A/HRC/15/55* workers’ wages are among the lowest in the world: in 2008, the hourly wage rate in the garment industry was $0.22.49 105. The independent expert was informed that significant progress has been made in reducing child labour. The prevalence of child labour is, however, still worrying. According to the latest figures of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, in 2003, there were 7.4 million children aged between 5 and 17 years engaged in economic activity, among which 3.32 million were below the age of 14.50 Despite the national laws, policies and programmes in place, the enforcement of legal provisions regarding education and child labour is poor. Bangladesh ratified the ILO Convention concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour (Convention No. 182) in 2001, but it has yet to ratify the Convention concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment (Convention No. 138). The Labour Act of 2006 requires the Government to regularly identify the hazardous occupations in which no child under 18 years should be involved, together with other provisions to prevent harmful child labour, but which remain unimplemented. The independent expert is concerned by this persistent gap between the official commitments made by the Government and their implementation. B. Key challenges for poverty reduction and the implementation of a social protection system 1. Limited coverage 106. Despite the numerous efforts made, a large majority of the population living in poverty remains uncovered by any social assistance measures. Estimates indicate that only 23 per cent of the poorest groups of the population benefit from safety nets.51 107. Moreover, emphasis on safety nets ignores the need to address the prevalence of informal markets and the vulnerability of low-paid workers. Bangladesh has one of the most vibrant economies of all least developed countries, characterized by an intertwining of formal and informal markets, where the latter employs 80 per cent of the workforce. This means that the vast majority of workers do not enjoy any social security benefit. Adequate social protection is also a defining feature of decent work, which in turn contributes to more productive employment.52 The independent expert thus encourages the Government of Bangladesh to develop more social protection schemes for vulnerable workers in the formal sector, and to extend coverage of workers in the informal sector. 108. While the independent expert acknowledges the fact that the budget of Bangladesh is limited, she notes with concern that the real level of financing of social assistance programmes has declined. This is particularly problematic in the long term. Even though the high growth rates enjoyed by Bangladesh in recent years has lowered the percentage of people living in poverty, the population is growing and the number of poor keeps rising. The independent expert is also concerned that some groups, such as persons with disabilities, ethnic minorities and the urban poor, receive little assistance from existing programmes. 49 50 51 52 GE.10-15451 Berik and Van Der Meulen Rodgers, “Options for enforcing labour standards: lessons from Bangladesh and Cambodia”, Journal of International Development, vol. 22, 2010, pp. 56–85. ILO, UNICEF and UNESCO, op. cit., pp. 6, 21. World Bank, Poverty Assessment for Bangladesh, op. cit., p. xxiii. ILO, Bangladesh Decent Work Country Programme 2006–2009. 25