Child protection investments drive major social, economic gains in BD: UNICEF

Investments and early interventions in child protection systems have resulted in significant social and economic returns, including reducing violence, preventing early marriage, and lowering school dropout rates, according to UNICEF.
Over the past five years, at least 12,000 child marriages have been directly prevented, child birth registration has risen from 47 per cent to 70 per cent, and public trust in social workers has increased by 60 per cent, UNICEF Representative to Bangladesh Rana Flowers shared the statistics at a media briefing on Wednesday at the UNICEF House in Dhaka.
Mamtaz Ahmed, senior secretary at the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, was also present at the briefing, which was organised to share the outcomes of the five-year programme "Fostering Rights and Empowerment of the Most Marginalised Adolescents and Children with Disabilities in Bangladesh", launched in 2021.
The programme, co-funded by the European Union and implemented by UNICEF in partnership with the Bangladesh government, has catalysed one of the most far-reaching transformations of the national child protection system to date.
Over four years, the programme has reached 16.2 million children and adolescents and 6.3 million caregivers, strengthened the legal and institutional architecture for child protection, and built the evidence base for sustainable policy reform, according to the findings.
The Standardised Adolescent Empowerment Package (SAEP) is now integrated into national curricula, reaching 28 million students, while the Sports for Development (S4D) initiative engaged 13.8 million adolescents (70pc girls) and directly prevented over 12,000 child marriages.
The programme has also brought significant changes in policy and government initiatives, including the completion of the Department of Children's Affairs Roadmap and the finalisation of the National Action Plan on Alternative Care (2026-2030), accompanied by a deinstitutionalisation framework.
Government co-financing in child protection budgets has increased to 30 per cent from 4.0 per cent, according to the findings.
The EU's partnership with UNICEF has fundamentally shifted Bangladesh's protection model from fragmented, project-based interventions to a coherent national system embedded in policy, legislation, and government budgets.
Speaking at the briefing, European Union Ambassador to Bangladesh Michael Miller said the country is moving towards national elections, and he expects the next government to continue the initiatives undertaken by the interim government.
Responding to a question on the government's commitment to eradicating child labour, Mr Miller said the EU supports labour law reforms in line with International Labour Organization (ILO) recommendations.
The advisory committee has recently approved draft amendments to the labour law, including provisions for union registration with 20 workers and up to five unions per factory.
Commenting that he has yet to see the full text of the amended law, he declined to make further remarks. However, stressing the importance of the child labour issue, he said the first step is to remove children from the most dangerous and hazardous workplaces.

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