Peer-reviewed article
Faith Leaders and Child Well-Being in Bangladesh: An Empirical Study
Shafi Md Mostofa, Muhammad Sazzad Hossain Siddiqui ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-sonnet-5-5This article looks at how faith leaders relate to child well-being in Bangladesh, focusing on child marriage, violence against children, education and child health. It draws on fieldwork that included surveys, focus group discussions, key informant interviews and expert consultations. The authors argue that social and economic factors, rather than religion, are the main drivers of children's hardships. They also note that Islamic values indirectly affect issues such as early marriage, co-education, physical punishment and seeking gynecological services. The article calls for more training of faith leaders so they can play more nuanced roles in promoting child well-being.
Key points
- The study covers four areas: child marriage, violence against children, child education and child health.
- Data came from surveys, focus group discussions, key informant interviews and expert consultations.
- Social and economic factors are argued to be more significant drivers of children's misfortunes than religion.
- Islamic values indirectly influence early marriage, co-education, physical punishment and seeking gynecological services.
- Further training of faith leaders is needed so they can promote children's well-being on a larger scale.
Limitations
Only the abstract is available, so sample sizes, methods of analysis and specific numerical findings are not given. The study does not evaluate a specific intervention, so it cannot show whether training faith leaders improves outcomes for children.
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.