3-day training on International Child Development programme begins

The Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, with the support of UNICEF and the European Union (EU), inaugurated the three-day training on The International Child Development Programme (ICDP) on Tuesday.

Elisa Calpona, OIC chief of child protection section, UNICEF Bangladesh, congratulated the state minister for the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs for her recent appointment and appreciated the solid partnership with the ministry.

Calpona advocated for the establishment of the Department of Children Affairs to oversee the national programme to prevent violence and harmful practices in a sustainable manner. She looks forward to the second national symposium on child protection with participation of the prime minister.

Simeen Hussain, state minister for the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs was the Chief Guest. In her speech, she shared the story of a successful girl and how family support can change children's lives.

She also stressed on the communication between children and parents, and the role of family support, particularly that of a father in raising children to be responsible and successful. She endorsed UNICEF’s willingness to scale up the child protection program to the 64 districts in Bangladesh.

Ambassador of Norway in Bangladesh, Espen Rikter-Svendsen, was present at the inauguration session as a special guest and said Norway considers child protection as a top priority and it is a fundamental aspect of their mental growth.

He emphasised on the importance of fathers in raising children and strengthening families. He mentioned that Norway is one of UNICEF's top global partners and trusts UNICEF for grant allocation and impact of their work.

S M Latif, joint secretary at the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs and project director of Accelerating Protection for Children (APC), moderated the programme.

He also thanked Elisa Calpona for her dynamic leadership under which this programme has been flourishing. He expressed deepest gratitude to UNICEF and the European Union for the innovative approaches introduced starting from 2021.

Nazma Mobarek, secretary of the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, chaired the meeting. She appreciated the UNICEF and EU supported programmes on the prevention of harmful practices ongoing in 41 districts.  She stated that the pursuit of knowledge has no bounds. Thus, this family strengthening training will provide the parents and caregivers with new information.