Third and Fourth Periodic Report on CRC - Unicef

Convention on the Rights of the Child
4.1 Measures taken on the concluding observations
The State Party's response to the Committee's observation on the second periodic report is that, the Births <strong>and</strong>
Deaths Registration Act, 2004 has been enacted <strong>and</strong> hereunder 5 Rules have been made in 2006. Accordingly,
the State Party has been scaling up the birth registration activities throughout the country in the recent years.
The Government plans to achieve 100 percent birth registration by end of 2008 through pursuing new
programmes <strong>and</strong> strategies.
The State Party has not yet been able to amend the legislation in respect of name <strong>and</strong> nationality (issues in
connection with passing citizenship to the children from either their father or mother <strong>and</strong> statelessness).
However, a draft bill is under consideration of MoLJPA.
The Penal Code has been amended in October 2004, <strong>and</strong> among others, the age of criminal responsibility has
been increased from 7 to 9 years. The joint efforts by government <strong>and</strong> NGOs resulted in reduction of children
in prison, torture by police in the custody, <strong>and</strong> keeping together with adult prisoners.
The benefits of Acid Control <strong>and</strong> Acid Prevention Acts are yet to be reaped as implementation at field level has
not been adequately ensured. GO, NGO <strong>and</strong> private programmes (for example, by a leading national daily)
have been successful to create awareness about acid attacks.
With the increased awareness programme, advocacy campaigns <strong>and</strong> training of teachers, community leaders
(including Imams) all forms of corporal punishment in the family, schools <strong>and</strong> institutions are found to be
decreasing. This is revealed in Consultation Meetings including those of children. This shows that an effective
awareness-building process is on. Some NGOs have come forward with the programme of salish with emphasis
on ensuring justice for the women <strong>and</strong> children in particular as well as modernizing this traditional system.
4.2 Name <strong>and</strong> nationality
The Births <strong>and</strong> Deaths Registration Act was passed in December 2004 <strong>and</strong> entered into force on 3 July 2006.
The Birth <strong>and</strong> Death Registration Act 1873, <strong>and</strong> the Births, Deaths <strong>and</strong> Marriages Registration Act of 1886 were
repealed. The new Act requires the birth certificate as a proof of age for services that directly affect child rights,
including enrolment in educational institutes, marriage registration <strong>and</strong> transfer of property, as well as other
services. This factor together with the requirement of the birth certificate for certain services is expected to
create a high dem<strong>and</strong> for birth registration. The registration will help achieving as many as 16 benefits.
Following the Act, the government adopted corresponding Birth <strong>and</strong> Death Registration Rules for the different
administrative levels, namely, Union Parishad (Council), Pourashava (Municipality), City Corporation,
Cantonment Boards <strong>and</strong> Embassies/High Commissions of Bangladesh aboard.
The year 2005 has also witnessed some pilot interventions aimed at linking birth registration to health <strong>and</strong>
education sectors, confirming that only by adopting an inter-sectoral strategy the country will be able to register
a significant number of children, ensure that they receive their birth certificates <strong>and</strong> that the certificate is used
when accessing other services. The Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development <strong>and</strong> Cooperatives
(MoLGRD&C) with support of UNICEF is implementing the birth registration activities nationwide. A good
number of NGOs <strong>and</strong> Forums are being increasingly involved in the process. Some public hospitals such as
Combined Military Hospital (Cantonment Board) are practicing registration of children without fail. To meet the
expected dem<strong>and</strong> created by this new Act, training was provided to all 64 district officials. In addition,
administrative <strong>and</strong> communication materials were developed <strong>and</strong> distributed to all districts for accelerating the
activity. Sixth July has been declared as Birth Registration Day. In the recent months, the registration
performance is improving.
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