Kids rights to get top priority in 'perspective plan': Minister

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FE Report
Social protection for children would get the highest priority in the country's upcoming Perspective Plan and the sixth Five Year Plan, Planning Minister A K Khandaker said Sunday.
"Social protection, especially for children, would be one of the highest priority agenda in our Perspective Plan for 2010-21 and the Five Year Plan for 2011-15", he said while inaugurating South Asian Regional Conference on 'Achieving Child Wellbeing and Equity in South Asia' in the city.
The three-day conference has been organized by United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and participated by dignitaries from the region as well as various international organizations.
Lamenting the widespread poverty affecting children in Bangladesh and South Asia, the Minister said, "Still, 37 per cent of the population in Bangladesh lives in poverty which has negatively impacted a large number of children in the country; as of the 63 million children in the country, around 26.5 million live in poverty".
The minister's remark came at a time when according to various statistics; child poverty rates in South Asia have stagnated or even worsened in some areas over the past decade.
"Of the 613 million children in South Asia, over 300 million are severely deprived of the seven basic needs", Khandaker said, "While, about 45 per cent of the under five children are under weight".
Focusing on various initiatives of the present government in assuring social protection of the children, the Minister said, "The National Strategy for Accelerated Poverty Reduction (NSAPR) has been revised as per the needs and aspirations of the people in line with the election manifesto".
UNICEF Regional Director for South Asia Daniel Toole in his speech said, "Unlike any other region, children in South Asia become trapped in an unrelenting cycle of discrimination at several levels due to persistent and deep inequalities in the region".
During this conference in the city, governments, UNICEF and civil society of the region would examine the ways of using this new approach to pinpoint efforts to tackle child poverty.
Minister of Women and Child Affairs Shirin Sharmin Choudhury also attended the occasion.