Presented at the South Asian Employers’ Symposium held in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on March 01-02, 1997. "Meeting the Challenges of Globalization --- Cooperation among South Asian Employers’ Organization", organized by SAAT-ILO and BEA

OVERVIEW :

Child Labor is now a very emotional term in society. It is generally referred to any economic activity performed by a person who is under the age of 15. However, Child Labor in the context it is applied in many quarters, is not the frivolous tasks which a child does after school hours or helping out in a family enterprise or farm. It also does not involve the rightful apprenticeship opportunities which young people utilize or which are offered to them. Rather, Child Labor in today’s context is that employment which prevents a child from attending institutions of learning, and at the same time it also refers to the person who toils in working conditions which are deemed as hazardous to the physical and mental health of the child.

Child Labor has now become a serious and highly focused issue transcending the mundane abolition advocacy lip-service of the policy makers as well as the partners in progress. It has been swept out from the proverbial carpet and put on center-stage. The introduction of the World Trade Order has provided a forceful impetus to the program for elimination of Child Labor. It has also opened the doors for human rights activists to be united in their campaign to accentuate this issue and to find meaningful solutions so as to settle this contentious matter.

Child Labor is one issue which has been of grave concern to the employers, the workers, the government, the news media, the various NGOs, and most of all, the parents and their children. Every country has taken steps to formulate practical programs to achieve the desired objectives, i.e., elimination of Child Labor. However, this is commensurate with the seriousness shown by the decision makers, the removal of hurdles, especially the bureaucratic red tape, the employers’ eagerness to substitute working children with adults, and the dedication to implement and enforce the guidelines of the programme for the elimination of Child Labor.

IPEC

The ILO’s long-standing campaign against the scourge of Child Labor received new impetus in 1992 with the creation of the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC). It is now operational in more than 26 countries. The aim of IPEC is the phased elimination of Child Labor by strengthening the capability of countries to deal with the problem and by promoting a worldwide movement to counter Child Labor. ILO-IPEC strives to :

• Support national efforts to combat Child Labor and to build up a permanent capacity to tackle the problem.
• Give priority to the eradication of the most hazardous and exploitative types of Child Labor.
• Insist on preventive measures.

• Children working under forced labor conditions and in bondage.
• Children in hazardous working conditions and occupations.
• Children under 12 years old.

NATIONAL STEERING COMMITTEE :

Pakistan and ILO signed a Memorandum of Understanding on June 21, 1994 to implement the IPEC in Pakistan. It would be worth mentioning here that Pakistan was one of the first ten countries to join this programme. As provided under Article 5 of the MOU, a National Steering Committee was established with the functions to :

1. Consult on the nature and scope of the activities to be undertaken in the framework of a national programme under IPEC established in the context of national policy and give consideration to other ongoing planned Child Labor project.
2. Select action programme proposals for inclusion in the national programme under IPEC.
3. Provide information and justification in the national programme and budget of IPEC.
4. Establish procedures for the review of the ongoing national programme within the IPEC and carry out review of the action programmes in the context of the national programme as a whole.

NATIONAL CHILD LABOR SURVEY :

A nation-wide survey was undertaken by the Federal Bureau of Statistics in close collaboration with the Ministry of Labor, Manpower, and Overseas Pakistanys, and the ILO, as a component of IPEC. This survey is the first of its kind in Pakistan. The objectives of the survey were :

• To collect information on the dimensions of the working children by age, sex, location, occupation, and industry.
• To collect information on the working conditions of the children, i.e., hours worked, wages received, terms of employment, as well as on the safety and health aspects of their work place.
• To collect data on the socio-economic characteristics of the children and their families.

• As of January 01, 1996, there were 40 million children aged 5-14 years. They represent about 30% of the total population.
• More then 50% of the children, i.e., more than 20 million are in the age group 5-9 years.
• Male-female ratio among children is 106 males to 100 females.
• There are 72% or 28.70 million children in rural areas.
• Among the 40 million children aged 5-14 years, 03.30 million, i.e., 08.30% were economically active during the reference week. Out of these, 02.40 million (73%) were male while females were 00.09% (27%).
• The quantum of Child Labor increases with age, i.e., the older the child, the higher is the rate of participation in economic activity.
• Children involved in elementary (unskilled) occupations were 02.30 million (71%), and in craft and related trade activities 00.60 million (19%).
• The reasons given for Child Labor are to assist in household enterprises (54%), to supplement household income (27%), and no one available for household chores (14%).

