Child Labour

Zeenat Hisam

Once upon a time in one of the neighbourhoods in the PECHS area Karachi, where I grew
up, there stood two or three houses in each row of the demarcated land and the remaining
plots lay vacant. Children would roam around, play in open spaces, climb the trees and go
back home. Fifty years have gone by and not a single plot has remained without a
structure. I do find children on the streets, boys only, of age 9-17, playing cricket in the
afternoon for an hour or less. All domestic servants, the kids take respite from chores while
their masters take to siesta. They live in this neighbourhood but belong to the fringe of
society. Compelled to leave their homes up in the north, they supplement the household
income through child labour in the city.

Though visible, child labour remains undocumented. These children engaged in domestic
service were not counted in the 2017 population census as they are not members of the
households they lived in. The census takers had no category to document their existence.
We do not know exactly how many children toil in domestic service, or in other
occupations. High number of out-of-school children, 3% decline in gross enrolment rates,
small-scale surveys and observations on the ground suggest child labour is increasing.
Children are found working in agriculture, brick kilns, transport, food industry, light
manufacturing, carpet weaving, auto repair, domestic service, packaging and recycling.

The last national child labour survey was conducted in 1996. Provincial autonomy achieved
in 2010 led to hopes that the provinces would take the issue of child labour seriously,
conduct surveys, draw a coherent policy, remove lacunae in legislation and ensure
implementation. Unfortunately, nothing of the sort has happened.

In a 2016 Child Labour Report on Pakistan released by the US Department of Labour, based
on UNESCO data, the prevalence of child labour in the age group of 5 to 14 years in the
province of Punjab was estimated at 12.4% and in Sindh 31.5%. Child labour is more
pronounced in Sindh as the number of out-of-school children is higher in the province. The
Labour Force Survey does not capture the magnitude though gives some indications of
children employment. The last LFS, conducted in 2014-2015, revealed labour force
participation rate for age group 10-14 years as 9.6% and for persons of 15-19 years the rate
was 33.%. In comparison to the national data, the latest ILO global estimates indicate child
labour in Asia and the Pacific region has declined from 9.3% in 2012 to 7.4% in 2016.

In the last few years, several projects have been undertaken, notably by the government of
Punjab, to tackle the issue. However, as child labour is so widespread and the issue
intertwined with poverty and lack of schooling, the outcomes of interventions are not visible
on the ground. A positive step towards assessing the magnitude of child labour has been the
launching of the provincial child labour surveys with the support of UNICEF and Pakistan
Bureau of Statistics (PBS) in 2016-2017.

The Punjab Child Labour Survey was initiated in mid 2016 with the support of the UNICEF
and PBS. According to a source, the pilot study in two districts, Bahawal Nagar and Chakwal,
completed in 2017, indicated high prevalence of child labour. The survey was halted. The
SIMPOC methodology, which includes qualitative assessment, became contentious among
the implementing partners who had ready excuses to delay the survey: UNICEF got busy in
the Multiple Indicators Cluster Survey Punjab 2017 and the PBS was caught up with the
Population Census 2017.

The plan for the Sindh Child Labour Survey was approved in March 2017. According to a
representative of the Sindh Labour Department, inception workshop and pre-test activity
were held, enumerators appointed, software developers hired and the pilot study done in
Karachi District East and Thatta District. But the field work could not begin in 2017 as the
government of Sindh did not release the funds. Once the funds are released, field work would
be completed in May 2018, the official told me in a recent meeting in his office.

Aside lack of documentation, coherent policy and implementation of child labour laws, a big
constraint is lack of uniformity in the definition of child in laws which does not comply with
the international definition of child which is a person of age between 5-17 years. A
consultation held in September 2017 by the National Commission for Human Rights on how
to eliminate economic exploitation of children raised hopes as tangible recommendations
had emerged, including a proposal to establish advisory committee and a technical working
group to reform legislation and expedite advocacy with legislators and policy makers. Sadly,
nothing tangible has come out of the deliberations as yet.

The writer is a researcher in the development sector.(zeenathisam2004@gmail.com)