Children
PM’s Eid greeting cards drawn by differently abled children
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s official Eid-ul-Fitr greeting cards this year, like in the past, contain the drawings done by 11 children with special needs, the PM’s media wing said on Monday.
The prime minister’s Bangla New Year’s greeting cards this year were also done with the drawings of 15 special-need children selected from all across the country, said PM’s Assistant Press Secretary MM Emrul Kayas.
“The artistes of the selected drawings have been given Taka 100,000 each as complementary prize,” he said.
READ: Expedite work on Sheikh Hasina Nakshipalli Jamalpur project: JS body
Kayas said the prime minister started sending greeting cards drawn by differently abled children during festivals like Eid-ul-Fitr, Eid-ul-Adha, Bangla New Year (Pahela Boishakh) and English New Year since she assumed the office in 2009.
The PM sent the greeting cards to the speaker, chief justice, cabinet members, members of parliament, political leaders, dignitaries, professionals, military and civil officers, heads of foreign diplomatic missions and organizations based in Dhaka and heads of foreign state or government, said Kayas.
PM wants autistic children to flourish through collective efforts
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday put emphasis on brining children with special needs and autism into the mainstream of the society giving them opportunity to flourish their hidden talents.
“I believe we will be able to incorporate persons with autism syndrome in the mainstream of the national life with the united efforts of all including our (government's) diversified ones, ” she said.
She said this while addressing the 15th World Autism Awareness Day 2022 at Bangabandhu International Conference Center (BICC) organised by the Social Welfare Ministry.
She joined the programme virtually from her official residence Ganobhaban.
The theme of this year's day is: ‘Make such a world: explore the talents of people with autism.'
The prime minister said that children with autism syndrome have various types of hidden talents.
“That talents have to be flourished through giving them opportunities,” she said.
READ: PM vows to uplift Bangladesh to a developed nation
She urged all to take steps to help the special children so that they could flourish their hidden talents and contribute in the society.
Regarding the demand of providing accommodation with training facilities for the persons with autism after demise their parents and guardians, Sheikh Hasina said that the government will do that.
“Initially we will arrange accommodation with training facilities in the divisional headquarters while gradually in all districts through Neuro-Developmental Disability Protection Trust,” she said.
She asked the Social Welfare Minister to take a project for this purpose.
Hasina asked the affluent people to come forward for supplementing the government’s effort.
“You have earned a lot, if you spend some of your money for this purpose it will be beneficial for the country,” she said.
She said that the government is taking the country forward and that means all sections of the society will get its benefits.
“All will get beautiful and developed life, we are running the state to this end,” she said.
The Prime minister again urged all to remain safe from coronavirus as many places around the world are witnessing surge in infections.
Social Welfare Minister Nuruzzaman Ahmed, State Minister Md. AshrafAli Khan Khasru and secretary Mahfuza Akhter spoke at the programme.
Special child Isaba Hafiz Sushmi, on behalf of all special children with Autism syndrome, also spoke at the function.
Later, the PM witnessed a colourful cultural function performed by physically challenged children.
Social Welfare Minister Nuruzzaman, on behalf of the prime minister, distributed awards among successful children with autism and individuals and organisations working for the development of such children.
A documentary on Autism was screened at the programme.
Hasina also inaugurated Bolte Chai Apps and Smart Autism Barta Apps.
In 2007, the United Nations declared April 2 as the World Autism Awareness Day, aiming to improve the quality of life of those with autism. In Bangladesh, different programmes have been taken to mark the day.
Autism is a lifelong neurological condition that manifests during early childhood, irrespective of gender, race or socio-economic status.
The prime minister highlighted role of her daughter and chairperson of the Bangladesh National Advisory Committee for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders Saima Wazed for creating awareness about autism.
READ: Children with special needs are no burden, says PM
The PM requested all including parents, guardians and others not to neglect the children with neuro-developmental disorder.
