Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2025, published 114th ILC session (2026)

Indigenous and Tribal Populations Convention, 1957 (No. 107) - Bangladesh (Ratification: 1972)

The Committee notes the observations of the Trade Union Committee of International Labor Standards (TU-ILS Committee), received on 11 October 2024.

Article 3 of the Convention. Protection of indigenous persons, property and labour. Climate change. The Committee notes that, in its 2023 report, the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change indicated that climate change is affecting the livelihoods of indigenous peoples, making it difficult to carry out their traditional practices. Impacts from climate change have included, for example, landslides from excessive rain and lack of access to fresh water due to droughts in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), changes in plant flowering along the coast, or the disappearance of many of the plants and animals that indigenous peoples rely upon for food and medicines. The Special Rapporteur also indicated that deforestation continues at an alarming rate, with many logging enterprises owned by influential governmental officials, and is exacerbating landslides in the CHT. According to information gathered by the Special Rapporteur, indigenous peoples were not consulted about the Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation strategy (REDD+) (A/HRC/53/34/Add.1).

The Committee recalls that the Eighth Five Year Plan July 2020–June 2025 provided that ethnic communities would be protected from hazards caused by climate change and other natural calamities. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on any measures taken, in collaboration with the indigenous and tribal communities concerned, to protect them as well as their property and livelihoods in the face of the effects of climate change and to address deforestation by logging enterprises affecting their lands, including any specific action implemented under the Eighth Five Year Plan July 2020–June 2025, and their impact.

Article 5. Collaboration and development. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that it has been supporting the implementation of various socio-economic development programmes in the areas of education, health, agriculture, electricity, communication, infrastructure development, social security, capacity-building, rehabilitation of displaced, and development of sports and cultural practices in the CHTs, which are mainly managed by the Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Board (CHTDB). The Government furthermore states that it is working to ensure community involvement in all its development efforts. The Committee requests the Government to indicate how it is ensuring the collaboration of the peoples protected by the Convention in the elaboration and implementation of development programmes affecting them and how it is supporting the development of their own initiatives, both in the Chittagong Hill Tracts – notably when projects are not led by the CHTDB – and in the plains. Please provide examples of such development programmes and initiatives and the results achieved.

Articles 16 and 17. Vocational training. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that CHTDB provides unemployed youths annually with advanced training on computer programming, internet, outsourcing and freelancing. It also continues to distribute cattle for rearing, train small farmers, support the establishment of nurseries/rubber plantation and distribute sewing machines. The Government also informs that the Ministry of Labour and Employment has constructed a Multipurpose Complex at Rangamati to expand and strengthen skill development for workers in the area.

The Committee notes that, in its observations, the TU-ILS Committee alleges that very few indigenous youths have received vocational training. The trade union points out that the requirement to complete Secondary School Certificate to access vocational training represents a challenge for indigenous women; and that although the National Skills Development Policy aims to target various groups, there may be insufficient focus on the specific needs and circumstances of indigenous peoples.

The Committee again requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken to provide members of peoples protected by the Convention with the same opportunities as other citizens in respect of vocational training facilities and to ensure that the vocational training opportunities available in the areas they inhabited meet their needs.

Articles 19 and 20. Social security and health. The Government informs that “marginalized communities” receive benefits from various social safety nets administered by different ministries. Moreover, there are programmes specifically targeting marginal and ethnic communities, such as the Lump Sum Provision for Development of Special Areas, which is meant for plains land ethnic communities. Concerning health services, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that there are 100 bed hospitals in each district headquarters and from 10 to 31 bed hospitals in each upazila [subdistrict] headquarters, and more community clinics will be added to those already established in the three Hill Districts. Additionally, a special initiative called the “Development Assistance for Small Ethnic Communities Living in Plain Land” is being implemented with a view to providing assistance to peoples of the plains.

The Committee encourages the Government to pursue its efforts and requests it to provide information on the social security programmes targeting specifically peoples protected by the Convention, both in CHT and in the plains, and the results achieved through their implementation. Please indicate the number of those who benefit from these programmes. The Committee also requests the Government to continue to provide information on the measures taken to ensure access to adequate health services of peoples protected by the Convention, from both the CHT and the plains, including any additional measures adopted to address availability and adequacy of health services.

Article 21. Education. The Government informs about the creation of a number of schools, colleges, and hostels in remote areas, including the establishment of a University of Science and Technology and a full-fledged Medical College at Rangamati district headquarters. It also reports that education programmes in CHTA continue to facilitate the pre-school education in local languages, with more than 55,000 students attending annually para centres for early learning and pre-primary education.

The Committee notes that TU-ILS Committee refers to: (1) the lack of qualified teachers, especially those who understand the indigenous languages and cultures; (2) the absence of a proper curriculum or educational facilities that cater to the needs of indigenous students; (3) the distance of schools from indigenous communities, which impairs children’s attendance; and (4) the failure to provide quality education in the mother languages of indigenous communities. The TU-ILS Committee states that initiatives should be established to recruit more teachers from indigenous communities to ensure culturally relevant education. In addition, educational facilities should be accessible and equipped to meet the needs of indigenous students and should be monitored by the competent authorities to ensure that educational standards are met.

The Committeereiterates its request for information on: (i) the measures taken to ensure that members of communities protected by the Convention living in the Chittagong Hill Tract Areas and of the plains have access to free education at all levels; and (ii) statistics on the school enrolment and completion rates among children belonging to these communities, if possible disaggregated by gender. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken, including under the Eighth Five Year Plan July 2020–June 2025, to ensure that indigenous and tribal children are taught to read and write in their mother tongueor, where this is not practicable, in the language most commonly used by the group to which they belong; and that indigenous and tribal languages are preserved.