Main sections National Legislation and Policies Against Child Labour in Pakistan IPEC Action in Pakistan Other Initiatives Against Child Labour in Pakistan Download full text - PDF 159 KB See also Information Resources Pakistan

IPEC Action in Pakistan

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the ILO and the Government of Pakistan in 1994. The National Steering Committee (NSC) that was created under this cooperation agreement is chaired by the Federal Secretary for Labour. The NSC was comprised of representatives of the concerned Federal ministries (social welfare, education, health, planning, finance), representatives of employers' and workers' organizations, and NGOs.

The role of the NSC has been gradually changing from a forum for sharing of information and experience to a coordinating body on child labour issues. This new role has become increasingly important since different ministries have formed committees of their own to address the issue from their perspective.

After having signed the MoU with the Government of Pakistan, IPEC designed and funded a series of programmes and to address child labour issues in various sectors with a diverse group of implementing partners across the country. The sectors where IPEC interventions were initially made included carpet weaving, auto workshops, leather tanning, street children, beggars, and child domestic workers. The action programmes were implemented in collaboration with government departments, trade unions, employers' associations, and civil society organizations. A number of short duration, mini programmes, including awareness workshops with a wide range of stakeholders, recreational events, awareness films, and educational material, were supported to complement the interventions being made through the action programmes.

Since 1997, IPEC has been designing broader types of interventions through IPEC projects on the elimination of child labour. The first major project, which was funded by the US Department of Labour, was initiated in Sialkot to eliminate child labour in the soccer ball industry.

Currently, there are six ongoing projects on the elimination of child labour, along with four core action programmes. These are all part of the country programme financed by Germany.

Overview of ongoing projects

• Project to Combat the Worst Forms of Child Labour
• Combating Child Labour through Education and Training in the North West Frontier Province (Phase III in progress)
• Pakistan Earthquake Child Labour Response Project
• Football for Hope Project
• Activating Media in Combating Child Labour (Phase II in progress)
• Combating Child Labour in the Carpet Industry (Phase III in progress)
  
  

Overview of recently concluded projects

• Activating Media in Combating Child Labour
• Combating Child Labour through Education and Training in the North West Frontier Province
• Elimination of Child Labour in the Soccer Ball Industry in Sialkot
• Combating Hazardous and Exploitative Child Labour in Surgical Instruments Manufacturing
• Combating Child Labour in the Carpet Industry
• Project of Support for the National Time-Bound Programme (TBP) to Help Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labour from Pakistan
• Combating Child Trafficking for Labour and Sexual Exploitation
• Preventing and Eliminating Exploitative Child Domestic Work in South Asia