She stressed the need for necessary training of parents, guardians and teachers so that they can properly behave and handle the autistic and physically challenged children.
About the treatment, she mentioned that the children with such problems could recover gradually if their defects are identified at the primary stage.
Mentioning some world famous personalities who had neuro-developmental disorder defects, she said that the children with such problems were found to be the most talented.
9 in 10 children below 14 suffer violent disciplining in Bangladesh: Unicef
Nine in ten children – accounting for 45 million boys and girls – below the age of 14 are subjected to violent disciplining in their homes regularly, United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) has said.
Violent disciplining, sexual abuse, child labour, child marriage and psychological punishment remain widespread in Bangladesh, putting millions of children at risk of harm every day, it said.
To identify these children and to protect them from harm and abuse, a well-planned, trained and supported social service workforce is critical, said a press release issued by Unicef on Tuesday.
Read:Keep schools open to avert learning catastrophe: UNICEF
More than half of girls, 51 per cent, are married before reaching their eighteenth birthday. Millions of children are living on the street, are out of school or trapped in hazardous child labour, said the release.
To adequately respond to the needs of vulnerable children, over 100,000 social workers are needed, but currently there are only 3,000 social workers in Bangladesh.
"The Government of Bangladesh, under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, has been implementing social safety nets focused on vulnerable people. The Ministry of Social Welfare is distributing different types of allowances for the old age people, widow, destitute and deserted women, and persons with disabilities under social safety nets programmes, said Social Welfare Minister Nuruzzaman Ahmed.
"We also provide shelter for the orphans and vulnerable children in our Shishu Nibas and shelter centres. UNICEF has been providing their support to ensure the safety, security and rights of every child in the country. I hope social workers around the country will work for the betterment of the lives of common people,” the minister added.
UNICEF has joined hands with the Department of Social Services (DSS), under the Ministry of Social Welfare to launch a year-long campaign calling for greater investment in the social service workforce promoting the critical role of social workers in protecting children and women.
“Professionally-trained social workers are at the core of every well-functioning child protection system that reaches every child in need of protection. We must recognize the importance of their work, and we must invest in them,” said Mr. Sheldon Yett, UNICEF Representative to Bangladesh.
Already, dedicated social workers under the DSS, supported by UNICEF and the European Union (EU), are protecting children in urban and rural communities. These social workers reached over 200,000 children in 2021, providing them with psychosocial support, case management follow-up, and referral services. Since April 2020, they also facilitated the release of over 5,000 children from detention centres – known as Child Development Centres – and have supported these children to reunite with their families.
Read: Efforts underway to resume learning centres at Rohingya camp: Unicef
“Experienced and well-trained social workforces are key to enforcing the rights of children. The EU is keen to support building the capacity of the government officials, social workers, and other specialists working with and for children, through training and the development of child protection policies requirements. We should acknowledge the efforts of the social workers who are working in vulnerable communities to address child rights issues in Bangladesh,” said Charles Whiteley, Head of Delegation, Delegation of the European Union to Bangladesh.
In 2015, with support from UNICEF, DSS established the Child Helpline 1098, a toll-free nationwide number. In 2021, the helpline responded to calls from over 120,000 children and concerned members of the public, providing counselling and referrals to legal aid, shelter, health and education services.
At the height of the pandemic, in 2020, the Child Helpline 1098 responded to over 180,000 calls.
Lover of woman who murdered her two children arrested
Police on Monday arrested the man who was the alleged lover of the mother who killed her two children in Brahmanbaria and tried to blame it on Napa syrup.
The arrestee was identified as Safiullah.
He was arrested from the capital’s Abdullahpur area around 5pm, said Molla Mohammad Shahin, Additional Superintendent of Brahmanbaria police.
Earlier on March 17, Lima Begum was arrested on allegations of killing her two children by feeding them sweetmeat laced with poison.
