NEW YORK/DHAKA/BANGKOK, 20 October – UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell today called for urgent investment in children in Bangladesh after a three-day visit, which included meeting families in Korail, Dhaka’s largest informal settlement, and Rohingya refugees and host communities in Cox’s Bazar.
Russell urged action on three fronts: ending child marriage and keeping girls in school; delivering on the Government’s commitment of investing five per cent respectively of the country’s Gross Domestic Product in education and health; and protecting quality learning for Rohingya and host-community children.
In Korail, Russell heard from children and parents about poverty, disrupted education and limited basic services. Adolescent girls shared their ambitions and the pressures that can force them out of school and into marriage.
“I met a 14-year-old girl named Bushra, who told…
