National Legislation and Policies Against Child Labour
in Pakistan
Legislation
Article 11 (1) of the Constitution of Pakistan forbids slavery and states that no law shall permit or facilitate
its introduction into Pakistan in any form. Article 11 (2) prohibits all forms of forced labour and traffic
in human beings, Article 11 (3) prohibits employment of children below the age of 14 years in any factory
or mine or any other hazardous employment.
Major national legislative developments include:
- The Employment of Children Act (ECA), 1991:
Section 2 of the Act defines a 'child' to mean any person who
has not completed his fourteenth year. Prohibition Section 3 of
the Act bans employment of under-14 children in occupations connected
with transport by railways, cinder picking, cleaning of an ash
pit or building operations in railway premises, catering at a
railway station or on a train, construction of a railway station,
working close or between railway lines, working in a port area,
and manufacture or sale of fireworks. Part II prohibits employment
of children in 13 specific sectors. The prohibition against employing
children in hazardous labour, and the regulations governing the
working conditions of children under 14 do not apply to family
run establishments, and schools (training institutes) established,
assisted, or organized by the Government;
- The Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1992:
The Act explicitly defines peshgi (or advance), bonded debt, bonded
labour, bonded labourer, bonded labour system, family, and nominal
wages. It considers any work done against peshgi as a form of
bonded labour. The Act abolishes the bonded labour system with
immediate effect. It declares all bonded labour free and discharged
from any obligation to render any bonded labour, or any form of
forced labour, or payment of debts. The Act prohibits any person
from extracting labour under forced conditions from anyone. All
customs, traditions, or contracts entered into before or after
the commencement of the Act, pertaining to forced labour or bonded
labour, have been declared void and inoperative;
- The Prevention and Control of Human Trafficking Ordinance (promulgated
in October 2002):
This Ordinance applies to all children aged less than 18 years.
It defines exploitative entertainment as all activities in connection
with human sports or sexual practices, and related abusive practices.
According to the Ordinance, human trafficking means recruiting,
buying or selling a person, with or without consent, by use of
coercion, abduction, or by giving payment or share for such person's
transportation, for exploitative entertainment. The Ordinance
prescribes severe terms of punishment — 7-14 years' imprisonment
— for perpetrators, depending on the degree of involvement in
trafficking. If criminal groups are involved, each member of the
group is liable to the same punishment. Parents guilty of the
crime involving their own children are liable for the same punishment.
The Ordinance recognizes that all offences are cognizable, non-bailable,
and non-compoundable. The strong measures recommended in the Ordinance
are expected to check the incidence of human trafficking.
Pakistan is signatory to the:
- ILO Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour (No. 182);
- ILO Forced Labour Convention (No. 29);
- ILO Abolition of Forced Labour Convention (No. 105);
- UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).
Government policies and programmes
In 1998, the Government of Pakistan constituted a task force on child labour under the chairmanship
of the Federal Minister of Labour with the mandate of formulating policies and strategies for the
elimination of child and bonded labour in Pakistan and to prepare plans for the implementation of policies
and strategies. The National Policy and Plan of Action (NPPA) (May 2000) calls for progressive elimination
of child labour; immediate eradication of the worst forms of child labour; a monitoring system to implement
the National Plan of Action; prevention of child labour by offering alternative education, and ensuring
primary education and skills training to the target children.
The NPPA for the elimination of child labour focuses on awareness raising; withdrawal of children
engaged in the worst forms of child labour and their rehabilitation through education and vocational
training; community mobilization; situation analysis and development of a database on child labour; law
enforcement; capacity building of the relevant ministries/departments; enhancing education and skills
training opportunities for children; empowerment of poor families, and promoting coordination with
functional and social partners.
