Faith Leaders and Child Well-Being in Bangladesh: An Empirical Study

Abstract

The article examines four key areas affecting child well-being in Bangladesh: child marriage, violence against children, child education, and child health. The research for this article was conducted through fieldwork, including surveys, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and expert consultations. Despite the prevailing perception that religion hinders progress, this article argues that social and economic factors play a more significant role as the primary drivers of children’s misfortunes. Nonetheless, Islamic values indirectly impact issues such as early marriage, co-education, physical punishment, and seeking gynecological services. The article emphasizes the need for further training of faith leaders to enable them to play nuanced roles in promoting children’s well-being on a larger scale in Bangladesh.

Keywords:

• child development
• child marriage
• child education
• child health
• violence against children

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by World Vision Bangladesh.

Notes on contributors

Shafi Md Mostofa

Shafi Md Mostofa (Ph.D.) is an Associate Professor of World Religions and Culture at Dhaka University’s Faculty of Arts and an Adjunct Lecturer at the University of New England, Australia. He is also serving as a senior visiting fellow at LSE, London. He is a theologian and security studies scholar with broad interests in political Islam, authoritarianism, modern South Asian history and politics, and international relations and the clash of civilizations. He has published in a wide range of journals including Politics and Religion, Politics and Policy, Perspectives on Terrorism, Diaspora Studies, and Asian and African Studies, and is the author of Islamist Militancy in Bangladesh: A Pyramid Root Cause Model (Palgrave Macmillan) and Dynamics of Violent Extremism in South Asia: Nexus between State Fragility and Extremism (Palgrave Macmillan). He is also a guest editor of the Journal of World Affairs, SAGE.

Muhammad Sazzad Hossain Siddiqui

Muhammad Sazzad Hossain Siddiqui (Ph.D.) is Associate Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. He received his Ph.D. in Peace Studies from the University of New England, Australia, and MPhil from the University of Bergen, Norway. His publications have appeared in various referred academic outlets from home and abroad. His Ph.D. thesis is due to be published as an academic book in the middle of 2024.