On March 10, the two siblings -- Yasin Khan, 7, and Morsalin Khan, 5 -- allegedly died after consuming Napa syrup at their home as they were down with high fever.
The deaths of the two children shook the entire country and raised a question over the quality of Napa syrup.
Ismail Khan, the father of the two children, had lodged a complaint at the Ashuganj police station. Based on the complaint, an FIR was registered by police.
READ: Napa syrup row: Mother held for killing kids in B’baria
Two probe bodies were formed in this connection, while samples of the syrups of the same batch were collected for testing. But after testing, officials of the Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) said the concerned batch of Napa syrup was found to be "safe".
Later, police in an investigation found that Lima had developed an illicit affair with Shafiullah while working at a local rice mill, and in order to get married they planned to kill her two children, claimed police.
Lima had admitted her guilt during police questioning.
3 children killed in Moulvibazar landslide
Three children were killed on Saturday in a landslide in Kulaura upazila of Moulvibazar district.
The deceased were Sumon Mia,13, son of Taslim Mia, Kabir Ahmed,10, son of Abdul Karim, and Nahid Ahmed,12, son of Abus Salam from Islamnagar village in ward-3 of Bhatera union in the upazila, said Syed Najrul Islam, Bhatera UP chairman.
READ: Death toll in India landslides rises to 46
A chunk of mud from a Ghagrachara hill fell on the children around 1 pm at Bhatera rubber forest area when they got into a hole after seeing a bird’s nest, said a local named Shahed Mia.
Locals rescued them after spotting a hand of one child in the debris, he said.
They were immediately taken to upazila health complex where doctors announced them dead.
Sanjay Chakraborty, Officer-in-Charge of Kulaura police station, said they visited the spot after being informed by locals.
PM vows to build a beautiful future for children
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday said that her government has long-term plans to make the future beautiful for the children.
“We want to build a beautiful future for the children. I’ve also formulated long-term plans for this,” she said.
The prime minister said this while addressing a programme titled ‘Tungipara: Hridoye Pitribhumi’at Bangabandhu Mausoleum Complex, Tungipara in Gopalganj marking the 102nd birth anniversary of Father of Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the National Children’s Day-2022.
In collaboration with the Women and Children Affairs Ministry, the National Implementation Committee for Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s Birth Centenary Celebration, arranged the programme, featuring discussion and cultural soiree.
Also read: Birth Anniversary: President, PM pay homage to Bangabandhu
Hasina said Bangladesh today attained the status of a developing country. “We’ll definitely make Bangladesh the developed and prosperous Sonar Bangla. It’s our commitment,” she said.
In this context, she mentioned her government’s vision 2041 and Delta Plan-2100. “I’ve prepared a plan over how this Bangladesh would develop till 2100,” she added.
1 million children leave behind lives, friends in Ukraine
After bombs started falling in her hometown of Kharkiv, Annamaria Maslovska left her friends, her toys, and her life in Ukraine and set off on a days-long journey with her mother toward safety in the West.
After finally crossing the Hungarian border by train along with hundreds of other Ukrainian refugees, the 10-year-old Maslovska said she had begun to worry about her friends in Kharkiv after the messages she sent to them on Viber went unanswered.
“I really miss them because I can’t contact them, they just read my messages and that’s all. I really worry, because I don’t know where they are,” she said in clear English from inside the train station at the border town of Zahony.
Annamaria, who was raised alone by her mother, is one of more than 1 million children who have fled Ukraine in the less than two weeks since Russia first invaded the country, something UNICEF spokesperson James Elder called “a dark historical first.”
That means that children represent around half of the more than 2 million people that have fled the war, an exodus that the U.N. refugee agency has called the fastest-growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.
Most of those fleeing the war have entered countries on Ukraine's western border, like Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Romania and Moldova. The majority have gone into Poland, where 1.33 million refugees have crossed according to the Polish Border Guard agency.
Moldova Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilița told CNN on Sunday that one in every eight children in her country is a refugee.
