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INFO RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ISLAMABAD 005262 
 
SIPDIS 
 
CORRECTED COPY - CAPTION REMOVED 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD PHUM SOCI PREL PK
SUBJECT: PAKISTAN: WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR 
 
REF: STATE 149662 
 
ISLAMABAD 00005262  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. Summary: The Government of Pakistan (GOP) continues to pursue a 
national strategy for the elimination of the worst forms of child 
labor.  A legal framework exists barring children from hazardous 
labor, and Pakistan has ratified all eight of the International 
Labor Organization (ILO) core conventions.  Resource constraints and 
a lack of labor inspections, coupled with an inadequate primary 
education system and pervasive rural poverty, continue to hamper the 
GOP's efforts to fully eliminate all forms of child labor.  End 
Summary. 
 
CURRENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS 
---------------------------- 
 
¶2. The 1973 Constitution of Pakistan prohibits the employment of 
children under 14 in factories, mines or hazardous industries as 
well as all forms of forced labor.  The 1991 Employment of Children 
Act also prohibits employment of children under 14 and regulates 
children's working hours, forbidding overtime and night work.  The 
GOP amended the act in 2005, increasing the number of processes 
banned to child labor from 29 to 34, including carpet weaving, 
cement production, cloth dyeing and glass bangle fabrication. 
Forced labor and the exploitation of children are prohibited under 
the 1992 Bonded Labor System Abolition Act and the 2002 Prevention 
and Control of Human Trafficking Ordinance. Pakistan ratified the 
ILO Worst Forms of Child Labor Convention, or ILO Convention 182, in 
¶2001.  The GOP has ratified all eight core ILO labor conventions. 
 
 
¶3. Children under the age of 14 may work in occupations outside of 
those listed in the Amendment to the Employment of Children Act but 
are subject to provincially-mandated universal education 
requirements and are protected by occupational health and safety 
guidelines.  There is no national education requirement in Pakistan; 
the Constitution allows each province and territory to independently 
legislate education requirements.  All four provinces of Pakistan - 
Sindh, Punjab, Balochistan and the Northwest Frontier Province - 
have compulsory primary education laws.  The Federally Administered 
Tribal Areas (FATA) does not have a compulsory education 
requirement.  Enforcement of these laws is limited due to resource 
constraints and varies dramatically by province.  Access to the 
education system is also hampered by a dearth of schools in many 
remote rural areas. 
 
COMPREHENSIVE POLICY 
-------------------- 
 
¶4. Pakistan has made significant progress in raising awareness about 
the problem of child labor.  In efforts to remove children from the 
work place and rehabilitate them, the GOP has undertaken programs 
individually and in conjunction with international donors and NGO 
partners.  While the GOP does not allocate separate federal budget 
funds specifically for the elimination of child labor, it has 
established a fund for the education and rehabilitation of freed 
child and bonded laborers. 
 
¶5. In 2000, Pakistan enacted a National Policy Plan of Action (NPPA) 
on child labor, consisting of three components:  the withdrawal of 
children from hazardous professions; the rehabilitation of child 
workers; and the prohibition and eventual elimination of all forms 
of child labor.  The GOP's long-term strategy includes alternate 
education opportunities, guaranteed access to primary education and 
vocational skills training. The government's Poverty Alleviation 
Strategy also provides families of child laborers with preferential 
access to micro-credit loans, thus reducing the financial burden of 
taking a family wage earner out of the labor market.  The GOP has 
established a National Training Bureau at the federal level and 
vocational education centers at the provincial level.  According to 
the Ministry of Labor, primary school drop-out rates have declined 
from 15 percent in 2001 to 10 percent in 2005 since the 
implementation of these policies. 
 
¶6. Pakistani Bait-ul-Mal, the government agency responsible for 
collecting and distributing the government-levied "zakat" (Islamic 
charitable giving required by the Koran) operates 151 centers 
nation-wide to educate working children and rehabilitate freed 
bonded laborers.  Bait-ul-Mal provides free food and educational 
materials as well as stipends to working children.  After receiving 
basic education, former child laborers are integrated back into the 
formal education system.  Since 1995, Bait-ul-Mal has spent over USD 
ten million on these projects.  Currently, more than 5,000 children 
are enrolled in education centers and over 5,000 have been 
reintegrated into the formal education system. 
 
¶7. The benchmark 1996 National Child Labor Survey, conducted with 
technical assistance from the ILO, found that 8.3 percent of 
 
ISLAMABAD 00005262  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
children aged 5 to 14 were employed, 73 percent of them male.  71 
percent of Pakistan's child laborers were concentrated in the 
agricultural, fisheries, construction and manufacturing industries. 
There has not been a follow-up survey.  According to the Ministry of 
Labor, nearly all of Pakistan's child labor occurs in informal, 
family-based or cottage industries.  In non-agricultural sectors, 93 
percent of working children are engaged in informal activities. 
Children's contribution to work in rural areas is around eight times 
greater than in urban areas.  The survey also indicated that only 
one-fourth of all child laborers had any formal education. 
 
