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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


 
Last update: 21 March 2005 ^ top