The Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoLE) and Unicef on Tuesday organized a second national workshop to track the progress in the implementation of the National Plan of Action Eliminate Child Labour.
State Minister for Labour and Employment Begum Monnujan Sufian chaired the event.
In May last year, Unicef supported a delegation from Bangladesh to participate in the Fifth Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour in Durban, South Africa. At the event, the government of Bangladesh agreed to ensure enhanced coordination among all ministries accountable to eliminate child labour.
A global report published by the International Labour Organization and Unicef revealed that child labour has increased during the last four years and that globally 160 million children are engaged in child labour.
In Bangladesh, 6.8% of children from 5 to 17 years are engaged in child labour. Child labour violates the rights of children and hinders their access to basic rights like education and protection. Children that engage in child labour and/or hazardous work can become victims of violence, exploitation and abuse, the report said.
The objective of the workshop was to accelerate the national efforts to eliminate child labour in Bangladesh by ensuring accountability mechanisms and to enhance coordination and reach the goal under SDG 8.7 to eliminate all forms of child labour by 2025. This can be possible if at least 1,000 social workers field based and dedicated to women and children.
