A round-table discussion was held on Sunday at Bangladesh Shishu Academy to present key findings of a costing exercise conducted by research agency SANEM, commissioned by UNICEF and the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs (MoWCA) with support from the European Union.
Rowsan Ara Begum, additional secretary of the MoWCA, was present at the event as the chief guest, while Anjir Liton, director general of Bangladesh Shishu Academy, attended the programme as a special guest, read a press release.
This dissemination session was chaired by SM Latif, project director (joint secretary) of APC. Sayema Haque Bidisha, research director of SANEM, presented the findings in the session.
“In February 2021, the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs (MoWCA) and UNICEF embarked on a viable and sustainability and scalability strategy to implement a VACW prevention program directly by MoWCA,” said Elisa Calpona, child protection manager and responsible for the prevention of harmful practices in UNICEF Bangladesh.
“Currently, over 1,200 Child Protection Community Hubs (CPCHs) are operating all over Bangladesh with more than 16 million children and caregivers reached by this program,” she said.
Raihanul Hoque, child protection officer and MoWCA’s focal point, UNICEF Bangladesh, said, “To stop and respond to harmful practices and violence against children and women, UNICEF is trying to establish a comprehensive national child protection system up to the village level.
“To make it practical, UNICEF along with MoWCA initiated the costing exercise with the support of the research agency SANEM,” he said.
