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National Legislation and Policies Against Child Labour in Bangladesh
Legislation
Existing legislation is antiquated and fragmented and deals only with children working in the formal sector. There is no single code or law dealing with this area. Cooperation between the Ministry of Labour and Employment and the ILOs International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) will include a review of existing child labour laws with a view to removing anomalies, fixing a uniform minimum age for admission to work at 14 years (18 years for hazardous occupations), and prohibiting the employment of children in hazardous operations in shops and other establishments.
Minimum age for admission to employment in the formal sector
There are a number of statutes, which stipulate the minimum age at which children can legally work in certain sectors. These are:
(a) Mines (Mines Act 1923) – 15 years (with medical certificate of fitness);
(b) Shops and other commercial establishments (Shops and Establishments Act, 1965): 12 years;
(c) Factories (Factories Act, 1965): 14 years (with medical certificate of fitness);
(d) Railways and ports (Employment of Children Act, 1938): 15 years;
(e) Workshops where hazardous work is performed (Employment of Children Act, 1938): 12 years;
(f) Tea gardens (Tea Plantation Labour Ordinance, 1962): 15 years.
Regulation of hours and conditions of employment
Broadly speaking, the existing legislation requires that non-prohibited work by children in factories, on the railways, in ports, shops, commercial and industrial establishments, and mines take place between the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. The Factories Act additionally imposes a limit of five hours work per day for children and prohibits work in more than one factory on a given day.
Hazardous work
The Employment of Children Act, 1938, prohibits children under 12 years from working in workshops where any of a number of listed processes is carried on. Though not explicitly described as such, these processes are all hazardous. They include weaving, tanning and the manufacture of bidis, soap, carpets, matches, explosives and fireworks. However, an important exemption to this prohibition is made in the case of family owned and family run workshops not using outside hired labour. The Factories Act, 1965, prevents children under 18 years of age from working on dangerous machines without proper instruction on the dangers, and necessary precautions, in addition to training or supervision. All forms of forced labour are prohibited under the Constitution. Unlawful compulsory labour is also an offence under the Penal Code 1860.
Bangladesh is a signatory to the:
ILO Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (No. 182);
ILO Forced Labour Convention (No. 29);
ILO Abolition of Forced Labour Convention (No. 105);
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).
Government policies and programmes
The situation regarding child labour in Bangladesh had been fairly understood during the 1990s by both the Government and civil society as more research studies were done and disseminated; most importantly, several initiatives to combat the problem were taken by the Government of Bangladesh. In 1990, Bangladesh became one of the signatories to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the ensuing Summit Declaration and Plan of Action. In 1990, Bangladesh passed the Primary Education Act and, in 1993, it established the compulsory primary education system for children aged 6 years and above. In collaboration with the World Food Program (WFP), the Government started the Food for Education programme in 1993 with an aim to attract poor children and their families towards primary education. With the setting-up of the Primary and Mass Education Division in 1992 and the Directorate of Non-Formal Education in 1996, the Government introduced another remedy to tackle the high dropout and low attendance rates in the formal school system. This trend provided a sustainable solution to the primary education problem and made a substantial impact on solving the child labour issue.
In March 2001, the Government of Bangladesh ratified the ILO Convention No. 182 and, in December 2001, the Ministry of Labour and Employment took the initiative to begin developing a national policy on child labour that would constitute a policy foundation for the IPEC Time-Bound Programme (TBP) and contribute to the implementation of Bangladeshs obligations under the ILO Convention No. 182. A draft policy developed in consultation with national stakeholders is being examined by the Ministry.
On a more practical level, the Ministry of Labour and Employment is currently implementing a USAID funded project titled and aimed at Eradication of Hazardous Child Labour in Bangladesh. Interventions under this “demonstration” project, which covers areas in Dhaka and Chittagong Municipal Corporations, include non-formal education and skills training for working children and micro credit support for their guardians/parents.
UNICEF