Third and Fourth Periodic Report on CRC - Unicef

<strong>Third</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Fourth</strong> <strong>Periodic</strong> <strong>Report</strong>
6.2 Survival <strong>and</strong> development
Under Article 6, paragraph 2 of CRC, the State is to ensure to the maximum extent possible the survival <strong>and</strong>
development of every child. While under right to Survival, the State Party is to ensure fundamental requirements
for livelihood such as healthcare services, food with adequate nutrition, safe water, sanitation <strong>and</strong> healthy
environment, among others; under Development right the Government is concerned to children's education, <strong>and</strong>
other enabling environment for full <strong>and</strong> harmonious development of his or her personality, enjoying leisure,
sports <strong>and</strong> cultural activities. Present situation of the State Party vis-à-vis development/changes during the
reporting period in terms of Article 6 is discussed in the following sections of this cluster as well as different
sections of the <strong>Report</strong>.
6.3 Children with disabilities
The National Policy for the Disabled was adopted in 1995 <strong>and</strong> The Disability Welfare Act was enacted in 2001.
A disabled person is defined as a person who loses partially or completely his ability or whose abilities become
comparatively lower through physical or mental damage due to disease, accident, <strong>and</strong> wrong treatment or by
all. Disability mainly occurs due to damage in physical, mental, visual <strong>and</strong> hearing <strong>and</strong> speech sense. Every
disability is divided into three levels: mild, moderate <strong>and</strong> severe. The policy goes into further details regarding
the definition of each type of disability.
The Disability Welfare Act, 2001 provides for equal rights for disabled persons. The Act focuses on prevention
of disability, treatment, education, rehabilitation, employment, transport accessibility <strong>and</strong> advocacy for them.
There is a lack of reliable data on disability in the country as no comprehensive survey has yet been conducted.
However, partial surveys conducted by different organizations give different estimates of number PWDs in the
county. According to National Forum of Organizations Working with the Disabled (NFOWD), approximately 14%
of the total population has some form of disability. According to Bangladesh Demographic <strong>and</strong> Health Survey,
2000 (BDHS) conducted by BBS, 7.38 males per 1000 population were found have disabilities compared to 4.66
females per 1000.
The MICS 2006 found that nationally, 17.5 percent of the 2-9 year old children had one or more reported
disabilities. The highest rate varies 14.0 percent to 20.4 percent in different Divisions. There is no urban-rural
difference in disability, <strong>and</strong> it is negatively co-related to age- with increase of children's age, disability rate falls.
Though insufficient compared to the needs, there are Government facilities <strong>and</strong> programmes, as well as
initiatives at NGOs <strong>and</strong> private levels. The National Foundation for Development of Disabled <strong>and</strong> Department
of Social Services provide both integrated <strong>and</strong> special services for children with disabilities. The major
programmes undertaken <strong>and</strong> being implemented in association with NGOs/CBOs since 2000 include:
Studies on disabled children <strong>and</strong> adolescents
Introducing ID cards for PWDs to facilitate movement in the transports <strong>and</strong> availing health care services
Establishing <strong>and</strong> operating specialized institutions/centres
Provide vocational training for rehabilitation
Extend Microcredit support
Provide special allowance (under safety net programme) <strong>and</strong> stipends
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