Bangladesh enters World Children’s Day under the shadow of a worsening child-rights emergency, as newly released national data shows alarming spikes in toxic-metal exposure, child labour, unsafe water access and malnutrition — all while thousands of children continue to spend their nights on Dhaka’s streets without shelter or protection.
The preliminary findings of the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2025 (MICS 2025), conducted by Unicef and the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), reveal a country making progress in some areas while losing critical ground in others that determine children’s survival, safety and future potential.
Toxic exposure
According to the new survey, an estimated 1.2 million additional children have entered child labour since 2019.
At the same time, nearly four in every ten children under five now have dangerously elevated lead levels in their blood.
Unicef warns that despite improvements in reducing child marriage and neonatal mortality, a convergence of new and persistent threats is “depriving millions of children of their potential.”
“This is a moment of both hope and deep concern,” said Unicef Representative Rana Flowers.
“Declines in child marriage and child mortality show what’s possible. But lead poisoning, rising C-section rates and increasing child labour are threatening the nation’s economic future.”
The survey — one of the largest of its kind, covering almost 63,000 households — shows that 38% of children aged 12–59 months and 8% of pregnant women have lead concentrations far above safe limits.
Dhaka is the worst affected, with 65% of children exposed. In a surprising reversal of common assumptions, the richest families recorded the highest exposure rates, with more than half of all affected children coming from the wealthiest quintile.
“Everyday products — cosmetics, utensils, toys — are poisoning children,” Flowers said.
Some locally produced eyeliners were found to contain up to 78% lead.
Experts warn that such exposure can cause irreversible cognitive damage, lower IQ, and reduce national productivity by billions of dollars annually.
Child labour rises sharply
Alongside toxic exposure, child labour has seen a troubling rise.
The rate has increased from 6.8% to 9.2% since 2019, pushing more than a million new children into hazardous work.
Violence inside the home also remains pervasive: 86% of children experienced some form of violent discipline, among the highest rates in South Asia.
Child marriage has declined from 51.4% to 47%, but nearly half of all girls are still married before turning 18.
Birth registration remains low at 59%, limiting children’s access to basic rights and services.
Psychologist Kazi Rumana Haque said that children raised in such environments “stop dreaming about their futures,” describing how poverty, stigma and lack of support push many toward drugs, exploitation or crime.
Abu Ahmed Faizul Kabir of Ain o Salish Kendra said Bangladesh risks “losing a generation to exploitation” unless enforcement, social-protection systems and economic safety nets improve.
Maternal, child health
The MICS findings show a troubling combination of progress and regression. Wasting among children has risen to 12.9% from 9.8% in 2019.
More than half of all mothers, 52.8%, suffer from anaemia.
The adolescent birth rate has climbed to 92 births per 1,000 girls, and neonatal mortality remains high at 22 deaths per 1,000 live births.
More than 75% of institutional deliveries now occur by C-section, raising concerns about overuse of surgical procedures and lack of reproductive-health counselling.
Flowers noted that 30% of girls did not understand menstruation when they first experienced it, an indicator of how severe gaps in adolescent health knowledge remain.
While sanitation coverage has improved to 73%, access to safely managed drinking water has fallen to 39.3%, leaving more than 106 million people reliant on contaminated sources.
Nearly half of water sources and over 80% of household water samples tested positive for E. coli.
Climate-linked disasters — cyclones, flooding, salinity intrusion — damaged more than 10% of water systems last year, worsening the crisis.
Although around 80% of children remain enrolled in primary school, attendance drops sharply at the secondary level.
Learning outcomes remain poor, with many students completing primary school without basic reading or math proficiency.
Unicef warns that the combined effect of child labour and non-learning is creating a “perfect storm” for long-term human-capital loss.
Dhaka’s streets reveal the harshest reality
Beyond national statistics, the lived reality in Dhaka paints an even bleaker picture.
On a single night, more than 1,000 children were found sleeping under flyovers, on pavements, beside markets and at major intersections.
At the Khamarbari roundabout in Farmgate, more than 30 children and families — including infants as young as three months — slept on bare concrete at 4am.
Many were visibly malnourished; others admitted to regular drug use.
Police described repeatedly detaining the same children without any long-term plan.
One officer recounted how a detained boy attempted suicide in custody, leaving police unsure how to respond or where to send him for help.
Government-run shelters, despite significant funding, remain severely underused.
At Kamalapur shelter, which is supposed to house 35 children, only seven were found during multiple visits.
The facilities were dirty, poorly supervised and lacked basic services.
At Sadarghat, children were seen bathing unsupervised in the river with no staff present.
NGO leaders say state services remain deeply inadequate, lacking updated data, coordination and child-friendly environments.
“These children are the nation’s assets,” said the executive director of Leedo.
“Without strong collaboration between the state and NGOs, their suffering will only deepen.”
Studies suggest that 3.4 million children in Bangladesh live in street-based conditions.
Many face harassment, violence and complete exposure to weather and exploitation.
A turning point Bangladesh can’t ignore
The Ministry of Social Welfare says it is expanding hotlines, shelters and protection programs,
but acknowledges shortages in skilled staff and weak monitoring mechanisms.
Meanwhile, international partners including SDC, the US Government, UNHCR, UNFPA and IEDCR have pledged support to translate MICS findings into urgent policy action.
Unicef warns that Bangladesh is at a critical crossroads.
Rising child labour, lead poisoning, malnutrition and unsafe water access are already imposing enormous economic costs.
“We are not yet honouring every child’s right to survive, grow and learn,” Flowers said.
“Bangladesh must invest urgently if it aims to reach upper-middle-income status without leaving millions of children behind.”
