- Title
- Social protection systems in-sufficiently protecting children in Bangladesh
- Creator
- Shovo, Taufiq-E-Ahmed
- Relation
- University of Newcastle Research Higher Degree Thesis
- Resource Type
- thesis
- Date
- 2022
- Description
- Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Description
- Children in Bangladesh have continued to be vulnerable due to their age. And the circumstances have become even worse in the absence of culturally appropriate social protection strategies. This thesis critically explores the contemporary efforts of the Bangladesh government to child protection vulnerabilities, by focusing on the following three research themes: (1) Detrimental forms of child labor, (2) child marriage, and (3) child trafficking. The research attempted to link the initiatives of child protection strategies with the Bangladesh government’s social protection initiative. Deriving from this, the thesis proposes to work with restricted opportunities theory, push and pull theoretical approaches, as well as exchange theory to explore whether social protection programs have any effect for poor or marginalized Bangladeshi communities. That is, for the purpose of protecting children from dangers and uplifting their conditions that might act as a protective shield against their vulnerability. In response to conducting in-depth interviews that have accommodated semi-structured interview guidelines, with the corresponding stakeholders from three different vulnerability areas, the research aimed to explore the responsible socio-economic drivers of child vulnerabilities. Further, it drew attention to the efforts of governments to protect children from being vulnerable, and the ways in which these efforts are connected with broader social protection strategies. Thus, the thesis intends to provide policy recommendations that are based on appropriate theoretical understandings. The overall aim and contribution of the thesis is to be more responsive to the child protection needs alongside seeking further support to increase consciousness and the implementation of both existing policy strategies and structures; enhancing interagency synchronization that increases the capacity to protect children from vulnerabilities; and promoting information systems that accommodate social security programs more extensively. While my research demonstrates that several social protection strategies are being initiated by the Bangladesh government to ensure the wellbeing of marginalized communities, unfortunately none of these programs connect directly with child protection initiatives. In addition, corruption and nepotism greatly hinder the process of achieving the desired goal. Further findings illustrate that in all three aspects of child vulnerability, education would be an effective way to save children from being vulnerable. However, the lack of financial investment and poor policies in the educational sector hamper the overall process. Accordingly, other child protection initiatives, such as different actions and laws, do not produce effective outcomes due to the negligence of supposedly concerned personnel and the lack of financial resources in those sectors. The reason for this is that those enactments and laws are not linked with the broader social protection strategies. The thesis contributes to exploring the significance of child protection barriers that continue to prevail in the current system. To overcome the gaps in existing child protection policies, the Bangladesh government is required to address the lack of co-ordination among the corresponding stakeholders. Further, it needs to be asked to allocate a children-specific budgetary allocation in the education sector, and to directly link it with broader social protection programs as well.
- Subject
- child labor; child marriage; child trafficking; child protection; social security
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1479267
- Identifier
- uon:50283
- Rights
- Copyright 2022 Taufiq-E-Ahmed Shovo
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT01 | Thesis | 3 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download | ||
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT02 | Abstract | 423 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |