That most of the victims of the hellish fire at a food processing factory in Narayanganj have been reported to be women and children exposes the gruesome scenario of child labour in the country. According to the Bangladesh Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2019, more than three million children in Bangladesh are trapped in hazardous child labour.
It needs no emphasising that Bangladesh has made great strides in reducing child labour but the pandemic has worsened the situation plunging millions of children into child labour. Wreaking havoc on family incomes Covid-19 has resulted in a rise in poverty and therefore to an increase in child labour as households use every available means to survive.
Children who are trapped in child labour are deprived of their childhood, health and education. Wrong implementation of laws and child right acts, lack of social security and mass-consciousness are the main reasons pushing millions of our children to give labour to earn their livelihood and help their family. What is more perturbing is that hitherto in Bangladesh, we don’t have any comprehensive public arrangement to address child labour.
The recent fire at a food processing factory in Narayanganj
gives us an opportunity to address the issue of hazardous
child labour with redesigned policy interventions
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. We hope that the government will strictly implement existing laws and provisions to hold the opportunist employers who engage children to avail benefit of cheap labour to account.
It is time to address the issue of child labour from all possible sides. The recent Narayanganj fire gives us an opportunity to address the issue of hazardous child labour with redesigned policy interventions. We must come together to fight on behalf of the betterment of our children.