Bangladesh, being a most densely populated country with slow economic growth is repeatedly affected by natural calamities such as cyclones, floods and the latest ones are the collapses of multistoried commercial/industrial buildings. Political unrest has also been a major cause of sufferings of the people of the country. All these natural and human made calamities cause a huge number of causalitie
s, sometimes loss of both the parents of a family, leaving the children of those families very often abandoned. Besides, due to widespread poverty, family breakups amongst the poor working class and victims of various social circumstances are very high, which also causes a large number children to be abandoned. Although no reliable figures exist, it is estimated that thousands of children become abandoned in the country every year. Dhaka Ahsania Mission, while working with its various programmes all over the country, often comes across such type of children who are prone to be abandoned mainly for the following reasons:
• Children of the mothers who died at the time of giving birth and there is none in the family to take care of the infant.
• Shelter less children abandoned for separation of the parents and other social reasons.
• Children who lost their parents at the time of any natural disaster and there is no solvent person in the family to take care of them.
• Illegitimate children of rape victims who are discarded by the parents and other family members
• Children born at the brothels and facing continued repression or negligence due to not having any social recognition
Against this backdrop, Dhaka Ahsania Mission (DAM), mandated to pursue humanitarian services for the vulnerable group of the society and having the opportunity of its long experience and expertise in working with the marginalized children and other development sectors in the country, has taken the initiative to establish centers for nurturing and rehabilitating the abandoned children. The proposed project of DAM is in line with the government policies, which are pertinent to ensure social justice and sustainable progress as well as aimed at supporting the implementation of UN Convention on the Child Rights.