The government spends about Tk 23 billion annually in different projects to prevent child marriage, according to a new budget analysis revealed Sunday, stressing the need for more allocation in this regard.
'A Scoping Analysis of Budget Allocation for Ending Child Marriage in Bangladesh' was jointly conducted by the Ministry of Finance and UNICEF and a report on the analysis was unveiled at the city's CIRDAP auditorium.
It said the money is spent through seven development programmes and 57 projects. Social safety-net programmes, secondary education for girls, adolescent health, community awareness and adolescent girl empowerment, legal framework are the key drivers for preventing child marriage in the country, it added.
Out of 12 identified ministries, three received the lion's share of allocation (97.3 per cent) in ending child marriage - education ministry 20 per cent, health and family welfare ministry 35.4 per cent and, women and children affairs 41.9 per cent, the analysis said.
Reducing child marriage is one of the key national priorities for gender and inequality outlined in the '7th Five Year Plan' of Bnagladesh. The goverenmnt has a plan to reduce child marriage significantly by 2020.
Per-head budgetary allocation for female at-risk aged 10-18 years was Tk 3,764 in relevant programmes and projects during a period between FY 2010-11and 2015-16.
The analysis suggested undertaking a stakeholder process to ascertain the relevance of identified budget items, and on that basis, estimate the relevant portions toward a baseline measurement of eliminating child marriage-focused public expenditure.
Addressing as the chief guest, Meher Afroz Chumki, sate minister for women and children affairs stressed the government's commitment to combat child marriage.
Azizul Alam, additional secretary of finance ministry, said the government would provide fund and all necessary cooperation for the projects on prevention of child marriage.
Laila Jesmin, additional secretary of women and children affairs ministry, chaired the programme while secretary Nasima Begum and additional secretary Mahmuda Sharmin Benu of the ministry, UNICEF Bangladesh representative Carlos Acosta, project director of Multi-Sectoral Programme on Violence against Women Dr. Abul Hossain, among others, were present.
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