Abstract

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) which generally include the television, cell
phones and computers - have, over a very short time, revolutionized peoples lifestyles by making
information readily available at every strata of society and widening the platform of social exchange
through social media like Facebook. In the process, ICTs have broadened the scope of development
opportunities by facilitating citizens right to information, participation and freedom of expression.
In terms of promoting the rights of children, however, the role of ICTs has thus far been limited
and mostly experimental.
By setting new goals to bridge the digital divide, the Government of Bangladesh has created the
momentum for growth and change through the development of ICTs and as such, it is the most
opportune time to explore using ICTs to promote child rights in Bangladesh. Save the Children has,
over the years, established large and powerful childrens networks and organizations in Bangladesh
that can be mobilized to pilot an initiative to improve the situation of children through the use of
ICTs (social media, in particular).
This study assesses the current level of ICT usage among children, young people and the civil
society, analyses the existing ecosystem to explore ways it can be used for the development of
children in Bangladesh, and offers research-based insights and recommendations for ICT driven
initiatives for the development of children.
01
Background 0I
Article 3: The best interests of the
child shall be a primary consider-
ation and a child must have such
protection and care as is necessary
for his or her well-being.

Article 12 gives a child the right to
express her/his views freely in all
matters affecting the child, with the
views of the child being given due
weight.
Article 13: The child shall have the
right to freedom of expression; this
right shall include freedom to seek,
receive and impart information and
ideas of all kinds, regardless of
frontiers, either orally, in writing or in
print, in the form of art, or through
any other media of the childs
choice.
Article 13: State Parties shall
encourage the mass media to
disseminate information and material
of social and cultural benefit to the
child encourage the development
of appropriate guidelines for the
protection of the child from informa-
tion and material injurious to his or
her well-being
1
2
3
4
1.1The Information Age in the Development Context

In recent times, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)
have been seen as tools to facilitate citizens right to information, partici-
pation and freedom of expression. The wave of change in the Middle-East,
popularly dubbed as the Arab Spring, is believed to have begun with the
events of the Tunisian revolution in December 2010 fast spread through
Facebook, Twitter and 24/7 News Channels and which later is
thought to have bloomed and led to similar uprising in Egypt, Libya,
Yemen, Syria, Bahrain, and other Arab nations .
There are numerous examples of ICTs enabling larger communities to
access information and services besides helping to strengthen govern-
ment accountability and transparency. ICTs have enabled citizens to
access much greater opportunities to be engaged with public representa-
tives, government officials and other citizens. People have found platforms
and avenues to share their reactions, responses and most importantly, to
be heard at an unprecedented scale and pace. By engaging citizens and
amplifying their voice, and creating public debate, ICTs have contributed
to the promotion of democratic governance in general.
However, when it comes to promoting the rights of children, ICTs have
thus far been expanded to the childrens domain only to a limited scale
and mostly on an experimental basis.
According to United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child,
a child has the right to access information and materials from a diversity
of national and international sources, especially those aimed at the
promotion of his/her social, spiritual and moral well-being (Article 17); the
child also has the right to freedom of expression (Article 13) and the child
has the right to express his or her views in all matters affecting the child
(Article 12).
Since ICT has become an inseparable part of the society at large, proac-
tive use of ICTs for ensuring child rights can be a way of creating better
conditions for children by giving them access to important information,
providing them a voice by which they can bring forward their problems
and needs and be a means for monitoring and advocating about the child
rights situation. This has to be done in a way that places the childs best
interest as the primary consideration.
02
In Bangladesh, many development organisations including NGOs, donors and civil society networks as
well as the Government itself, are increasingly using ICT to promote development efforts. Generally
these can be segmented into three broad usage categories:
I.2 The Momentum for Change through ICT in Bangladesh
SC has piloted certain activities in the form of information corners where children at upazila level get access to
computers and information. The current study assesses how children, young people and civil society can improve the
situation for children in Bangladesh through the use of ICT (social media in particular) in terms of transparency,
empowerment and advocacy.
At present, SC supports two networks of children i.e. National Childrens Task Force (NCTF) and Ichchey Media
group (IMG) and one civil society network for NGOs: Child Rights Governance Assembly (CRGA). SC wants to
explore how ICTs can support these networks for enhanced development, participation and voice of children,
particularly benefiting socially excluded groups.
However, the approach thus far has mainly been service-led as opposed to being demand-driven due to Bangladesh
being at an early adoption stage. The time has now come to align the ICT usage spectrum with peoples wants and
needs and Save the Children in Bangladesh (SC) believes that ICTs can help achieve
Transparency by giving people better access to information
Empowerment and mobilisation by giving voice to disadvantaged groups
Evidence-based advocacy by monitoring and highlighting situations of concern.



1
2
3
Direct Access to ICTs: providing access to ICTs by providing infrastructure and connectivity such as
Union Information and Services Centres (UISC) and Telecentres
Strategic Usages of ICTs: using ICTs as a tool to support development processes and solve development
problems by providing services, information and access to resources such as mobile payments,
tele-medicine and agro-information
Creation of enabling environment for usage of ICTs: rallying the whole nation behind a single direction and
incentivising the transformation towards automation, digitalisation and connectivity.
The use of ICT also comes with requirements for regulation and protection of children. In Bangladesh, regulations
related to ICTs are general and no attempt as yet has been made to ensure that childrens rights are established and
children are protected. Save the Children in Bangladesh therefore wanted to explore the possibilities of expanding
ICTs for children and youth to promote their rights from three angles:
Content: What would help increase the participation of children and youth in the promotion of Child Rights?
Infrastructure: What infrastructure for children and youths would increase or ensure their access to a. information
about their rights and b. tools to realise these rights?

