Daily Star-BSAF Roundtable on Nat'l Child Labour Elimination Policy
Action plan to implement policy urged
Participants at a roundtable on child labour elimination policy at The Daily Star Centre in the city yesterday. Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar Forum (BSAF) and The Daily Star jointly organised the event.Photo: STAR
Eradicating child labour from Bangladesh by 2015 seems elusive as neither the government nor NGOs have a definitive knowledge of child labour conditions in the country, a roundtable held at The Daily Star Centre observed yesterday. Speakers at the discussion stressed the need for an immediate action plan to implement the National Child Labour Elimination Policy adopted in 2010 with a view to ending children's employment in labour by 2015. “The vision of eliminating child labour by 2015 is ambitious since no one in the country knows of the actual status of child labour,” said Associate Professor Ridwanul Hoque of Dhaka University while presenting the keynote paper at the programme. The keynote speaker noted that in Bangladesh, at least 6.5 million children aged 5 to 14 are employed, with 40 per cent of them engaged in hazardous jobs. Titled “Execution of National Child Labour Elimination Policy 2010, compliance of ILO Convention 182 and importance of ratification of ILO Convention 138 to eliminate hazardous child labour”, the event was jointly organised by The Daily Star and Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar Forum (BSAF) in association with International Labour Organization (ILO). ILO Director Andre Bogui underscored the necessity of political will in bringing about a change in the state of child labour. “If there is really political will, then the challenge is to translate the will into action,” he said. The ILO official, along with more than 20 participants from different NGOs involved with rights of children, labour and development, also observed that the government should ratify ILO Convention 138, which advocates fixing a minimum wage for children. “The government has no reason to abstain from ratifying ILO Convention 138 as the matter [minimum wage] has been addressed in the national child labour policy,” said BSAF president Emranul Huq Chowdhury. Unicef representative Carel De Rooy drew attention to the role of investment in child labour. Explaining, he said the investment would mean breaking the circle of poverty by allowing children to grow skilled enough to be on their own, unlike their poor parents. “It does not have to take a long time. It is just a strategic shift in making investments or utilisation of resources,” said Rooy. Roy Ramesh Chandra, general secretary of Jatiya Sramik League, brought up the issue of children working in the agriculture sector. “One of the large sectors of child labour is agriculture. But child labour in agriculture is not covered by any law.” Mahmudul Kabir, country director of the aid organisation Terre des Hommes, Netherlands, proposed preparing a list of hazardous jobs where children are involved. “Children working as domestic help are being abused or violated or exploited in large numbers and so the jobs they do deserve to be regarded as hazardous,” he said. The participants also recommended creation of social awareness against child labour, media intervention in checking the problem, reform of laws related to child rights, fixing of minimum wages for child labourers, banning child labour till the age of compulsory education, effective family planning programmes and arrangement of proper recreation facilities for children. The programme was moderated by BSAF Secretary Kafil Uddin. The Daily Star Editor Mahfuz Anam welcomed the participants to the roundtable. The Daily Star Defence and Strategic Affairs Editor Brig Gen (retd) Shahedul Anam Khan, ILO chief's Technical Adviser Sophea Mar, its programme officers Sharfuddin Khan and Kabir Mia, senior research fellow of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies Abdul Hye Mondal, Monitoring officer of Terre des Hommes Italia Priti Elizabeth Halsona, Village Education Resource Centre Associate Coordinator Shahnaz Rahman, Dhaka Ahsania Mission Executive Director Ehsanur Rahman, Aparajeyo-Bangladesh Programme Manager Aminul Islam, Wave Foundation Assistant Project Coordinator Kaniz Fatema, BASTOB Executive Director Ruhi Das, Campaign for Popular Education's Ghiasuddin Ahmed, Ain O Salish Kendra Coordinator Nargis Akter, TCM Executive Director Dilara Afroz and BSAF Adviser Md Fazlul Hoque were among those who took part at the roundtable.
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