Rights activists on Monday urged the government to ensure the rights of street women and children and demanded an allocation for them in the upcoming budget.
The demands came up at a press conference jointly organised by Grambangla Unnayan Committee and Association of Waste Resource Workers in Bangladesh at Dhaka Reporters’ Unity.
According to a survey of Grambangla Unnanyan Committee, around four lakh people are engaged in collecting wastes from dustbins, dumping sites and landfills for their survival.
Speakers at the programme said street women and children are used in collecting hazardous wastes and their recycling but there was none to think about their rights.
They said in 2009 the country earned about Tk 130 crore exporting recycled plastic bottles.
One capable woman or a child earns Tk 500-1,500 in a week with which they cannot feed their families, they added.
They urged the politicians, civil society people and media houses to look into this matter as the street children and women were deprived of all basic needs.
They demanded education of the street children through building education centre for them.
Grambangla Unnayan Committee executive director AKM Maksud, programme manager ABK Reza and Association of Waste Resource Workers in Bangladesh president Safia Bibi addressed the press briefing.
-With New Age input
