Speakers at a workshop yesterday said despite different government and non-government programmes to eliminate child marriage in the country, it remains at an alarming level mainly due poverty and the patriarchal attitude of society. This is affecting a large number of girls in the country and real progress is impossible without eliminating this problem, the discussants added. They stressed the need for a collective and integrated approach to eliminate child marriage.  Women’s rights still remain a negotiable issue. Child marriage cannot be stopped if we do not change this mentality, they said at the workshop. Discussants said due to lack of implementation of the birth registration act, patriarchal society, poverty and lack of social security, child marriage still takes place in the rural areas across the country. The speakers made the comments while addressing a programme titled “Regional workshop on combating child-marriage and role of civil society” at the conference room of CSS Ava centre in the city. Child Safety Net Project (CSNP) of a non-government organisation World Vision arranged the workshop.
Former Secretary and all time member of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Kazi Riyazul Haque was addressed the workshop as chief guest. Divisional Commissioner of Khulna Md Abdus Samad, Additional Superintendent of Police of Khulna Md Sazzadur Rahman, Senior Programme Manager of World Vision Nirmal Sarkar were present as special guests. Deputy Director of Local Government Department of Khulna district Md Habibul Haque Khan presided over the opening session. Project director of CSNP Provash Chandra Biswas moderated the workshop. Bangladesh ranks among the highest 10 countries in the world for child marriage rates, and it holds fourth position in South Asia. A 2011 Unicef report stated that 66per cent of Bangladeshi girls were married before the age of 18 while one third of women aged 20-24 were married before the age of 15. This was 2per cent higher than in 2009. Speakers said the child marriage situation was worsening. Calling upon the guardians to be more attentive towards their children of the 14-18 adolescent age group alongside taking more care of their children up to five years of age, chief guest Kazi Riyazul said the mentality of male and female children should be built with conscience so that they could be prepared to face any situation. “Equal participation of women and their male counterparts in all the national development process could be ensured and Bangladesh could play an important role as a middle-income country if the child and adolescent marriages could be prevented,” Kazi Riyaz added. District and city level government and non government officials, lawyers, NGO personalities, teachers, Imams, Quazis, elected public representatives, journalists and teenagers were attend the workshop.