Bangladesh made major efforts: ILO
Bangladesh has made major efforts to address child labour in recent years, ILO Country Director Tuomo Poutiainen said yesterday.
Decent work for all cannot be achieved without the elimination of child labour, the ILO country chief also said in a press release marking World Day Against Child Labour 2019. “It is important to continue providing good basic education, skills and address safe work for youth.”
He stressed on the combination of legislative regulation, progressive labour market and youth employment policy, access to social protection programmes and quality education for effective elimination of child labour.
Globally, there was a 38 per cent decrease in child labour between 2000 and 2016, according to ILO.
From 2016-2018, ILO piloted a child labour monitoring project in several remote rural areas in the northwest part of the country.
A total of 144 community-based workplace surveillance groups were formed in 45 rural unions and three semi-urban towns of Kurigram and Lalmonirhat.
The press release said some 2,016 child labourers were identified working in tea stalls and eateries, farming and fishing, automobile repair workshops, bidi (cigarette) and brick manufacturing and domestic work.
Of those identified, 44 per cent were in one or another of the 38 occupations listed as hazardous by the government.
According to National Child Labour Survey 2013, there were 1.7 million child workers in Bangladesh of whom some 1.28 million were trapped in hazardous forms of child labour at the time.
Bangladesh government aims to eradicate all forms of child labour by 2025.
Globally, 152 million children are trapped in labour, and almost half of them -- 73 million -- are in hazardous work, according to ILO.
WORLD DAY AGAINST CHILD LABOUR OBSERVED
Meanwhile, Education and Development Foundation (EDUCO) and ESDO yesterday organised a discussion and cultural programme at Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy auditorium to observe World Day Against Child Labour.
Some 200 child labourers, teachers, and development workers participated in the event.
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