Capacity: How to build the capacity of children and youths to utilise ICT resources and articulate, as well as critically
analyse, issues that impact their lives?
I.3 Protecting and promoting children through ICTs
03
02 The Study
2.1 Objectives
To identify strategic opportunities:

1
i. for using ICT (social media in
particular) to promote child rights
governance efforts in terms of
transparency, empowerment and
advocacy by children and civil society
and
ii. to reduce the digital divide
2
To provide Save the Children with a set of practical and realistic recommendations to take this work
forward.
Assessing ICT's penetration and exploring forms and types of use by children, youth and civil
societies at community level.
Mapping existing ICT programmes for communities and their coverage including Child Rights
Governance Assembly, National Children Task Force, Ichchey Media.
Identifying capacity building needs of current and future users of ICTs, particularly people in
rural non-electrified areas, homeless young people, working children and socially excluded com-
munities.
Identifying scope of engagement of other actors/agents of change for strengthening children and
young peoples access to ICT in terms of transparency, empowerment and accountability.
Reviewing ICTs and Child Rights Governance policy environment of Bangladesh (existing laws,
regulations and policies) and elaborate on requirements and limitation(s).
04
The study will provide insight and knowledge on the potential of ICTs in improving the child
rights situation in Bangladesh. More specifically and comprehensively it will contribute a wide
breadth of information regarding its usage, opportunities, strategies, concerns and recommen-
dations as detailed below.
2.3 Expected Outcomes
How ICT incl. social media
(website, blog, face book,
twitter, mobile phones) are
presently used by children,
youth and civil society at
community level.
Knowledge
Identify potential of ICTs in relation to
SCs child rights governance program in
Bangladesh, including engaging other
actors in enhancing transparency, empow-
erment and accountability
Potential
Identify strategies to
build capacity among
children and youth in
relation to ICTs
application
Strategies
A set of recommendations, both in
terms of suggested interventions,
and the related financial and
technical requirements.
Recommendations
Identify legal, ethical and
protection concerns of
involving children with
ICTs
Concerns
Identify present use of
ICTs and barriers and
problems of its usage
Use & Barriers
05
Methodology 03
Eleven FGDs with children from rural and urban areas, users and non-users
of ICTs and in and out of school situations were conducted to understand
how children use ICT in their daily lives, what obstacles they face while
accessing ICT, the best possible way to enhance their ICT experience, the
benefits they extract from using ICT and to explore ways to promote Child
Rights through ICT. The methodology used for analysing the FGDs and
reporting the findings is as follows:
A set of qualitative research methodologies have been used to conduct the study
that include:
3.1 Description of Methodology
3.2 Desk research
3.3 Focus Group Discussions (FGDs)
Conducting the
FGDs
Recording
insights and
summarising
reflections for
focus groups
Reviewing FGD
Transcripts
Looking for
Patterns and
'big ideas'
Findings under
themes: Content,
Infrastructure
and Capacity
Six out of eleven FGDs were conducted in Dhaka (although the participants came
from different parts of Bangladesh). The remaining FGDs were conducted in 5 remote
places where access to ICT is not as commonplace as it is in urban communities.
06
Desk research was conducted to find out:
Desk research
Focus Group Discussion (FDG)
Key Informant Interviews (KII)
Review and Reflection
preliminary results against the key research components
good practices worldwide and in Bangladesh
opportunities that can be tapped by SC
gaps in the policy arena.
The interviews were intended to enhance SCs knowledge of potential
collaboration/partnership opportunities and related terms and conditions, cover all possible
sectors with a stake in ICT use, gather a set of insights to explain/validate/challenge the
findings from from the desk research and use the engagement process to increase key stake-
holders awareness of the possible programme design and willingness to partner with SC in
the future.
Athena - SC
Gulshan Office
Athena - SC
Gulshan Office
|GM Office at
Mohammedpur
M1P Training Center
at Gulshan
UDD|PON Office at
Adabor
At a STC partner NGO
office
Gar|anbunia School
At SC Office 8andarban
Tea Garden, Sylhet
Union |nformation
07/ll/l2
08/ll/l2
07/ll/l2
l3/ll/l2
l4/ll/l2
20/ll/l2
20/ll/l2
2l/ll/l2
22/ll/l2
2l/ll/l2
08/ll/l2
l0
l0
l0
l4
l6
l3
l0
l4
l0
20
l2
l5-l7
l8+
l6-l8
l6-l8
l8+
ll-l4
l4-l6
l2-l6
l2-l7
l3-l8
l6-l8
Selected NCTP
members
outh volunteers
(oung Adults)
|chchey Media Group
Mixed group of Children
CPM, NCP
CPGA (Adults)
Children working in
Sea 8each (Cox's 8azar)
Children in 8arguna
Children in 8andarban
Children in Sylhet
Children in Manikgon|
CPM members Karobi-SC
Gulshan Office
5/5
6/4
7/3
7/7
l0/6
7/6
5/5
7/7
5/5
l0/l0
5/7
Venue Date No. of
Participants
Age Group Organisation/
Group
M/F
07
3.5 Study Limitations
This has been a study as opposed to being a survey. Given the time frame, resources and
purpose of study, the tools selected were qualitative. For the sake of convenience, partici-
pants were selected from children and adult networks linked to SC. Due to time constraints
and unavailability of key informants the extent of KII remained limited to four interviews
only.
Table 1: FGD Fixture
Findings 04
While the FGDs have helped us gain knowledge about
a. current content, forms and tools of ICTs and b.
barriers and concerns, the secondary sources and KIIs
have been used to identify c. opportunities d. strate-
gies, and offer e. recommendations.
i. Primary Education
With the enactment of the Primary Education Compul-
sory Act of 1990 the Government of Bangladesh has
made primary education a high priority. The Act has
made education through 5th grade mandatory and free
for all students.
Bangladesh has one of the largest primary education
systems in the world, with an estimated 18 million
primary school aged children (ages 6 to 10 years). The
student to teacher ratio in government primary schools
is 59:1, which is challenging for students and teachers
alike, and school hours are limited to four hours per day.
Access to teaching and learning resources is a major
challenge for both teachers and students.
School completion rates and academic achievement in
Bangladesh remain low, with 56% of all students dropping
out before secondary school. As in many other develop-
ing countries, educational access is particularly poor in
rural areas, where schools are few and far between and
children are expected to work to contribute to family
income. This divide is reflected in the stark contrast
between literacy rates in rural and urban areasa nearly
30% difference.
For girls in Bangladesh, the barriers to education are
even greater than those of their male peers, with cultural
norms and early marriage often preventing young
women from fulfilling their academic potential.
ii. The Education System and ICTs
In the Strategic Priorities section of Access to Information
Programme the Government of Bangladesh acknowledges that
currently the education system does not focus on 21st century
skills that include creative thinking, problem solving, collaboration
and entrepreneurship. The contact hours are inadequate to
prepare students for the grade level and for employment at the
end of school tenure. Teachers in secondary schools often do not
have appropriate qualifications to teach a particular subject area.
Professional development of teachers, including refresher training,
is inadequate or absent. Teacher training sessions significantly
reduce teaching hours. High teacher absenteeism exists in primary
schools. The vocational stream is not attractive enough to
students and parents, and not market-responsive. Education
administration is too centralised for effective monitoring, evalua-
tion and refinement.
The focus of ICT in Education is predominantly on ICT literacy
which does not benefit students in primary and secondary schools
because it is not relevant to the rest of the curriculum. ICT literacy
as part of teachers training is not relevant to the teachers because
there is no practical application of this literacy in the teachers
day-to-day activities at a school.
The Government has committed to changing the existing situation
and ensuring a productive 21st-century-ready workforce, bringing
reforms in curriculum, pedagogy and teachers capacity building to
ensure quality education for all, ensuring transparency, efficiency
and effectiveness at all levels of educational administration and
finally, securing accountability to real stakeholders namely students
and parents and enabling the citizens to participate in policy
making.
4.1 Findings from the Desk Research
4.1.1 Bangladesh Educational Landscape
08
60% of Bangladeshs population is under 30 with its median age being 24. 34% is under
15. 72% of the population is rural with an average daily income of barely $2. The
percentage of the population with internet access now stands at 18% while another
20% have no media access at all. 94% of people who have internet access use internet
via mobile. Bangladeshs average internet speed is at least 10 times slower than the
global average. There are about 900 cybercafs and social media is used by only 2% of
the population, but this number is growing fast. Facebook usage is growing at an
annual rate of 34%. 23% of Facebook users are women. Most users of Facebook are
between 18-24 years of age (49%), followed by 24-34 year olds (29%) and 13% are
