Child rights advocates and civil society organisations have urgently called for the establishment of an independent directorate for children to ensure the coordinated protection and development of the country鈥檚 youth.
The demand was made at a discussion meeting held on Monday at the office of Nari Unnayan Shakti in Dhaka on the occasion of National Children鈥檚 Day.
The event was jointly organised by six organisations聽 鈥� Nari Unnayan Shakti, Young Women for Development Rights and Climate, Forum for Culture and Human Development, SHELEAD, Forum Nari Moncho, and the Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar Forum 鈥� working on women鈥檚 and children鈥檚 development.
Presided over by Afroja Parvin, executive director of NUS, the meeting highlighted the critical gap in child welfare governance. 鈥楨stablishing an independent Directorate for Children has become an urgent necessity to ensure the protection and rights of children in Bangladesh.鈥�
Speakers argued that while various ministries handle child-related issues, the lack of a centralised body leads to uncoordinated and ineffective efforts. They pointed to the alarming rise in child labour, abuse, trafficking, early marriage, and online violence as evidence of the current system鈥檚 failure.