By Vivienne Russell | 29 July 2013

The United Nations’ children’s agency has joined with the Bangladeshi government to launch guidance to ensure public spending decisions are made in the interests of Bangladesh’s 57 million children.

Budgeting framework: investing for the equitable rights of children in Bangladesh gives policymakers, civil-society organisations and development partners information on how public spending affects children. It highlights resource gaps and provides a series of tools and indicators to track the efficiency of the use of resources earmarked for children.

While not a budget for children, Unicef said it was intended to guide budgeting decisions that directly or indirectly influence the ‘equitable realisation of children’s socioeconomic rights’. It is hoped it will lead to a more systematic way of ensuring good outcomes for Bangladesh’s children, who make up 40% of the population.

Pascal Villneuve, Unicef’s Bangladesh representative, said investment in children needed to be a continuing priority for the country.

‘This is why we are calling for the effective implementation of the framework in the area of social budgeting, by relevant officials, civil society organisations, and all stakeholders, including communities and, importantly, children themselves,’ he said.

Unicef worked with Bangladesh’s Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs, nine other social sector ministries and the Policy Research Institute to draw up the framework.

Similar initiatives have been introduced in a range of high- and low-income countries, including Brazil, India, Kenya, South Africa, the UK and US.