Govt moves to formulate action plan to eliminate child labour by 2030: Labour secretary
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The government has initiated a move to formulate a national action plan to eliminate child labour from the country by 2030, Labour Secretary Sanwar Jahan Bhuiyan said on Thursday.
Eradication of child labour requires coordinated interventions—particularly in hazardous sectors—alongside strengthened labour inspections and effective social safety net programmes for vulnerable families, he said.
Identifying poverty as the root cause of child labour, he noted that sustainable elimination is possible only when working children are brought under comprehensive social protection schemes.
Mr Bhuiyan was speaking while addressing the closing session of a two-day residential training on ‘Safe Work for Youth and Child Labour’ held on Thursday in Rajendrapur, Gazipur.
The labour secretary also stressed the importance of ensuring the quality and standard of labour inspections to guarantee decent workplaces in Bangladesh.
Expressing optimism, he said that labour inspectors are now more capable, vibrant, and efficient than before, and expressed confidence that the knowledge gained from the training would be translated into effective workplace-level implementation.
The residential training was jointly organised by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) under the Ministry of Labour and Employment.
The training was conducted under the Advancing Decent Work in Bangladesh Project, with the objective of strengthening institutional capacity to eliminate child labour and promote safe and healthy working conditions for young workers.
Around 50 participants—mainly mid- and senior-level labour inspectors and officials from DIFE—along with representatives from the labour ministry took part in the programme.
Throughout the two days, participants received in-depth orientation on decent work and fundamental principles and rights at work; national and international legal frameworks related to child labour; and recently ratified ILO Conventions 155, 187, and 190.