On 24 June 2019, Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), with support of Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF) organised aconsultation event on the occasion of ‘World Day against Child Labour (WDACL) 2019’, at CIRDAP Auditorium.

World-Day-against-Child-Labour-Meeting

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World-Day-against-Child-Labour-Cultural-Programme

WDACL was first observed a century back on 12 June 1919, by the International Labour Organization (ILO) to focus on the global extent of child labour and the action and efforts required in order to eliminate it. The theme of this year was ‘Children Shouldn’t Work in Fields, but on Dreams’. The special guests attending the event were Rezaul Haque, Motiaur Rahman, Roxana Chowdhury, Mostafizur Rahman, and Rafeza Shaheen. The chief guest of the event was Aroma Dutta, MP and Vice president of PRIP Trust. The event was moderated and facilitated by Sheepa Hafiza, Executive Director, ASK.

At the inception, Sheepa Hafiza shared that, “When children aged between 13 and 14 years old often commit suicide, the employers play it off as accidents.” The child labour situation, given its seriousness and significance in Bangladesh, needs to be addressed as priority. This event was attended by children working in hazardous work places, their parents and respective employers. They shared their experiences and context on this matter. Khondokar Shahidul Alam, Social Welfare, suggested that common awareness of all sects of
people is foremost important. Rafeza Shaheen, Program Coordinator, Manusher Jonno Foundation, opined that implementation of ILO convention and laws and policies have been neglected. Monitoring of the use of legal instrument is important for the government to see a child labour free Bangladesh. Md. Mostafizur Rahman, Deputy Inspector, Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishment, added that the Government of Bangladesh is working towards the SDG target 8.7 calling for an end to child labour in all its forms by 2025. He then said, “We need to change the employer’s mindset; employers engage child workers and take full advantage of those who are in extreme poverty.” Roxana Chowdhury, Deputy Director, Department of Labour emphasised that the existing laws related to children and labour rights needs improvement and effective implementation. Aroma Dutta, MP and Vice President, PRIP Trust, concluded that Laws in Bangladesh areneither known by the greater population, nor implemented. She suggested increasing the number of Vocational training institutions should be the prime step in order to address this gap.” She
expects coordinated efforts of government and non-government organizations to eliminate child labour by 2025. Sheepa Hafiza concluded the event by thanking all of the participants for their valuable opinions.
She told, ASK is working towards attaining SDG target 8.7 to remove all forms of child labour by 2025.