In 1998, the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated that 29 percent of children between 10 and 14 years in Bangladesh were working.¹²⁷ A child labor survey conducted in 1995 by the Bangladesh Bureau or Statistics in cooperation with ILO’s Bureau of Statistics (STAT) estimated that 19 percent (6.6 million) of children between the ages of 5 and 14 in Bangladesh were working; of these, 5.4 million children were between the ages of 10 and 14. Out of the total number of working children, boys account for 3.9 million and girls for 2.7 million. Almost 89 percent of these working children do not participate in schooling¹²⁸ and approximately 65 percent work between 9 and 14 hours per day.¹²⁹ Eighty-three percent of working children are in rural areas as compared to 17 percent in urban areas.

The ILO reports that children in Bangladesh are engaged in between 300 and 400 types of economic activities.¹³⁰ Seventy-one percent work in agriculture, forestry, and fishery, while less than 15 percent are sales and service workers.¹³¹

Large numbers of children work as domestic servants, as prostitutes, and in the shrimp and leather tanning industries. Other children work on tea and tobacco plantations, in the bidi¹³² and construction industries, and in carpentry, hotels, restaurants and small retail shops. Children also work as porters, transport workers and street vendors.¹³³ Many children are compelled to work at a very young age. This frequently results in mistreatment and abuse of children by employers, particularly those involved in domestic service.¹³⁴

An ILO study on hazardous child labor in Bangladesh identified at least 47 economic activities that were considered hazardous for children.¹³⁵ Among the areas listed as hazardous were automobile repair, the glass bangle bracelet industry, bidi rolling, construction, leather tanneries, match factories, print shops, the seafood industry, tea plantations, the transport sector, and informal service sectors including domestic servants, scavengers and weavers.¹³⁶

It is estimated that each year more than 20,000 women and children are trafficked from Bangladesh. Many are lured away with the false promises of good jobs or marriage, only to end up in bonded labor, menial jobs or prostitution.¹³⁷ In addition, children as young as 4 and 5 years old are trafficked from Bangladesh to the United Arab Emirates to work as camel jockeys.¹³⁸

Between the years of 1996 and 1997, the gross primary attendance rate was 111.8 percent, and the net primary attendance rate was 75.2 percent.¹³⁹ According to 1998 government figures, the gross primary enrollment rate for Bangladeshi children between the ages of 6 and 10 was 96 percent, and the net primary enrollment rate was 81.4 percent.¹⁴⁰ Boys accounted for 52 percent of the children (9.5 million) enrolled in primary school and girls for 48 percent (8.8 million). The dropout rate among these children was estimated to be 35 percent.¹⁴¹ Among the obstacles children face in obtaining an education are poorly trained teachers, lack of textbooks and teaching aids, and inadequate school classrooms and playing grounds. Lack of water and sanitation are also problems in schools.¹⁴² As of 1998, there were 79,722 primary level educational institutions in the country, including government, nongovernment, unregistered nongovernment, and satellite schools.¹⁴³

In Bangladesh, the legal minimum working age varies according to sector, as there is no law that uniformly prohibits the employment of children or sets a minimum age for employment. The 1938 Employment of Children Act and Rules of 1955 permit children as young as 12 years to be employed in leather tanning workshops and in the production of carpets, cement, matches, and fireworks, among other items. The minimum employment age for work in factories is 14 years; for work in mines and railways, the minimum age is 15 years. Work performed by children in agriculture, domestic work, and the informal sector is not covered by specific child labor laws. The Children Act of 1974 prohibits the employment of children for begging and the exploitation of children in brothels. Forced labor, including forced child labor, is prohibited by Bangladesh’s Constitution. Based on the Repression of Women and Children Prohibition Act of 2000, trafficking of women and children is an offense punishable by death or life imprisonment.¹⁴⁴

Child labor laws are seldom enforced outside of the garment export industry. Most child labor occurs in the informal sector where no inspections take place.¹⁴⁵ With a staff of 110 inspectors, the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments is responsible for inspection and enforcement of a host of labor laws, including those related to child labor, in approximately 18,000 factories. There are no reports of fines or prosecution being imposed on violators of child labor laws, nor have there been efforts to harmonize child labor laws with compulsory education laws.¹⁴⁶