• The international community, and the ILO instruments lay emphasis on the elimination of the most exploitative and hazardous forms of Child Labor, in the first instance. Though the survey results provide a good deal of information, yet does not throw light on all aspects of Child Labor.
• The survey results do not identify the hazardous industries and occupations, therefore, no information on the magnitude of Child Labor engaged in these industries and occupations is available.
• The survey results provide information on manufacturing sector but does not split information into industries constituting the manufacturing sector.

Child Labor is a priority item on the agenda of the Employer’s Federation of Pakistan. It is with this imperative in mind, that the EFP embarked upon a crusade to tackle this problem. In the first phase, it set up a Child Labor Cell to deal with this issue. A 13 month action programme- entitled "Programme of Employers’ Federation of Pakistan for Protection of Working Children" was initiated with the support of ILO-IPEC. The reasoning behind the Programme was :

• Firstly, to make up the deficiency of the employers from apparel and carpet industries, who were not forthcoming due to the informal, cottage, and home-based nature of employment in these industries.
• Secondly, to spread the message to a wider audience.

• Raise awareness on Child Labor.
• Communicate the availability of national and international standards related to Child Labor.
• Free supply of the translated and printed national legislation and international standards related to Child Labor.

• The historical, economical, social, political, and religious aspects of Child Labor.
• The national and international labor standards on employment of children and minimum age for admission in employment.
• Situation of Child Labor in Pakistan.
• Social responsibilities of the employers regarding Child Labor.
• Role of the community and the NGOs in eliminating Child Labor.

The recommendations of the seminars were very comprehensive, both for short-term measures as well as on a long-term basis. However, the main viewpoints were :

1. Formation of a Coalition against Child Labor, in order to coordinate, consolidate, and strengthen the efforts being made by the government, non-governmental organizations, as well as by employers’ associations and labor unions. This can also serve as an information exchange and a "lighthouse" in raising awareness, on a continuing basis, and will constitute a pressure group for protection of working children and ultimate elimination of Child Labor.
2. National Commission on the Rights of Child shall be fully activated for urgent review of labor laws with an intent to abolishing employment of children of less then 16 years in hazardous and dangerous occupations/processes, both in industry and agriculture, and to regulate employment, e.g., hours of work, conditions of work, wages and other terms of employment for working children in non-hazardous, non-dangerous occupations/processes.
3. Continue more awareness seminars to elicit public support with the help of social activists, media persons, NGOs etc.

• Child Labor cannot be eliminated overnight.
• Negative pressures (such as threat of boycott, thoughtless withdrawal of GSP privileges, inept incorporation of Social Clauses in trade dealings, etc.) may prove to be counter productive as it will touch national sensitivities, will give wrong signals, and will not serve the interest of the working children.
• Positive pressures should continue to be built up by awareness raising programmes, by protecting working children thru national legislation and its implementation, and by developing facilities where working children may get access to healthcare, education, and recreation.
• Progressive elimination of Child Labor should be promoted by state declaration of its determination (political will) to eradicate the evil of Child Labor at its earliest.

A Child Labor Nucleus has been established at EFP offices in Karachi. This CLN will support the 20 focal points by providing training, information, and advocacy material. CLN will perform a monitoring role and will plan, organize, and coordinate activities of the entire programme. Three volunteers from each focal point (60 in all) will be trained for working independently in their areas of responsibilities. Monthly meetings of the local focal points will be held which will also be attended by parents of working children, the representatives of those employers who hire Child Labor, worker representatives, government officials, NGO representatives, local political figures, and the news media. These meetings will discuss the local situation with respect to Child Labor and prepare future strategies. The information from all focal points will be fed to the CLN where it will be analyzed, consolidated, and prepared for dissemination in a newsletter form. An application has already been forwarded to the Deputy Commissioner, District South, Karachi, for a declaration certificate. The author is the Editor of this newsletter. It is hoped that the newsletters will be distributed by the focal points to other pressure groups too and that there will be wide circulation of this newsletter.

This action programme is expected to further create awareness about the Child Labor situation in the country and will, undoubtedly, help in the protection of the working children leading eventually to the total elimination of this menace from the society.

In a nutshell, the two action programmes of EFP are :

1st. A.P. No: P.090.71.342.297.

