Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2020, published 109th ILC session (2021)

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Pakistan (Ratification: 2001)

The Committee takes note of the supplementary information provided by the Government in light of the decision adopted by the Governing Body at its 338th Session (June 2020). The Committee proceeded with the examination of the application of the Convention on the basis of the supplementary information received from the Government this year (see Articles 3(a) and 5), as well as on the basis of the information at its disposal in 2019.

Articles 3(a) and 5 of the Convention. Debt bondage and monitoring mechanisms. The Committee previously noted that the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act (BLSA) 1992 abolished bonded labour and that district vigilance committees (DVCs) were constituted to monitor the implementation of the BLSA. It noted that the BLSA was applicable in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), Balochistan and Punjab, while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) and Sindh provinces enacted provincial legislation on bonded labour (KPK Bonded Labour System Abolition Act 2015 and Sindh Bonded Labour System Abolition Act 2015). The Committee requested the Government to continue its efforts to eliminate child debt bondage and to strengthen the capacity of DVCs and law enforcement officials responsible for the monitoring of bonded labour.

The Committee notes the Government’s information in its supplementary report that the BLSA was adapted in all the provinces while the Punjab government passed the Punjab Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Amendment Act of 2018 which primarily aims at strengthening the ongoing system of inspections and reporting. The Government also indicates that the Provincial Cabinet of Balochistan approved the Elimination of Bonded Labour Bill 2020 which shall be submitted to the law department for vetting. The Bill provides for a punishment of one-year imprisonment and a fine of PKR 0.1 million (US$632.30) to people who are involved in hiring bonded labour. The Committee further notes the Government’s information that the DVCs have been revitalized in all the 36 districts of Punjab and are working vigilantly to eradicate child bonded labour under the district administration, particularly in brick kilns and workshops. The Government indicates that 258 meetings of DVCs were held in 2019 during which no cases of child debt bondage were reported. The provinces of Sindh, KPK and Balochistan are in the process of establishing DVCs. Provincial child and bonded labour units have been established in Punjab and KPK while Sindh, Balochistan and ICT are making efforts in this respect. The Government also indicates that the Sindh administration has registered and brought 740 brick kilns all over the province within the ambit of various labour laws, including the Sindh Prohibition of Employment of Children Act, 2015, in order to combat the menace of bonded labour. The Committee further notes the Government’s statement that the provinces are making efforts to strengthen institutional mechanisms for inspection and improvement in enforcement of labour laws on child and bonded labour, extension of coverage of such labour laws to the uncovered sectors and capacity development of inspection staff.

The Committee notes, however, from the National Commission for Human Rights Pakistan report entitled Towards Abolishing Bonded Labour in Pakistan, 2018 that over 1.3 million persons, including men, women and children in the brick kiln sector in Pakistan are working under conditions of debt bondage. This report further indicates that despite efforts by the Government and civil society, Pakistan remains a country with a large number of its workforce trapped in the systemic cycle of bondage.  The Committee therefore encourages the Government to intensify its efforts to eliminate child debt bondage, including through the effective implementation of the laws abolishing bonded labour and by establishing DVCs in all the provinces and strengthening their capacity as well as the capacity of the law enforcement officials responsible for the monitoring of child bonded labour. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the measures taken in this regard and on the results achieved, including the number of child bonded labourers identified by the DVCs and other law enforcement officials, the number of violations reported, investigations conducted, prosecutions, convictions and penal sanctions imposed. The Committee finally requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that the Balochistan Elimination of Bonded Labour Bill 2020 is enacted in the near future.

Articles 3(d) and 4(1). Hazardous work. With regard to the adoption of the list of hazardous work, the Committee refers to its detailed comments under the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138).

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clauses (a) and (e). Preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour. Access to free basic education and the special situation of girls. The Committee previously noted that the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), in its concluding observations of 11 July 2016, expressed concern at the large number of children (47.3 per cent of all children aged 5 to 16 years) who were not enrolled in formal education, of which the majority had never attended school and at the high dropout rate for girls, 50 per cent in Balochistan and KPK and 77 per cent in the Federal Administered Tribal Areas (CRC/C/PAK/CO/5, paragraph 61). The Committee urged the Government to redouble its efforts to improve access to free basic education for all children, taking into account the special situation of girls.