between the ages of 13-17. Among social network users 17% access these networks
through mobile phones. There are about 200,000 bloggers in Bangladesh. The lowest
price of a mobile handset is US$13.50. Among radio listeners, 73% listen to radio
through a mobile phone whereas only 34% of listeners use a radio to listen to radio
programmes. 97% of households in Bangladesh have access to a mobile phone and
7.11% have access to a computer.
The Government of Bangladesh (GoB) has developed a vision of Digital Bangladesh
and has formulated a number of laws to create an enabling environment i.e. ICT policy
2009, Rights to Information Act 2009 and ICT Act 2009. GoB, with support of
donors, has also initiated a number of projects to improve access to ICT including
providing computers and internet access to all union offices (lowest administrative
level). None of these laws and projects focus on children.
4.1.2 Demography and ICT Landscape
4.1.3.1 Mobile-based Services in Bangladesh by Private Sector and NGOs
In Bangladesh, mobile phones have become an important element of pilot and live
programs across multiple development sectors. Some of these mobile-phone based
services include mobile money (B-Kash/Grameens Bank-a-Billion project), healthcare
(Manoshi), education (BBC Janala) and information or helpline services (Pallitathya
Help-Line).
Mobile healthcare is one example of innovative use of mobile technology. Bangladeshs
public sector has been struggling with the challenge of covering its vast urban popula-
tion with healthcare. NGOs and private sector providers are stepping in to bridge this
gap. Projects like BRACs Manoshi gained considerable traction using community
health workers to aid poor women in child birth and neonatal healthcare. Without
extensive public sector infrastructure to back it, Manoshi turned to technology to
improve documentation of records and prioritise emergencies in preparation for
scaling up. BRAC conducted a pilot study in three slums areas of the city where
community health workers were provided with mobile phones that they used to
record patient data. Community health workers, who previously carried heavy
registers around, are enthusiastic about the mobile phone because they can now send
data directly to a central MIS system. Not only did this reduce the time lag but also
ensured that critical data was not lost in the delay. It helped that health workers found
the product easy to adopt due to the Bangla interface, the simple step-by-step process
with multiple choice answers and voice record. Click Diagnostics/M-Power, the
software firm that created this module for BRAC, has included an automated risk
assessment algorithm that prioritises emergency cases.
Bangladesh has also found significant utility with mobile education services. The
English language is considered extremely important in urban Bangladesh, India and
4.1.3 ICT Initiatives and Good Practices
Pakistan, even by those who are extremely
poor. English-medium schools in Bangladesh
are typically private and expensive. Public
sector education, which is most affordable
for the majority of the population, is
delivered in the native Bangla language.
Research done by BBC World Service Trust
indicated that 84% of Bangladeshis thought
it important to learn English. Speaking
English is considered essential for anyone
seeking to gain better employment oppor-
tunities. In response to this finding, BBC is
administering Janala (meaning window), a
DFID-funded project, that is part of English
in Action, an initiative that aims to raise the
language skills of 27 million people by 2017.
The service provides three-minute audio
lessons via mobile phone at a cost of three
pence per lesson. Janala has received more
than 3.5 million calls in the first 2 years. The
lessons range from Essential English for
beginners to Pronunciation for intermediar-
ies and Vocabulary in the News for users
who wish to improve their English.
18% of the population
in Bangladesh have internet
access while 20% have
no media access at all.
94% of people with
access to internet use
internet through mobile
phones.
09
4.1.3.2 Effectiveness and future of Community Radio in Bangladesh
Conditions for Community Radio are both positive and supportive in Bangladesh although capacity
is an issue. It is considered an alternative, effective mass media for the rural disadvantaged popula-
tion to express their thoughts in their own voice and their own style. The Government of Bangla-
desh has already announced the Community Radio Installation, Broadcast & Operation Policy - the
2nd country in South Asia to do so. 14 stations have received approval to install Community Radio
throughout the country of which 12 have started community broadcasting:
Sagor Giri 99.2 [Young Power in Social Action (YPSA) for Sitakunda, Chittagong]
Nalta 99.2 [Nalta Community Hospital (Satkhira)]
Mukti 99.2 [LDRO (Bogra)]
Pollikontho 99.2 [BRAC (Moulivi Bazer)]
Barendro 99.2 [ (Naogaon)]
Mahananda 98.8 [Proyas (Chapai Nababgonj)]
Padma 99.2 [CCD (Rajshahi)]
Jhinuk 99.2 [Srizoni (Jhinaidhah)]
Bikrampur 99.2 EC Bangladesh (Munshiganj)
Lokobetar 99.2 [MMC (Barguna Sadar Upazila)]
Chilmari 99.2 [ Chilmari, RDRS (Kurigram)]
Sundarban 98.8 Koyra Upazilla (Khulna)
Naf 99.2 Teknaf [ACLAB (Cox's Bazar District)
Community Rural Radio 98.8 [Agriculture Information Servics (AIS) Community Rural
Radio (Barguna District)]
When it comes to SC and its work on child rights, the National Children's Task Force (NCTF) is
one prominent name. This is a nation-wide children's organisation established to monitor the imple-
mentation of the National Plan of Action (2002-2006) against sexual abuse and exploitation of
children including trafficking. The founding principle was to prevent child abuse and sexual harass-
ment, but later NCTF started to work with the goal of establishing rights for deprived children all
over Bangladesh. NCTF members receive training from SC in journalism for preparing reports on
child rights and produce their own publications. NCTF also engages in advocacy on the selected
reports published in their magazines. For example, if there is a report on the lack of computers in
a particular school lab, the NCTF will direct this issue to the District Commissioner. They also take
proper security measures i.e. they strictly work under NCTF banner and do not approach any issue
individually or disclose the identity of the person who submitted the complaint. This is not limited
to school related activities only. If there is a need of a zebra crossing on a highway then NCTF
approaches the office of roads and highways. If there is a need for a childrens park, they approach
the city corporation mayor. In the case of eve teasing or drug related issues, they approach the
Police Super with the problem. NCTF is involved with all sorts of rights related issues pertaining to
children and depends heavily on ICT. Most of the NCTF district committees have their own
Facebook page which they use as their primary tool to stay connected with each other. They also
invite fellow members through Facebook and post photos of their events.
10
4.1.3.3 Nation-wide childrens platform created by Save the Children
4.1.3.4 Government vision, plan and priorities
The Government of Bangladesh has a very clearly spelled-out cross-cutting
Digital Bangladesh agenda and a dedicated programme called Access to
Information (A2I) housed at the Prime Ministers Office. Currently funded by
UNDP, the projects several priorities include Equitable Access for All which
seemed very relevant to our study objective, particularly that of bridging the
digital divide.
The hurdles in ensuring Equitable Access for All are:
Despite the phenomenal growth in mobile phone subscription a
significant part of the marginalised community, particularly women,
is beyond the reach of mobile phone network due to affordability
issues
While mobile growth creates opportunity for common citizens,
access to high speed Internet connectivity is still very limited due to
high cost and the lack of last mile connectivity as it is not commer-
cially viable
Inadequacy of useful local language content and useful services
through public access ICT venues or mobile phone limits scope of
changing lives
Mobile phone-based value added services benefiting citizens
income and empowerment are limited for a number of reasons,
particularly unattractive revenue sharing policy
There is lack of synergy between the private sector, the not-for-profit
sector players and the Government in making public access ICT
venues financially and socially viable.
4.1.3.4.1 Content
When it comes to Content Development and Services the Government
commits to exploring synergistic opportunities between diverse communication
media (e.g. FM Radio, Satellite TV, Cellular Phone services, etc.) to provide
valuable information to maximum number of people in the shortest possible
time. Emphasis has been placed on Community Radio (CR) particularly for
reaching out to people at the bottom of the economic and social pyramid with
a commitment to provide support to the initiators of community radio for
content generation and operation at the initial stage.
The UNDP-supported Access to Infor-
mation (A2I) Programme was started in
the Prime Minister's Office in 2007 and
heralded a mind-set change within the
Government to embrace ICTs as a
powerful enabler for the nation's socio-
economic transformation.
A2I's focus on serving the under-served
and empowering citizens is helping to
break down traditional barriers by
connecting citizens with Government and
non-government service providers
through internet and mobile phone-
based systems. Teachers, for the first time,
are developing their own multimedia
content that they will use in their
classrooms to brighten up the teaching-
learning environment. Upazila doctors
are providing remote consultation to
patients through mobile phones that
