IPEC Action in Bangladesh
The National Steering Committee (NSC), constituted under the provisions of the Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) signed in 1994, includes members from the Ministry of Labour and Employment,
the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs, the Ministry of Social Welfare,
the Ministry of Textile Manufacture, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
the NGO Affairs Bureau, employers' and workers' organizations, the ILO, and UNICEF.
IPEC activities in Bangladesh officially started in 1995 with the launch of the country programme. The
overall development objective of the IPEC country programme in Bangladesh during the first stage (1995/
99) was to identify good strategies and workable models to combat child labour and to build the capacity
of the Government, employers, and workers' organizations, NGOs, and other social partners to deal with
the problems of child labour and its gradual elimination from society. The specific objective was the
creation of a congenial socioeconomic environment in the country. This was in line with the ILO country
objectives in Bangladesh, i.e. to protect working people by promoting and realizing fundamental principles
and rights at work and to eliminate child labour from the country. The interventions initiated to achieve
this included first of all an analysis of the child labour situation in Bangladesh. Based on this, IPEC
developed strategies and models to determine what interventions could contribute to combating child
labour effectively. Interventions varied from preventing children from entering the labour market to
withdrawing children from hazardous work and finding ways to rehabilitate them; monitoring of
workplaces; raising awareness and capacity building of the partner organizations. Successful measures
in tackling child labour in one hazardous occupation are likely to have a multiplier effect that will ultimately
benefit children working in other dangerous work.
During this time, 75 action programmes have been implemented under the IPEC country programme
in Bangladesh through the Government, NGOs, and employers' and workers' organizations. So far, more
than 50,000 children have benefited directly or indirectly from these programmes. During the course of
this first stage, several modalities were developed in addressing the child labour issue effectively. The
sectoral approach, tested in the garments industry through the project, Monitoring and Verification of
Child Labour in the Bangladesh Garments Industry, proved to be successful in many ways, as it managed
to create awareness within the sector against the use of children in hazardous occupations. At the same
time, the project generated moral pressure on the employers of the sector for the removal and subsequent
rehabilitation of the children. The project is now in Phase III.
During 2000, the many small action programmes of the 1998/99 biennium were phased out and the
implementation of 14 larger action programmes for the 2000/01 biennium started. Since the beginning
of 2003, the IPEC country programme has already phased out all smaller pilot intervention programmes.
The IPEC programme in Bangladesh has now broadened its focus from small-scale pilot interventions
to larger projects that cover an entire sector, a particular geographical area or a combination of several
sectors in a geographical region. Three large projects have been launched at the beginning of
Phase II in 2000, with more focused and comprehensive action in addressing the worst forms of child
labour in various hazardous sectors. In addition, the preparatory phase of the Time-Bound Programme
(TBP) was launched in March 2004.
Overview of ongoing projects
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