Employment Injury Insurance in Pakistan

On 11 September 2012, a tragic fire at the Ali Enterprises garment factory in Baldia, Karachi, took the lives of more than 255 workers and left 57 more injured.
The victims of the Ali Enterprises fire have been receiving some payments from public social security schemes in Pakistan, but these were well short of the recommendation of the ILO Employment Injury Benefits Convention, 1964 (No. 121).

Since 2016, the ILO is coordinating the discussion to push forward the process of upgrading the compensation to the standards it recommends. After intensive discussion with the German retailer KiK, IndustriALL Global Union and the Clean Clothes Campaign, the stakeholders agreed to pay compensation to the victims in line with the Convention 121 recommendations.

With the agreement of its national Constituents in Pakistan, the ILO took on the role of facilitation and coordination at this stage, as the process remains constructive amongst all parties.

Beginning in 2018, and with the financial support of the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation (BMZ) through Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the ILO is providing technical assistance to the Sindh province "Sindh Employees Social Security Institution" (SESSI) to deliver the lifetime benefits to victims of the 2012 fire, and to strengthen the systems and institutional capacities of SESSI.

News

  1. News

    Workshop on the development of an Employment Injury Scheme in Pakistan.

    10 March 2020

  2. Social Security

    South-South and Triangular Cooperation for strengthening workplace injury compensation system in Pakistan

    16 July 2018

    ILO Country Office in Islamabad organised a one-day Consultation gathering National Social Security Institutions, relevant Departments and Organisations, and four provincial ESSI representatives to discuss the challenges and develop the province-specific strategy to reform Pakistan Social Security System.