patients can call. Many e-services and
digital content facilitated by A2I and
delivered through 4,500 centres across
the country will directly support rural
livelihoods and encourage enterprise.
Transparency in governance is promoted
through systems such as One-Stop
Service Centre at the DC offices, police
case-tracking through SMS and availability
of information online related to crop
price and energy production. University
admissions through SMS, online tax
submissions, e-notification services for
farmers and patients are examples of
how efficiency gain has been introduced
in the Government service delivery.
The A2I is housed within the Prime
Ministers office and can potentially bring
together all components of the value
chain in one place. A2I is already commit-
ted to working with NGOs and Private
Sector on all three key themes of this
report: content, infrastructure and capac-
ity.
Access to Information (A2I)
11
To achieve the vision that every student will be ready
to face the challenges of the globalised 21st century
world, the Government has committed to:
Teacher-led content development Teachers in
primary and secondary schools will develop multimedia content
on general subjects for classroom use. Teachers will share
content across the country using various ICT mechanisms such
as portals and mobile platforms.
Interesting and interactive learning environ-
ment through multimedia classrooms in every
school: Every primary and secondary school will establish a
multimedia classroom with a power-saving internet-connected
laptop, projector/large-screen-TV and teachers will be profes-
sionally trained to display multimedia content for general
subjects. The teachers will use digital content in the classroom
for collaborative, problem solving sessions.
Incentives for teachers based on performance
and innovation: Salary increments, bonuses and career
movement for teachers may be instituted over time based on
innovation and educational outcomes. Non-fiscal incentives may
be designed in terms of recognition and opportunities for
leadership at different levels.
ICT literacy for students in the tertiary educa-
tion: ICT literacy, although not a necessity to be formally
imparted in primary and secondary levels, will be mandatorily
imparted at the tertiary level to prepare students for the
employment market which increasingly demands ICT skills.
All education services to be made available
online or through mobile platforms by 2012:
Expediting the pace of e-service creation by the ministries,
directorates, and educational institutions at different tiers, all
educational services will be made available through the internet
or/and mobile phones, as appropriate, by 2012. Payment and fees
for these services and salary and pension payments to teachers
will be made possible through m-payments or online
payments.
Monitoring at the field level: The Government has
identified close monitoring options at the school level through
the use of mobile phones and internet. Successful models have
already been tested in the country.
Education TV or web TV: The almost unused second
terrestrial channel of the Government may be turned into an
education TV channel after the broadcast for Parliamentary
purposes. As many as sixteen Ministries have already shown
interest for producing educational content for this TV channel.
Public-Private Partnership: Many of the initiatives
mentioned above will be most effectively and sustainably devel-
oped if done through a PPP model. Private sector companies and
NGOs will be invited to join hands with the Government in collab-
orative initiatives rather than creating parallel institutions.
The Government will create scope for service
providers both within the Government and the private sector
to deliver services and disseminate information for citizens using
multi/alternative channels like Community e-Centres, cellular
phone messages, community radio and television.
The information and service delivery system will focus on:
Education (e.g. formal, non-formal and technical/distance learning)
Health-care (e.g. healthcare management, telemedicine)
Agriculture (e.g. pesticide, high-yielding cropping)
Disaster (e.g. preparedness etc.)
Self-employment creation
Government services
Human rights protection
The Government is committed to building a connected nation
with high speed broadband Internet connection with last mile
access enabling citizens to be connected through networks of
mobile communications, broadband Internet
and audio-visual media for exchanging informa-
tion and accessing services.
The modality identified by the Government to ensure last mile
connectivity is to invite the private sector and not-for-profit
sector to roll out broadband connectivity in rural areas. It
suggested a government-private-NGO partnership
for reaching the very last mile, acknowledging the vibrant NGO
presence and possibilities of local entrepreneurs launching the last
mile internet service to local communities.
The Ministry of LGRD will create seamless vertical and horizontal
reliable and high speed connectivity among the local
government and central government institu-
tions and agencies. Such a network will help expedite the
decision making and implementation process. More importantly,
inter and intra-agency horizontal and vertical electronic connec-
tivity will increase operational efficiency as well as simplify
decision-making processes.
4.1.3.4.2 Infrastructure
12
We had five key research themes - content, infrastructure, capacity, barriers
and partnerships - and the patterns evolved around those topics. Specific
findings under the aforementioned topics are as follows:
4.2 Primary Research
4.2.1 FGD Findings
4.2.1.1 Content
The Ministry of LGRD will take initiatives to integrate ICTs in local government
institutions for back office automation so that front-end service delivery is
possible through one-stop windows.
Community e-Centres in Upazila Complex and Union Information and Service
Centres (UISC) in Union Parishad Complex are envisaged to be key information dissemi-
nation and service delivery points for rural and peri-urban citizens. Such centres are to be run
with the participation of private sector and non-government organisations for efficient opera-
tion and socio-economic viability. Fostering public-private partnership will be the key to main-
taining a large network of such centres.
One stop services/ help desk in all unions, upazilas and districts will be created for
enhancing citizens access to services. These will create multi-layered delivery points from the
service providers and realise the Governments goal for increased decentralisation. However,
in designing and expanding the network of one-stop-service delivery system, a snow-balling
approach will be taken.
Mobile phone, as a supplement to the physical location based information and service
delivery points is a part of strategic priorities service delivery and will be
designed in such a manner that the poor are not excluded.
Facebook is the most common social platform among children. One-
third of the participants regularly use Facebook and some even use Facebook to communicate
with school friends and discuss about classes. For them, Facebook is a social community where
they make friends and get to know people outside their districts or country. Even non-users
of Facebook were found to have knowledge of the basics of Facebook.
To some participants social media is the main attraction of ICT although they have broadly
identified a wide range of platforms: TV, Radio, Mobile Phone, Laptop, Computer and Digital
Camera. In their opinion, however, the mobile phone is the best option for
rural children to get connected to ICT.
For nearly everyone with internet, Facebook is the reason for having
net connectivity. They use Facebook to connect with people and think Facebook is a
cheaper, easier and more secure way of communication then mobile phones, although some
use mobile phones to access Facebook. Some of them even use Skype and have emails.
Advanced participants also engage in blogging. A few of them explicitly write about child rights
and try to inspire people through their writings. Google is used extensively and online newspa-
pers are also read by some. They believe that ICT makes it a lot easier, cheaper and quicker to
express their opinion.
Some participants stated that though they use mobile phones, their families are concerned
about its negative aspects since mobile phone users suffer from frequent
occurrences of unwanted calls from anonymous persons.
Facebook
is the most common
social platform among
children
Facebook
is reason for having
net connectivity for
nearly everyone
with internet
Mobile Phone
is the best option
for rural children to
get connected
to ICT
13
The radio is cheaper than computer or laptop. Voot FM is a popular show
among children with radio access.
One participant said that ICT has led to great advancements in the field of
research. Another participant uses Khan Academy to get new lessons that helps in
studies and exam preparation. Yet another participant uses the Internet to find out what is
happening in the field of civil engineering (trancivil.com). From YouTube they can instantly
access knowledge on any given topic.
Almost all of the child participants mentioned Sisimpur and Meena
and thought something similar could be useful in making them more aware of their rights.
Participants in remote areas have access to television. Some watch
television at home while others access it through relatives/friends houses or the nearby
bazaar. Popular TV shows among these participants include Meena cartoons, Sisim-
pur, news, cricket, dramas and a show called CID on Star channel.
Children without access to computers think of it as a device which can be used to listen
to music, draw photos, play games or to work.

