Investing in Children: Responsibility and Response of the State. Reflection on 2012-13 National Budget – Bangladesh

A study conducted by the Department of Development Studies at the University of Dhaka, with the support from Save the Children in Bangladesh and Centre for Services and Information on Disability.
‘Investment in children’ accomplishes two intertwined goals: in one hand, this ensures the rights to protection, survival and development of children – specified in the national and international child rights charters, and on other hand, it congregates certain knowledge, skills, and competencies within the children that succors in overcoming unemployment, low pay and poverty.
The report has analyzed the functioning of GoB in three child-related sectors (education, health and social protection sector) from this perspective by examining their budget allocation, implementation, coverage and output. In total six ministries – Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Ministry of Women and Child Affairs, Ministry of Social Welfare, Ministry of Labour and Employment – have been covered under these three sectors. The exercise carried out in the report conforms to the objectives of child budget, an evolving theme in quantifying and monitoring the performance of governments in materializing child rights.
This report is based on budget data from Ministry of Finance, budget planning from Ministry of Planning, and other various GoB publications. In addition, information about ministry-wise projects/programs has been gathered from the relevant ministries, various reports on ministry performance and credible internet sources.