Experts at a program Wednesday stressed the need for strengthening monitoring of the child care homes under public and private partnership (PPP) to ensure their operations have according to the child policy and UN charter.
They also demanded to formulate separate law for these child care institutions to ensure child protection.
Their recommendations came after a study report showed that government child care homes, religious madrassahs or orphanages hardly play any role in child protection. Although the condition is better in the child development centres run by various NGOs, their number is insufficient.
They were speaking at a seminar on 'Residential Childcare: The Experiences of Young People in Bangladesh' at Spectra Convention Centre in the city. ActionAid Bangladesh organised the event. This study explored the experiences of care, leaving care and after care from the perspective of a group of young people who had lived in residential childcare institutions in Bangladesh. The study took place over a period of one year by interviewing 33 young people aged between 12 and 26 from three types of institutions: NGO: 12, Government Shishu Sadan: 10 and faith-based orphanage: 11, who had left the care system within a five-year period from the date of interview.
Observation of four institutions were taken where they had lived: one run by a non-governmental organisation (NGO), two run by the government and one faith-based orphanage run by the local Muslim community. Of the 33 young people who were interviewed, 23 were male and 10 female.
The study showed at least 10,000 children in government-run residents, 11,000 in NGO-run institutions and 60,000 live in different registered and non-registered madrassahs in the country. While presenting the findings, researcher Tuhinul Islam said healthcare service is inadequate in the government-run residential child care institutions compared to the non-government ones.
Multi-sectoral project for preventing women repression director Abul Hossain said there is limitation of space in the government-run child care residential institutions and lack of supervision.
In his speech as the chief guest, National Human Rights Commission member Kazi Riazul Haq said although there is a very good children's policy in Bangladesh and the country is signatory to the UN child rights convention, children are still deprived here. Besides, children from these orphanages and madrassahs are used in politics which is not expected.
ActionAid country director and chairperson of the seminar Farah Kabir said all the parties working on child protection issues can devise some solutions together in this regard. But children also should participate in policy review to give their opinion.
