Jamal Hossain, 26, brings his 2 1/2-year-old daughter, Jui, to the UNICEF-supported day care center at the garment factory where he works in Gazipur, outside Dhaka, Bangladesh.It's a fact: Babies and young children who are talked to, sung to, read to and played with have happier childhoods and grow up to be smarter, more productive citizens. offer a unique opportunity to shape a child's brain and her ability to learn, grow and contribute fully to society.
Jamal Hossain, 26, his wife, Shumi Akhter, 20, and their 2 1/2-year-old daughter, Jui, shop for treats near their home in Gazipur outside Dhaka, Bangladesh on December 6, 2018.Jui attends an in-factory day care center provided by the Northern Tosrifa Group and supported by UNICEF through partner organization Phulki."It's a great opportunity for us that our daughter can be looked after by our company," says Hossain, a cutter at the factory.
Dressed in his firefighter uniform, Mohammad Jahirul Islam, 28, carries his daughter, Jisha, 3, to the day care center she attends at the garment factory where he and his wife work in Narayangonj, outside Dhaka, Bangladesh.Jisha's mother, Moshumi, 21, above right, is also employed at the factory. Islam works 12 hours a day, six days a week — but the highlight of his day, he says, is returning home to read stories and practice the alphabet with Jisha.
"As a father, I think it's very important to educate Jisha so that she can grow up and have a better life than we did. If I'm close with her, I can teach her the norms and values I believe in. And those will help to make her a better person. She'll be able to think of me as an example — to remember me, and to tell people that her dad was a good guy."