The Committee notes the Government’s information that measures are being implemented to improve the enrolment of children in education, including the provision of monetary incentives through Khidmat ATM cards for vulnerable children and children involved in the worst forms of child labour. According to this scheme, 2,000 Pakistani rupees (PKR) (US$12.64) shall be paid to the family while enrolling a child and thereafter PKR1,000 (US$6.32) per month to each child enrolled after verification of their attendance at school. The Government indicates that more than 90,000 identified children working in brick kilns have benefited from this scheme. The Committee also notes the Government’s indication that the school enrolment rates have currently reached 50.6 million compared to 48 million during 2016–17, an increase by 5.3 per cent while the gender disparity has also narrowed. The Committee notes from the UNICEF 2018 Annual Report, Pakistan that the provincial governments have been engaged in developing key policies with UNICEF such as the Punjab Non-Formal Education (NFE) Policy and the Sindh NFE Policy to enrol 600,000 out-of-school children in school in five years and the KPK NFE policy which will be endorsed shortly. These policies ensure that children excluded from education have opportunities to learn and develop skills through alternative learning pathways (ALP). In 2018, 550 ALP centres in all four provinces received direct UNICEF support, reaching 17,500 children (44 per cent girls). Moreover, UNICEF supported 2,784 early childhood education (ECE) centres across the four provinces enabling 99,400 children (58 per cent girls) to acquire ECE. The Committee, however, notes from the UNICEF report that over 5 million children are out of school, 60 per cent of whom are girls, while the number increases drastically after primary level with 17.7 million adolescents aged 10–16 years, of whom 51 per cent are girls, who are outside formal education. The Committee further notes that according to UNESCO statistics, the net enrolment rate in primary education in 2018 was 67.7 per cent (61.6 per cent female and 73.37 per cent male) and at the secondary level was 38.53 per cent (36.38 per cent female and 40.51 per cent male). While noting the measures taken by the Government, the Committee must express its deep concern at the low enrolment rates at the primary and secondary education levels and at the high number of out-of-school children.  Considering that education is key in preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour, the Committee urges the Government to strengthen its efforts to improve access to free basic education for all children, taking into account the special situation of girls. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the concrete measures taken in this regard, and to provide statistical information on the results achieved, particularly with regard to increasing school enrolment rates and reducing school drop-out rates and the number of out-of-school children. To the extent possible, this information should be disaggregated by age and gender.

Clause (d). Identifying and reaching out to children at special risk. Street children. The Committee previously noted the increasing number of street children and the lack of a systematic and comprehensive strategy to protect them. It also noted the establishment of centres for the rehabilitation of street children and other vulnerable groups in the provinces of Punjab, Sindh and KPK. It further noted the Government’s information that the KPK Government had established a special centre for street children which provides street children with education, health, recreation, sports, boarding, food, career and psychological counselling, and other necessary facilities. However, the Committee noted, from the concluding observations of the CRC of 11 July 2016, that children living or working on the streets, or whose parents were in conflict with the law, were often dealt with by the police rather than trained staff in child protection centres (CRC/C/PAK/CO/5, paragraph 73). The Committee requested the Government to strengthen its efforts to protect street children and to provide information on the measures taken in this regard.

The Committee notes an absence of information in the Government’s report on this issue. The Committee observes that according to information available in a 2019 report of the United Nations, entitled Pakistan’s street children, somewhere between 1.2 and 1.5 million children are thought to be on the streets of Pakistan’s major cities. These children, who often have little or no contact with their families, form one of the most vulnerable strata of society and are denied basic rights such as access to shelter, education and healthcare. These children are highly exposed to the risk of being drawn into abusive situations including engagement in child labour and subjection to sexual exploitation, trafficking and arbitrary arrest and detention.  Recalling that street children are particularly vulnerable to the worst forms of child labour, the Committee urges the Government to take effective and time-bound measures to protect and withdraw these children from engaging in the worst forms of child labour and provide for their rehabilitation and social integration. It requests the Government to provide information on the specific measures undertaken and the results achieved in this regard, particularly the number, age and gender of street children benefiting from shelter and other rehabilitative services.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.