Speakers at a 'Roundtable Conference on Child Labour' In the city yesterday called for building a social movement to rescue the under-14 children from hazardous occupations.
They also called for launching a campaign to protect rights of working children till total elimination of child labour in the country.
The Roundtable was organised by the Media Group for Child Rights with support from the UNICEF. Industries and Commerce Minister Tofael Ahmed Invited the discussion which was participated by State Minister for Labour M A Mannan. BGMEA president Mostafa Golam Qvddus^,^ politicians, academicians, government officials, representatives of UNICEF, ILO and USIS, NGO activists and a good number of journalists from the print and the electronic media.
About 63 lakh children of 5-14 age group are non engaged in economic activities that deprive them of the right to education. the conference was told.
As a member country of SAARC, Bangladesh is committed to eliminate hazardous child labour' by 2000 and 'all sorts of child labour' by the year 2010.
It was disclosed in the conference that from October 1 next the government would start enrolling some 81,000 hard-to-reach' working children in 2,700 education centres, set up by NGOs, under a 'Non-Formal Education Project' in Dhaka.
Md Golam Mostafa Talukder, a Project Director of the Directorate of Non-Formal Education (DNFE). said that 1,62.000 working children would be brought under this project during the current financial year. Another 3.51,000 hard-to-reach’ working children would be brought under the project in six divisional cities in phases, he added.
Presenting a paper in the conference Dr Wahidur
Rahman, National Programme Coordinator of ILO-IPEC (International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour). Bangladesh, said that educating the working children would definitely be a good step in eliminating child labour.
Tofael Ahmed, referred to the government's National Plan of Action on Child Labour' and said strict enforcement of laws should be ensured but "not at the cost of miseries of poor families which depend heavily on income-support from children."
Minister of State ior Labour and Manpower. M A Mandan. t said, bothjfpreventive and.curative measures" should be taken to gradually eliminate child labour from the country.
General secretary of Communist Party of Bangladesh Mujahidul Islam Selim blamed the government and garments factory owners for frequent fire incidents and deaths of workers in garments factories.
In response. BGMEA president Mostafa Golam Quddus said, "We are now taking punitive actions to check such incidents'.
Barrister Rabeya Bhuiyan. MP. Prof Mahmuda Islam of Dhaka University. Prof Ahmedullah Mia. Executive Director of UCEP, Hasan Shariar, Special Correspondent of The Ittefaq, Dr Monika Sharma, officer-in-charge, and Samphe Lhalungpa. project officer of education section. UNICEF Robert Kerr. Deputy Director of USIS. J K Baral and Rubina Hashmy of UNICEF, Akky De Kort of ILO-IPEC, Zahurul Alam of VOA (Voice of America), Aminul Islam of Shishu Adhikar Forum' and S M Shafiqul Amin Ferdousi, gresident of Media Group for hild Rights were, among others. who took part in the discussion. moderated by journalist and columnist Zaglul Ahmed Chowdhury.