The KABP Study Findings Dissemination and Consultation Meeting – SBC Sylhet

With the UNICEF's technical support, Shushilan is implementing a project titled 'Social and Behavior Change Interventions to Foster for the Wellbeing, Rights and Empowerment of the Most Marginalized Children and Adolescents in Sylhet, Bangladesh''. The main objective of this project is to protect children and adolescents from any form of harm and make them empowered so that they can raise their voices on their issues, in addition to ending child marriage, preventing violence against children and women, addressing the impact of climate change, increasing EPI coverage, nutrition, and education, and activating families and communities through positive behaviours to create awareness and address issues and challenges surrounding children and adolescents. In continuation of this, a Study Findings Dissemination and Consultation Meeting on People's Knowledge, Attitudes, Beliefs and Practices (KABP) was held on 2 October 2024 at the Sylhet City Corporation Hall Room to discuss and share the data obtained from the study on People's Knowledge, Attitudes, Beliefs and Practices (KABP) on violence against children, ending child marriage, child protection, health care and cleanliness. Mr. Abu Nausher Ali, the Deputy Team Leader and Focal Person of the SBC Sylhet Project delivered the welcome speech. Following this, Mr. Md Ashik Nur, Secretary of the Sylhet City Corporation, and the Chief Guest of the programme, gave the opening remarks. He greeted the participants and officially began the meeting. Mr. Md. Alamgir Mia, Project Coordinator of the SBC Sylhet Project, started the session with a presentation. He outlined the project's objectives and shared the findings of the KABP study. There were present special guests such as Dr. Zahidul Islam, Chief Health Officer (CHO), Sylhet City Corporation, Mr. Tapan Kanti Ghosh, Deputy Director of Family Planning, Mr. Md. Abdur Rafiq, DD of Social Services Department, Dr. Ahmed Sirajum Munir, Upazila Health and Family Planning Officer (UHandFPO) Sylhet Sadar Upazila, Deputy Director of Sylhet Islamic Foundation, Mr. Sheikh Ali Haider Azam, SBC Consultant of UNICEF's Sylhet Field Office, Mr. Md. Nashir Uddin Faruq, Deputy Chief Executive of Shushilan, Mr. Md. Shahidul Islam, Assistant Director, Shushilan and others. Dr. Md. Zahidul Islam also expressed his disagreement regarding the child marriage statistics, saying, "I disagree with the 40% rate for Sylhet division and the broader context of Bangladesh. The data should have been shared with the relevant government departments before the meeting.'' Mr. Sheikh Ali Haider Azam replied on this note ''This 40% of Child Marriage data disseminated from Multi-Indicators Cluster Survey (MICS) - 2019. He said, ''Every research has challenges, including data collection and rechecking. However, we also presented the data of MICS-2019. Mr Nashir Uddin Faruq, Deputy Chief Executive of Shushilan, stated, ''We are behind on our target, but with determination, we can still reach our goal. It is a challenge, but not impossible to overcome. We will review the data and ensure accuracy. We also emphasize that no girls under 18 will be married, and we will continue working together to move the country forward. Thank you all for attending the meeting.'' Ms. Shahina Aktar, Deputy Director of Women Affairs, Sylhet and the chairperson of the programme, concluded the meeting by thanking SBC Team of Shushilan for arranging the wonderful and interactive event.