The New Nation - Internet Edition

Sultan Mohammed Zakaria

Worst Forms of Child Labor is a staggering phenomenon in many nations especially in those where development level is low and poverty is very high comparing to the developed part of the world. This has raised a growing international consensus to address the issue seriously. To respond this, Member States of the International Labor Organization (ILO) unanimously adopted Convention 182 on the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor (WFCL) during its 87th session of the International Labor Conference held in Geneva, Switzerland on 17 June, 1999. The Convention defines WFCL as: all forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery; child prostitution and pornography; using children in producing and trafficking drugs and works which are likely to harm health, safety and morals of children. In this context, Convention 182 requires ratifying member states to remove children from abusive child labor; provide them with rehabilitation, social integration; access to free basic education and vocational training; consult with employers and workers organization to create appropriate mechanisms to monitor implementation of the convention; apply the convention to children under the age of 18; take into account the special vulnerability of girls; and provide assistance and/or cooperation with efforts of other members to implement the Convention.

Bangladesh ratified the Convention 182 in 2001 and thereafter has started implementation of ILO-IPEC's (International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor of the International Labor Organization) program which aims at the progressive elimination of child labor in general. Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) conducted two rounds of household child labor survey in 1996 and 2003. The survey found that in 2002-03, of the total population of 42387 thousand in the age group of 5-17 years, 18.65 percent (7904 thousand) children were working and among them 16.33 percent were working in the hazardous conditions. To find further data relating to hazardous child labor, BBS conducted an integrated baseline survey in 2005 in some selected sectors with technical and funding supports from ILO-IPEC. The key findings of the survey revealed that, of the total number of child workers, 72.57 percent are employed in the rural areas and 27.43 percent are in the urban areas. Gender dimension of the child labor accounts 27.13 percent male and 37.87 percent female child workers. Besides, of the total child workers 97.98 percent are involved in hazardous works. It has also noted that four specific sectors viz. Ship breaking, manufacturing of cigarettes, manufacturing of pesticides and other chemical products, and fire works employed no child labor during the time of the survey.

The causes of child labors have diverged focuses. Most child labor is deeply rooted in poverty and often linked with various disadvantages. According to the aforementioned survey, 20.5 percent of the children workers' households are dependent on rickshaw/van pulling followed by non?agricultural day laborers (16.5 percent) as main source of living or income. As high as 69.4 percent of child workers reported that they had cot and or blanket for sleeping at their homes. And about 94.9 percent of child workers had own houses in rural areas as reported by the parents of child workers. Only 54 percent of child workers' households own land less than 0.5 acre. The most important reason (explaining 42 percent of the cases) for working is additional income for family. Of this, about 22.9 percent child workers work because of parents' debt followed by acquiring skill/ experience (7.8 percent). With very poor or no education, child workers become trapped in the cycle of low skills, low income and low education that further pushes them into the vicious cycle of inter-generational poverty.

Given the severity of the crisis, Government of Bangladesh has focused on various options in redressing the issue. Ministry of Labor and Employment (MLE) is the lead agency to deal with all issues pertaining to child labor. The government has so far implemented two major projects of the ILO-IPEC. Alongside, a program to eliminate hazardous child labor has been completed by the MLE. The Government has also focused on formulating a National Child Labor Policy which's final draft has been on the table (2008) recognizing that child labor deprives the children of their basic rights to enjoy decent childhood and hampers their physical and mental growth, and consequently retards the desired national development. The policy has laid down some short-term and long-term goals in addressing these issues. Also the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper-II (FY 2009-11) recognizes child labor both as an issue of economic compulsion and focused effort to tackle as a social issue.

In view of the ratification of ILO Convention 182 in March 2001, the government of Bangladesh has committed to take immediate and effective time bound measures to prevent children engaging from worst forms of child labor and to assist in removing these; their rehabilitation and social integration; and identify and reach out to children at special risks as well as taking account of the special situation of girls. Recognizing that the implementation of these commitments requires the development of a time bound program (TBP) appropriate to the national context, the GoB, and the ILO has agreed on a TBP in two phases: preparatory phases and implementation phases. The preparatory phase was launched in March 2004 and has been completed in December 2006 and that has been followed by the TBP implementation phase. The preparatory phase has been achieved some notable and major objectives, i.e, formulation of a national framework for policy and direct action on the worst forms of child labor, including major TBP components under which various programs and projects were developed and implemented. These programs and projects include: (i) National Capacity Building; (ii) Basic Education; (iii) Awareness and Advocacy; (iv) Technical Education; (v) Legal Reform; (vi) Poverty Reduction; (vii) Urban Informal Economy; (viii) Unconditional WFCL, e.g. trafficking, commercial sexual exploitation of children etc.; and (ix) Rural Informal Economy. Consequently, the TBP implementation phase was launched in 2007.

Apart from the government initiatives, non-government organizations (NGOs) are also working hand-in-hand with the government and donor agencies in this regard. For example, the government's Eradication of Hazardous Child Labor Project (donor funded), some 76 NGOs are working to help withdraw 30000 child laborers from hazardous jobs through providing two-year non-formal education, and six-month skills development programs. Under the project, these NGOs are also disbursing micro-credit to 20000 parents of these child laborers. Nari Maitree Shishu Shikkha Kendra, a non-government organization and an affiliated organization of Bangladesh Shishu Odhikar Forum (Bangladesh Shishu Odhikar Forum is an affiliated network of 263 NGOs of Bangladesh working in the field of child labor and operates with the financial assistance from a donor agency- TDH Netherlands.) which is working in the Lalbag area, Dhaka, is such an example of this kind of initiative. A recent visit paid by this author found that under the project titled "Intervention towards Child Development", Nari Maitree has been working with disadvantaged children engaged in worst forms of child labor in the adjacent area. Using purposive sampling method, it bi-annually picks 30 students (for six months) (female and male ratio 3:1) based on their needs, awareness level, attitude towards society and future planning etc. After the selection, Nari Maitree provides these children with a number of facilities ranging from providing non-formal education, training, cultural activities to other motivational activities. Regarding non-formal education, children read elementary Bangla and Math (also English partly) and the training covers swing and cutting, computer, mobile servicing, driving, and beauty parlor etc. The most notable feature of this project is to ensure the sustainability of its programs. For example, after receiving education, students who want to continue further education are given the option to merge into the formal education and subsequently training receivers are also provided with job placement options.

Although eliminating child labor is a challenging task, Bangladesh has taken some significant steps towards achieving the goals set by ILO. Yet, the ILO, as it takes child labor as an integral part of national efforts for economic and social development, urges member states to commit themselves to eradicating the worst forms of child labor by 2016. And to achieve this, all countries are requested to design and put in place appropriate time-bound measures by 2008 based on three pillars: (i) supporting and mainstreaming national responses to child labor; (ii) deepening and strengthening the worldwide movement against child labor; and (iii) further integrating child labor concerns in overall ILO strategies to promote decent work for all. We believe that Bangladesh, being a part of all of these commitments and strategies, could achieve these goals within the stipulated time by taking all respective measures to eradicate worst forms of child labor from the country. And most of all, for completely eliminating child labors, Bangladesh needs to pay attention to developing its socio-economic conditions and reducing the level of poverty; otherwise all other initiatives would hardly bear any significant fruits.