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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ISLAMABAD 000335 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD PHUM SOCI PREL PK
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR IN PAKISTAN 
 
REF: A. STATE 127448 B. 08 ISLAMABAD 005262 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: The Government of Pakistan (GOP) continues to 
recognize the importance of the elimination of the worst forms of 
child labor and is slowly taking steps to achieve this goal.  There 
have been pockets of improvement over the past year but the main 
problem for Pakistan continues to be the lack of a comprehensive 
strategy to deal with the problem as a whole.  It is not enough to 
provide alternatives to child labor and rehabilitation; the GOP must 
also monitor and enforce existing regulations.  End Summary. 
 
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UPDATE: REGULATIONS AND INITIATIVES 
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¶2. (U) The GOP, in coordination with the European Commission (EC), 
has continued the National Time Bound Program that was originally 
conceived by the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the U.S. 
Department of Labor (DOL), which expired December 2008.  This new 
National Time Bound Program, which runs from 2009 through 2016, is 
focused on eliminating child labor at the district level.  The 
program has been launched initially in Hyderabad and Peshawar, and 
will be extended to other districts.  The EC will contribute 4.6 
million Euros for this program.  This new Time Bound Program will 
continue to reflect ILO conventions 138 and 182, which concern the 
minimum age for employment and the elimination of the worst forms of 
child labor, respectively. 
 
¶3. (U) The GOP is also expected to launch its second Poverty 
Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP2) soon, which will be more focused on 
child labor than the initial PRSP and include educational 
opportunities for working children.  The PRSP2 is expected to 
increase access to micro-credit loans for families of working 
children.  The draft PRPS2 has been reviewed by the Ministries of 
Labor, Education, and Finance, as well as by the ILO and various 
NGO's.  The GOP started the original PRSP, a strategy for increasing 
growth and reducing poverty, in 2004 when it entered into Poverty 
Reduction and Growth Facility with the IMF. The GOP has taken it 
upon itself to continue with these policies and incorporate them in 
PRSP2. 
 
- - - - - - - 
IMPROVEMENTS 
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¶4. (U) The most positive development this year has been the interest 
in eliminating the worst forms of child labor on the provincial 
level.  The Punjab Government has established Child Protection 
Bureaus in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Rahim Yar Khan, Multan and Faisalabad 
to protect and rehabilitate street children, especially beggars. 
These bureaus are assigned judges and police and literally pick up 
child beggars off the street, take them to a judge to be processed, 
and then ensure the children are fed, housed, and educated.  If they 
are addicted to drugs, they are put in a rehabilitation facility for 
several weeks and monitored to make sure there is no relapse.  The 
Punjab Government has budgeted Rs. 140 million (USD 1.8 million) for 
these programs. 
 
¶5. (U) The Balochistan Government is also making headway in its 
efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labor in its province. 
 The Balochistan Government has identified two goals: to promote 
legitimate overseas employment for Pakistani youth (50,000 over five 
years) aged 15 to 25 and to eradicate the worst forms of child labor 
in Balochistan within five years.  The Balochistan Government is 
working with the ILO to design these two ambitious programs and is 
organizing a conference in Islamabad in April to jointly present 
them. 
 
¶6. (U) The Pakistani Bait-ul-Mal, the government agency responsible 
for distributing money to the poor, has increased its efforts in 
fighting child labor.  Bait-ul-Mal has increased the number of child 
labor centers from 18 to 150 since 2002.  These centers provide 
 
ISLAMABAD 00000335  002 OF 002 
 
 
food, school uniforms, education, and a stipend, specifically for 
children formerly engaged in the worst forms of child labor. 
 
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MONITORING AND ENFORCEMENT 
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¶7. (U) Monitoring and enforcement of child labor differs between the 
formal and informal sectors.  Child labor is rarely found in the 
formal sector (i.e., businesses that are registered and taxed). 
Unfortunately, the GOP has not improved its record on monitoring and 
enforcing its regulations on the worst forms of child labor in the 
informal sector, which consists of small, undocumented workshops and 
very small scale industry, and is consequently more difficult for 
the GOP to oversee. 
 
¶8. (U) Independent monitoring, however, remains successful.  The 
Independent Monitoring Association for Child Labor (IMAC), a 
coalition of employers, unions and the ILO, effectively monitors 
child labor conditions in the sporting goods industry.  The GOP is 
trying to replicate this system in other industries and areas 
throughout the country with technical assistance from the ILO.  The 
ILO is engaged with the GOP and performs monitoring training at the 
Civil Service Academy, National Institute of Public Administration, 
the Police Academy and other GOP institutions. 
 
¶9. (U) The GOP is still planning on conducting a national survey on 
child labor in conjunction with the ILO (reftel B).  Unfortunately, 
the GOP did not conduct the national census this year.  Once the 
census is complete, the ILO, through its Statistical Information and 
Monitoring Program on Child Labor (SIMPOC), will provide technical 
assistance to the Federal Bureau of Statistics to complete the 
survey on child labor.  ILO envisions initiating the survey in 
January/February 2010 with a target completion date of early 2011. 
 
 
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UPDATED STATISTICS 
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¶10.  (U) Working children, 10-14 years 2006-2007: 13.31 percent 
Working boys, 10-14 years 2006-2007: 16.92 percent 
Working girls, 10-14 years 2006-2007: 9.18 percent 
Gross primary enrollment rate 2006-2007: 91 percent 
Net primary enrollment rate 2006-2007: 50 percent 
Survival rate to grade 5 2006-2007: 70 percent 
 
- - - - - 
COMMENT 
- - - - - 
 
¶11. (SBU) Comment.  The GOP is making progress in the elimination of 
the worst forms of child labor.  It has a better understanding of 
the issues than previously but needs to improve its comprehensive 
strategy.  Unfortunately, the recent economic difficulties are 
causing more people to fall below the poverty line, thus increasing 
the likelihood of children participating in the worst forms of child 
labor.  The increased involvement of the provincial governments is 
encouraging; however, their efforts would have more impact if 
coordinated on a national level.  Enforcement and monitoring still 
remain problematic.  The GOP can rehabilitate and provide for these 
children, but it must also adequately monitor and enforce 
regulations on the improper use of children in the informal sector. 
The GOP needs to successfully monitor the informal sector and also 
replicate the IMAC model if it is to eliminate the worst forms of 
child labor in Pakistan.  This takes major resources, however, and 
GOP's labor inspection regime has always been inadequate; the 
spending caps put in place by the IMF's Standby Arrangement will 
make further progress even more difficult. 
 
PATTERSON