The following coordinating bodies and agencies are involved in the implementation of the NPPA:
- The Federal Ministry of Labour acts as a focal ministry
responsible for necessary legislation; policy development; awareness
raising; liaising with the International Labour Organization (ILO)
and other international bodies; providing a forum for exchange
of information/experiences; national level monitoring and situation
analysis; follow-up of the implementation of the National Plan
of Action through the Permanent Advisory Committee, and development
of a database on child labour;
- The Provincial Labour and Manpower Departments act as focal
departments, special resource centres are to be established in
the labour departments;
- Workers' and employers' organizations, as well as NGOs are expected
to identify problem areas and suggest measures for advocacy, awareness
raising and community mobilization, and the rehabilitation of
child workers;
- The ILO's International Programme on the Elimination of Child
Labour (IPEC) is expected to provide technical and financial support
to pilot programmes and to strengthen the institutional capacity
of the executing agencies.
Major strategies include enhancement of educational opportunities for working children through the
launching of crash literacy programmes for school dropouts and introducing apprenticeship, vocational
and skills development programmes; establishment of special resource centres in the Labour
Departments to act as focal points and to monitor and coordinate the activities, and activation of the
law enforcement agencies for immediate withdrawal of children working in hazardous and exploitative
situations supplemented by rehabilitation programmes. The Government of Pakistan has established a
fund for the education of working children and rehabilitation of freed bonded labour with an initial
endowment of PRs 100 million (approximately equivalent to US$ 2 million).
The Labour Policy, 2002, endorses the NPPA to combat child labour and states that the Government
of Pakistan has accepted the responsibility to enhance the age limit to 18 years with respect to the
worst forms of child labour, for entry into the labour market after ratification of the ILO Convention No.
182 in 2001. The Labour Policy plans to launch a need-based vocational training and human resource
development programme for new entrants in the labour market and on-job workers, and establish model
schools for the free education (12 years of schooling) of child workers. The laws relating to apprenticeship
training, vocational training, and rehabilitation of disabled persons shall be consolidated into a single
legislation titled the Human Resource Development Ordinance.
The Government of Pakistan, on 31 December 2003, released its Poverty
Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), titled 'Accelerating economic growth
and reducing poverty: The road ahead'. The PRSP gives due consideration
to the issue of child labour in the planning of its targets. It
clearly outlines its commitment on child labour issues and states,
"Although the government is committed to eliminate child labour
as reflected in the National Policy and Plan of Action to Combat
Child Labour, it is pursuing policy of gradual elimination of all
forms of child labour and immediate elimination of the hazardous
and exploitative forms of child labour under IPEC. To achieve this
objective, certain specified target programmes have been initiated
( 3 )."
The Ministry of Education launched the National Plan of Action
for Education for All (EFA) on 3 April 2003 for achieving universal
primary education by 2015. Gender disparities are being narrowed
through mixed primary schools, compensatory programmes, and appointment
of female teachers ( 4 ). According
to the EFA goals and targets, by 2015, all children, with special
emphasis on girls and children in difficult circumstances, should
have access to completely free education. Secondly, it aims at eliminating
gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005, and
achieving gender equality in education by 2015. In this regard,
the Education Sector Reforms, 2001/05, also aims to address the
needs of child labourers.
The National Commission for Child Welfare and Development (NCCWD) has initiated a national pilot
project for the rehabilitation of children involved in labour. The project, called the National Project on
Rehabilitation of Child Labour, is aimed at the withdrawal of children from hazardous employment, the
rehabilitation of children through formal education, and the development of linkages between community
health services and recreational packages. Under the project, Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal has now set up more
than 80 centres to rehabilitate children working in hazardous occupations by imparting non-formal education (NFE). Children are given a daily stipend of PRs 10 as an incentive, in addition to uniforms,
shoes, other clothing and means during school hours. Parents are paid PRs 4,100 per year.
Moreover, the post-Beijing National Plan of Action for Women, 1998, and the National Policy for the
Empowerment and Development of Women, 2002, both have a chapter on the girl child and refer in
particular to the needs of child labourers.
Note 3 - PRSP 2003, p. 101.
Note 4 - Government of Pakistan (2003) poverty
reduction strategy paper : Accelerating economic growth and reducing
poverty : The road ahead, p. 69. |
