Decent Work - Centre for Labour Advocacy and Dialgoue (CLAD)

                                    CLAD Launches Decent Work Initiative

Islamabad witnessed in August 2009 the assemblage of some of the key leaders of the industry and labor movement, provincial and federal government officials, academia and representatives of some of the UN specialized agencies. Occasion was the national orientation and consultation on “Labor Protection, Labor Inspection and Decent Work” organized by the Centre for Labor Advocacy and Dialogue (CLAD) in collaboration with the Solidarity Centre (SC) under the “Decent Work Initiative” (DWI).

This decade has witnessed a number of initiatives with regard to promoting employment and protecting the rights of working women and men in the country. Pakistan, for example, became the second country in South Asia - after Sri Lanka - to ratify the all Core Labor Standards (CLSs) of the International Labor Organization (ILO). Some important initiatives in this decade include: i) launch of decent work country program (DWCP) prepared by the Ministry of Labor and Manpower (MoLMP) together with the employers’ and workers’ organizations and the ILO, ii) Labor Inspection Policy (LIP), iii) Labor Protection Policy (LPP), iv) National Employment Policy (NEP), v) National Emigration Policy (NEMP), and vi) draft National Human Resource Development Policy (NHRDP). Furthermore, the GoP launched the second Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) and is currently in the preparatory phase of developing country’s next five year development plan.

It is, however, widely believed that policies and programs developed lack proper understanding and coordination with each other, and, importantly, largely remain un-implemented. Furthermore, policies and programs developed even within a ministry also lack the needed coordination Thus, developing greater synergies is critical for achieving better beneficial and sustainable outcomes.

Goals and Objectives

The main goal of DWI of the CLAD is to provide a forum to the stakeholders for developing a framework and an action plan for “operationalization of decent work” in the country. The objectives in this regard are as under:
. Create greater awareness on the LIP, LPP, DWCP, CLSs and NEP amongst the stakeholders at the National and Provincial levels,
. Highlight the salient features of the policies for developing action plans for different stakeholders,
. Stress the importance of a decent work outcome through a simultaneous focus on the polices and programs,
. Discuss the possibilities of establishing an “Advisory Council” comprising of interested stakeholders to act as necessary facilitator in “operationalizing decent work” through creating greater synergies between policies and programs, and
. Organize a 2-day national orientation and consultation to: i) create greater understanding of the said policies and programs, ii) develop a “consensus” based road-map, and ii) initiate the process towards the goal of “decent work for all”.

The 2-day national consultation comprised of plenary sessions, panel discussion and round table. The topics of plenary sessions were: i) CLSs and Obligations for Ratifying Countries, ii) National Employment Policy: Priority Areas and Decent Work Considerations, iii) Labor Inspection and Labor Protection: Current Stage and Future Directions – I, and iv) Labor Inspection and Labor Protection: Current Stage and Future Directions – II. Whereas, the topic of panel discussion was “The Pakistan DWCP: Evolution, Current Stage and Future Directions”, the topic for round table was essentially “The Way Forward”. The CLAD also prepared and published a working paper for the DWI. Please also visit the papers and press gallery.

Agenda for Decent Work

The CLAD has plans to advance its agenda of “decent work” for men and women by taking up A&D as well as research and training on the following:

1.   Employment and labour market,
2.   Working conditions and wages,
3.   Occupational safety and health,
4.   Social safety nets
5.   Industrial relations,
6.   Collective bargaining,
7.   Bi- and tri-partism,
8.   Labor inspection,
9.   Labor protection,
10.   Alternate dispute settlement mechanism,
11.   Gender mainstreaming,
12.   Home based workers,
13.   Domestic workers,
14.   Rights of migrant workers,
15.   Reintegration of returning migrants, and
16.   Human resource development (HRD).