124. Baseline Study of the Bangladesh Child Labourer Support Project (Phase 1.5)

With co-funding support from ChorogUsan for Children (CUFC), Educo Bangladesh is implementing the Bangladesh Child Labourer Support Project (Phase 1.5) in partnership with the Eco-Social Development Organization (ESDO) to improve access to education, protection, and skills development opportunities for children engaged in hazardous labour in the urban slums of Dhaka.

In order to provide evidence-based implementation and establish benchmark values for project indicators, CRD was entrusted to conduct the baseline assessment. The assessment examined the prevalence and characteristics of hazardous child labour, barriers to education and skills development, household socioeconomic vulnerabilities, and existing community and institutional child protection mechanisms. It also assessed the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of children, families, employers, and community stakeholders regarding child rights, child labour prevention, and access to support services.

The study adopted a mixed-method approach, combining quantitative household and child-level surveys with qualitative methods, including Key Informant Interviews (KIIs), Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), and In-depth Interviews (IDIs) & stakeholder consultations. Led by Md Mokhlesur Rahman, PhD, a multidisciplinary team with expertise in child protection, education, gender, social research, and statistics, the study generated robust baseline evidence to inform project implementation, monitoring, learning, and future evaluation.