Child Labour Day

Underage children working in developing countries has been a harsh reality for many years and Bangladesh is no exception. Children work for unacceptably long hours, sometimes in harmful conditions and are deprived of their basic right to education. There are children in glass factories, in welding shops, garbage collection points, ship breaking yards, tanneries, and so on. A large number of children work in households as domestic help with little or no pay or free time. Yet, Bangladesh has no updated data about the number of children working, especially those occupied in hazardous jobs or the sectors in which they work. 

For any effective measure to bear fruit, it has now become a necessity for the government to conduct a new national survey as the last census was conducted in 2003. More than a decade has passed and the country has undergone major development, particularly in industry, over this period. Given that the government intends to eliminate hazardous child labour by 2016, the need for a new census has become that much more important.

We have some data collected by various development organisations, both national and international. However, without a census, we will never know the extent to which underage children are engaged and in many cases, exploited in various formal and informal sectors. 

Laws are there but enforcement is sorely missing. In the absence of enforcement of law, children are unduly exposed to hazards at work and with little vigilance by law enforcement agencies, many face torture and abuse. We suggest that a designated child labour body be formed to redress child rights abuses.