Title : Programme of EFP for Protection of Working Children.
Period : 11 months --------------- 01-11-1994 to 30-09-1995
Lasted : 14 months --------------- 01-11-1994 to 31-12-1995
Output : -- Translation of 4 legislation and
-- Printing of booklets . . . 700 in Urdu; 300 in Sindhi.
-- Holding of 14 Awareness Raising Seminars at :
> Province of Punjab : 05
> Province of Sindh : 05
> Province of NWFP : 02
> Province of Balochistan : 02

2nd. A.P. No : P.090.91.342.158.
Title : Network of Employers for Protection of Working Children.
Period : 20 months ------------- 15-05-1996 to 14-01-1998
Output : -- Reprinting of already translated 4 legislation. 500 in Urdu; 200 in Sindhi.
-- Held 02 out of 06 seminars
-- Raised 14 out of 20 focal point groups.
-- Briefed 02 out of 04 FPG persons in provincial capitals.
-- Under print :
> Informative material
> Advisory material
> Newsletter
-- Received feedback from 12 FPG.

The EFP has now planned to organize a two day National Conference on Child Labor : The Employers’ Role, in Karachi, on May 27-28, 1997. There is now an imperative need for a Policy Declaration by EFP to demonstrate the seriousness of the employers in the efforts to eliminate Child Labor. The conference will be addressed by noteworthy speakers who have a grasp of the subject. These resource persons will forcefully bring out the nuances of the issues involved, and also demonstrate the viewpoints of the exporters, the working children, the adult employee, the impact of Child Labor in terms of quality and price, and the high stakes involved now that the foreign buyers are demanding products free from Child Labor. These speakers will highlight the ramifications and the eventualities for Pakistan, and will propose modalities and resources needed to achieve the objectives in a win-win scenario.

The conference will be a high-profile activity and it will be inaugurated by the Prime Minister. A supplement in leading newspapers will also be published to promote the issue. The participants will be senior executives and directors of companies, foreign delegates, diplomats, government officials, news media, human resource practitioners, and the elite of the city.

EFFORTS OF EMPLOYERS :

The Child Labor issue gained notoriety and intensification in Pakistan after the news of Child Labor "exploitation" in carpet industry was highlighted on international fora. Much was made of the nimble fingers working the looms in unsanitary and inhumane conditions, in an atmosphere of abusiveness, and in an environment where pay is meager, where the workload is extensive,, and where the health and safety standards are just pipe-dreams. There were reports galore of the harsh punishment meted out to young children when output was below targets,. The general impression was that the children were in bondage because of the loans taken by their parents under a system known as "peshgee" (advance). The concept of education for these children was unheard of and no positive steps taken to introduce universal education for the Child Labor.

Pakistany carpet exporters have bore the brunt of the campaign against them. This resulted in a loss in exports which seriously affected the domestic carpet industry. Exports were US$ 229 million in 199-92, $174 million in 1992-93, $ 157 million in 1993-94, and to $ 120 million last year. There are over 1000 carpet manufacturers and exporters scattered all over the country. Now the carpet manufacturers are producing goods under the government-certified "Qaaleen" rugmark to counter the propaganda against the industry.

Last year, the activists in foreign countries came out vociferously against the employment of children in the sports goods industry, especially in the city of Sialkot. The Pakistany soccer ball (football) was targeted mercilessly. The international television channels telecast film reports depicting Child Labor in Pakistan. A coalition of major sporting goods manufacturers including Adidas, Reebok, Nike, Umbro, Mitre, Brine, plus fifty others, have pledged to prevent the sale of soccer balls stitched by Pakistany children. Nike and Reebok announced that they will now manufacture soccer balls in Pakistan in their own factories. In fact, a joint venture NIKE-Saga was launched in Sialkot in November 1996. The plan is to set up 15 stitching centers at different locations in the city and this will benefit over 7500 families and their children. The centers will be equipped with facilities like health, education, fair price shops, infant care centers, etc.

In view of the well-orchestrated negative campaign and to counter future defamatory allegations, a Partner’s Agreement was signed in Geneva on February 14, 1997 by ILO, UNICEF, and the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry. It is hoped that as a result of this Agreement, there will be a withdrawal of working children by providing them alternatives. At the same time, the soccer ball industry in Pakistan will be publicly recognized as being Child Labor free in about two years from now. Such recognition will be a powerful force in ensuring the continuation and credibility of the soccer ball industry.

The Partner’s Agreement envisages two goals, i.e., elimination of Child Labor in soccer ball production, and elimination of Child Labor in other local industries. There are two elements of the project :

Prevention and Monitoring Program :

> Registration of Contractors, Stitchers, and Stitching Facilities.

