DHAKA, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Bangladesh is home to 33 million poverty-ridden children -- about half of its total population aged under 17 years -- while about one in four children in the South Asian country is deprived of at least four basic needs like food, education and health.
These findings were presented Wednesday at the launch of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) study styled "Child Poverty and Disparities in Bangladesh".
The United Nations' children agency said the latest study focused on the multidimensional aspects of child poverty looking at deprivation in seven areas like food, education, health, information, shelter, water and sanitation.
According to the study report, 64 percent of children in Bangladesh are deprived of sanitation, 52 percent are deprived of information, 57 percent are deprived of nutrition, 41 percent are deprived of shelter, 16 percent are deprived of health, and 8 percent are deprived of education.
The study report was presented by Abul Barkat, lead consultant for the national study, which was conducted by the Human Development Research Center, a multidisciplinary research-cum-action organization in Bangladesh.
UNICEF, which initiated the study as part of a global initiative involving 46 countries in seven regions, said it is proposing a shift in the definition of poverty -- away from a narrow measurement that addresses income exclusively to a definition that includes income poverty, deprivation and well-being.
One key determinant of child poverty is the level of the mother's education: the higher the mother's level of education, the lower the chance for the child to be affected by deprivation, it said adding the mother's education also has a mitigating impact onthe severity of the child's deprivations.
The study has revealed that rural households with children are more likely to be living in poverty than their urban counterparts when poverty is measured using the CBN (Cost of Basic Needs) method.
Presenting the key findings of the study, Barakat, also a Dhaka University Economics Department professor, put forwarded a set of recommendations, in which, he said child well-being must be considered as highest priority and recognized in all national policy documents to ensure sustainable human development.
"Child poverty in Bangladesh remains a grave concern," said Carel de Rooy, UNICEF Representative in Bangladesh.
He said, "The majority of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and targets are related to children. Therefore, it is absolutely impossible to achieve MDGs without giving proper attention to children. Children need to be at the center of national programs that address poverty such as safety nets and social protection interventions."
Bangladesh's State Minister for Women and Children, who was also present in the program, said the country has marked remarkable progress in developing socio-economic life of women and children in the past years but it will require to do more to wipe out poverty.
She, however, reiterated her government's commitment to continue efforts to ensure better life of women and children in the country, has a population of 162.2 million people.
Data unveiled by the United Nations' children agency has shown that most of the world's chronically undernourished under five -- 83 million children -- are in South Asia.
According to that UNICEF report styled, "Improving Child and Maternal Nutrition", global child undernutrition is concentrated to just 24 countries and the top five which carry the bulk of the burden are South Asian countries including Afghanistan, Bangladesh,India, Nepal and Pakistan with undernutrition rates of more than 40 of their under five population.
In another report the UNICEF recently said that 300 million children are trapped in poverty in South Asia-almost half of the children in the region.
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