Bangladesh

Government committed to ensuring education, safety and health of children: PM Hasina Child Labour
PID Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina

Government committed to ensuring education, safety and health of children: PM Hasina

Bangladesh Live News | @banglalivenews | 12 Jun 2021, 11:00 am

Dhaka, June 12: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said her government is committed to ensuring education, safety and health of future generations of the country. Bangladesh has ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the ILO Convention on the Risk of Child Labour. We have formulated the 'National Child Labor Elimination Policy-2010' with the aim of eliminating child labor. He made the remarks in a message on the occasion of World Day Against Child Labour on Saturday (June 12).

The Prime Minister said Bangladesh, like other countries in the world, is observing 'World Day Against Child Labour' on June 12. The theme of this day is 'Call of Mujib Borsho, End of Child Labour' which is very timely.

"To achieve the SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) targets, the country needs to be free from all forms of child labor by 2025. With the SDGs in mind, the term of the National Action Plan has been fixed till 2025. The National Council for Child Labour Welfare is working to implement this action plan. To ensure the rights and protection of children engaged in domestic work, we have formulated the 'Domestic Worker Protection and Welfare Policy-2015'," the Prime Minister said.

"The Ministry of Labor and Employment is working to increase the capacity of divisional, district and upazila committees to eliminate child labor. So far, a total of eight sectors have been declared child labor free. The list has been published identifying 38 types of work that are at risk for children, and the list is being updated. Vocational and technical education is being provided by withdrawing children engaged in hazardous work," she added.

The Prime Minister said Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman enacted the Children's Act in 1974 and made primary education compulsory. The present Awami League government has formulated the National Child Policy-2011, Children's Act 2013, Child Marriage Prevention Act 2017 with various development and protection activities. Programs are also being implemented to celebrate National and International Children's Day, rehabilitate disadvantaged street children and develop children with special needs.

She said the Awami League government is determined to make the beloved motherland a safe haven for children. Students are being provided free textbooks at the beginning of the year. About 100% of the children are going to school. As a result of timely steps taken by the government, the number of children engaged in child labour survey in 2013 has come down to 1.7 million. Various programs are being implemented to eradicate child labor. With the successful implementation of these programs, it will be possible to eliminate child labour from the country through the joint efforts of all.