# Under this program, participating manufacturers shall publicly commit to a
series of actions designed to prevent the practice of stitching by children
under 14 years within a period of 18 months. This will be done by formal
registration of all concerned in the production of the soccer balls.
> Establishment of Internal Monitoring Systems.
# Each manufacturer shall agree to establish an internal monitoring
   department to verify that it is in compliance with the Program. This
  department will provide training to employees to enable them to monitor the
  age of the stitchers.
> Agreement to Independent Monitoring.
# Each manufacturer will agree to have compliance with the Program verified
   by an independent third party who shall make the report public.
> Coordination with Social Protection Program.
 # Each manufacturer will commit to work closely with ILO and other
    organizations involved with the project to integrate their efforts to remove
    children from conditions of Child Labor.
Social Protection Program :
> Protection of Children Removed from Child Labor by Providing Educational  and  Other Opportunities.
# Rehabilitation.
# Education.
# In-kind Assistance.
> Changing Community Attitudes toward Child Labor in the Soccer Industry.
# Awareness raising.
# Income generation.

This Agreement has been widely hailed at home and abroad. A government spokesman said that "Pakistan backs this agreement because we want to see our children in schools, not in industries working as Child Labor." This Agreement would be the harbinger of similar pacts between various partners and hopefully Code of Conduct agreements would become a common feature.

There is now a need to introduce the programme of vocational training alongwith proper educational facilities on a war-footing basis. This is essential if there is to be an upgradation in the skills of these children. It is more imperative because the working children are, as stated earlier, a source of income for the household. However, there should be no haste in removing children from workplaces while lacking the academic infrastructure. It is proposed that there should be a process of establishing schools in the vicinity of the factories and at the same time, arranging a program of providing stipends to the children to offset the loss in income. This is a gigantic task, considering the fact that the successive governments have failed in providing educational facilities to children, especially in low-income areas. A major drawback is the irrelevance of education and training imparted in the formal sector which has resulted in a higher dropout and non-employability of the graduates. Moreover, the pathetic quality of education is a big factor in the deterioration of the education system in the country. A private-public partnership scheme can be floated in which teachers and government can jointly provide the facilities of quality education. At the same time, philanthropists can also adopt schools and help defray the expenses. Employers’ organizations should also participate in this idea.

Bangladesh has a successful program called "Specialized Training and Educational Program (STEP) for the Underage Displaced Garment Workers". Recognizing the need to ensure effective rehabilitation of these displaced Child Labor and to avoid social dislocation, Development Initiatives for Social Enhancement (DEVISE), an NGO with the support of IPEC, has initiated a programme targeting these displaced underage workers. The programme was designed to provide basic education to the children, as well as, agro-based and entrepreneurship development training to create self-employment opportunities, and finally to compensate their jobless situation thru a package program that helps them to become economically active thru self-employed schemes.

CONCLUSIONS :

The issue of Child Labor should be kept in motion till the achievement of the objectives. It is pertinent to report here the Resolution concerning Child Labor which was approved at the "Tripartite Meeting on the Globalization of the Footwear, Textiles, and Clothing Industries : Effects on Employment and Working Conditions", held in Geneva from 28 October to 01 November 1996. Part 2 of the Resolution calls on employers, employers’ organizations, merchandisers, and retailers of footwear, textiles, and clothing products :

1. To take all necessary steps to ensure that the goods they produce, either directly or indirectly, or market or retail, are not made by children.
2. To adopt codes of practice aimed at the elimination of the exploitation of children and the abolition of Child Labor throughout the sector.
3. To support and subscribe to independently monitored programmes in particularly sensitive parts of the industries, aimed at providing consumers with information and guarantees that the products have not been made by children, one such example being RUGMARK in the hand-knitted carpets sector.

1. Raise awareness of the human cost of Child Labor as well as its negative economic and social consequences.
2. Put an immediate end to slave-like, bonded, and dangerous forms of Child Labor while developing formal policies with a view to its eventual elimination in all sectors.
3. Translate Child Labor policies into action plans at the international, national, industry, and enterprise levels.
4. Implement the plans, taking care to ensure that the situation of the children and their families is improved as a result.
5. Support activities targeted at working children and their families, such as the establishment of day care centers, schools and training facilities, including training of teachers, and initiate such activities wherever possible.
6. Encourage and work with local and national government authorities to develop and implement effective policies designed to eliminate Child Labor.
7. Promote access to basic education and primary health care, which are crucial to the success of any effort to eliminate Child Labor.