Labour rights: Home-based bangle workers to get registered with labour department
Speakers agree working conditions of bangle workers are very harsh.
Labour department and UN Women inaugurated a two-year pilot project to support home-based bangle workers from Hyderabad. PHOTO: FILE
KARACHI:
All the home-based bangle workers from Hyderabad will finally be able to register with the labour department, the participants of a seminar decided on Friday.
The provincial labour department and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) inaugurated a two-year pilot project that aims to support home-based bangle workers from Hyderabad. The project will focus mainly on the registration of female workers with the labour department and also the formation of cooperatives.
The inauguration ceremony chaired by labour secretary Wasim Ahmed Ursani and UN Pakistan deputy representative Sangeeta Thapa was held at Sheraton hotel, where over a dozen female workers associated with the bangle industry and representatives of different civil society and labour organisations participated.
Emphasising on the registration process, Ursani said that informal workers’ registration by the provincial government was a pioneering initiative to enhance women’s access to social protection. “This will be one step forward to reduce the poverty among the informal workforce,” he added.
The speakers said that, over the years, the labour department, UN agencies, civil society organisations and informal workers working towards women’s economic empowerment have advocated for the recognition of home-based workers in Pakistan. They highlighted that the legislation and a policy for home-based workers are being pursued at the provincial level. The approval of such a law would in turn ensure that home-based workers are recognised and have access to social protection mechanisms leading to many other benefits.
Meanwhile, Thapa highlighted the importance of women’s economic empowerment along with the engagement of informal workers especially bangle workers, saying their rights should be protected.
“Women workers are not being given their due rights,” said Zehra, the general secretary of the Home-Based Women Workers Federation. “Their works need to be recognised.” She highlighted the plight of female bangle workers with the help of images from the industry.
Women home-based bangle workers represent a particularly marginalised category of informal workers in the country. According to various studies, women home-based bangle workers are located in urban centres with a majority of them residing in Hyderabad. They fall in the lowest income bracket, are largely unskilled, live and work under hazardous conditions that lead to numerous health issues. This vulnerable existence often leaves them exploited by the middle agents, the speaker felt.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 14th, 2013.
All the home-based bangle workers from Hyderabad will finally be able to register with the labour department, the participants of a seminar decided on Friday.
The provincial labour department and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) inaugurated a two-year pilot project that aims to support home-based bangle workers from Hyderabad. The project will focus mainly on the registration of female workers with the labour department and also the formation of cooperatives.
The inauguration ceremony chaired by labour secretary Wasim Ahmed Ursani and UN Pakistan deputy representative Sangeeta Thapa was held at Sheraton hotel, where over a dozen female workers associated with the bangle industry and representatives of different civil society and labour organisations participated.
Emphasising on the registration process, Ursani said that informal workers’ registration by the provincial government was a pioneering initiative to enhance women’s access to social protection. “This will be one step forward to reduce the poverty among the informal workforce,” he added.
The speakers said that, over the years, the labour department, UN agencies, civil society organisations and informal workers working towards women’s economic empowerment have advocated for the recognition of home-based workers in Pakistan. They highlighted that the legislation and a policy for home-based workers are being pursued at the provincial level. The approval of such a law would in turn ensure that home-based workers are recognised and have access to social protection mechanisms leading to many other benefits.
Meanwhile, Thapa highlighted the importance of women’s economic empowerment along with the engagement of informal workers especially bangle workers, saying their rights should be protected.
“Women workers are not being given their due rights,” said Zehra, the general secretary of the Home-Based Women Workers Federation. “Their works need to be recognised.” She highlighted the plight of female bangle workers with the help of images from the industry.
Women home-based bangle workers represent a particularly marginalised category of informal workers in the country. According to various studies, women home-based bangle workers are located in urban centres with a majority of them residing in Hyderabad. They fall in the lowest income bracket, are largely unskilled, live and work under hazardous conditions that lead to numerous health issues. This vulnerable existence often leaves them exploited by the middle agents, the speaker felt.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 14th, 2013.