In addition to children, most other refugees are women — the mothers and grandmothers of the children that are bringing them to safety — since Ukrainian men from age 18 to 60 aren't permitted to leave the country.
That policy is aimed at keeping men available to fight against Russian forces that are making deeper incursions into Ukrainian territory.
Annamaria's hometown of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city with 1.5 million inhabitants, has undergone heavy bombardment by Russian forces. Residential areas in the city near the Russian border were shelled for several days before a missile strike hit a government building in the city’s central Freedom Square last week, killing at least six.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the attack “frank, undisguised terror.”
Even though she’s only 10, the precocious Annamaria, now a refugee, already knows she wants to be an actress in the United States, and is proud of speaking English at a high level.
“I want to be an actress in USA and English is a very popular language,” she said. “A big percent of people in the world know it and it's very easy to speak it in other countries.”
She and her mother, Viktoria, planned to travel on to Hungary's capital, Budapest, but didn't know where they would go after that. Annamaria said she hoped to visit Disneyland in Paris.
Once the war ends, she said, she wants to go back to Kharkiv and reconnect with her friends who have been scattered by Russia’s violent invasion.
“If war stops, I really want to go home because there are my friends, there are beautiful parks, supermarkets, centers, and playgrounds behind my house,” she said. “Kharkiv, it’s like a piece of your heart.”
2 kids drown in Chattogram pond
Two children drowned in a pond at Kamar Para in Fatikchhari upazila of Chattogram district on Wednesday.
The deceased were identified as Meem Akter, 2, daughter of Nazrul and and her cousin Jannatul Nisa, 3, daughter of Faruk.
Read:Two children drown in Faridpur pond
Local people said Meem and Nisa were playing near a pond adjacent to their house and slipped into the pond.
The mother of one of the children found them floating and took them to a local hospital where doctors declared both dead, said Dr Nabil Chowdhury of Fatikchhari Upazila Health Complex.
Govt seeks WHO nod for vaccinating children aged 5 and above: Health Minister
In an effort to contain the spread of Covid-19, vaccination for primary school students aged five and above will start soon after WHO approval, said Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Monday.
“We have asked the Education Ministry to prepare a list of the students. We also have contacted the World Health Organisation for its approval,” he told reporters after an emergency on nationwide vaccination situation at Bangladesh Secretariat.
The start of the drive for vaccinating primary school students depends on WHO approval, he said in reply to a question.
Besides, the mega vaccination drive for administering second dose will begin on March 28 and will continue till March 30.
Also read: Bagerhat's shining success in vaccinating students
Some 2.25 crore people are likely to receive the second dose during the mega drive, he said.
Maleque said 22 crore doses of Covid vaccines so far have been administered in the country covering 75 per cent of the population.
An amount of Tk 40,000 crore has been spent for purchasing and administering covid doses, he added.
Also read: No decision yet on vaccinating the under-18: DGHS
Since the inauguration of the mass inoculation drive in Bangladesh on February 7 last year, some 8,68,44,218 people have been fully vaccinated with two shots and12,54,90,996 people received their first doses till Sunday (March 6).
Besides, 42,53,378 people have received booster doses, the minister said.
Man kills 3 children, 1 other, himself at California church
A man shot and killed his three children, one other person and himself at a church in Sacramento, California, on Monday, authorities said.
Deputies responding to reports of gunfire around 5 p.m. found five people dead, including the shooter, at the church in the Arden-Arcade neighborhood, said Sgt. Rod Grassmann with the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office.
The victims included three juveniles under 15 years of age, Grassman said. He didn't know their genders.
Also read: Bronx apartment fire kills 19, including 9 children
The identity of the other victim wasn't immediately known.
Grassman said he didn't know if the family members belonged to the the church, which sits on a mostly residential block near a commercial area east of downtown Sacramento.
It wasn't immediately known how many people were at the church or if there were any services or activities at the time of the shooting.
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