CESR World Bank 2008
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BANGLADESH CE SR Center for Economic and Social Rights fact sheet no. 8 In light of Bangladesh’s appearance before the Committee on the Rights of the Child in May 2009, this fact sheet looks at the realization of economic and social rights for Bangladesh’s children. It focuses on children’s rights to food, health, education, housing and water and highlights possible violations in these areas. Its Visualizing aim is to graphically illustrate statistical information to help assess compliance of the state of Bangladesh with its obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other international treaties. Bangladesh has made significant progress in the realization of certain economic and social rights for its children over the last decade. The indicators analyzed in Rights this factsheet, however, reveal large disparities in the enjoyment of these rights. In some cases they uncover an alarming deterioration despite increasing national income. For example, Bangladesh has moved toward achieving gender parity in school enrollment, but serious gender inequality persists in other areas, especially in the realization of the right to food: more girls are malnourished than boys. It is also a serious concern that acute malnourishment among children has recently increased in almost all regions in Bangladesh. In Bangladesh’s urban areas and slums, child mortality rates are the highest of any urban population in Asia, and the rate of access to improved water and sanitation has decreased over the years. This retrogression suggests that Bangladesh’s efforts to keep up with its rising urban population are inadequate. While Bangladesh remains a country with a largely rural population, its cities are growing at a rate of around four percent each year (UN Habitat 2008/2009) and by 2025, its capital Dhaka will be the world’s fourth largest city, with an expected 22 million residents. Almost four in five urban households are classified as slums (UN Habitat 2008/2009), where poverty remains pervasive and children are less likely to attend school. The data and graphs in this fact sheet point to possible failures by the state to implement policies needed to honor its minimum core obligations to reduce dis- parities in children’s enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights and ensure these rights are realized progressively according to maximum available resources. They are based on government statistical data from Bangladesh’s 2000 and 2004 household surveys and the 2006 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS). Inter- national comparisons are made with the latest available comparable data from the World Bank world development indicators. BANGLADESH fact sheet no. 8 CE SR THE RIGHT TO FOOD “The Committee remains deeply con- cerned . that stunting, wasting and severe malnutrition among both children Malnutrition Prevalence, Weight for Age (% of Children and their mothers are extremely wide- Figure 1 under 5), Low-income Countries spread.” (CRC Concluding Observations, Yemen, Republic 41.3 October 2003) Niger 39.9 Bangladesh 39.2 Burundi 38.9 Nepal 38.8 Madagascar 36.8 Bangladesh has one of the highest rates of Lao PDR 36.4 malnutrition among children in the world Burkina Faso 35.2 Ethiopia 34.6 Almost 40 percent of children under five in Ban- Eritrea 34.5 Chad 33.9 gladesh are malnourished, as measured by being Congo, DR 33.6 Somalia 32.8 underweight for age (which comprises both Pakistan 31.3 chronic and acute malnourishment). This is the Mali 30.1 Myanmar 29.6 third highest rate among the world’s low-income Cambodia 28.4 Nigeria 27.2 countries. That such a large proportion of chil- Sierra Leone 24.7 Zambia 23.3 dren do not enjoy minimum essential levels of the Liberia 22.8 right to food, in a country whose GDP per capita is Central African Republic 21.8 Mozambique 21.2 comparatively high, indicates a lack of government Vietnam 20.2 Cote d'Ivoire 20.2 commitment to meet core obligations regarding Uganda 19 the right to food. Haiti 18.9 Korea, DR 17.8 Kenya 16.5 Senegal 14.5 The proportion of children suffering acute Zimbabwe 14 Uzbekistan 4.4 malnutrition has risen in most provinces Source: World Bank 2008 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 In all but one administrative division in Bangladesh, the proportion of children suffering from acute malnutrition (measured by being underweight for Acutely Malnourished Children (under weight for height) height) increased between 2000 and 2004. This is Figure 2 by Region, 2000 and 2004 of serious concern as children suffering from acute malnutrition may not survive and rarely recover Increase Increase Increase 14.2 14.2 full physical and intellectual development. In addi- 14 14.1 13 Increase Increase 12.2 tion, significant regional disparities show that chil- 12 11.7 11.1 11 dren in Rajshani are about twice as likely to suffer 10 10 9.7 9.3 from malnourishment as children in Barisal, even 8 7.2 though Rajshani has a food surplus (Bangladesh 6 State Party Report 2008). This suggests a retro- 4 gression in the realization of the right to food, that 2 is worse in some regions than in others. 