Inclusion key to ensuring their rights
Speakers at a conference yesterday said although various initiatives have been taken by the government to improve the lives of domestic workers, implementation of these policies and other guidelines is not possible due to the lack of necessary legal framework.
Planning Minister MA Mannan assured that if the labour ministry can create a proposal of a comprehensive project for the welfare of the domestic workers and send it to the ministry, the government might consider it.
He made the comments yesterday at the "National Domestic Workers Conference 2022", organised by Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE), in association with Oxfam in Bangladesh, Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BILS), Hellotask, Dushtha Shasthya Kendra (DSK), Karmojibi Nari, Nari Maitry, Red Orange and UCEP Bangladesh.
The conference was held at Krishibid Institute in the capital.
The government signed the ILO Convention 189, formulated the "Domestic Workers Protection and Welfare Policy 2015" and formed a central monitoring cell under the leadership of the labour minister and committees at the division and district levels.
However, domestic workers are not enjoying their rights and benefits, due to not being not included in the labour act, speakers said at the event.
Md Mujubul Haque, chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on the labour and employment ministry, said, "Domestic workers should be included in the initiative taken to amend the labour law."
Although a policy has been formulated for domestic workers, its implementation has not yet been possible, said Labour and Employment Secretary Md Ehsan-E-Elahi.
Mentioning the need for joint support from all the stakeholders, he assured that he will call a meeting of the monitoring cell on behalf of the ministry as soon as possible, and implement all the possible initiatives in cooperation of all the parties.
Labour leader Abul Hossain, who is also the advisor of the domestic workers' union, urged domestic workers to be united for their rights.
According to the Labor Force Survey 2015-2016, the number of domestic workers is about 17 lakhs, of which 80 percent are women and an overwhelming majority of them are under the age of 18 years.
However, the estimates of the union are way higher than the surveyed number. According to them, around 3 lakh people are working as domestic workers in Dhaka alone.
Most of the female domestic workers are either illiterate or poorly literate and have no professional training. Many are not aware of their rights and responsibilities.
BILS data, prepared from newspapers, showed that a total of 16 domestic workers were abused in the first six months of 2022, while the number was 38 in 2021 and 44 in 2020.
Presiding over the programme, CAMPE Executive Director Rasheda K Choudhury urged the government and related ministries to take necessary initiatives and donor organisations to come forward in this regard.
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