¶8. The GOP, in conjunction with the ILO, has been planning to update 
the 1996 national survey of child labor for several years. The 
reluctance of international donors to commit funding for the project 
decreases the likelihood that a comprehensive national child labor 
survey will be conducted in 2008.  ILO representatives expressed a 
desire to build a child labor survey into the next national census, 
scheduled to begin in October 2008.  This survey would focus on 
district, not provincial, child labor trends, and would collect 
industry-specific information.  While Ministry of Labor officials 
are reluctant to speculate on the outcomes of any future survey, 
they hope increasing primary school enrollment rates are an 
indication that child labor is on the decline. 
 
¶9. The ILO's International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor 
(IPEC) provides technical and financial support to GOP agencies for 
capacity building.  IPEC funded sector-specific initiatives have 
successfully targeted child laborers the in carpet, soccer ball, 
surgical instrument and domestic industries.  The U.S. Department of 
Labor (DOL) has provided USD 15 million for ILO-IPEC projects since 
¶1997.  DOL currently funds the ILO-IPEC "Time-Bound Program on the 
Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor," a child 
labor-focused program in the earthquake affecting regions and 
"Mitigating Child Labor through Education in Pakistan."  This 
education project, scheduled to last through 2009, funds project 
sites in Balochistan, the Northwest Frontier Province and the 
Federally Administered Tribal Areas.  The limited survey conducted 
in 2006 in association with the project indicates that 65 percent of 
working children belong to lower income groups and the average 
income per child is approximately Rs. 1,800 (USD 30) per month, a 
significant portion of family income.  The survey identifies poverty 
and the lack of access to the educational system as the two main 
reasons that children enter the workforce instead of attending 
school. 
 
IMPLEMENTATION AND ENFORCEMENT 
------------------------------- 
 
¶10. The protection of children falls under the purview of the 
Ministry of Labor and Manpower and the Ministry of Social Welfare. 
The GOP formulated a National Labor Inspection Policy in 2006, 
supporting an extension of labor inspection activities to the 
informal sector.  The Policy encourages the involvement of the 
private sector in the provision of labor inspection services through 
licensing and accreditation arrangements.  Several private 
sector-led labor inspection organizations currently operate in 
export-oriented sectors.  One such organization, the Independent 
Monitoring Association for Child Labor (IMAC), monitors child labor 
conditions in the sporting goods industry. The association is funded 
by its soccer ball manufacturer members. 
 
¶11. However, enforcement of child labor laws remains weak due to 
inadequate resources devoted to labor condition monitoring. 
Provincial Labor Departments are required to carry out labor 
inspections but do not have inspectors devoted specifically to child 
labor.  Child labor complaints are adjudicated through separate 
labor courts. Workers can directly lodge complaints with these 
courts regarding working conditions and grievances.  Issues related 
to industrial relations are heard by the National Industrial 
Commission.  Child Labor violators can be fined up to Rs. 20,000 
(USD 333) and/or receive up to one year in prison.  To date, most 
punishments have been limited to small fines. 
 
¶12. Since 2003, labor inspections have been heavily regulated in the 
provinces of Punjab, Sindh and the Northwest Frontier Province. 
Inspection teams must request permission from provincial chief labor 
inspectors prior to visiting factories.  Local businesses are 
informed in advance of impeding inspections, limiting the 
effectiveness of the labor condition monitoring.  The Ministry of 
Labor has not received inspection reports from the three provinces 
since the regulations were put into effect in 2003.  External child 
labor monitoring mechanisms in the export-oriented soccer ball, 
surgical instrument, leather tanning, and carpet weaving industries 
have been introduced with ILO support in Pakistan.  External 
monitoring entities maintain public records of companies found using 
child labor that are shared with law enforcement agencies and 
potential foreign and domestic investors and consumers. 
 
ISLAMABAD 00005262  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
¶13. GOP information on the current state of labor inspections in 
Pakistan is incomplete.  The Ministry of Labor reports that the 
federal government has not received information on provincial labor 
inspections in 2007.  Data from previous years indicates that 
inspections are on the decline, particularly in the Punjab. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶14. The GOP has worked actively with international organizations and 
NGOs to reduce the incidence of child labor in Pakistan.  A 
comprehensive legal framework and action plan are in place for the 
elimination of the worst forms of child labor but enforcement is 
lacking.  Ministry of Labor officials report that while the federal 
government is dedicated to curtailing the employment of children, in 
some instances, district-level governments have yet to get the 
message.  Additionally, the government's ability to significantly 
reduce child labor continues to be constrained by a lack of funding 
and an inadequate primary education system, particularly in rural 
areas.  The biggest impediment to combating the worst forms of child 
labor remains economic as persistent poverty drives families to send 
their children into the workforce. 
 
PATTERSON