Stressing the need to educate women in rural areas, Advisor to Chief Minister Zakia Shahnawaz appreciated the role of civil society in highlighting the plight of home-based workers on Tuesday. She was addressing a provincial consultation organised by HomeNet Pakistan in collaboration with a Sialkot based organization, Baidari, which works for social development by empowering home-based women workers in that district.
Speaking at the consultation, Shahnawaz said that the Punjab government was committed to the welfare of home-based women workers.
Commending the chief minister’s initiative to set up a working group to formulate recommendations for legislation on home-based workers, Shahnawaz said that a meeting of this working group will be convened soon. She said recommendations would be sent to the provincial assembly to ensure drafting of laws securing the rights of home-based workers.
Attended by a large number of home-based workers from Sialkot, Faisalabad, Kasur and Okara, the conference was also addressed by former National Assembly member Mehnaz Rafi, Pakistan Labour Federation general secretary Sardar Rehmat Ullah and Punjab Social Security Director General Sahibzada Afzal Ahmad.
HomeNet Pakistan Executive Director Umme Laila said the NGO had drafted a policy in the light of International Labour Organisation Convention C177 which recognising home-based workers as ‘workers.’
Hina Noreen, president of Baidari, said the organisation had been working since 1993 for the improvement of working conditions for the labourers in the district, irrespective of linguistic, religious, political affiliations and their gender. She said 5,000 women and 1,100 men had been educated while 10,000 women had been identified to provide technical skills in various sectors.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 1st, 2012.
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