The Government of Bangladesh ratified ILO Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor on March 12, 2001.¹⁴⁷ Bangladesh has also ratified the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, and on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict.¹⁴⁸

4. Addressing Child Labor and Promoting Schooling

Bangladesh became a member of the International Labor Organization’s International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC) in 1994. Since then, 75 action programs have been implemented, primarily targeting the worst forms of child labor through awareness raising, nonformal education, income-generating alternatives for families, and capacity building of partner organizations.¹⁴⁹

In July 1995, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers’ Association (BGMEA), the ILO, and UNICEF signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) aimed at eliminating child labor in the garment industry. The MOU partners established a workplace monitoring system and social protection program, including provision of educational opportunities for children removed from work. Funding has been provided from the U.S. Department of Labor to support the monitoring system. As a result of this program, the number of child workers in BGMEA factories has been significantly reduced from 43 percent in 1995 to 3 percent as of January 2001.¹⁵⁰ A second MOU was signed between the same parties on June 16, 2000, which in addition to reaffirming the agreements of the first MOU, commits the parties to develop a long term and sustainable response to monitoring child labor in the garment industry.¹⁵¹

In 2000, with funding from the U.S. Department of Labor, IPEC initiated a project targeting child labor in five hazardous industries: bidis , construction, leather tanneries, production of matches, and child domestic service. Bangladesh is also one of three countries participating in the ILO-IPEC South Asia Sub-Regional Programme to Combat Trafficking in Children for Exploitative Employment, which is also funded by the U.S. Department of Labor.¹⁵²

The Bangladesh Ministry of Labor, with the support of USAID, is implementing child labor demonstration projects in selected hazardous industries.¹⁵³ Additionally, the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics conducted a labor force survey in 2000, which incorporated a questionnaire on child labor. The questionnaire was intended to update the 1995-96 National Sample Survey of Child Labor in Bangladesh.¹⁵⁴

In 1991 the Government of Bangladesh made primary education compulsory for children between ages of 6 and 10 years. Basic primary education is free in Bangladesh. However, parents must bear certain costs, such as transport, uniforms and school supplies.¹⁵⁵

In order to increase primary school enrollment, the government, in collaboration with the World Food Program,¹⁵⁶ has implemented a Food for Education Program since 1993. More than 2.2 million children from 17,403 schools have benefited from this program, which gives parents wheat or rice in exchange for sending their children to school.¹⁵⁷ In addition, a stipend program began in April 2000, mandating that the government give 20 taka (about 40 cents) a month to the mothers of poor children to send them to school.¹⁵⁸ Bangladesh is a signatory to the World Declaration on Education for All (EFA) and as a follow-up has a National Action Plan for EFA.¹⁵⁹

The government also works with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on the Basic Education for Hard to Reach Urban Children’s Project, which provides 2-year basic literacy education to working children living in urban slums.¹⁶⁰

In 1996-97, the government’s budget allocation for primary education was 1.28 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).¹⁶¹

The following bar chart presents selected government expenditures expressed as a percentage of gross national product (GNP). The chart considers government expenditures on education, the military, health care, and debt service. Where figures are available, the portion of government spending on education that is specifically dedicated to primary education is also shown.¹⁶²

While it is difficult to draw conclusions or discern clear correlations between areas of government expenditure as a percentage of GNP and the incidence of child labor in a country, this chart and the related tables presented in Appendix B (Tables 14 through 19) offer the reader a basis for considering the relative emphasis placed on each spending area by the governments in each of the 33 countries profiled in the report.

¹²⁷ World Development Indicators 2000 (Washington, D.C.: World Bank, 2000).

¹²⁸ Report on the National Sample Survey of Child Labor in Bangladesh, 1995-96 (Dhaka: Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics/ILO-IPEC, October 1996), 44-47 [hereinafter National Sample Survey Report ].

¹²⁹ Child Labor Situation in Bangladesh: A Rapid Assessment (Dhaka: ILO and UNICEF, Wahidur Rahman, 1997), ix [hereinafter Child Labor Situation in Bangladesh ].

¹³⁰ Ibid.

¹³¹ National Sample Survey Report at 47.

¹³² A type of small, hand-rolled cigarette.

¹³³ Child Labor Situation in Bangladesh at ix, 23.

¹³⁴ Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2000 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State, 2000), Section 5 [hereinafter Country Reports 2000—Bangladesh ].

