Eradicating child labour: A promise yet to be fulfilled

Bangladesh is one of the countries that continue to struggle with the issue of a big number of children working in situations regarded to constitute child labour. The primary cause for this is poverty. Bangladesh has tried a variety of actions, including legal ones, in recent years to address the matter, but the elimination of child labour is nowhere near completion.

In a study by Sylhet Agricultural University, poverty ranked as the number one cause of child labour. Most children are forced to work at this age in order to support their families. According to official statistics, not every Bangladeshi child goes to school, thereby resulting in easy access to cheap and exploitable labor.

According to the International Labour Organization (ILO) Conventions, the total number of economically active children between the ages of 5-17 years is 7.4 million (74% boys & 26% girls). Out of these, ILO further estimates that 3.18 million (77% boys & 23% girls) children are employed full-time in hazardous labour and 1.3 million children employed in the worst forms of labour. The total child population of this age group is 42,4 million children (54% boys & 46% girls). Thus, the number of working children is 33.5 percent of this child population. Children were found engaged in almost all kinds of economic activities that the adults do. According to a recent ILO survey the children in the urban were involved in 301 types of economic activities.

Children in Bangladesh are subjected to the worst forms of child labour, including commercial sexual exploitation, sometimes as a result of human trafficking, and forced labour in the drying of fish and the production of garments. Children also perform dangerous tasks in the production of garments and leather goods, as well as breaking stones.

Several dangers come with child labour in Bangladesh. The most common are dangerous chemicals, such as formaldehyde, hydrogen sulfide and sulphuric acid. These chemicals are found in the materials used for leather and clothing and can shorten the lifespan of child workers. Other physical side effects can include musculoskeletal pain among child labourers, a result of severe physical burden.

Most child labourers in Bangladesh work in the informal sector. Children living in coastal areas are usually engaged in the fishing sector, including drying and selling fish. Children from the minority Bihari community are forced into work at a young age, and in jobs considered less desirable. Children experiencing homelessness are forced to beg, pickpocket, and sell drugs. In border areas, traffickers force children to produce and transport drugs. Children displaced by natural disasters are also at a higher risk for human trafficking and forced commercial sexual exploitation.

Agriculture is an industry that heavily relies on child labour, with a reported 1.08 million child labourers. With many people depending on agriculture, employers depend on workers to fill that need. Since agriculture takes place in rural areas, where children are looking for employment, it has led to many child labourers.

The second most prominent industry for child labuor is leather. This is an unregulated industry, as the places of operations are small and often hidden. Children are essential to these operations, with 96% of the process for producing leather in Bangladesh involving child laborers.

There is still a lot of work to be done to completely eradicate child labour in Bangladesh. The progress can be facilitated by a number of international agreements that set out legal guidelines and frameworks for action, including the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (C182) and the ILO’s Minimum Age Convention (C138). There are several efforts that have emerged to stop child labour in Bangladesh in the recent past. One major attempt was the Minimum Age Convention which the Government of Bangladesh ratified to increase the threshold for the age at which a child can begin work. This is just one of the many steps the country has taken to reduce child labour by 2025, a goal cited as a matter of national policy. In addition to government efforts, many other programmes have been undertaken by NGOs to eradicate child labour in the country. By investing in the expansion of the social service workforce and supporting grassroot initiatives, Bangladesh can pave way to a brighter future for its children, characterized by safety, security, and opportunity.