One of the main advantages of mobile phones is that it helps them to commu-
nicate during times of disaster when other modes of communication are not
available.
Four of the participants read the newspaper on a regular basis.
Participants watch television particularly educational program, sports and the
news along with Sisimpur and Meena Cartoons. Some of them have access
to radio. The children were found to have no access to mobile phone or any other ICT
devices.
Sisimpur is the Bangla adaptation of
popular childrens show Sesame
Street. Funded by USAID, Sisimpur is
Bangladeshs first childrens educa-
tional program that is aired on BTV.
Meena is a childrens cartoon
conceived and created by UNICEF to
help educate South Asian children
about their rights to overcome
discrimination and other related
issues.
In general, Internet access from computer and home is far less than access
through cell phone and out-of-home points of access:
4.2.1.2 Infrastructure
Some schools have computers and inter-
net and some are lacking in net connec-
tion. In some of the labs there are very few
computers and therefore there is always a
queue. A few schools have computer
studies in their teaching curriculum but no
internet connection. In some cases the
computer is located in the teachers room.
Some complained that children were told
to pose in front of the computers to be
photographed for the schools annual
publications when in reality they are not
allowed to even go close to the machine.
They were only allowed to put their
hands-on the keyboard and mouse to
learn the names of the hardware. Some
participants said that they could access
computer in their weekly slots but the
time allocated is very limited and not
a. Schools
enough to learn about computers.
The participants think even though there
might be one or two computers in many
educational institutions, there are no
qualified teachers who have the knowl-
edge on how to use it. In some cases,
they use the computer for office
purposes while in some cases the
computer was never unpacked at all.
There are also cases where teachers
have taken the computers to their
residences.
Most of the participants think school is
the best place to learn about Internet
because schools are places where the
minds are set free to learn and they can
take help from teachers and classmates.
They also mentioned that accessing
internet in school is not seen negatively
by parents as well although some partici-
pants mentioned that they have comput-
ers at school but no internet connec-
tion.
Although some schools have computers,
most are lacking in good computer
teachers. In one case, the participants
complained about a computer teachers
capacity to teach basic lessons like
accessing the internet despite the
teacher having a degree in computer
science!
Another major barrier is the problem of
electricity. Since schools suffer from
power crisis most of the time usage of
computers become very limited.
14
A few participants mentioned that the teachers only teach computer to students
who have taken computer science as a subject in class 9-1
Other complaints from participants regarding computer facilities at the schools: one
participant mentioned that they had 28 computers in their school and now they only
have 6 left. The rest of them have just vanished. Another participant mentioned that
they only have one computer in the school and that too is rusty. Another participant
mentioned that out of seven computers they have in their school only one is in work-
ing order. Maintenance is therefore a key issue in the school based facilities.
b. Cyber Caf/Computer Service Shops
c. Government Infrastructure
Some participants go to cyber cafs to access the Internet, but this is not always
feasible due to the distance of cyber cafes from their homes or the costs involved.
There are not many cyber cafes in most districts apart from Dhaka and Chittagong
although there are lots of small phone/computer service shops which have arrange-
ments for computer and Internet connection.
Male participants go to cyber cafs to use the internet. Females generally dont visit
Cyber caf since conservative localities generally frown upon females going to cyber
cafes. At the district level the cyber cafs might get a few female visitors but in rural
areas cyber cafes rarely get any female visitors. One reason for this is that cyber cafes
are typically run by males and therefore there are security issues associated with
females going to cyber cafes. Hence they only make use of cyber cafes during times of
emergency (e.g. to collect exam results.)

