bank report of May, 2004 published during Bangladesh Development Forum, “Bangladesh has one of the highest primary school enrolment rates in the developing world, including enrolment of poor children” The report further goes “Bangladesh has achieved gender parity in enrolment at the primary & lower secondary level”.

The Government of Bangladesh has given special emphasis on various skill developments & human resources development training for women. The rate of female teacher in government primary schools is 37%. The ratio of female /male teacher is also increasing due to implementation of teachers changed recruitment rules of appointing 60% female teacher in government schools. The percentage of female teachers was 21:09 in 1991, which has risen to 37:86 in 2001. During the same period, completion rate of the cycle of five years education increased to 67% from 40.7%. Beside these progresses, number of primary schools was 49,539 in 1991. It has increased to 62,407 in 2002, at present more than 70,000 primary schools are operating in the country.

Provision of equal opportunity, increase of enrolment and improvement of quality education and management at primary level have been ensured through implementation of various development programmes during the five year plans from 1991/92 through 2002-2003.

In fact, universal access to primary education was given emphasis from the First Five Year Plan. In the Second and Third Years Plans, there were increased allocations for the development of primary education sub-sector to enhance facilities in the schools and to provide for increased student enrolment.

The First Education Commission was set up in 1959. In 1972 the Kudrate-e-Khuda Commission was formed to recommend objectives, strategies and action plans for creating a modern education system suited to the needs of an independent Country. Both the commissions recommended that primary education should be an eight years course and liberal promotion on the basis of age should be introduced. But these recommendations could not be taken into consideration as these issues are debatable.

Bangladesh was a signatory to the Declaration of the World Conference on Education for All (WCEFA) held in March 1990 in Jomtein, Thailand. As a follow up of WCEFA Bangladesh prepared a realistic National Plan of Action for Education for All by the year 2000. Following are the important measures taken under this action plan.

• Free and Compulsory Education for All Children
• Free Education for girls up to twelve grade
• Stipend to all enrolled girls students outside Municipal Corporation (Rural area)
• An incentive (Tk. 100 & Tk 125 cash) is given for each child and more than one child if they maintain more than 80% attendance at school.
• Review and revision of the text book towards gender sensitivity
• Separate toilets for boys and girls
• Development of congenial environment in primary schools by expanding physical facilities particularly for girls students
• Upgrading professional skills of the teachers curriculum improvement and development of educational materials
• Set up department of women studies at the University of Dhaka
• Set up Asian Women’s University

The Government also has set two important targets which already have been implemented those are:

• Creation of a separate Primary and Mass Education Division in 1992, it was renamed as Ministry of Primary and Mass Education in 2003.

• Introduction of Compulsory Primary Education Programme in 68 Upazillas in 1992 and expansion of this program all over the country in 1993.

The Government of Bangladesh has not only achieved the goals set on the basis of Jomtein declaration for quantitative expansion of primary education but also set target to improve the quality of the education. In Bangladesh firm commitment of government for Universal Primary Education to eliminate gender disparity and also huge investment in the sector has already created positive impact in the society. It gave voices and choices to girls and women in Bangladesh in an attempt to understand and interpret their roles as active agents rather than passive consumers of educational development.

Number of Children Enrolment in Primary Schools and Percentage of Boys and Girls

Year                    Number of Students                  % of Students
                 Total                Boys           Girls         Boys      Girls
1991         12635419        6910092       5725327      54.7      45.3
1992         13017270        7048542       5968725      54.2      45.8
1993         14065332        7525862       6541470      58.5      46.5
1994         15180680        8048117       7132563      53.0      47.0
1995         17280416        9094489       8189668      52.6      47.4
1996         17580416        9219358       8361058      52.4      47.6
1997         18031673        9364899       8666774      51.9      48.9
1998         18360642        9576942       8783700      52.2      47.8
1999         17261713        9065019       8556712      51.4      48.6
2000         17667985        9032698       8635287      51.1      48.9
2001         17659220        8989795       8669425      51.0      49.0
2002         17561828        8841648       8720180      50.3      49.7

Sources: Primary Education Statistics in Bangladesh 2002.

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National Policy
for the Advancement of Women in Bangladesh




Seminar on 2nd October 2005,
Lake Castle Hotel




Ferdous Ara Begum
Additional Secretary &
DG, Bangladesh Television (On LPR)

 

Excellencies, Member of the parliament, Representatives from the development partners, ladies and gentlemen, Good afternoon,

I would like to thank the organizers for inviting me to this important seminar.

National policy for the advancement of women was first announced on 8th March, 1997, by the then Prime Minister of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. The National policy was formulated based on Beijing declaration and platform for action in 1995 at the conclusion of the 4th world women’s conference in Beijing. Bangladesh participated in this conference & signed the declaration. The specific guidelines of PFA focusing on 12 critical issues regarding gender mainstreaming & advancement of women & girl child were the core issue of the national policy.

