Staff Reporter,Rangpur :
The rate of child marriage under the age of 15 in Kurigram has decreased 11 percent over the last five years through the successful implementation of action plan initiated by Kurigram District Administration.
In 2017, the rate of child marriage under 15 was 17% and the rate of child marriage under 18 was 65%. In 2021, this rate has come down to 6% and 51%, respectively (Source: Survey-BBFG project), the DC of the Kurigram District Mohammad Rezaul Karim shared this information on Saturday at Sheikh Russel Auditorium in Kurigram in the district level exit workshop of the Building Better Future for Girls (BBFG) project.
The DC of Kurigram presided over the workshop. Deputy Director of the Local Government department, Zilufa Sultana, Upazila Nirbahi Officer of Rajarhat Upazila Nura Tasnim, Upazila Nirbahi Officer of Fulbari Upazila Sumon Das, Upazila Nirbahi Officer of Kurigram Sadar Upazila Rasedul Hasan, Additional Superintendent of Police Sushant Chandra Roy, Director – Girls Rights Hub of Plan International Bangladesh Kashfia Firoz, and Nazrul Ghani, Head of Administration and General Service were present as special guest.
The Deputy Commissioner said, “Everyone in Kurigram now knows that child marriage is a crime. We have to monitor the situation of child marriage from our respective role. We have to say No to child marriage. We have to present Kurigram as a model to stop child marriage.
Following the guideline of Governance Innovation Unit (GIU) of Hon’ble Prime Minister’s Office, 3 upazilas, 73 union parishads and 3 municipalities of Kurigram district have already been primarily declared as child marriage free through the BBFG project.
The “Building Better Future for Girls (BBFG)” project, funded by the Embassy of Sweden in Bangladesh, has been implemented across the Kurigram district since 2017 with the support of Plan International Bangladesh and local partner organization RDRS Bangladesh. The project will be end by March 31, 2022.
The BBFG project has taken various initiatives to stop child marriage. Among these- formation of youth forum in all unions of Kurigram, selection of champion fathers, strengthening and formation of child marriage prevention committee and developing action plan to stop child marriage at district, upazila and union and ward level, providing training to 6012 Kazi, Imam, Matchmaker and Priests who are involve to execute marriage- are remarkable.
