The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 1988 which had left out many important aspects of food security. The objectives of the new Policy are to: (i) ensure adequate and stable supply of safe and nutritious food; (ii) enhance the purchasing power of the people for increased accessibility; and(iii)ensure adequate nutrition for all (particularly for women and children). The key element of Government policy is the Public Food Distribution System (PFDS), fundamentally constituted by a range of safety-net programmes for the very poorest, which distribute foreign food aid. These programmes include Food for Work, Food for Education and the Vulnerable Group Development programme. Food for Work provides wheat in exchange for work in rural infrastructure projects. Food for Education initially provided wheat, and now provides wheat and rice, to poor children in return for regular primary school attendance. The Vulnerable Group Development project provides a food grain training ration, providing nutrition, skills and literacy training, especially for poor women each year. Other programmes, including the Vulnerable Groups Feeding programme, form part of disaster response, rather than part of the safety-net programmes. The Ministry of Share of Allocation for Food Security Programmes Food is responsible 6.0 41.0 for promoting the 5.0 37.0 availability and access 4.0 330 to food, whilst nutrition 3.0 2.0 29.0 and the utilization of 1.0 food is primarily the 0.0 25.0 FY10(R)F Y11(P)F Y11(R)F Y12(P) responsibility of the As share of GDP Share in SSN Budget Share in Total Budget Ministry of Health. Clear policies have Allocation for Food Security Programmes in FY 12: 4.3% of total budget, 31.5% been outlined with of SSN budget and 0.8% as share of GDP Dialogue on State of Bangladesh Economy: Analysis of the national respect to improving Source: budget FY 2011-12, CPD and IBRD, Dhaka, 18 June 2011. availability, enhancing accessibility and promoting nutrition. A focus has been put on improving food availability, targeting food grain self-sufficiency and increasing domestic production of rice, although there is still a need for diversification 36 of production, including increasing vegetable production. The availability of food grains (rice) has improved greatly, but access to food is still the fundamental problem and the policy recognizes that chronic food insecurity is reflected in the severe malnutrition levels particularly of women and children. One way in which access is addressed is through the food aid programmes outlined above. A key principle within this overall policy is also that disaster management must form an essential part of planning for food security, given the great risks of transitory food insecurity, created by floods, droughts or other disasters, for millions of people in Bangladesh. In order to reflect the multidimensional nature of food security, it is mainly governed by several institutions in Bangladesh including agriculture, rural development, women and children affairs, health, finance, commerce and disaster management. The Food Planning and Monitoring Committee, The Food Policy Working Group, The Food Planning and Monitoring Unit and the Thematic Teams are the four main bodies which are responsible for formulating and implementing food security policies, in particular the National Food Policy and its associated Plan of Action. 2.6 Right to Education: Bangladesh's commitment to education has been clearly stated in its Constitution. It is recognized in article 15 as one of the basic necessities. Article 17 of the Constitution contemplates free and compulsory education which may be quoted “Free and compulsory education- The State shall adopt effective measures for the purpose of(a) establishing a uniform mass oriented and universal system of education and extending free and compulsory education to all children to such stage as may be determined by law; (b) relating education to the needs of the society and producing properly trained and motivated citizens to serve these needs; (c) removing illiteracy within such time as may be determined by law.” The Bangladesh government itself had taken many initiatives, including the Compulsory Primary Education Act 1990, which made the five-year primary education program free in all primary schools. The government 37