BD budget deprives urban children: UN
Sunday, 8 May 2011
Munima Sultana
Urban children who are orphans, work in factories or stay on the streets have been neglected most in the Bangladesh government's budget every year, a United Nations study said Saturday. The study titled 'Investing in Vulnerable Children' shows that in 2010-11 fiscal, only 0.66 per cent were allocated for urban children while it is 9.8 per cent for the children belonging to poor families in the country. "The children were directly allocated only 9.8 per cent (Tk 19 billion) of the social safety net budget (Tk 195 billion), which is 1.44 per cent of the national budget in 2010-11," the United Nations Children Fund (Unicef) study said. Of the total social safety net allocation for children, only Tk 1.30 billion has been set aside for the urban children, it added. "Urban working children, street children and the orphans are the most vulnerable among poor children," the Unicef study paper said. The Unicef has urged the government to reverse this skewed policy and gradually enhance budgetary allocation for the country's 1.07 million working children aged 10-14 years, 1.12 million street children and 1.52 orphans aged 0-14 years. "If the 10 per cent of the total children of these three groups are covered every year, the yearly budget required for the interventions will be easily affordable for the government if poverty reduction investing in children is prioritized," the Unicef study said. "Investing in these very vulnerable children will not only contribute to breaking the inter-generational poverty cycle but will create substantial employment opportunities for youth and adults," it said. The government jointly with Unicef has undertaken three programmes aimed at enhancing development opportunities, living conditions and livelihood opportunities of urban children. But the study says these three programmes are insufficient to cover total vulnerable children of all age groups for which the investment on urban children is required. It also estimates that 46,000 jobs would be created for these types of social interventions.
Urban children who are orphans, work in factories or stay on the streets have been neglected most in the Bangladesh government's budget every year, a United Nations study said Saturday. The study titled 'Investing in Vulnerable Children' shows that in 2010-11 fiscal, only 0.66 per cent were allocated for urban children while it is 9.8 per cent for the children belonging to poor families in the country. "The children were directly allocated only 9.8 per cent (Tk 19 billion) of the social safety net budget (Tk 195 billion), which is 1.44 per cent of the national budget in 2010-11," the United Nations Children Fund (Unicef) study said. Of the total social safety net allocation for children, only Tk 1.30 billion has been set aside for the urban children, it added. "Urban working children, street children and the orphans are the most vulnerable among poor children," the Unicef study paper said. The Unicef has urged the government to reverse this skewed policy and gradually enhance budgetary allocation for the country's 1.07 million working children aged 10-14 years, 1.12 million street children and 1.52 orphans aged 0-14 years. "If the 10 per cent of the total children of these three groups are covered every year, the yearly budget required for the interventions will be easily affordable for the government if poverty reduction investing in children is prioritized," the Unicef study said. "Investing in these very vulnerable children will not only contribute to breaking the inter-generational poverty cycle but will create substantial employment opportunities for youth and adults," it said. The government jointly with Unicef has undertaken three programmes aimed at enhancing development opportunities, living conditions and livelihood opportunities of urban children. But the study says these three programmes are insufficient to cover total vulnerable children of all age groups for which the investment on urban children is required. It also estimates that 46,000 jobs would be created for these types of social interventions.