DHAKA: European Union (EU) ambassador and head of delegation to Bangladesh Pierre Mayaudon on Saturday said EU will keep its commitment to support to government to implement the Children Act-2013.
Mayaudon was addressing a high-level discussion on the implementation of the Children Act at Bangabandhu International Conference Center in the city’s Agargaon area on Sunday morning.
Department of Social Services (DSS) and Save the Children organized the program. 64 deputy directors and probation officers of the DSS, representatives of Child Affairs Police officers and Judges of Children Court from 64 districts participated in the discussion.
Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs minister, Anisul Huq, Social Welfare minister Syed Mohsin Ali, state minister Promod Mankin, and Secretary Nasima Begum, and Save the Children (StC) acting country director Sharon Hauser, among others, attended the function.
At the program, Mayaudon gave a presentation of the EU engagement on children's rights.
He said, "The European Union did very much welcome the adoption of the Children Act 2013. We consider this a major break-through in line with the Convention on the Rights of the Child.”
“At this moment our on-going projects benefiting Bangladeshi children amount to 180 million Euros in grants. We are willing to increase our support under our future cooperation," added Mayaudon.
Addressing the function, Sharon said “Organizing of the event will contribute to strengthening the coordination among the relevant state officials to ensure the rights of the children in Bangladesh.”
The discussion took place in the framework of a 3-year project titled “Improving Child Protection and Rehabilitation of Children From Sexual Abuse and Exploitation in Bangladesh”.
The project budget is at 1.4 million Euros (approximately Tk 13.72 crore), with about one million Euro funded by the EU under the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) while StC is financing the rest.
The project was launched in 2012 in an effort to reduce sexual abuse and exploitation of children especially in Dhaka, Rajshahi, Rangpur, Khulna, Barisal and Chittagong.
Approximately 40,000 children and 40,000 parents have already become beneficiaries under the project in 129 communities across the country’s 16 districts.
Save the Children with its local partner organizations - Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association (BNWLA), Breaking the Silence (BTS) and INCIDIN Bangladesh - are implementing the project.
BDST: 1217 HRS, NOV 23 2014
