It is urgent to form a cross-sector body to protect child rights. All problems of street children should be solved in coordination with government and private organizations.
Shamsul Haque Tuku, The Deputy Speaker of Jatiya Sangsad and Chairman of Parliamentary Caucus on Child Rights Shamsul Haque Tuku, MP said this while addressing as chief guest at a seminar held at the LD Hall of the Jatiya Sangsad on Sunday.
He said, the child who is born today is the owner of the state. So that child cannot stay on road or street. The government is working to develop him as human resource.
He also said that the population is increasing. At the same time, the number of floating children is also increasing. It is the responsibility of all of us to develop them as resources.
Deputy Secretary of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Ministry Ariful Kaiser, Additional Director of Social Services Department MM Mahamudullah, Joint Inspector General of DITF of the Ministry of Labor and Employment Matiur Rahman and Dhaka Ahsania Mission General Secretary Engineer AFM Golam Sharfuddin were present as special guests in this national seminar jointly orgazed by Dhaka Ahsania Mission and Scan Bangladesh. Dhaka Ahsania Mission Vice-President Professor Dr Kazi Shariful Alam presided over the seminar while Executive Director of Dhaka Ahsania Mission Md. Shajedul Qayyum Dulal gave the welcome speech. Kazi Shariful Alam said that the main challenge is to bring every child to the mainstream. He sought the cooperation of the Deputy Speaker in this regard.
Scan Bangladesh general secretary Moniruzzaman Mukul presented the concept of cross sector body in the event. In the speech, he said that currently the number of street children in the country is about 15 lacs. 85 percent of these children are addicted to drugs, 80 percent are struggling for food and 46 percent are victims of sexual abuse and exploitation.
It is to be noted that, with the financial support of Commonwealth Foundation and Consortium for Street Children (CSC), United Kingdom, Dhaka Ahsania Mission's 'Words To reality: Promoting Street Children's Rights in Bangladesh' project has been working for the past few years to form a cross sector body to implement street children's rights.
The event was attended by the joint director of education sector of Dhaka Ahsania Mission Md Moniruzzaman, project coordinator Zulfikar Matin, member of street children task force as representative of street children and representatives of different government and private institutions.