VZCZCXRO3607
PP RUEHLH RUEHPW
DE RUEHIL #3629/01 3231140
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 181140Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0225
INFO RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHDC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHML/AMEMBASSY MANILA 3100
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 9415
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 4042
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 9109
RUEHKP/AMCONSUL KARACHI 0629
RUEHLH/AMCONSUL LAHORE 6361
RUEHPW/AMCONSUL PESHAWAR 5214
RUMICEA/USCENTCOM INTEL CEN MACDILL AFB FL
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ISLAMABAD 003629 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
REFS: A. SECSTATE 99123 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: ELAB PHUM SOCI KTIP PK
SUBJECT: POST NOMINATION FOR U.S. LABOR AWARD 
 
¶1. (U) Summary.  Post highly recommends Mr. Muhammad Saifullah 
Choudhry for the U.S. Department of Labor's Iqbal Masih Award for 
the Elimination of Child Labor (reftel A).  Post believes Mr. 
Choudhry exemplifies the spirit of this award due to his 
contributions in reducing the worst forms of child labor and 
pressing for change at the district, provincial and national levels 
in Pakistan.  Mr. Choudhry has been successful in raising awareness 
due to his targeted approach and focus on six specific industries 
which have the worst child labor violations such as glass bangle 
manufacturing, deep sea fishing, coal mining, surgical instrument 
manufacturing, and leather tanning. End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) Post nominates Mr. Muhammad Saifullah Choudhry for the U.S. 
Department of Labor's Iqbal Masih Award for the Elimination of Child 
Labor because he has significantly contributed to the reduction of 
the worst forms of child labor and has promoted constructive change 
regarding the labor exploitation of children in Pakistan.  Mr. 
Choudhry has been working for International Labor Organization's 
(ILO) International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor since 
¶2001.  He has made an invaluable contribution in the campaign 
against the Worst Forms of Child Labor (WFCL) in all four provinces 
of Pakistan.  Mr. Choudhry has been successful due to his targeted 
approach and focus on six specific industries which have the worst 
child labor violations such as glass bangle manufacturing, deep sea 
fishing, coal mining, surgical instrument manufacturing, and leather 
tanning. 
 
¶3. (U) His understanding of the WFCL issue and his acts to combat it 
have put a serious dent in the practices of WFCL in Pakistan in 
various hazardous industries.  Mr. Choudhry's contribution at the 
policy level has succeeded in influencing child labor legislation 
and education policy to expand coverage to the worst forms of child 
labor.  In concert with the Ministry of Education, he began a 
national level dialogue on the educational needs of children in the 
worst form of labor.  Now for the first time ever, Pakistan has a 
clear policy which provides education to children who were employed 
in these sectors.  He held national level consultations, in 
collaboration with the Ministry of Labor, and spearheaded efforts to 
amend Pakistan's child labor legislation by expanding the hazardous 
occupations which were included, in the Employment of Child Act. 
 
¶4. (U) His creativity and his advanced understanding of the 
incidence of WFCL have allowed Mr. Choudhry to devise an innovative 
program, the National Time-Bound Program (TBP), to help eliminate 
WFCL from Pakistan.  The USD 4 million Time Bound Program, which was 
funded by the U.S. Department of Labor, represented a unique 
approach and was adopted to build the capacity of local authorities 
to take direct action against WFCL in six district governments 
(Gwadar, Hyderabad, Kasur, Sialkot, Rawalpindi and Shangla) and in 
all four provinces.  This approach not only built the capacity of 
the target district governments to combat WFCL, but also helped in 
leveraging additional resources from the district government and 
partner NGOs for the rehabilitation of WFCL children and their 
families.  More than 11,800 children in these six hazardous sectors 
have benefited from TBP project interventions. 
 
¶5. (U) As an ILO officer, Mr. Choudhry advised the Government of 
Pakistan and helped it develop District Education Plans and District 
based Child Labor Monitoring Systems.  Mr. Choudhry mobilized NGOs 
to extend small loans to families of WFCL, which totaled 2,254 
families and approximately PKR 22.5 million (USD 281,250). 
 
¶6. (U) Mr. Choudhry has also contributed immensely in generating 
knowledge on the incidence of child trafficking under another U.S. 
Department of Labor funded Project (the Pakistan component of 
ILO-IPEC's regional TICSA project) on child trafficking.  Under his 
leadership, two studies on child trafficking were completed and 
published.  He also built up the capacity of local district 
authorities to check the recruitment of children for camel jockey 
races in the Middle East.  Mr. Choudhry is a regular key note 
speaker at high level Pakistani government training for senior 
government officers on issues like the worst forms of child labor, 
child trafficking, and bonded labor practices. 
 
¶7. (U)Presently, Mr. Choudhry is working for the ILO Pakistan office 
 
ISLAMABAD 00003629  002 OF 002 
 
 
as a Senior Program Officer.  His phone number is +92.51.2276456, 
email - msaif@ilo.org, address - ILO Building, G-5/2, Adjacent to 
State Bank of Pakistan, Islamabad, Pakistan. 
 
PATTERSON