City Desk :
The adolescents of Dakop upazila are becoming triumphant in curbing child marriage and promoting hygiene and sanitation through different awareness raising steps among the adolescents, their parents and community people by their club/group members and peers. The adolescents mostly girls in this area and their parents are now much conscious about the dangerous effect of child marriage and they are also aware of the adolescent health, sanitation and menstrual hygiene. This transformational change process prompted in 2015 with supports of the ‘Accelerating actions towards ending child marriage (AECM) Project of UNICEF that CARE Bangladesh facilitates implementation in collaboration with DHSE, DPHE, Upazila administration, Upazila Parishad, Pourashava, Ups. Like government’s pledge to end child marriage in Bangladesh, the AECM project aims at making adolescent girls and wider community members sensitized and aware of the negative effect of child marriage and agreed for continuation of girls’ education, and also supporting with WASH facilities at secondary schools.
The project provides girls with access to WASH and hygiene facilities with leadership development of adolescent clubs/groups and student councils in favor of peer to peer learning on WASH, personal hygiene, menstrual hygiene management and practical actions for supporting girls’ education and ending child marriage by training, workshop, meeting, day observation, and other facilities.
While visiting Tildanga Union of Dakop Upazila yesterday, some adolescents of Batbunia Kishore -Kishori Club, told BSS, “We are now against child marriage side by side conscious about health hygiene and sanitation and never absent from classes at school or college during period.” “We created awareness among the guardians to prevent child marriage as well as help the girls in education even buying them books, khata, pen from our club fund,” they said.
A nine class student of Batbunia Secondary School and a peer volunteer of adolescent group Arpita Halder, 15, said, “We held meeting with our club members and local leaders and went to the union Parishad Chairman and members when an occurrence of child marriage was supposed to be held. With the support of the chairman, members of Tildanga UP and local people we became successful to stop the marriage.”
“We have also use online helpline 1098 and the UNO supports us to prevent child marriage,” said another peer leader SabuzBachhar, 17, a first year student of Chalna KC College. Like Arpita and Bachhar, Shariful, Sathi, Eshita, Pallab and Sudipta, among their mothers, echo the same, adding that hygiene corner and separate toilet for boys and girls set up at each of the 47 schools in the upazila.
AECM project officer Bankim Devnath told the news agency, “Nearly 13,500 adolescents in nine unions and one pourashava in Dacope are engaged to disseminate key messages on wash and hygiene and prevention of child marriages for wider community awareness and actions. We also provide training to teachers, members of School Managing Committee (CMC) and adolescent volunteers.”
Team leader of the AECM project Abdul Matin Shardar told BSS, “In this project we resolve to unlock the potentials of girls as drivers of sustainable development through improving community awareness on the importance of girls’ education, building the capacity of adolescent girls to act as leaders and advocate for the continuation of their own education and against child marriage.”
Dakop UNO Maruful Islam said, adolescents of Dakop is playing vital role to curb child marriage as well as promoting hygiene and sanitation through different awareness raising steps.
The adolescents of Dakop upazila are becoming triumphant in curbing child marriage and promoting hygiene and sanitation through different awareness raising steps among the adolescents, their parents and community people by their club/group members and peers. The adolescents mostly girls in this area and their parents are now much conscious about the dangerous effect of child marriage and they are also aware of the adolescent health, sanitation and menstrual hygiene. This transformational change process prompted in 2015 with supports of the ‘Accelerating actions towards ending child marriage (AECM) Project of UNICEF that CARE Bangladesh facilitates implementation in collaboration with DHSE, DPHE, Upazila administration, Upazila Parishad, Pourashava, Ups. Like government’s pledge to end child marriage in Bangladesh, the AECM project aims at making adolescent girls and wider community members sensitized and aware of the negative effect of child marriage and agreed for continuation of girls’ education, and also supporting with WASH facilities at secondary schools.
The project provides girls with access to WASH and hygiene facilities with leadership development of adolescent clubs/groups and student councils in favor of peer to peer learning on WASH, personal hygiene, menstrual hygiene management and practical actions for supporting girls’ education and ending child marriage by training, workshop, meeting, day observation, and other facilities.
While visiting Tildanga Union of Dakop Upazila yesterday, some adolescents of Batbunia Kishore -Kishori Club, told BSS, “We are now against child marriage side by side conscious about health hygiene and sanitation and never absent from classes at school or college during period.” “We created awareness among the guardians to prevent child marriage as well as help the girls in education even buying them books, khata, pen from our club fund,” they said.
A nine class student of Batbunia Secondary School and a peer volunteer of adolescent group Arpita Halder, 15, said, “We held meeting with our club members and local leaders and went to the union Parishad Chairman and members when an occurrence of child marriage was supposed to be held. With the support of the chairman, members of Tildanga UP and local people we became successful to stop the marriage.”
“We have also use online helpline 1098 and the UNO supports us to prevent child marriage,” said another peer leader SabuzBachhar, 17, a first year student of Chalna KC College. Like Arpita and Bachhar, Shariful, Sathi, Eshita, Pallab and Sudipta, among their mothers, echo the same, adding that hygiene corner and separate toilet for boys and girls set up at each of the 47 schools in the upazila.
AECM project officer Bankim Devnath told the news agency, “Nearly 13,500 adolescents in nine unions and one pourashava in Dacope are engaged to disseminate key messages on wash and hygiene and prevention of child marriages for wider community awareness and actions. We also provide training to teachers, members of School Managing Committee (CMC) and adolescent volunteers.”
Team leader of the AECM project Abdul Matin Shardar told BSS, “In this project we resolve to unlock the potentials of girls as drivers of sustainable development through improving community awareness on the importance of girls’ education, building the capacity of adolescent girls to act as leaders and advocate for the continuation of their own education and against child marriage.”
Dakop UNO Maruful Islam said, adolescents of Dakop is playing vital role to curb child marriage as well as promoting hygiene and sanitation through different awareness raising steps.
