Child advocacy in Bangladesh: A long way to go

AN age- old African proverb says that, “Don't speak about us, without us.” Very interestingly, if we want to correlate this ancient proverb with our modern civilization, we can certainly understand that, leaving a group of people unobserved, we have no right to uphold their entitlement. Children are the ultimate future of a country. In a developing country like Bangladesh, children are neglected and suffer a lack of proper care in maximum cases. To raise the voice of the children to a higher primacy, the theme of child advocacy plays as a legal and social mechanism as well as a mode of protection.

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To deal with the juvenile delinquency, Bangladesh has resembled a juvenile justice system. To facilitate this system juvenile court has been established. Different national and international policies and frameworks have been promoted and evaluated. But juvenile justice system and the policies are, in many cases, silent about child advocacy. According to Alfred J. Kahn, Sheila B. Kamerman and Brenda G. Mcgowan (Child Advocacy: Report of a national baseline study; US Department of Health, Education and Welfare; Office of child Development, 1973; p. 37):

“… child advocacy means a consumer controlled outreach system with two major objectives: to obtain more responsive, adequate and effective service from child and family service agencies, and to develop the strengths, skills and initiatives of families and communities to solve their own problems.… A service program or approach directed towards changing systems and designed to improve life conditions for children by assuring that service delivery systems and institutions bearing most on children work for these children, rather than against them.”

So we cannot deny the significance of child advocacy from the perspective of Bangladesh. It can undoubtedly be said that to grow awareness about the juvenile justice system, to ensure smooth concoction of the children with the society, to strengthen and develop the preservation of children's rights and to have clear understanding on the application of international laws on the juvenile justice system; a better evolution and advancement of child advocacy is a burning issue in Bangladesh.

As children are the specific group of people who have not attained the age of majority and they have an alternative standard of behaviour, so an effective guideline must be urged in case of a bona fide mechanism of child advocacy. The following objectives must be kept in mind while implementing the mechanism of child advocacy:
* Child advocacy must be committed to the best interest of the child and must be ensured to assist the juvenile court and child serving agencies.
* Separate and efficient office of child advocates should be established in a proper way.
* A countrywide program should be arranged to impact on the legislation and the child welfare services.
* Identification of the urgent and basic protection of the children must be ensured.
* A counseling program to determine the responsibilities as well as the awareness among the common people.

In our country, there is a lacuna between the laws and their proper application in a proper way. In maximum cases international and humanitarian standards are not followed in a true sense. So it can be said unfalteringly that, child advocacy is a potential and dynamic way which may come forward to pervade the legal lacuna. “The advocacy role is most effective because it involves so many people- the concerned parents, the state, the federal agencies and all who support the need to provide our younger citizens with a legacy for competency.” (Thomas R. Philips; Juvenile Delinquency: A contemporary View).

Advocacy system provides the identification of the root causes of the delinquent behaviour, measurement for prevention and the proper treatment in a legal way. Criminal responsibility, state's liability, principles of juvenile justice system, different criminal procedures, legal support as well as legal representation and reintegration, coordination and effective monitoring process can be provided to the concerned children and their parents in a smooth way through a child advocate.

Therefore, to make a better world for the children at risk and to give them opportunity to express themselves, child advocacy is surely a stimulating procedure to thrive the change of the juvenile justice system in Bangladesh.    

The writer is Research Assistant at Bangladesh Institute of Law and International Affairs (BILIA).