About us
Our mission is to end child labour in Bangladesh. This won’t happen overnight but we are committed to addressing the issue with a holistic approach.
Our mission
The International Labour Organization (ILO), a subsidiary of the United Nations, defines child labour as “work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential, and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development.”
In Bangladesh alone, there are reported to be around 3.2m children under the age of 14 forced into domestic and hazardous labour. Our mission is to end child labour in Bangladesh. This won’t happen overnight but we are committed to addressing the issue by doing the following:
- Ensuring all child labourers have access to education
- Supporting families out of poverty so that they send their children to school rather than work
- Changing mindsets on child labour within the public sphere by lobbying the government, and working with businesses and communities.
What do we do?
Our approach is multifaceted.
Read below to see how we are working to end child labour in Bangladesh.
1. EDUCATION
Every child has the right to learn.
We provide opportunities for child labourers to still have access to education with a view to encouraging them to get back into a school environment or undertake vocational training. Currently, we provide this access through our education centres and our doorstep learning programme.
2. FAMILY SUPPORT
Breaking economic barriers.
We need to attack family poverty – the root cause of child labour. By providing financial support through business grants, families have a stable income and with that, economic barriers of sending their children to school are removed.
3. ADVOCACY
Changing mindsets.
We need to collectively address the understanding of child labour and the inequalities in society that allow for it. We are advocates in Bangladesh; building relationships with the government, businesses and the public as a whole to change attitudes towards children in domestic and hazardous labour.
OUR IMPACT
Child labourers enrolled in our projects
Children progressed out of hazardous work
Families supported in Sylhet
Teachers trained in Bangladesh
Why support our work?
Our ambition is to do everything possible to contribute to ending child labour. The programmes that we run in Sylhet, Bangladesh are tried and tested and shown to work. They enable working children to enjoy education and imagine a different life, full of choices. We could do so much more by extending relationships with partners and access to more funding.
Our work is holistic
Our approach touches on every aspect of family life, from running part-time teaching sessions for working children, supporting their parents into employment and giving them business grants to providing access to medical resources and much more.
Our impact is significant
To date:
- Over 2,333 working children have participated in learning programmes
- Nearly 54% of them have left hazardous work or domestic labour
- Over 745 families have received small employment grants, food packages, access to medical prescriptions and attended awareness-raising sessions.
Our teaching is effective
Teaching is in our DNA. Given our background in learning, we know the benefits of strength-based participatory methods. In our education programmes for working children, we ensure learning is enjoyable and builds the confidence, knowledge and skills of all.
Our funds are put to good use
We are scrupulous about the way we spend our limited funds. We have virtually no administrative costs in the UK and income from our teacher training programmes contributes to our work with working children and their families. Our Trustees demonstrate their belief in the charity by donating what they can afford to the charity.
We punch above our weight
We’re a team of ten but we are ambitious is doing all that we can to end child labour use education for change.
Meet our team
Mohammed A Sayem
Executive Director
Fahmida Sultana
AD - Finance & Admin
Arnab Mazumder
AD - Teaching & Learning
Tanzina Akter Muckta
Project Coordinator
Meet our trustees
Annette Ruth Zera
UKBET Founder & Chair
Karen Dudley
UKBET Trustee
Nadia Shahanaz Hussain
UKBET Trustee
Ranu Miah
UKBET Trustee
Redwan Ahmed
UKBET Trustee
Donate and support our work
Education can change lives.