CESR World Bank 2008

Visualizing

bangladesh Rights fact sheet no. 8 sheet no. fact CE SR ocial Rights conomic and s conomic

largely largely rural population, its cities are growing at a rate of around four percent household surveys and the 2006 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS). Inter- (MICS). Survey Cluster Indicator Multiple 2006 the and surveys household national comparisons are made with the latest available comparable data from parities in children’s enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights and ensure ensure and rights cultural and social economic, of enjoyment children’s in parities poverty remains pervasive and children are less likely to attend school. attend to likely less are and children pervasive remains poverty rights for Bangladesh’s children. It focuses on children’s rights to food, health, the World Bank world development indicators. development Bank world the World these rights are realized progressively according to maximum available resources. resources. available maximum to according progressively realized are rights these the rate of access to improved water and sanitation has decreased over the years. years. the over decreased has sanitation and water improved to access of rate the the state of Bangladesh with its obligations under the Convention on the Rights of Rights the on Convention the under obligations its with Bangladesh of state the treaties. and other international the Child this factsheet, however, reveal large reveal disparities in this the factsheet, however, enjoyment of these rights. implement policies needed to honor its minimum obligations core to dis- reduce increased increased in almost all regions in Bangladesh. In Bangladesh’s urban areas and income. income. For example, Bangladesh has moved toward achieving gender parity in is It boys. than malnourished are girls more food: to right the of realization the in urban population are inadequate. While Bangladesh remains a country with a slums, child mortality rates are the highest of any urban population in Asia, and school enrollment, but serious gender inequality persists in other areas, especially areas, other in persists inequality gender serious but enrollment, school and social rights for the its over last children decade. indicators in The analyzed aim is to graphically illustrate statistical information to help assess compliance of compliance assess help to information statistical illustrate graphically to is aim also a serious concern that acute malnourishment among children has recently In some cases they uncover an alarming deterioration despite increasing national increasing despite deterioration alarming an uncover they cases some In In light of Bangladesh’s appearance before the Committee on the Rights of the five urban households are classified as slums (UN Habitat 2008/2009), where each year (UN Habitat 2008/2009) and by 2025, its capital Dhaka will be the education, housing and water and highlights possible violations in these areas. Its areas. these in violations possible highlights and water and housing education, world’s fourth world’s largest with city, an expected 22 million residents. Almost four in Child in May 2009, this fact sheet looks at the realization of economic and social and economic of realization the at looks sheet fact this 2009, May in Child The data and graphs in this fact sheet point to possible failures by the state to to the state by failures possible sheet point to in this fact data and graphs The Bangladesh has made significant progress in the realization of certain economic economic certain of realization the in progress significant made has Bangladesh They are based on government statistical data from Bangladesh’s 2000 and 2004 and 2000 Bangladesh’s from data statistical government on based are They This retrogression This suggests retrogression that Bangladesh’s effortsto keep up with its rising Center for e for Center bangladesh fact sheet no. 8 CE SR

The RighT TO FOOd “The Committee remains deeply concerned . . . 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 measures 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 mortality 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 government 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). even the increase in

Primary completion rate, total (% of relevant age group) international $) 67 840 the completion rate since 2003 has not yet resulted 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Source: World Bank 2008 in a return to previous rates. This indicates retrogression in the realization of the right to education and may reflect a lack of investment of adequate Female Primary Completion Rate, Bangladesh and Its resources in education. Figure 8 Neighbors, 1998–2006 Decline in the proportion of Bangladeshi 85 girls completing primary school 80 Most of bangladesh’s neighbors have made sig- 75 nificant progress in ensuring that a higher propor- 70 tion of girls finish primary school. In bangladesh,

65 however, the proportion of girls finishing primary school fell sharply between 1995 and 2002 and only 60 began to improve again in 2003. This suggests that 55 Bangladesh bangladesh is not doing as much as its neighbors Bhutan 50 India to ensure the progressive realization of the right to Nepal 45 education for all girls.

40 Source: 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 World Bank 2008

Figure 9 Primary Repetition Rate and GDP per capita, 1998–2004 A greater proportion of children repeat primary school grades, 1040 7.2 despite rapid economic growth 1020 seven percent of children in bangladesh repeated 7.0 1000 a grade in primary school in 2004, an increase 980 from 2002 and even higher than the 1998 rate. 6.8 960 high rates of repetition suggest that children may 940 6.6 Repetition rate, not be receiving education of sufficient quality. 920 primary (% of total enrollment) as economic growth did not decline during this 6.4 900 period, this raises questions about the availabil- GDP per capita, 880 PPP (constant ity, affordability and accessibility to education of 6.2

Repetition rate, primary (% of total enrollment) 2005

860 (constant 2005 international $) per capita PPP GDP international $) adequate quality. 6.0 840 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Source: World Bank 2008

