Corporations, besides funding for child welfare, can help eliminate child labour, and ensure protection and safety of children in the business sector, said speakers at a roundtable yesterday.

The roundtable on role of private sector on child protection was organised by the Bangla daily Prothom Alo at its office in the capital.

Addressing the event, Shahidullah Azim, vice-president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), stated that they have already eliminated child labour in the garment industry through penalising factory owners who had employed children.  

“Similar initiatives from all quarters can significantly reduce child labour in the country,” he said.

Mobassher Hossain, former president of Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh said children in Dhaka are deprived of playgrounds due to unfettered land grabbing and unplanned urbanisation.

With high rises cropping up, the authorities could have saved a lot of space in the city to be used as playgrounds, he said, and mentioned that to have playgrounds all that is required are government directives and their implementations.

Monjurul Ahsan Bulbul, president of Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists, said if corporations collaborate with the media, then important social messages could be disseminated effectively.

In 2010, Bangladesh Bank asked all banks to open school banking branches aiming to get students involved in banking services to help them contribute to the economy through savings, said Jishan Kingshuk Haque, head of communication and service quality at Brac Bank.

Mohammad Sami Al Hafiz, chief communication officer at Mutual Trust Bank Limited, said the government should reduce tax on companies' spending under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

The event was moderated by Associate Editor at Prothom Alo Abdul Quaiyyum and supported by World Vision Bangladesh (WVB).

Stephen Haldar, group director at WVB; Rafez Alam Chowdhury, president of Bangladesh Garments Accessories and Packaging Manufacturers and Exporters Association; and Chandan Z Gomes, advocacy director of WVB, among others, spoke.