Bangladesh has experienced massive urbanization in the last few decades with a staggering growth of seven million slum dwellers. About two million people live in the slums of Dhaka city. Most of the slums lack basic facilities for childhood development due to inadequate social security raised by gender violence and discrimination in the family as well as the community. Moreover, the prevalence of domestic violence is higher in slums along with gender discrimination and Violence against Women and Children (VAWC). As a result, physical, social and cognitive development of the children is hampered and which is neglected or undermined unexpectedly. Considering these issues, Gender Justice and Diversity (GJD) program of BRAC has taken up an initiative to implement Early Childhood Development (ECD) program named SNEHALOY at the selected slums in Dhaka city. We conducted a baseline survey with two core objectives in the assessment: evaluate the existing stage of early childhood development (ECD) including physical, social and cognitive development of poor children in slums; and to assess the present knowledge and perception of violence and discrimination against women and children in the slum community. Among others, one significant observation was that the study found the same assessment of development for physical, social and cognitive development of the children aged between 25 to 36 months. Cognitive development of the children was not found satisfactory at all stages except for the children aged 25 to 36 months. Furthermore, the household level was found with a greater concern to the violence issues rather than the discriminatory issues among male and female members.
Authors: Saha, Polin Kumar; Sultana, Toufica
Type: Monograph
Year: 2017
