CLIMB Project’s Public Awareness Campaign Takes to the Air in Bangladesh
“Radio Today” Broadcasts Information about Community-Based Approach to Fighting Child Labor
A Bangladesh FM radio station broadcast a three-part series featuring the U.S. Department of Labor’s Child Labor Improvements in Bangladesh (CLIMB) project, showcasing CLIMB’s important work with local civil society organizations, the government, media and the private sector to address harmful child labor practices in Bangladesh’s dried fish sector (DFS).
The shows, which aired in February-March 2021 in the Cox’s Bazar region, included both live and recorded interviews with local partners and CLIMB staff including project director Zaman Khan and Tanvir Sharif, CLIMB’s civic engagement and capacity development manager. The campaign informed both media and the general public about the scope and severity of the plight of children forced to labor under harsh and abusive conditions in Bangladesh’s lucrative fish sector.
The first episode, a talk show with a Radio Today FM 89.6 host broadcast on Facebook Live, aired on Feb. 11, 2021. It included discussions of data compiled and analyzed by CLIMB’s local research partner about child labor, as well as the important role of media in raising awareness about the problem and encouraging community leaders and government to act. The second episode, aired on Feb. 28, 2021, comprised a pre-recorded Public Service Announcement, produced by CLIMB’s local media partner, aimed at raising awareness of the harmful effects of child labor on the physical and mental health of youth, as well as the damaging developmental and educational impacts.
The final episode, another Facebook Live talk show, aired on Bangladesh’s National Children’s Day, March 17, 2021, and presented information about CLIMB’s successful collaboration with motivated and effective local partner organizations, which are now connected, coordinating and engaging government to lead efforts to reduce the prevalence of child labor in the DFS.
The radio campaign has reached an estimated 12,000 listeners with information and a call to action for continued, coordinated, community-wide collaboration to protect vulnerable children and prevent harmful child labor practices in Bangladesh.