Another problem with cyber cafes are the frequent power cuts. Since the participants
use the net on time slots, during power cuts they lose out on time. Identity theft is
another issue on account of which some participants have lost their Facebook
accounts.
The participants spoke of existing information centers operating as hubs of informa-
tion exchange where anyone can come to browse the Internet for personal adminis-
tration purposes and print out documents. They expressed the need to increase the
number of such centers and making them more child-friendly.

The Union Parishad is equipped with computers and are not affected by power cuts.
The information center of the Union Parishad runs a month-long computer course
where the only lessons are how to write and save documents. According to the
participants this should only take 2-3 days to teach but takes longer due to the
increasing number of participants.
Computers
seem to
vanish from
School
Some computers remain
unpacked, while
some are taken home
by teachers for
personal use.
Girls are faced with
security risks
when visiting cyber
cafes to access the
Internet
In spite of having a
degree in Computer Science,
some teachers
struggle to teach
basic computer
lessons.
15
4.2.1.3 Capacity
b. Regular Users
c. Basic Users
a. Advanced Users
Advanced users among the participants use computers for Photoshop and graphic design. They primarily edit photos
for their magazines. One of them also works as a free-lancer.

Advanced users use ICT successfully in their day-to-day life and beyond. They use it to express themselves through
blogging, maintain their social life through Facebook, and they mostly access ICT from their laptops. They also use
YouTube extensively.
Some participants engage in outsourcing and generate revenue from such activities. They know how to use Microsoft
Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Photoshop and the Internet.
Basic users know how to use computers but lack connectivity to the Internet. Some have Facebook accounts but are
not regular users. They mostly access from mobile phones.

Some basic users have received training from the Union Parishad and know basic computing but lack knowledge about
the Internet. They know how to type and other very basic operations.
d. Non Users
Some participants have not seen a computer before, but have access to television and mobile phones even though these
might be shared as opposed to owned.
Regular users use the computer for document processing, gaming and other multimedia purposes. They also have
Facebook and they connect to the internet via cell phones and cyber cafs.
16
Non Users
Basic users
Regular
users
Advance
users
TV Programs
like Sisimpur
and various
programs aired
by ATN Bangla
Cell Phone
Internet and
Desktops
1. They do not highlight Child Rights. They
mostly focus on education, health and other
basic needs.

