UK charity defends support for childcare in Bangladesh

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Aditi Khanna, London
Published : 22:43, Sep 16, 2019 | Updated : 22:44, Sep 16, 2019

PHOTO/ciprbThe UK’s leading lifesaving charity operating across the coast of the country has defended its support for a childcare project in Bangladesh as part of its overseas initiatives.
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) said the Creches for Bangladesh programme helps reduce children’s risk of drowning by ensuring they have close supervision throughout the day.
“Around 40 children a day die from drowning in Bangladesh,” the RNLI said in a statement following recent UK media reports criticising its UK government backed expenditure overseas.
The RNLI explained: “Access to a free creche place reduces a child’s risk of drowning by an incredible 82 per cent, as well as providing essential early childhood development. We work in partnership with the Centre for Injury Prevention and Research Bangladesh (CIPRB), who are experts in injury prevention and drowning prevention.
“Alongside CIPRB we have already helped to fund 10,000 creche places for some of Bangladesh’s most vulnerable children. All public donations to our recent appeal were matched by the Department for International Development (DfID).”
The charity’s research has found that children are most vulnerable to drowning between 9am and 1pm when parents must work to feed their families, and are unable to provide close supervision. Community-based creche facilities provide a safe environment for children aged between one and four.
“Run by local women, these facilities provide a secure place away from open water for children to play and learn important skills,” RNLI said.
It stressed that as a charity, the organisation takes its ethical and legal responsibilities very seriously, countering criticism from some sections of the media recently for sending millions of pounds to projects overseas at a time when it was facing a funding crisis.
“In response to the recent media pieces about the lifesaving work we are doing overseas, we have been very encouraged to see a sharp increase in online donations, coupled with some very positive messages of support,” a spokesperson for RNLI said on Monday.

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