There is no denying that Bangladesh has made great strides in reducing child labour but the pandemic has worsened the situation plunging millions of children into child labour. Reportedly, more than three million children in Bangladesh are still trapped in hazardous child labour. It is disconcerting to note that despite having a ban, child labour still goes unabated in the country.
Child labour is not only a cause but also a consequence of social inequities reinforced by discrimination. Child labour reinforces cycles of poverty and undermines national economies. Children who are trapped in child labour are deprived of their childhood, health and education. Many children are stuck in risky jobs too.
It is time to address the issue of
hazardous child labour with
redesigned policy interventions
We live in such a hierarchical social structure where families from middle class to rich class employ children as their domestic workers. Being deprived of their basic rights such children are compelled to work as domestic helps at urban households. Poverty, lack of social security and mass-consciousness, lawlessness, wrong implementation of laws and child right acts are the main reasons pushing millions of our children to give labour to earn their livelihood and help their family. On top of that, in Bangladesh we don’t have any comprehensive public arrangement to address child labour. Also, a lack of sufficient support services for children prevents full implementation of existing government laws and policies.
It is good to note that the government has set a target to eliminate hazardous child labour by 2021 with the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and make the country free from all kinds of child labour by 2025. Over the past years Bangladesh has implemented several policies to end child labour and protect child right.
It is time to address the issue of hazardous child labour with redesigned policy interventions. We hope that the government will look forward to strictly implementing existing laws and provisions to put the opportunist employer who engage children to avail benefit of cheap labour behind the bar. Besides implementing laws and provisions and making policies and ensuring proper implementation of them, what is further needed is to add-up a layer of consciousness among mass people about child labour.