Child labour is one of the most important child rights issue in Bangladesh. It is an outcome of poverty, frequent disaster, poor quality and access to education and poor laws and lack of their implementation. There are various estimations of child labour in Bangladesh, ranging from 6 to 20 million found both in rural and urban areas, also in formal and informal sectors. The Child Labour theme programme of Save the Children Sweden Denmark has an objective to reduce hazardous child labour among existing child labourers and those who are at the risk of becoming child labourers. It works to ensure child labourers having more access to relevant and quality services like education, skill training, job placement and health facilities provided by different service providers for their safe livelihood and development opportunities. To fulfill this objective eight partner organisations of Child Labour are working in different areas, mostly urban, representing different approaches to work with Child Labour problems. In 2007 a project was introduced under the theme of Child labour to stop children migration from rural to urban area for labour by creating alternative lively hood options. Beside, addressing the micro level issue, macro level issues have been on board to reach ultimate destination of Child Labour Thematic programmme such as National Child Labour Policy and Code of Conduct for the Child Labour Employers in Informal Sector, Corporate Social Responsibility and Child Labour.
Presently Save the Children Sweden Denmark is working with eight partner organizations on Child labour theme. The partners are:
1. Ain –O- Salish Kendra (ASK)
2. Community Participation and Development (CPD)
3. Nari Maytree
4. Social and Economic Enhancement Programme (SEEP)
5. Society for Underprivileged Families (SUF)
6. INCIDIN Bangladesh
7. UCEP Bangladesh
8. ASK & SUF for Source Area project
[Click here for partners' profile]