BANGLADESH: CHILD LABOR UPDATE 2005

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DHAKA 004291

SIPDIS

DOL/ILAB FOR TINA MCCARTER
STATE FOR DRL/IL-FOR LAUREN HOLT

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD PHUM SOCI PGOV BG USAID
SUBJECT: BANGLADESH: CHILD LABOR UPDATE 2005

REF: STATE 143552


1. Following is an update and review of the child labor
report pegged to questions posed in reftel.

a) Bangladesh has not promulgated new laws or regulations on
minimum age/s for employment since ratification of ILO
Convention 182. In June 2003, the government listed 11
occupations as the worst forms of child labor: sexual acts,
smuggling, bidi (a form of local cigarette),battery and
chemical factories, glass factories, tanneries, salt
factories, transport, rag picking, welding, arms and drug
trafficking, and slavery in any forms.

b) ILO and child rights NGO leaders believe that Bangladesh
has adequate laws and regulations for the implementation and
enforcement of proscriptions against the worst forms of
child labor, although some laws/regulations may need
updating. Implementation of the laws and regulations,
however, remains poor in many cases. The office of the
Chief Inspector of Factories under the Department of Labor
is primarily responsible for implementing and enforcing
child labor laws and regulations. Inspectors have the
authority to inspect and seize factories, file cases, and
impose fine. The total number of inspectors at present is
88, 46 for factories and 42 for shops and establishments,
while the number of registered factories is about 21,500.
According to local ILO officials, a joint monitoring team
comprising officials from Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers
Exporters Association (BGMEA),ILO, and the BDG Office of
the Chief Inspectors of Factories regularly inspects over
4000 member factories of BGMEA. From January-July 2005, the
joint team found nine child laborers working in five
factories, and each factory was fined the local currency
equivalent of $100, the maximum allowable under the law.
The government trains the inspectors in cooperation with
child rights NGOs.

c) The BDG has worked with NGOs and international
organizations to launch campaigns against child labor in
hazardous activities, promoted education for children, and
geared up counter-trafficking monitoring and awareness
campaigns. It is cooperating with the ILO and NGOs in their
efforts to withdraw children from the street and work and
place them in schools. The Bangladesh government provides
cash incentives to families who send children to schools.
According to 2002 BDG statistics, 97.5 per cent of the
school-age children were enrolled in primary schools,
although there are no reliable government figures for
student actually attending classes. Under Bangladesh law,
children must attend school through the fifth grade. The
current government policy is to implement compulsory primary
education by the year 2015.

d) The Ministry of Labor and Employment has drafted a
comprehensive policy aimed at the elimination of the worst
forms of child labor in consultation with labor and child
rights organizations. But the government is yet to approve
and officially promulgate the policy.

e) Labor and child rights activists report that the BDG is
getting more engaged in child labor issues with increased
awareness campaigns. According to ILO officials, working
children are still conspicuous in all aspects of life in
both urban and rural Bangladesh. The withdrawal of child
laborers from the apparel sector to provide them basic
education and to some extent, vocational training, under the
joint auspices of ILO, UNICEF and BGMEA has been touted as
an exemplary program internationally. The fact remains,
however, that the apparel children were involved in non-
hazardous work and made up only one per cent of the total
child labor force in Bangladesh.


2. Corrections/Updates on 2003 text:

Government Policies and programs to Eliminate the Worst
Forms of Child Labor:

The Ministry of Labor and Employment has implemented
projects to combat child labor in selected industries with
support from USDA and not from USAID.

In 2003, Bangladesh ratified the Convention on Prevention
and Combating Trafficking in Women and Children for
prostitution that it had signed with other South Asian
Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries in
January 2002.

Since mid-June, the BDG has significantly stepped up
monitoring of human trafficking activities and the
prosecution of cases related to trafficking in children and
women.

Incidence and Nature of Child Labor

Post is not aware of any cases of sale of organs of children
trafficked from Bangladesh. There is a perception among
officials and rights activists that the incidence of
trafficking in children and women is decreasing, in part
because the BDG increased its counter-trafficking efforts in
June 2004.
CHAMMAS