¹³⁵ Hazardous Child Labor in Bangladesh (Dhaka: ILO and the Government of Bangladesh, Wahidur Rahman, 1996), 3-4.

¹³⁶ International Labor Organization, International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC), “Preventing and Eliminating Worst Forms of Child Labor in Selected Formal and Informal Sectors” (Geneva: ILO- IPEC, August 2000), 3-4 [hereinafter “Preventing and Eliminating Worst Forms of Child Labor.”]

¹³⁷ Country Reports 2000—Bangledesh at Section 6f.

¹³⁸ U.S. Embassy–Abu Dhabi, unclassified telegram no. 003162, May 29, 2000.

¹³⁹ USAID, GED 2000: Global Education Database [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000.

¹⁴⁰ Year 2000 Assessment, Country Report, Bangladesh (Dhaka: Government of Bangladesh, Primary and Mass Education Division, 1999), 49 [hereinafter Year 2000 Assessment ]. ( Note: Unclassified telegram Dakar 002999 cites Ministry of Education figures for school enrollment at 86 percent and only 50 percent completion rates up to age 10).

¹⁴¹ Primary Education in Bangladesh, Directorate of Primary Education, Primary and Mass Education Division, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, November 1999, 13, 16, 18 [hereinafter Primary Education in Bangladesh ].

¹⁴² U.S. Embassy-Dhaka, unclassified telegram no. 002999, December 19, 2000 [hereinafter unclassified telegram, 002999].

¹⁴³ Primary Education in Bangladesh at 15.

¹⁴⁴ Unclassified telegram 002999.

¹⁴⁵ Ibid.

¹⁴⁶ Interview with Latifur Rahman, deputy secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of Bangladesh, by U.S. Department of Labor official, June 29, 2000.

¹⁴⁷ For a list of which countries profiled in Chapter 3 have ratified ILO Conventions No. 138 and No. 182, see Appendix C.

¹⁴⁸ For a full list of countries that have ratified Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, see (www.unicef.org/crc/opsx-tableweb.htm). For a full list of countries that have ratified Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, see (www.unicef.org/crc/opcac-tableweb.htm).

¹⁴⁹ “Preventing and Eliminating Worst Forms of Child Labor” at 12.

¹⁵⁰ ILO-IPEC, “Continuing the Child Labour Monitoring and Education Components, and Prepare for the Integration into a Broader Project in the Garment Export Industry in Bangladesh” (Geneva, April 2001), 2.

¹⁵¹ “The Second Memorandum of Understanding (MOU-2) between the BGMEA, ILO, and UNICEF Regarding the Monitoring to Keep Garment Factories Child-Labor Free, the Education Programme for Child Workers, and the Elimination of Child Labor,” Geneva, June 16, 2000.

¹⁵² “Preventing and Eliminating Worst Forms of Child Labor” and “South Asian Sub-Regional Programme to Combat Trafficking of Children for Exploitative Employment in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka,” February 2000.

¹⁵³ Interview with Nishat Chowdhury, Trafficking and Child Labor Advisor, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), U.S. Embassy-Dhaka, by U.S. Department of Labor official, June 25, 2000.

¹⁵⁴ The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics is currently processing the data that they expect to release sometime in 2001. Interview with Zobdul Hoque, project director, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, Government of Bangladesh, by U.S. Department of Labor official, June 25, 2000.

¹⁵⁵ Unclassified telegram 002999.

¹⁵⁶ “Preventing and Eliminating Worst Forms of Child Labor” at 9.

¹⁵⁷ Primary Education in Bangladesh at 17.

¹⁵⁸ Interview with Delwar Hossain, deputy chief of planning, Primary and Mass Education Division, Ministry of Education, Government of Bangladesh, by U.S. Department of Labor official, June 25, 2001.

¹⁵⁹ Year 2000 Assessment at 23.

¹⁶⁰ United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), “Basic Education for Hard to Reach Urban Children: A Project of the Government of Bangladesh and UNICEF” (Dhaka: UNICEF) [document on file].

¹⁶¹ Unclassified telegram 002999.

¹⁶² See Chapter 1, Section C, 5, for a fuller discussion of the information presented in the box. See also Appendix B for further discussion, and Tables 14 through 19 for figures on government expenditure over a range of years.