A 16 day-long sports festival for the underprivileged children will be held in 200 upazilas of 27 districts and 12 city corporation areas nationwide in the month of Victory (Bijoy) to raise awareness for preventing violence against children and women. The National Sports Council is implementing this initiative at the field level through the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs to bring children back to the field with the funding of the United Nations International Children’s Fund- UNICEF. Football and Badminton competitions are going on with backward and underprivileged children, a press release said.

For the successful completion of the competition plan, a day-long workshop was held in a hotel in the capital on Tuesday with senior officials of the ministry and sports officers of various districts. In the workshop, the participants were divided into departmental groups and outlined the plans and challenges of implementing the sports festival.

Earlier, Mesbah Uddin, Secretary of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, handed over the check for the expenses of the completion of sports contest to the participating govt officers.

UNICEF Child Protection Manager of UNICEF Bangladesh, Elisa Calpona chaired this program while Additional Secretary of Youth and Sports Ministry, Nazrul Islam, Joint Secretary Kazi Nazrul Islam, National Sports Council Secretary Parimal Singh and others were present in the event.

Meanwhile, Mesbah Uddin, Secretary of the Ministry of Youth and Sports said that under the agreement with UNICEF, this competition will be implemented through the National Sports Council in remote areas. The initiative is unique in preventing violence and empowering children, including adolescents and their families, by bringing underprivileged children out of drug and safety hazards through social presence.

He urged the residents to be associated with this initiative. The secretary also said that although the check was given in the name of the district sports officer, later it will be transferred to joint secretery. However, to ensure transparency, the District Commissioner or Additional District Youth Development Officer will certify the expenditure.

Elisa Calpona, Child Protection Manager, UNICEF, responsible for the prevention of harmful practices and violence prevention said, in 2022 UNICEF partnered for the first time with MoYS in Bangladesh. The goal is to create a Child Protection system that is scalable and sustainable to end violence.

During this period over 22000 community-led events, sports for development, street art and theatre were conducted in every corner of the country to raise awareness on violence prevention and referrals to national child helpline 1098.

Almost 1 million children and their communities have been engaged in these national efforts and events will continue until the end of December.