Hadis's Story

Thousands of children in Bangladesh have been displaced by climate change-related disasters. Their families flee to the capital because their homes or means of making a living have been destroyed. In Dhaka, children must contribute to the family’s income in order for them to survive.

Around almost every corner of Dhaka's narrow, winding streets, young children work long hours in cramped conditions making jewellery, cosmetics and household items for a pittance. There are more than 4.9 million children working in Bangladesh and although 85% of children start primary school, nearly half of them drop out.

Since his family home was destroyed by a flood, 15-year-old Hadis (pictured above) has worked in a factory making padlocks keys for eleven hours a day. His family used to be very well off. They lived in Barisol, in the south of the country, and his father, Yusuf, 40, was a famer who traded in potatoes and cultivated tomatoes, cucumber and maize on his own land. But then their home and crops were washed away by a flood.

Hadis's father and his wife, in their home in Dhaka, Bangladesh. (Copyright: Munem Wasif, International Save the Children Alliance) The family – Hadis, Yusuf, Yusuf’s wife Aarzu (25) and Hadis’s brothers Mustafa (17) and Ismail (2) – moved to Chittagong, in the west of the country. Hadis went to school there, but soon dropped out because his family could no longer afford it. They struggled to make ends meet and so migrated to Dhaka, hoping it would be easier for them to survive there. Yusuf says: “I had no means to feed my family so I decided to leave I put Hadis in this factory because it’s safe.”

Now they live in a one-room house in a slum in Lalbagh, the oldest part of the city, and share a toilet and cooking area with at least 20 other families. Yusuf and Mustafa are rickshaw drivers. The padlock factory where Hadis works has signed up to Save the Children’s code of conduct. He is guaranteed a set wage and an hour off for lunch. He earns about 600 Taka (£5.40) for working a six-day week.

“I work from 9am to 9 at night. On my day off I play cricket. I want to set up my own business when I grow up – a small shop selling tea and other things like soap. But that’s five to six years away.”

More Information

Bangladesh is one of the countries that will feel the most devastating effects of climate change. Its vulnerability to natural disasters, combined with its high poverty levels and poor infrastructure result in a deadly cominbation of factors for the country's poorest children.

Save the Children has implemented a number of Disaster Risk Reduction activities to prepare people for when disasters strike. One of our DRR projects is providing training for adults in order to establish preparedness plans for children’s care and protection during disasters.

We also emphasise the importance of child participation in implementing these plans. Children should not just be seen as victims of disasters and climate change – when given the opportunity, they can actively participate in DRR activities, suggesting new ideas and also spreading important messages throughout a community.