CHAPTER 2: DEMAND ANALYSIS
WHY DO STREET CHILDREN NEED
FINANCIAL SERVICES?
Four facts and one conclusion
Fact one: street children do work and have a
high range of economic activities aimed at meeting their present and future
expenditures; Fact two: street children do need savings in
order to afford better their future expenditures; Fact three:
some street children do need credit in order to start a business activity and
to improve their income; Fact four: but
street children demand is poorly matched by supply, the informal
market remaining the main supplier ; Conclusion: street
children do need an access to financial services, especially savings, in order
to build a better future.
1.
CONTEXT
1.1. Bangladesh in brief
Bangladesh, one of the poorest countries in the world, is also
the most densely populated one in Asia. The total population accounts for about
130 million, 85% living in rural areas. Agriculture is its main activity but
unemployment remains a major problem for the rural poor. However, there is now
a high urban population growth rate. Dhaka, the capital, is therefore highly
populated and the Centre for Urban Studies36(*) states that 60% of the population of Dhaka city lives
below the poverty line.
1.2. Street children in
Bangladesh
About 45% of the total population is under the age of 15, the
children between the ages of 0-15 being so high that it has serious socio-
economic implications (Padakhep, nd. (a)). One of the consequences of such
phenomenon is the presence of street children in urban cities.
The Consortium for Street Children Worldwide37(*) estimates their number at
445,226 (of which 75% are in Dhaka city); 53% boys, 47% girls (Sept 2001
survey). However, as pointed in our first chapter, the definition makes the
counting difficult and different from on agency to another.
Witnessing this disaster, the Government of Bangladesh is
taking a very positive attitude and ratified, in 1990, the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of Child (UNCRC)38(*). As pointed by Padakhep (nd), this provided an
impetus to the formulation of a National Policy on Children and to collaborate
with National and International NGOs to develop programs for the vulnerable
children in order to harmonize all child development activities in the country
in light of the UNCRC. Therefore, in order to execute such commitment, the
Government is supporting some projects/programs towards intervening in the life
of the street children, and «Appropriate Resources for Improving the
Street Children's Environment» (ARISE) project is one of them.
Under ARISE, the government (in partnership with UNDP) is supporting,
since April 1999, 9 NGOs in 6 cities. Padakhep is one of them.
* 36 Quoted in Iglebaeck and al
(2005)
* 37
http://www.streetchildren.org.uk/reports/Bangladesh%20Child.doc
* 38 This convention states the
right of the child to live, to be developed, the right of security and the
right of participation
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