'Women's Assembly' demands justice for women cotton pickers

Forum urges enforcement of labour laws, ensurance of minimum wage

HYDERABAD:

Organised by the Sindh Community Foundation (SCF) in collaboration with the Commonwealth Foundation, a Women's Assembly was held under the theme "Claiming Safe Working Conditions and Climate Justice." Over 90 participants gathered for the event, which served as a platform for women agricultural workers and advocates to raise concerns about exploitative wages, exclusion from labour protections, and the worsening impacts of climate change on women's health and livelihoods, disproportionately impacting over one million women cotton workers across Sindh.

SCF Executive Director Javed Hussain called for social protection programmes for women in agriculture, particularly in light of their disproportionate exposure to climate shocks. He stated, "climate change is not just an environmental issue, it's a growing threat to the health and dignity of rural women workers."

Hussain also highlighted the lack of enforcement of the Sindh Women Agricultural Workers Act (2019), which mandates minimum wage, healthcare, maternity benefits, and social security, but remains unimplemented in rural districts. Meanwhile, representing the Sindh Abadgar Board, Nadeem Shah noted that over 70 per cent of agricultural labour in the province is performed by women who are still unrecognised under labour laws. He called for the legal classification of agriculture as an industry, to ensure enforceable labour protections.

The assembly concluded with a set of demands, including the immediate enforcement of the Sindh Women Agricultural Workers Act, 2019; monitoring of minimum wage compliance; universal health insurance and social protection coverage; inclusion in welfare boards and compensation schemes; labour rights awareness campaigns targeting landlords and contractors; climate adaptation measures; and expanded outreach.