25 Years of the CRC in Bangladesh: Snapshot of Success

Bangladesh was one of the first two states in the region to ratify the CRC in August 1990, demonstrating the country’s early commitment to children’s rights. This year, on 20 November 2014, the world celebrates the 25th anniversary of the CRC.

The Child Rights Advocacy Coalition in Bangladesh, is a civil society network working to promote child rights. It works together to advocate jointly for the rights of children in Bangladesh. The Coalition has developed this short report to contribute towards these celebrations.

In order to avoid overlap with other well-researched and data-rich publications, this report does not aim to comprehensively cover the child rights situation past and present in Bangladesh. Rather, it aims to provide a ‘snapshot of success’ by focusing on progress in selected child rights and related issues, while also considering some of the persistent challenges that continue to threaten children’s wellbeing and development in this country and providing some high-level recommendations for going forward. It also draws on consultations with key child rights advocates, such as the child representatives of the National Children’s Task Force and members of the Coalition. This report has thus been crafted in the spirit of showcasing key achievements in Bangladesh on child rights as a form of paying tribute to this unique human rights treaty, the CRC.