4 Center for economic and social Rights

Children in slums much less % of Children of Primary School Entry Age Currently Figure 10 likely to attend school Attending Grade 1, 2006 Fewer than half of primary-school-entry-age chil- 70 dren living in slums are actually in school. This 67.7 67.5 compares to school attendance of almost 70 per- 60 cent of children in rural and urban non-slum areas. This disparity raises questions about the govern- 50

ment’s efforts to ensuring the right to education 44.9 40 of children living in slum areas. 30

0 Slum Urban (non-slum) Rural Source: MICS 2006

Child labor persists Percentage of Children 5–14 Years Who Are Involved Figure 11 Child labor is a serious problem in all regions of in Child Labor Activities* by Region, 2006 bangladesh, and threatens the right to education as child workers have less opportunity to go to 18 school. It can also threaten the child’s health and 16 16.6 14 well-being. Figure 11 shows that almost 17 percent 13.9 12 12.1 of children in Rajshani are child laborers, twice 11.6 10 as many as in Chittagong. This raises concerns 10 8 about bangladesh’s commitment to tackling the 8.8 6 economic causes of school desertion and non- 4 attendance, as well as efforts to end child labor 2 and promote the right to education. 0 Chittagong Barisal Sylhet Khulna Dhaka Rajshani Source: MICS 2006

* Children aged 5–11 are considered child laborers if they engage in one hour per week of paid work or 28 hours of domestic work, and children aged 12–14 if they engage in 14 hours of paid work or 28 hours of domestic work .

5 bangladesh fact sheet no. 8 CE SR

The RighT TO hOusing “at 69 percent, Bangladesh has the highest slum prevalence in southern asia.” (un habitat 2008/2009) Slum Formation in the Dhaka City Figure 12 Corporation (DCC) Area, 2005 About 70 percent of Bangladesh’s urban population lives in slums, highly vulnerable to frequent floods dhaka is located on a flood plain and the majority of its people live in slums concentrated in the lowlands of the city. This map shows the high concen- trations of the almost 2000 various slums in dhaka in these lowlands. The city is also growing fast, and the growth is also is slums concentrated in the most flood-prone areas. according to Un habitat, large amounts of public land in higher parts of Not DCC zone the city, which would protect new residents from Color = DCC zones flooding (2008/2009), are not being made avail- % Area Slums per Zone able by the government for the city’s growth. This 0–1.0 raises concerns about the government’s commit- 1.1–2.0 ment to ensuring the right to adequate housing, 2.1–5.0 particularly for slum-dwellers in the most flood- 5.1–10.0 prone areas of the city. 10.1–20.0

0 5 10 15 20 km Source: World Bank 2007

Government Expenditure on Housing Government expenditure on housing Figure 13 and Community Amenities (% of GDP), and community services has declined Bangladesh and Its Neighbors, 1990–2007 expenditure by the bangladeshi government for social housing and community amenities (includ- 2.0 ing water supply, street lighting) declined from

1.8 0.5 percent of gdP in 1990 to 0.2 percent in 2007.

1.6 Proportionately, spending is also much lower than spending in this sectors by its neighbors. The fall in 1.4 spending, despite the massive needs of the slum- 1.2 dwelling populations also raises concerns about 1.0 the government’s commitment to realizing the 0.8 right to adequate housing. 0.6

0.4 Bangladesh India 0.2 Nepal

0.0 Source: ADB 2008 ’90 ’91 ’92 ’93 ’94 ’95 ’96 ’97 ’98 ’99 ’00 ’01 ’02 ’03 ’04 ’05 ’06 ’07

6 Center for economic and social Rights

“The Committee is concerned, despite The RighT TO WaTeR the measures taken by the state party, about the extent of water contamination, Urban Access to Water and GDP per capita, specifically with arsenic . . . and the low Figure 14 Bangladesh, 1990–2006 availability of sanitation facilities which have serious negative consequences for 88.0 1090 children’s health and development.” (CRC 87.5 Concluding Observations, October 2003) 1040 990 87.0 940 86.5 Rates of access to safe drinking 890 Improved water water falling in urban areas source, urban 86 840 (% of urban popu- access to improved water sources in urban areas lation with access) 790 declined between 1990 and 2006, despite the 85.5 GDP per capita, 740 PPP (constant

growth in gdP per capita. This may be due to the GDP per capita, PPP (Constant 2005 international $) 2005 int’l $) influx of people into bangladesh’s cities and the 85.0 690 Improved water source, urban (% of population with access ) ’90 ’91 ’92 ’93 ’94 ’95 ’96 ’97 ’98 ’99 ’00 ’01 ’02 ’03 ’04 ’05 ’06 falling investment in housing and community ser- Source: World Bank 2008 vices (see Figure 13). The progressive realization of the right to water has also been affected by arsenic contamination.