2. Private channels should also telecast
programs on how to promote Child Rights, as
urban people do not watch BTV much. These
channels have both child and adult viewers.
Some of their programmes are not child
friendly at all.
3. When children want to watch programs
like Doraemon, their families fear that they
might be addicted to that program. Another
apprehension that comes to their mind is the
linguistic threat. Telecasting such programs in
Bangla would put such concerns to rest.
4. Many children, who work in the daytime
typically watch movies. Those who dont have
TV go to cinema halls since movie tickets are
very cheap in our country
1. Facebook and blogging websites are two
different things.
2. The authority has recently opened a hotline
number but that number is for addressing
female issues not for reporting childrens
concerns.
1. Airing special programs on Child Rights
and over time open specialised channels for
children
2. Make more child-friendly movies.
3. Take a survey on Child Rights using SMS
and other mobile or Internet services
1. Open a blogging site where children can
write in both Bangla and English. It will be
beneficial for children if they can practice
journalism using blog media. Adults can use
and contribute but only childrens affairs will
be discussed.
2. Open a hotline number for child related
issues. When a family forces an under-aged
girl to get married, there is no one to listen
to that girl. But if there was a hotline number
she could call, the local administration could
prevent such child marriages from taking
place.
3. A website can be launched which will
ensure confidentiality if there is any violation
of Child Rights. The server of this website
should be spread to local areas. The website
should be based on district level and some-
one like the District Commissioner should
take care of the monitoring to ensure every
complaint by a child is addressed.
4. Unite all NGOs in Bangladesh working on
Child Right issues and bring all their projects
under a single website.
User Type Content Insight Recommendation
17
1. Gender discrimination
Almost all female participants complained that their access to ICT was limited or even denied because they were girls.
Their access to Facebook or cell phones is also limited.

Girls face various difficulties in going to cyber cafs. This is true even for adult women.

Participants mentioned that in the same district the government boys school has 70 computers while the girls school
has only 10.

At home, even though their brothers can access a computer, girl children are not allowed.
Most participants reported using cell phones to connect to the Internet and communicate but complained about the
small screen and language problem since most of the normal handsets do not support Bangla.
II. Affordability and security concerns raised by parents have also been shared as barriers. Children feel
that their parents are not at all familiar with the current technologies. Children can help assure their parents by sharing with
them what they are doing on the Internet or phones, and this will be beneficial both for the child and his/her parents.
Participants were fascinated with the multifarious uses of
technology particularly how it can help detect traces or
evidences criminals leave behind, how DNA tests are done via
computers and how cell phones can be used for browsing maps.

2 participants spoke of Cell Bazaar (an e-commerce site) which
helps them to buy or sell things.
4 participants had knowledge about bdjobs,com of which 2 were
active users.
The participants agreed that if Facebook is a person then he is a
tireless superhero.
The Doraemon Effect: Cartoons such as Doraemon that have
gone viral in Bangladesh have resulted in more children inclined
towards speaking in Hindi (the language used in the cartoon) than
their native Bangla. One participant said his/her 5-year-old sibling
understands and communicates more in Hindi than in Bangla.
ICT can bring people from different areas together and simulta-
neously make them protest for something they believe is right.
The main negative impact of ICT is accessibility to pornography.

Only three of the participants have access to Internet from home
and cell phone. The rest lack web connectivity.
One participant reported that once his/her friend had identified
all the areas in in Madaripur where eve teasing was a regular
occurrence and shared this on Facebook with recommendations
on how to stop it. This apparently resulted in an improvement in
the ongoing situation.
The computer classes in schools are more like Bangla Grammar
class where they have to memorise definitions rather than engage
in any practical learning.
One year ago a participant
had raised BDT 1,800
to help the poor.
This year, with the help
of Facebook
they raised BDT. 27,000.
#URRENT)#4USE
18
Children get to know about current affairs like the Rohingya
problem or the US election from secondary resourses (i.e. from
older family members or relatives with access to the Internet)
They get news regarding natural disasters via radio.
Electricity is a major issue. Cell phones can be charged through
solar power but the same cannot be done for computers and for
this reason most of the participants think computers are not
much use to them.
An urgent blood
requirement
was met by a simple
Facebook post
thus saving a life.
Once a friend of one of the participants was in urgent need of
blood. The participant promptly posted this in his/her Facebook
status and a few of his friends responded, saving his friends life in
the process.
One participant and his friends took the initiative of distributing
clothes among the poor in the Winter. Three years ago they only
collected Tk. 1,800. This year, with the help of Facebook, they
managed to raise Tk. 27,000 in donations.
One participants uncle saved the life of her grandmother and
little nephew using a cell phone torch. During flooding, water
rushed in and they were neck-deep in water. It was night time and
he used his cell phone torch to find higher grounds in the room.
Later, he used to same torch to navigate them to a safe place.
Another participants uncle called to alert them about an incom-
ing storm that was going to hit Borguna. That alert helped them
to save their livestock. Participants feel that the cell phone is
handier in disaster prone areas as it doesnt need direct electric-
ity to run and is portable.
)NSPIRING3TORIES
0OTENTIALFOR)#4IN#HILDRENS,IVES
Participants believe that ICT can be used to record, publicize and
expose various wrongdoers in society and thus contribute to the
protection of Child Rights. For example, inappropriate police
behaviour can be recorded via cell phones and sent to print
media to deter the police from repeating any misconduct.
Children think that their birth rights are: Education, Health,
Security, Entertainment, Right to Play, Cultural Rights and to be
taken care of by parents.
Children think Television can help promote child rights by
educating their parents on the importance of education for girls
through drama.
Children think Television can help them to be educated.

Participants opined that if they could use the net with
(scratch) card system (like they do for mobile broadband)
they would be able to use net more and it could reduce the
need to buy expensive equipment.
19
Insights - Type of ICT Recommendations - Implementation
4.2.2.1 Workshop Findings Childrens Groups
1
2
4
3
The group thinks that the home is the primary access
point. In most cases children watch television at home.
The second most common place children acccess ICT
is the school laboratory. In many government, private
or NGO Schools, the primary access point for children
is the laboratory. This is because children spend most
of their time at school and are guided by their teachers
during that time.

The groups third choice is union information centers
or community access points as these centers are near
their homes and under some sort of supervision.

