Almost half of Bangladesh's 68 mln children live in poverty: UNICEF
http://www.WorldDaily.co.uk 2012-01-11 23:09:45 AM GMT +0800

Almost half of Bangladesh's 68 million children live below the upper poverty line and one-quarter lives in extreme poverty, said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony here Wednesday.

Ending his three-day visit to the South Asian nation Wednesday, Lake said children who are the most vulnerable and neglected must be the focus of the government's work.

While in Bangladesh, he visited a UNICEF-supported drop-in center for the protection of children at risk in old part of the country's capital Dhaka where homeless girls receive shelter and education.

"I was impressed with the girls I met, who told me their stories and ambitions for the rest of their lives. We often speak of the importance of protecting such children, seeing them only as victims to be pitied and in need of charity, but in fact they are among the strongest and most courageous children in the world, capable of overcoming the most tremendous obstacles," Lake said.

"Bangladesh has made very real progress on achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)," he added.

He called attention to the often overlooked issue of malnutrition and stunting in Bangladesh and elsewhere in the developing world.

"Food security does not mean nutrition security," said Lake adding,"Stunting is not only a tragedy for the child, but a tremendous drain on the development of a nation."

Describing micronutrients as a highly cost-effective intervention, he said that addressing stunting was one of the main issues raised during his meetings with the government and donor community in Bangladesh and underscored the need for increased policy attention on this issue.

Lake also focused on the issue of children with disabilities, saying that, "If we are serious about equity, we should also be serious about the issue of disability."

Bangladesh is "on track" in relation to most of the MDGs targets. Yet, gross inequities in socioeconomic development continue to persist and child poverty and socio-economic disparities remain a grave concern, he noted.