The Constitution of Bangladesh guarantees the equity and equal rights for both man and woman. The contribution of women to our liberation war along with the International conventions, declarations & polices regarding women’s advancement & rights considered in the formulation of this policy.


Bangladesh achieved its independence in 1971 through a nine-month’s bloody war. Three million people were killed and 0.2 million women were dishonored or otherwise tortured in the course of this war. In the liberation war, women of Bangladesh fought side the side with men and made significant sacrifices. The experiences of liberation war and the contribution of women in it created a new longing amongst Bangladeshi women for their economic freedom, self-reliance & women’s human rights.

Bangladesh constitution gives priority to women development, as they constitute 50% of total population. Articles 27, 28, 29 & 65 recognize the equal rights of women. Articles 28(4) offers special opportunities for women considering them as a backward group.

But in all societies dominated by male, women are subject to denial of rights, discrimination, exploitation & negligence. On the top of that religious fanatism, superstition, domestic violence & oppression, societal neglect & low status of women remain a challenge for their advancement. Bangladesh is not an exception.

On the above backdrop, to ensure women’s constitutional rights & equal participation in the development process a planned policy decision for women’s progress was strongly felt. In this regard country’s development plans also carefully designed to focus on WID policy.

Significant international conventions & declarations also contributed to the formulation of NP, such as CEDAW convention. Bangladesh signed the convention to the elimination of all forms of discriminations against women (CEDAW) in 1984 though with some reservations.

Besides, Bangladesh participated in the 1st world women’s conference in Maxico in the year 1975. Which was also declared as the year of women by United Nations for development & Empowerment of women in state, society, politics & economy.


The progress of first five years of UN women decade (1976-85) was reviewed in the 2nd women conference held in 1980 at Copenhagen. The 3rd women conference was held in 1985 at Nairobi & forward looking strategy was adopted in this conference based on equality, development & peace for all.

Action plan on environment & development adopted in the earth summit held in Rio De Janirro in 1992, the Vietnam declaration on human rights in 1993, the population & Development action plan adopted in the international conference held in Cairo in 1994 put maximum importance on matters related to advancement of women & children & their rights.

Bangladesh is a signatory to all these milestone charters & action plans & is committed to implement the same. Bangladesh also a signatory to many regional declarations including SAARC. Many of these declarations noted the existence of extreme form of inequality between men & women in matters of distribution of power & decision-making. The governments of the world were reminded to take initiatives to redress these inequalities.

Formulation of national policy for women’s advancement
underwent a long consultative & interactive process started from 1995, where GO-NGO civil society collaboration & participation was ensured. Finally the policy was declared for implementation on 8th March, 1997.


Salient features of the NP for women, 1997 are as follows:-
a) Implementation of women’s human rights & basic freedom.
b) Elimination of all forms of discrimination against girl child & Enactment of necessary new laws towards that goal.
c) Elimination of all forms of oppression against women.
d) Armed violence and women’s stand.
e) Education and Training.
f) Sports & Culture
g) Ensure women’s active & equal rights in all activities of national economy.
h) Alleviation of women’s poverty.
i) Economic empowerment of women.
j) Employment of women.
k) Support services.
l) Women technology.
m) Food security of women
n) Political empowerment of women
o) Administrative empowerment of women
p) Health & nutrition
q) Housing & shelter
r) Women & environment
s) Women & Mass media
t) Specially distressed women

The policies impact on gender equality

The policy emphasizes mainstreaming of women issues at national, local & family levels. In order to implement National policy, a National Action Plan (NAP) for women’s advancement on the basis of Beijing PFA has also been formulated by MWCA. 15 ministries were identified as line or sectoral ministries. They have their respective plan of action for the implementation of NP & NAP formulated in the line of Beijing PFA. MWCA co-ordinates & monitors these activities through a monitoring & evaluation committee headed by the Minster of MWCA. The NP & NAP emphasized the strategy of mainstreaming women’s development in all governmental policies & programmes by all sectoral ministries & agencies with a view to accomplish women’s empowerment as envisaged in the PFA.





A comprehensive institutional mechanism was developed to put into operation the national policy & national action plan for the advancement of women. Its main components include-

a) National council for women’s development at the highest level with Honb. Prime Minister as chairperson was formed.
b) Parliamentary standing committee to advise the government for specific initiatives concerning women’s development was formed
c) Women in development (WID) focal points formed in different Ministries of the govt. for initiating & performing all activities relating to women’s development
d) Women’s development implementation & evaluation committee formed with representations of all focal point Ministries to oversee the WID activity, headed by the Minister, MWCA.
e) District & Upazila level co-ordination committees formed for co-ordination of WID activities at the district & Upazila level
f) GO-CS committee formed for the GO, NGO, civil society partnership regarding women’s advancement

The govt. of Bangladesh until May 2004 reiterated its commitment to implement the national policy for the advancement of women, 1997 & national action plan.





