Marking the International Children’s Day of Broadcasting, four leading private satellite television channels of Bangladesh have come forward to allocate one-minute free air coverage to promote children’s issues.
The one minute show will include news or videos produced by children, Public Service Announcements (PSA) and TV spots to amplify children’s voices across the country’s media landscape, said a press release here. The ATN News, DBC TV, Maasranga television and Nagorik TV on Monday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with UNICEF to formalise this partnership. Chief Executive Editor from ATN News Munni Saha, Editor-in-Chief and CEO from Dhaka Bangla Media and Communication Ltd (DBC News) Mohammed Manzurul Islam, Executive Director of Massranga television Ajoy Kumar Kundu, Chief Executive Officer of Nagorik TV Abdun Noor Tushar and Representative of UNICEF Bangladesh Tomoo Hozumi signed the MoU on behalf of their respective organisations.
UNICEF is working for a long time in Bangladesh for strengthening child rights by providing children with visual literacy to express and enhance their views, ensure their active participation in media and contributing to digital platforms.
Expressing his gratitude to the TV stations for agreeing to dedicate one-minute free airtime for the children, Tomoo Hozumi, said, “We need your support to address the negative social norms and practices in the society and enhance good ones… Together, we can make visible changes to the lives of children, adolescents and young people and this is important both for them and the society.”
Bangladesh has made great strides in promoting child rights over the last three decades. For example, under-five mortality rate of children declined from 151 per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 40 in 2019, the use of improved sanitation facilities increased from nine percent in 1990 to 85 percent in 2019 and net primary school attendance ratio improved from 65 percent in 1990 to 86 percent in 2019 among others, said the press release. Now, 4.3 million children aged 6 to 15 years are still out of school. The birth of 44 percent of children under five years of age are reported not to be registered with a civil authority. Close to nine out of every 10 children experience physical punishment or physiological aggression by caregivers. Over half of all marriages take place before 18 years of age. Over one million youths are unemployed. Furthermore, the lives of over 19 million children are threatened by climate change.
Mentionable, around 64 percent women in Bangladesh use television as a communication medium so that it is the most effective way to reach women and children with awareness messages.
