Target 8.7 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals has called for an end to child labor in all its forms by 2025. However, ILO has mentioned that simply maintaining the current rate of progress would leave 121 million children still engaged in child labor by this critical target date. This gap between expectation and reality raises a serious question - why are we failing to address child labor? This question gains further significance when we consider the issue of youth unemployment. Quite interestingly, in many countries where child labor remains a big challenge, the rate of youth unemployment remains high too. It indicates the interrelationship between these two problems, often referred to as the twin challenges of child labor and youth employment. In Bangladesh, according to 2023 reports, the number of children engaged in child labor stands nearly at 1.8 million and more than 2.1 million individuals aged 15-29 have been found unemployed. In early 2021, I started an initiative to promote self-paced teenage employment in the digital economy in Bangladesh and have been involved in this space for the last 3 years.
While studies have been conducted on the twin challenges of child labor and youth employment in the Arab and the African region, studying it in the context of Bangladesh in 2024-25 may be especially meaningful, as the country experiences comparatively high per capita GDP and is set to graduate out of the group of least developed countries (LDCs) on November 24, 2026. This phase of a potentially major economic transition along with the current political environment in Bangladesh may provide unique insights about the social, economic and civic ambition of the young nation. Moreover, the current government’s announcement of Smart Bangladesh Vision 2041 may give a unique opportunity to explore how the country aims to upskill its huge young population and utilize its potential to achieve the UN Agenda 2030. Special attention may be paid to the recent change in the national curriculum for grade 6-10 and the scope for enhancement of youth civic engagement.
Since the research topic is very comprehensive, my initial research question is - how can Bangladesh tackle the twin challenges of child labor and youth employment in alignment with the UN 2030 Agenda? The research may pay special attention to identifying the gaps in Official Development Assistance aka development aid in financing solutions for NEET youth population and accelerating multilateral coalitions by leveraging civic engagement.