KHULNA, June 25: A quarterly meeting of the divisional committee on the Prevention of Child Marriage was held at the conference room of the Khulna Divisional Commissioner’s Office on Thursday.
Khulna Divisional Commissioner Md Abdullah Harun chaired the meeting. At that time, he said that both government and non-government organisations must work in a coordinated manner to develop a database and expand the scope of activities as much as possible, taking the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into consideration.
He emphasised the need to hold meetings in every district with marriage registrars, notary public officials, and other related stakeholders to make them more vigilant regarding child marriage.
He also stressed the importance of raising awareness among adolescents and parents about the harmful effects of child marriage and digital addiction. To increase public awareness, he instructed the promotion of video content on child marriage prevention.
He further stated that if any incident of child marriage occurs in a district, the concerned departments and the district administration will be held accountable.
It was informed in the meeting that each police station has a designated Child Protection Officer who can take effective action upon receiving information about child marriage. Citizens can also report incidents through the toll-free hotlines 109, 999, and 1098.
Among others, Additional Divisional Commissioner Abu Sayed Md Monjur Alam, Director of the Divisional Social Services Office Anindita Roy, Deputy Director (Additional Duty) of the Department of Women Affairs Suraiya Siddika and UNICEF Khulna Chief Md Kawser Hossain attended the meeting.
