Children claim their rights in Bangladesh Case Study Click on the following links for further information about this case study: Teacher's Notes Student Activities Background Bangladesh is one of the world's most densely populated countries, placing pressure on land and other resources. Many families in Bangladesh live in extreme poverty and consequently their children have to work long hours for very low wages instead of going to school. Such poverty is often made worse by floods in the Ganges and Brahmaputra River Deltas where Bangladesh is situated. Child access to rights through development (CARD) In the Tangail District, the Child Access to Rights Through Development (CARD) project has been focusing on rural and working children over the last four years. The project aims to provide opportunities for access to education, health services and enjoyment of childhood to the children while enhancing their self confidence, self esteem and their skills of communicating and negotiating. This project has been implemented by several non government organisations (NGOs). Save the Children Australia (SCA) is one of the NGOs and it has funding from the Australian Government's overseas aid program. The project is ongoing until June 2002. This project aims to impact on community attitudes and activities through children's participation in children's councils, in such a way as to improve the life of about 42,000 children aged from 6 to 14 years in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The project has four separate components which are interdependent: Component 1: Political and social involvement Around 1,400 children's councils called Shishu Parishads, with around 42,000 children, will be formed to ensure that their rights of participation, association and freedom of expression are better recognised in their home and community life. Component 2: Sports, recreation and cultural pursuits Approximately 40,000 children will better enjoy their rights to leisure, recreation and access to information through their participation in various project activities. Activities will include: sporting tournaments and cultural competitions at union and district level as well as between participating NGOs; the establishment of libraries in all primary schools in the project area; publication of a children's magazine; training for child journalists; and organisation of children's fairs. Kids increase confidence through activities such as public speaking.   Component 3: UN Child Rights Convention (UNCRC), Health and Child Development Awareness Raising About 42,000 children, their mothers, local teachers and selected community members, will be more aware about the UNCRC, as well as the specific health and development needs of children. Activities will include training for mothers and children on the UNCRC, child psychology and development, adolescent health education and health and nutrition, as well as training for children in positive thinking. Manuals will be developed in all main training areas, as well as training of trainers for community resource people, orientation sessions for primary school teachers and workshops to link health workers with project activities. Component 4: Identity and education rights The rights to identity and the rights to education for about 30 000 children will be further improved. Activities will include: motivating parents to register the births and campaigns to encourage parents to both enrol and enable their children to remain at school. Shishu Parishads The purpose of the Shishu Parishads or children's councils is to empower children to increase their abilities and skills so that they can have a say about social and economic issues which affect them. This approach has been effective as it promotes children's participation through fostering leadership abilities and providing them with more life opportunities and options. These children's councils can provide a collective voice for children and a management structure by which activities can be organised for and with children. This approach has also proven to be highly effective in promoting volunteerism at the community level, involving older children through to community leaders. Parishad members are elected through a secret ballot and all members have a right to be members and to vote whether they are students or non students, rich or poor or disabled. Over 50% of the Parishads are comprised of girls. Children of the Shishu Parishads elect their own management committee following a democratic process. The process of conducting the elections mirrors the national electoral process in terms of steps, rules and regulations. In the long run, the process is expected to have wider positive impacts on the community, encouraging the development of leadership skills and commitment to and belief in democratic processes, especially among the children. Drop-in centres and satellite education centres Drop-in centres provide a small library for children to borrow books and practise their reading skills. Some also provide karate lessons for girls and other recreational activities for boys and girls. The drop-in centre at Madhupur in Tangail now has satellite education centres to teach literacy. Drop-in centres provide training to children in various skills, including gardening. Successes The exploitation of working children has decreased. As one of the working children said, "If people try to exploit us, then we can seek help from others in the community who now understand the reality of our situation and will support us; when a child is hit by an employer then we can gather other children and approach the employer - children united, and acting together, can make a difference." Case Study In Madhupur, the Central Working Children's (CWC) Council members have been elected and agreement has been reached to meet with the local government official monthly to raise issues affecting working children. Together, the CWC Council and local officials try to resolve some of these issues. At one of the meetings, the CWC Council representatives were made up of ten 11-15 year old children with equal numbers of boys and girls representing a variety of professions - cigarette makers, apprentices, sellers and domestic workers. The two girls who made cigarettes earned less than $AUD10 cents for making 1000 cigarettes which takes several hours work. The girls presented their case to the local government official and he saw this as a case of clear exploitation. Unfortunately the government does not have any minimum wage levels for this occupation and so it was not possible to take any legal action. However, the official agreed that he and other government representatives could work to motivate employees to change their attitudes and sense of justice with regard to the salaries and conditions for these girls. One of the girl representatives requested that the local government official assist her purchase a sewing machine for the Central Children's Working Council. This could then be used to train the girls in basic sewing techniques. He agreed, and explained that classes could be provided through the social services office and linked these children into services available in the community. 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