JS caucus on child rights holds first meeting

The maiden meeting of the newly formed “Parliamentary Caucus on Child Rights” was held at the Parliament Building on Thursday.

The meeting focused extensively on ensuring child protection, formulating child-friendly laws and policies, allocating appropriate budgets, and empowering MPs to fulfill national and international commitments regarding child rights.

Caucus President and Member of Parliament Shireen Sultana presided over the meeting where Deputy Speaker Kaiser Kamal attended as the chief guest.

Addressing the meeting, the deputy speaker stressed that robust legal frameworks must be paired with effective enforcement.

Emphasising the review of existing and proposed child rights legislation, he noted that necessary amendments can be pursued through the law ministry or introduced directly by members of parliament through private members' bills.

He assured the caucus of the parliament’s full cooperation in this regard.

Welcoming the formation of the caucus, he said that such an initiative was crucial to advancing children’s rights and ensuring their protection.

He called for active participation and cooperation from MPs, development partners and other relevant stakeholders to make the initiative effective.

Kaiser said Bangladesh already had several laws concerning child rights and protection, but their proper enforcement and implementation remained the key challenge.

To make the caucus more effective, he called for close communication and coordination with relevant stakeholders.

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The meeting placed special emphasis on ensuring education, healthcare and nutrition for girls, children with disabilities, children from marginalised communities, children in hilly areas, and vulnerable, orphaned and disadvantaged children.

Participants also highlighted the importance of providing children with appropriate education on morality, humanitarian values and religious principles alongside legal measures to ensure their protection.

Speaking at the meeting, caucus president Shirin Sultana said that the government had undertaken various public welfare programmes and called for collective efforts to ensure that their benefits reached people at the grassroots level.

She also urged all relevant parties to establish effective coordination to ensure the overall protection of children and uphold their rights.

The meeting was attended by caucus members and MPs Morshed Milton, AKM Fazlul Haque Milon, Sheikh Jahangir Husain Helal, Anna Minz and Madhabi Marma.

Representatives of the National Girl Child Advocacy Forum, UNICEF Bangladesh, the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), and various development partners and organisations also attended the meeting.

Additional secretary of the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, officials from the Ministry of Social Welfare and relevant officials of the Bangladesh Parliament Secretariat were present.