The background for and impact of adjustments made to the policy in 2004.

In 2004, it was first noticed that the national policy for the advancement of women was not approved by the cabinet. As per rules of Business, 1996, published by the cabinet division, article no 4. Sub section (ii) says” No important policy decision shall be taken except with the approval of the cabinet.” This is a mandatory condition for any policy decision.

As per cabinet division sources a high-level cabinet committee reviewed the policy & cabinet approval came in May 2004; with some changes in the policy. The present government has incorporated some of their ideology & achievements regarding advancement of women in the new policy. New phrasing & language change also could be noticed in the new policy. But what matters, a major policy shift in some areas which might have a sharp contradiction with women’s constitutional rights, CEDAW obligations, Beijing + 10 commitments, gender governance, PRSP & MDG requirements.


Major discrepancies surfaced from the latest policy may be summarized as follows:-

1) Women’s inheritance & equal rights to property has been deleted
2) Political representation of women at the parliament for reserved seats through direct vote is deleted
3) Women’s reproductive health & rights is deleted
4) Women’s equal rights in decision making as regard to child bearing is deleted
5) Equity & equal rights between man & woman has been replaced to women’s constitutional rights
6) Women’s increased quota for top administrative & cabinet positions has been omitted
7) Preferential treatment for working women for accommodation is deleted

All these above mentioned rights & power are guaranteed to women of Bangladesh by our constitution. All these rights once given to women as per previous policy. We know that natural justice demands that rights, power & benefits once given can not be withdrawn without valid ground and without consultation with the affected group.

We know that equal rights and opportunities of women considers as the basic human rights of women, in absence of which gender mainstreaming & empowerment of women can not be achieved, advancement of women in the family, society and national level can not be ensured and gender based discrimination and gender gap can not be removed from the society.

But this is also to note that despite of all these changes in the WID policy the govt. did not make any shift in implementing its pro-women-development policy in the fields. The govt. has appointed women as Ambassadors, a women chairman for PSC, DCs and SPs in the field level. Govt. has also taken initiatives to reduce maternal mortality with considerable success.

The govt. also expressed commitment for the implementation of the national policy for the advancement of women, 1997; in several international conventions, such as the 31st CEDAW committee meeting at U.N. on 9th july, 2004; Beijing +10 global review meeting at U.N. on 28th Feb., 2005, though changes in the policy took place much earlier in May 2004. In the real life situation, the changes so far could not make any noticeable impact. But no doubt about that these changes in the policy already generated frustration and hopelessness amongst women who fought long for their rights and proved worthy of those rights.

Meanwhile the Honb Minister, MOWCA has said that a committee has been formed and a meeting would be soon held to discuss the policy. If needed, she assured, it would be further reformed (Daily Star October 1, 2005).

All concerned – women rights organizations and development partners—should take this opportunity to convince the MOWCA of the possible impact and consequences of the new change. And also of the greater and real advancement likely to be made in the society if 50% of its population were given their due rights and allowed to contribute their share towards over all development.

A short overview of the major challenges & opportunities of the development of women in Bangladesh:

1. Reducing gender gap & gender based discrimination from society, state, national & family level. Ensuring formal equality & affirmative actions.
2. Eliminating violence against women: Domestic, societal, state & custodial violence including trafficking of women & children.
3. Reducing economic deprivation of women & poverty through gender based resource allocation, Empowerment policy & safety net development.
4. Enhancing human capital & capacity of women through calculated initiatives in Education, health, nutrition, livelihood skill building, sports & culture.
5. Ensure security & protection of women specially in difficult circumstances &living in a marginalized situation.
6. Protection of women & children from man made & natural disasters like STI, HIV-AIDS, Arsenic poisoning, flood, cyclone and Tsunami.
7. Ensure good governance, enforcement of law to protect women’s human rights & legal rights.
8. Enhancing women’s effective & full participation in decision making process both political & administrative.
9. Capacity building for institutions engaged in implementation, monitoring & evaluation of WID policy, gender equality issues.
10. Strong monitoring mechanism for the implementation of
concluding observations of CEDAW, CRC, Beijing + 10 declarations, PRSP & MDG issues.
11. Developing gender disaggregated data base & information.

An idea of what development partners can do to contribute to the women’s advanced & gander equality:

1) Programme based & sector wide approach for the implementation of all development programs.
2) Implementation of the recommendations by the Institutional Reorganization of women in development (IR-WID) & Institutional &Organizational assessment (IOA) study.
3) Strict implementation of PRSP & MDG goals with minimum system loss.
4) Complete eradication of human trafficking both cross boarder & domestic & promoting safe migration of women.
5) Massive awareness raising campaign to contribute HIV AIDS & protection of women & children from these deadly diseases
6) Ensure good governance, enforcement of law & legal support to women.
7) Donor based strong monitoring mechanism for the implementation of concluding observations of CEDAW, CRC, Beijing + 10 declaration, PRSP & MDG goals.
 

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