2000 2004 0 Barisal Dhaka Sylhet Chittagong Khulna Rajshani Source: DHS 2000, 2004 Gender discrimination in the realization of the right to food Girls are more likely to be under height and under- Figure 3 % Male and Female Under-5 Malnourishment, 2004 weight for their age than are boys. These are mea- sures of chronic and acute malnutrition, respec- tively. In Bangladesh, women and girls often eat Under height 42.5 last and least. Greater malnutrition of girls raises for age 43.5 serious questions about Bangladesh’s efforts to Under weight 46.4 challenge persistent discrimination. for age 48.7 Male Female Source: DHS 2004 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 2 Center for Economic and Social Rights “The Committee remains deeply con- THE RIGHT TO HEALTH cerned . that infant and under-five mor- tality rates remain high.” (CRC Concluding Observations, October 2003) Urban Under-5 Mortality (Probability of Urban Children Figure 4 Dying by Age 5 per 1,000 Live Births), Asian Countries Children in Bangladesh’s cities are Bangladesh 92.2 Cambodia 75.7 more likely to die before age five Turkmenistan 72.7 than other urban Asian children Kyrgyzstan 58.2 Uzbekistan 53.4 More than nine percent of children born in urban India 51.7 areas in Bangladesh are likely to die before they Kazakhstan 50.1 Nepal 47.1 reach the age of five, most from neonatal causes, Indonesia 42.3 diarrhea or pneumonia. This child mortality rate Philippines 30.4 is higher than any other country in Asia for which Viet Nam 16.2 there is data available. It raises serious concern 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Source: WHO 2008 about the extent to which the Bangladeshi govern- ment is providing necessary health services in rap- Children Treated for Pneumonia and GDP per capita, idly-growing urban areas to ensure child survival Figure 5 Bangladesh, 1996–2006 as a core obligation of the right to health. Pneumonia causes many child deaths, 33 1080 but treatment declined until 2004, 31 despite steady economic growth 1030 Pneumonia is one of the leading causes of child 29 980 mortality, causing more than 18 percent of child 27 deaths in Bangladesh (UNICEF 2008). However, 930 the proportion of children treated fell sharply % children under 5 25 880 with suspected between 1996 and 2004. Despite an improvement pneumonia taken to appropriate 23 830 health provider since 2004, the proportion of children treated in taken to appropriate health provider 2006 was still significantly lower than in 1996. In % children under 5 with suspected pneumonia GDP per capita PPP 21 780 (constant 2005 international $) per capita PPP GDP (constant 2005 the context of rising economic growth, this raises international $) concerns about retrogression in the realization of 19 730 Source: World Bank 2008; the right to health. 1996–97 1999–2000 2004 2006 DHS and MICS 2006 Failure to progressively realize the right to health for children % Children with ARI Taken to Health Facility or Provider Figure 6 by Region, 2000 and 2004 with respiratory infections Respiratory infections can contribute to pneumo- 35 34.1 nia, but children with acute respiratory infections 31.7 30.3 30 29 (ARI) were less likely to receive treatment in 2004 28.1 than in 2000. There are also marked regional dis- 25 23.7 parities — children in Sylhet are more than twice as 23.3 22.2 21 likely to be treated as children in Barisal. However, 20 19.1 a retrogression in all regions from 2000 to 2004 17 15 again also raises questions about whether health 13.3 services are available, accessible and affordable. 10 5 2000 2004 0 Source: DHS Barisal Dhaka Rajshani Chittagong Khulna Sylhet 2004 and 2000 3 BANGLADESH fact sheet no. 8 CE SR THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION “The Committee is concerned . that free compulsory education ends after grade 5, that the school dropout rate is high and Figure 7 Primary Completion Rate and GDP, Bangladesh, 1998–2004 that gender-based discrimination persists within schools.” (CRC Concluding Obser- 1040 81 vations, October 2003) 1020 79 1000 980 77 Failure to make progress in the 960 realization of the right to education, 75 940 despite availability of more resources Primary completion 73 920 rate, total The rate of children who complete primary school (% of relevant 900 has fallen significantly since 1998, despite the con- 71 age group) 880 GDP per capita, stant increase in Bangladesh’s national income (as 69 PPP (constant 2005 860 GDP per capita PPP (constant 2005 international $) measured by GDP per capita).