Photo : ICBC

DHAKA, April 21, 2026 (BSS) - Integrated Community Based Child Care (ICBC) appeared to be a lifesaving project as it teaches the children the swimming technics to save lives from drowning.  

Bangladesh is called a riverine country as it contains several thousands of rivers, lakes, canals, ponds and marshlands. So, drowning incidents are headlined in almost every day in the newspapers. 

Two siblings drowned while taking bath in a pond near their residence in Bara Adimpur village under Singra upazila of Natore district on April 17.
 
The deceased, Fahim Hossain, 13 and Tamim Hossain, 12, were residents of Shahjahanpur area under Sherpur police station in Bogura and sons of Abdul Momin, who is currently living in Malaysia. 
 
They had been living with their mother at their maternal grandfather’s house in Bara Adimpur village.
 
Fahim Hossain was a fourth-grade student at Biyas Bazar Government Primary School, and Tamim Hossain was a Child-level student at Nurani Madrasah at Biyas Mabia Mor.
 
Officer-in-Charge of Singra Police Station Rafiqul Islam told BSS that the two brothers fell into a pond beside their house around noon. They were rescued around 2 PM and taken to the Upazila Health Complex, where the on-duty doctor declared both of them dead, he said.
 
In another incident, two siblings drowned in a pond at Maijer Mohalla area under Baniachang upazila of Habiganj district on April 5.
 
The victims were identified as Sadia Akhter, 6, daughter of Liton Mia, and her younger brother Jubael Mia, 4. 
 
Local sources said the children were playing near a pond adjacent to their home. At one stage, they accidentally fell into the water and drowned. 
 
Family members and locals quickly rescued them and rushed to the Baniachang Upazila Health Complex. However, the on-duty doctor declared both of them dead upon arrival.
 
This year, 50 more children drowned in just 14 days (March 14 to 28) during the holy Eid-ul-Fitr holiday. An average of four children dies every day, which, according to experts, has turned into a silent epidemic.
 
Children under five years of age are most at risk. Statistics show that 20 of the 50 children who died were under five years. At this age, children do not know how to swim, do not understand the depth of water, and are not aware of risks.

Concerned said long holidays mean going to the village, visiting relatives' houses, and moving freely in a new environment. But this is time when most accidents happen.
 
Research says that about 35 percent of all drowning deaths throughout the year occur during long holidays.
 
This is because children are not properly cared, and they are at risk in a new environment.
 
This trend is not new. During the 2025 Eid holidays, 49 people drowned in 12 days, all but two of them adult. In 2024, 58 children drowned during Eid-ul-Fitr and 65 during Eid-ul-Adha. The mortality rate was higher among boys.
 
Experts said what we came to know about deaths from drowning throuhg newspapers is not the real information. Rather, the number of deaths from drowning might be higher. In many cases, deaths are not registered, and hospitals do not record accurate information.
 
But, in this grim picture, the government's ICBC project brings a godsend for everyone teaching swimming and survival technics from drowning. The first phase of this project, run by the Bangladesh Shishu Academy under the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, has recently been completed.
 
According to project sources, in the first phase, about 8,000 community child care centers were established in 16 districts, where about 250,000 children received services. In addition, several hundred thousand children were given swimming training. It is noteworthy that there were zero drowning deaths among children under these centers.
 
The project involved about 16,000 local female caregivers and assistants who looked after children in their respective areas. Being run at the community level, this model was implemented at a low cost and the participation of the local people was also ensured.

The model not only ensures child protection, but its social and economic impact is also positive. Since the children are safe in the center, mothers are able to spend more time with household chores or economic activities. As a result, their productivity increases.
 
The second phase of the Integrated Community Based Child Care (ICBC) project to prevent child drowning awaits approval. The Development Project Proposal (DPP) of the project has already been given green-lit by the Planning Commission.
 
According to the proposal, the project budget has been estimated at over Taka 800 crore. It plans to expand the activities to a total of 30 districts by adding 14 new districts to the previous 16 districts.