SOWC / BANGLADESH SLUMS

Although Bangladesh, whose total urban population is 41.7 million people has made significant improvements in providing access to primary education, children living in urban slums are the most disadvantaged. The State of the World's Children (SOWC) report will be launched Tuesday 28 February in Mexico City, Mexico and in New York City. UNICEF

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:49
• Production Date: 25 February 2012
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN'S FUND - UNICEF
• Subject Topical: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT; FINANCING; POPULATION; EDUCATION; EMPLOYMENT; HUMAN RIGHTS
• Geographic Subject: BANGLADESH
• MAMS Id: U120225e

Description

STORY: SOWC / BANGLADESH SLUMS
TRT: 2:49
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: BENGALI / ENGLISH

DATELINE: 12 FEBRUARY 2012, BANGLADESH

Shotlist

1. Med shot, Mohammad Faisal Hossain walking out of his house
2. Med shot, Mohammad Faisal Hossain buying newspaper from a retailer
3. Close up, Shot Mohammad Faisal Hossain taking newspapers from the retailer and giving him money
4. Med shot, Mohammad Faisal Hossain counting the newspapers while walking
5. Med shot, Mohammad Faisal Hossain trying to sell newspapers to the passengers queuing in the railway station
6. Med shot, Mohammad Faisal Hossain shouting out destinations from moving vehicle.
7. Pan right, from passengers on bus to Mohammad
8. Med shot, Mohammad Faisal Hossain collecting fare from the passengers
9. Med shot, Mohammad Faisal Hossain sitting on a wall and counting his earnings
10. SOUNDBITE (Bengali) Mohammad Faisal Hossain:
“I really hate this job. There is nothing to enjoy with this job, it’s rather full of risk. I might die someday, while doing this, there is no assurance. I also feel like going to school, I also want to go to school like other children. But, my mother doesn’t have the capacity to bear my educational expenses.”
11. Med shot, inside train station
12. Med shot, Mohammad in moving vehicle
13. Pan left, urban slum
14. Med shot, streets of slum
15. Med shot, people walking in streets
16. Med shot, children in slum
17. Med shot, children in streets of slum
18. Med shot, fetid water
19. Close up, fetid water
20. Med shot, fetid water
21. Pan right, houses in slum
22. Close up, feet walking in fetid water
23. Med shot, father and child walking in slum
24. Pan right, slum
25. Med shot, mother and child
26. SOUNDBITE (Bengali) Rokhsana Begum:
“I used to work as a maid servant, after getting sick I left my job. With lot of difficulties I did manage to send my son up to fifth grade. Now, I just can’t afford to continue his studies. His father left us few years ago. I have no other choice but to send him for work.”
27. Med shot, Mohammad Faisal Hossain’s mother Rokhsana Begum cutting vegetables
28. Med shot, Mohammad handing out a newspaper
29. Wide shot, streets in slum

Storyline

This is 12 year old Mohammad Faisal Hossain. He lives in an urban slum in Bangladesh’s capital city of Dhaka. His mother, younger sister and brother rely on him for income. Their father left years ago.

Instead of going to school, his long day is divided up into working 2 jobs: in the morning he hands out newspapers in the streets and at jam packed railway stations and local bus stops of Dhaka. In the afternoon, he works as a helping hand for a small public transportation company, shouting out destinations and taking passengers’ fares. By day’s end he has barely made the equivalent of one US dollar.

SOUNDBITE (Bengali) Mohammad Faisal Hossain:
“I really hate this job. There is nothing to enjoy with this job – it’s rather full of risk. I might die someday, while doing this – there is no assurance. I also feel like going to school – I also want to go to school like other children. But, my mother doesn’t have the capacity to bear my educational expenses.”

Like many thousands of deprived children in Bangladesh, the privileges and joys of a normal childhood seem almost impossible to attain. Although the country, whose total urban population is 41.7 million people, has made significant improvements in providing access to primary education, children living in urban slums are the most disadvantaged.

In addition, these urban slums have grown much faster than the overall rate of urbanization. All too often, they lack even the most basic amenities such as running water, sewage systems, latrines and electricity and access to basic social services such as health clinics and schools remains limited.

Mohammad’s mother, Rokhsana, knows this all too well

SOUNDBITE (Bengali) Rokhsana Begum:
“I used to work as a maid servant – after getting sick I left my job. With lot of difficulties I did manage to send my son up to fifth grade. Now, I just can’t afford to continue his studies. His father left us few years ago. I have no other choice but to send him for work.”

But thanks to a new UNICEF supported initiative being implemented in partnership with the government of Bangladesh and targeting the urban poor, Mohammad’s life is about to change. He has been selected to receive a ‘cash transfer’ through the initiative’s funds and can now begin to dream of a brighter future.