Terms of Reference (ToR)

Child Friendly Case Management Guideline for Child Development Centres (CDCs)

Background

Child's life and sets out the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights that all children everywhere are entitled to cover all aspects of the right are entitled under Convention the rights of the Children. With the aim of establishment of Child Development Centres to provide care, protection, education, and vocational skills, to assist them to assume socially constructive and productive roles in society thus ensuring juvenile justice. The existing legal mechanism falls too short to ensure a complete mechanism that upholds the international standards of ensuring juvenile justice.  To fulfill the requirements imposed on a state party by the UNCRC, Bangladesh enacted the Children Act 2013 by repealing the Children Act of 1974. Under the powers conferred in section 95 of the Children Act 2013, although Government could make rules for better implementing of the act, but the reality is that there is no development by the government in making new rules which could carry out the purposes of the section which has been mentioned above.

The current crime trend among boy children and adolescents has increased a lot. Among the news items that come out through the newspapers are juvenile gang culture, snatch, harassment, arms cases, and drugs. Adolescents are being kept in jails in the name of development with a small number of development centers. But the question can always be raised that, can children and adolescents be treated in the same way that an adult is treated in a prison cell by the law? Therefore, considering the magnitude of the issue, Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK) under the project “Building Better Back in times of covid 19 fighting sexual exploitation of children on the rise” is planning to formulate a structural guideline for Child Development Center (CDC) and exploring the gaps and challenges of the three CDCs, where the newly developed guidelines will have to effectively address sexual harassment, abuse, torture, rape, exploitation and any other relevant type of violations in the system of running the centres in order to demand the comprehensive guideline for Child Development Centre which cover all these areas like an umbrella. The findings of the existing system and procedural mechanism will feed into strengthening the infrastructure of the centres’ for wellbeing of the children. Based on the guideline, a set of practical recommendation will be presented to the relevant authorities to act upon.

There are now 1,226 residents in 600 seats in three development centers. Of these, 772 are in 300 seats at Tongi Child Development Center in Gazipur, 150 against 100 in Konabari Child Development Center, and 365 against 150 seats at Child Development Center at Poolerhat in Jessore. Or have been charged with crimes such as drug possession and trafficking. Authorities say that if there are more residents than the capacity, they have to face big problems in their management. Because their manpower, allocation does not increase at that rate. For that, many teenagers are being kept narrow in certain places.

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