Ministry of Youth and Sports (MoYS) and UNICEF jointly organized a Certificate Giving Ceremony on SwimSafe at Mohammadpur Physical Education College for Dhaka district on October 17. 

The event was organized to enhance prevention against drowning with a special focus on marginalized urban girls in the Dhaka district.  

Elisa Calpona, PhD, OiC Chief, Child Protection, UNICEF said “Every day over 40 Bangladeshi children are reported to be drowned in the whole country. Drowning has been the cause of over 2.5 million preventable deaths in the past decade, but its impact has been unrecognized. Additionally, over 20 million children are impacted by climate change effects in Bangladesh.

This is why within the child protection-harmful practices prevention program; UNICEF has supported the government of Bangladesh to deliver approximately 1000 swim-safe sessions across the country since the beginning of 2023 through a sustainable program delivered by the MoYS in collaboration with the swimming federation”.

Currently, UNICEF has initiated the SwimSafe program directly through the Ministry of Youth and Sports (MoYS) and the Directorate of Sports through district sports officers as reported by Monira Hasan, Child Protection Specialist UNICEF and lead of the Sport for Development program. 80% girls and 20% boys from targeted locations according to national vulnerability mapping. Mr. Fazle Elahi, Deputy Secretary, Shanjida Islam, Programme Coordinator, and the District Sports Officer (DSO) Mr. Rezaul Karim reiterated that “The MoYS is very grateful for the partnership with UNICEF through eight categories of sport and MoYS is happy to initiate this SwimSafe program for prevention of children from drowning in Bangladesh with UNICEF support. The Government of Bangladesh is fully committed to enhancing the capacity of children to survive in climate-prone areas in the country”.

BDST: 2118 HRS, OCT 17, 2023
MSK