On World Day Against Child Labour, experts have emphasised that birth registration serves as a critical shield against child labour and the exploitation of children.
This year, the day is being observed with the theme “Red Card to Child Labour: Fair Play for Children, Decent Work for Adults,” calling for the strengthening of effective policies to protect children, according to a press release.
Birth registration is the primary step in ensuring a child’s identity, protection of rights, and access to state services.
Conversely, the lack of registration can push a child into labour. According to current data, the average birth registration rate in Bangladesh is 50 per cent, while the rate among children under five is only 40 per cent. This leaves a vast number of children without a state-recognized identity, making age verification difficult and increasing the risk of exploitation in the labour market.
Experts recommend amending the Birth and Death Registration Act 2004 to place the legal responsibility for registration on all healthcare institutions. If implemented, approximately 67 per cent of children born in the country’s healthcare centers would be automatically registered.
This reform would rapidly increase registration rates and significantly advance child labour prevention and the protection of child rights.
Furthermore, it would accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8.7, which aims to end child labour and all forms of exploitation, and meet the Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) decade target of 100 percent registration by 2030.
In a statement marking World Day Against Child Labour 2026, ABM Zubair, Executive Director of the research and advocacy organization PROGGA, said, “Ensuring birth registration for every child through legal reform will reduce child labour, exploitation, and deprivation”.