Access to safe drinking water is Households with Unsafe Levels of Arsenic Tested threatened by arsenic contamination, Figure 15 in Water by Region, 2006 especially in Chittagong arsenic contamination in tube wells is a serious problem in bangladesh in all regions, but espe- Barisal 1.1

cially in Chittagong where over 17 percent of Rajshani 2.8

households’ water sources have tested positive Sylhet 4.1 for unsafe levels of arsenic. arsenic poisoning has Dhaka 7.6 serious effects on the health ofb angladeshi people. although arsenic appears to occur naturally in the Khulna 8.6 water supply, urgent action is necessary to ensure Chittagong 17.2

the right to safe drinking water and the right to 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 Source: MICS 2006 health for all bangladesh’s people.

Inadequate access to sanitation, Percentage of Households with Access to Improved especially in slum and rural areas Figure 16 Sanitation, 2006 access to improved sanitation facilities can help prevent diarrheal diseases, which account for 20 Slum percent of deaths of children under five (UnICeF 20.1 2008). but only one-fifth of people inb angladesh’s

slums have access to improved sanitation facili- Rural 31.9 ties, compared to almost three-quarters of people

in non-slum urban areas. This raises questions Urban 57.8 about the provision of adequate sanitation facili- (non-slum)

ties in slum areas to realize the rights to health, 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 Source: MICS 2006 housing and water.

7 bangladesh fact sheet no. 8 CE SR

References asian development Bank 2008. economics and statistics. www.adb.org/statistics Bangladesh state Party Report 2008. “Third and Fourth Periodic Report of state parties due in 2007: bangladesh.” submitted to the Committee on the Rights of the Child: CRC/C/bgd/4, 23 October 2008. Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), October 2003. Concluding Observations: CE SR bangladesh. dhs 2000. bangladesh: standard demographic and health survey. national Institute of Population Research and Training (nIPORT). www.measuredhs.com Board Members dhs 2004. bangladesh: standard demographic and health survey. national Institute of Victor Abramovich, Inter-American Population Research and Training (nIPORT). www.measuredhs.com Commission on Human Rights Philip Alston (Chairperson), MiCs 2006. Multiple Indicator Cluster survey 3. bangladesh bureau of statistics. UnICeF. New York University School of Law www.childinfo.org Linda Cassano (Treasurer), Commonwealth Bank of Australia un habitat 2008/2009. “state of the World’s Cities 2008/2009: harmonious Cities.” Sakiko Fukuda-Parr, www.unhabitat.org The New School, New York Richard Goldstone, uniCeF 2008. “Countdown to 2015, Maternal, newborn and Child survival: Tracking Harvard Law School Progress in Maternal, newborn and Child health.” www.countdown2015mnch.org Chris Jochnick, Oxfam America World health Organization (WhO) 2008. WhO statistical Informational system Alicia Ely Yamin, Harvard Law School (WhOsIs). www.who.intl/whosis Acting Executive Director: Ignacio Saiz World Bank 2007. “dhaka: Improving living Conditions for the Urban Poor.” bangladesh development series Paper no. 17. www.worldbank.org About CESR World Bank 2008. World development Indicators. www.worldbank.org The Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR) was established in 1993 with the mission to work for the recog- nition and enforcement of economic, about This Fact sheet series social and cultural rights as a power- This series is intended to contribute to the ongoing monitoring work of Un and other inter- ful tool for promoting social justice and governmental human rights mechanisms to monitor governments’ compliance with their eco- human dignity. CESR exposes violations of economic, social and cultural rights nomic, social and cultural rights obligations. It is also intended to contribute to strengthening through an interdisciplinary combination the monitoring and advocacy capabilities of national and international ngOs. drawing on the of legal and socio-economic analysis. latest available socioeconomic data, the country fact sheets display, analyze and interpret CESR advocates for changes to economic and social policy at the international, selected human development indicators in the light of three key dimensions of governments’ national and local levels so as to ensure economic and social rights obligations. these comply with international human rights standards. Firstly, indicators such as maternal mortality or primary completion rates are used to Fuencarral, 158-1ºA assess the extent to which the population is deprived of minimum essential levels of the 28010 Madrid, Spain right to health, education, food and other economic and social rights. secondly, data tracking Tel: +34 91 448 3971 progress over time can help to assess whether a state is complying with its obligation to real- Fax: +34 91 448 3980 ize rights progressively according to maximum available resources. Comparisons within the 162 Montague Street, 3rd Floor Brooklyn, NY 11201, USA same region provide a useful benchmark of what has been achieved in countries with similar Tel: +1 718 237-9145 resources. Finally, data disaggregated by gender, ethnicity, geographical location and socio- Fax: +1 718 237-9147 economic status is used to identify disparities and assess progress in eliminating discrimina- We invite your comments and tion and unequal enjoyment of these rights. feedback: [email protected] The fact sheets are not meant to give a comprehensive picture, nor provide conclusive evidence, of a country’s compliance with these obligations. Rather, they flag some possible www.cesr.org concerns which arise when development statistics are analyzed and visualized graphically in This work was carried out with the aid of a grant from the International Development light of international human rights standards. Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada.