58.2 percent of country's street children lack birth certificates: Caritas Bangladesh

58.2 percent of the country's street children do not have birth certificates. At the same time, 71.4 percent of these children without birth certificates do not know the national identity card numbers of their parents.

Caritas Bangladesh presented this information at a media consultation meeting organized at Dhaka Reporters Unity on Wednesday (May 20). The meeting demanded that birth registration be made mandatory in hospitals and community clinics immediately after the birth of a child and that conditional child allowance be introduced for street children and children from extremely poor families.

Theophile Nokrek, Director of Caritas Development Institute, read out a written statement at the press conference. He said that the government's 'Family Card' initiative is commendable and timely. However, children who are without families or are separated from their families and grow up in railway stations, launch ghats, footpaths, markets and slums are still outside the protection of the state.

He also said that not having a birth certificate is not only an administrative complication, but also a human rights crisis. Without birth registration, children face various obstacles in school admission, healthcare, government allowances and enjoyment of civil rights in the future.

It was also informed in the media consultation meeting that according to the data of the 'Office of the Registrar General, Birth and Death Registration', a total of 83 lakh 60 thousand 333 births were registered in the country in 2024. However, only 9 percent of these children's births were completed within 45 days of birth.

In this situation, a demand was made to make the system of birth registration mandatory directly from hospitals, community clinics and health centers immediately after the birth of a child. At the same time, a call was made to ensure 100% birth registration of street children and disadvantaged children through ward-based special and mobile campaigns.

The meeting said that the current monthly allowance of 500 to 650 taka under the social security program is very inadequate in the current market situation. Therefore, a demand was made to introduce 'conditional child allowance' for street children and children from extremely poor families. Under such programs, financial assistance is proposed to the families on the condition that the children are sent to school, not involved in child labor and regular health check-ups are ensured.

Representatives of street children present at the meeting said, ‘We often go hungry, are harassed. We do not get treatment when we get sick. We could not get admission in school because we did not have a birth certificate. Many of us are forced to work.’

Chandra Moni Chakma, in-charge of SWVC sector of Caritas Bangladesh, said at the meeting that the failure of society and the state leads to a child being put on the street. Therefore, the government, non-governmental organizations and society as a whole must come forward to ensure a safe future for street children and disadvantaged children.

Representatives of various organizations including Kusum Gregory, Asim Cruz and Ashwani Prince Gomez, representatives of street children and their guardians, were also present at the media consultation meeting organized by Dhaka Reporters Unity.