The last option the group considered is the Cyber caf.
Cyber cafs are also cheap but restriction and security
are some concerns associated with it.
The telephone is the first tool of ICT, followed by cell
phones and now social media, which enable us to
express our opinion through texts, photos, audios and
videos.
The first issue to address in terms of priority is access
to pure water. We learnt from our child volunteers that
because of contaminated drinking water children are
getting sick and unable to go to school. Our study
shows that 23% of children miss school because of
water-borne diseases.
ICT has the potential to ensure child security and stop
violence and torture directed towards children.
Television plays a big role but there is much opportunity
in this area since none of the existing TV channels are
child friendly. TV channels dont follow any policy on
which content should be shown to children and which
content should be restricted. There is no policy and no
control over languages used in TV programs.
1
2
4
3
Creating a network among policy makers and other relevant
people is necessary to promote child rights through ICT. This
is why advocacy is the biggest element in total content. ICT is
the most effective way of doing advocacy.

A survey can be done through cell phones regarding Child
Rights. It is now possible to reach 10 million people through
ICT
Child torture mostly occurs at home starting with the parents
themselves. If children have access to ICT, however, they can
report incidences of abuse taking place in their homes.

With the development of ICT, various educational applica-
tions, games and tools can be developed that facilitate learning
among children. These educational tools are being developed
in Bangladesh but unfortunately they are not getting publicity
and many of these tools are expensive. Such tools and
services should be made open and available to all and can be
developed on other child-related issues like health, sanitation,
security and nutrition.
1
2
3
4
4.2.2.2 Infrastructure
1
2
3
First, child-friendly content must be developed for
television.
There is a lot of isolated effort on promoting child
rights. NGOs should share their experience with each
other so that organizations dont individually spend time
to develop a system that has already been established.
The group thinks content is not an issue. BRAC has a
plenty of quality content. So they proposed a symmetric
platform so that every organization that works for
children can share their knowledge and tools
Insights - Preferable Locations Recommendations - Content
20
4.2.2.3 Capacity
User Type
For basic users a guideline should be provided
so that they can learn relatively advanced level
knowledge.
Regular users should be linked with advanced
users so that they can learn more advanced
levels of ICT usage.
A network should be created so that advanced
level users can be connected to all levels of
children. Advanced level users can be used as
resource persons so that they can train lower
level ICT users.
New technology should be provided to them
to keep all users interested. Since all advanced
level users are from urban areas, initiative must
be taken to develop ICT at the rural level to
create rural level advanced users.
Recommendation - Creating a
Network for Sharing and Learning
Interesting Insights
Basic Users
Regular Users
Advanced
Users
Non Users Raise their awareness and provide them
proper knowledge and training.

Include ICT in the school curriculum.

Increase the accessibility in rural IT centers.
Link non-users with users and form commu-
nity clubs so that non-user children can learn
from user children.
Another point is multipurpose use. They
should not only be familiar with gaming, but
also with Internet.

They should be taught to access ICT through
mobile phones.
Creating awareness among parents is an
important issue. Parents get angry if they find
their children using mobile phones for a long
time and they have negative perceptions about
ICT in both urban and rural areas, although
rural parents are more unaware of ICT. The
packages for rural areas should be more
inclusive than the packages for urban areas.
The next point of concern is the teachers.
Urban teachers have decent laboratory
facilities in their school but after a few days of
usage, these computers start to malfunction.
Teachers should be taught troubleshooting so
that they can fix their computers on their own.
For rural areas we should set goals for rural
teachers, such as each teacher must train at
least 50 students. Rural areas have some places
where there is no lab at all. We should provide
decent laboratory facilities in those localities.
Appointing someone to monitor these facilities
at the local levels is another pertinent need.
Policy-making: There is a general policy for ICT
but no special ICT policy for children. ICT
policy should be developed considering the
access and provision for children. The policy
should also be able to address rural level
poverty issues. All policies should originate
from a centralized concept and be sustainable

There are more than 5,000 Union information
centers in Bangladesh but children are
restricted from accessing the centres.

Contribution of partners: Many partners,
especially those at the grassroots level, are
lacking in ICT trained operators.
21
The economic situation and infrastructure are two primary barriers
to ICT access and often the two are closely related. Access to
school, lack of opportunity and safety concern are three other
major barriers. These barriers can be removed by developing
infrastructure and establishing proper policies. In some cases, the
availability of Internet on mobile phones has overcome the lack of
opportunity barrier.
JAAGO foundation has a volunteer network, which is called Volun-
teer for Bangladesh and has nearly 10 thousand volunteers from
around 20 districts. Most of the volunteers are recruited through
Facebook. This can be used as a big platform to advance the efforts
on promoting Child Rights.
One of the main barriers identified in this study was infrastructure.
Now, however, many primary schools have computer laboratories
although the computers are not functional. This can be easily fixed.
The initiatives taken by the Government of Bangladesh dont always
benefit the population due to lack of proper monitoring. If the
Government established a step by step monitoring system, many
computers wouldnt end up in storage.
Individually Dr. Prof. Jamilur Reza Chowdhury, Dr. Jafor Iqbal and Mr. Munir Hasan are recommended as
possible champions of ICT use for advocating Child Rights across Bangladesh.
Among organisational partners, DataSoft was chosen from the private sector, BRAC from NGO and other
organisations like Maya.com, Shocheton Nagorik Moncho. From the public sector, the Ministry of ICT and
MOWCA were enlisted. Bdnews24.com, BTV, ATN Bangla, Prothom Alo and The Daily Star were chosen as
media partners.
An umbrella funding arrangement has been suggested among organisations in Bangladesh, who work for
Child Rights (e.g World Vision, UNICEF and Save the Children) so that a collaborative effort can be taken
and resources can be leveraged.
4.2.2.4 Barriers
4.2.2.5 Partnerships
If private sectors actors and NGOs collectively innovated
ways to creatively address the issue of Child Rights, it
would make it easier for the Government to achieve its
goals.
JAAGO Foundation runs an online school where the
teachers teach from Rayerbazaar but the school is located
in Gazipur. It is an English medium school and students
watch cartoons, play games and enjoy themselves while
learning.
JAAGO Foundation has a project titled Hole in the Wall.
Apart from their schools, they also teach in slum areas
where they have provided a few computers outside the
slums that are unsupervised. Children can come and use
the computer freely and language is not always a barrier
since it is possible for them to understand through
symbols.
Examples of JAAGO Foundation
22
05