Twelve parties sign Child Rights Manifesto with ten commitments

Political parties have united to sign a Child Rights Manifesto (CRM), responding to the powerful voices of children and young people, who have demanded a future where their rights are better respected and protected.

Ahead of the upcoming national election, 12 political parties signed the manifesto, launched on Monday, which outlined ten priority commitments - pledging investments and policy reforms to put childhood back on track in Bangladesh, according to a statement.

The parties included Amar Bangladesh Party, Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Socialist Party of Bangladesh, Communist Party of Bangladesh, Gono Forum, Gonosanghati Andolon, Gono Odhikar Parishad, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, Jatiyo Party, Khelafat Majlish, Nagorik Oikya, and National Citizen Party, according to the statement.

The CRM, co-created by children and young people and supported by UNICEF, positions the upcoming election as a critical moment to secure measurable national commitments from the political parties to protect every child's right and well-being.

It is the result of an inclusive, multi-phase process engaging children, adolescents, and young people - including marginalised groups, people with disabilities, and indigenous communities - through digital platforms like U-Report and in-person consultations.

Findings were validated with academia, civil society, private sector, and development partners, before briefings on the data and evidence. The draft commitments were presented to the political party leaders to secure public commitments ahead of the national election, added the statement.

The CRM outlines practical goals that - when implemented - would address the country's most urgent child rights priorities, addressing the challenges to ensure that every child in Bangladesh survives and learns, and is protected.

The commitments included strengthening quality education, skills, nutrition and primary healthcare, creating safer communities free from violence, abusive practices and hazardous child labour, tackling child poverty, ensuring coordinated leadership and monitoring on critical issues, and addressing climate challenges that threaten their future.

By signing the manifesto, the political parties commit to embedding these priorities into their policies and election agendas, and to act decisively once elected.

Underpinning each commitment is verified national data that highlights the areas where the rights and well-being of Bangladesh's nearly 35 per cent child population are most at stake.

The statement added that the 10 non-negotiable commitments are grounded in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and prioritise structural reforms across key sectors to transform the situation of children in Bangladesh.

The commitments included strengthening and reducing fragmentation of primary health care services in rural and urban areas, addressing child wasting, including by the provision of locally-produced specialised therapeutic food.

The rise in wasting from 9.8 per cent to 12.9 per cent and the low rate of early antenatal care (46 per cent) show critical gaps in primary health and nutrition services that directly threaten child survival.

The rise in child labour to 9.2 per cent, the persistently high rate of child marriage (47.2 per cent), and the alarming prevalence of violent discipline (86 per cent) reveal how unsafe many environments are for children in Bangladesh.

These findings reinforce the urgency of strengthening primary health care and expanding access to specialised therapeutic food to prevent malnutrition and save lives, it noted.

The statement also underscored the urgent need to protect the dignity of girls and boys, protecting them from the abuses that are evident in child marriage by removing legal loopholes the allow this cultural practice, strengthening law-enforcement and protection systems, and taking immediate action to eliminate hazardous child labour.

Other priority areas included quality and inclusive education for all children, social protection coverage, a climate-resilient Bangladesh for children, a budget that reflects children's needs, end invisible children in Bangladesh (who are without birth registration), better water and sanitation services, and reporting on children and youth commitments by conducting a review of the Children's Act, with a view to identifying contradictions and existing gaps in laws, and implementation of policies affecting children - to be conducted over the first year of the new government to ensure that they are in accordance with the UNCRC.

An annual parliamentary reporting through a child rights scorecard would ensure transparent monitoring of progress, especially for the most vulnerable children, added the statement.

"Children have spoken loudly and clearly: their future cannot wait. Today's signing of the Child Rights Manifesto is a promise to turn words into action, and action into hope," said Rana Flowers, UNICEF Representative in Bangladesh.

The CRM outlines clear, achievable change for children today that drives human capital development and would result in a stronger Bangladesh tomorrow, she added.

Munni_fe@yahoo.com