KARACHI: A two-day capacity development workshop was organised on Sunday by HomeNet Pakistan, a membership-based network, comprising of membership-based organizations representing the majority of home-based workers across country, in which the speakers said that the Sindh government is actively engaged in fast implementation of Sindh Home Based Workers Act 2018 through adequate availability of women labour inspectors across the province.
The officials responsible for the enforcement of the law said this being first of its kind in the country required an efficient and fool proof approach safeguarding the minimum wage, healthy working environment and social security rights of women as well as that of other excluded groups.
“The law is truly comprehensive encompassing all HBWs and guaranteeing their economic empowerment as well rights to occupational health and safety protection, social security coverage, EOBI coverage, health cards facility, grants, pension schemes,” said HomeNet Executive Director Ume Laila.
The activist appreciated UNWomen, Aurat Foundation as well as Sindh Labour Resource Development department for their help in getting materialised the urgently needed capacity building programme.
The event was attended by officials belonging to labour, law, social welfare, social security and women development departments of the provincial government besides workers associated with Pakistan Ready Garments Institute, representatives of Employer Federation of Pakistan (EFP), EOBI, trade unionists and labour rights activists.
Ume Laila also briefed the participants about the history of the struggle for HBWs rights in South Asia as well as in other parts of the world.
“HomeNet South Asia has members in countries including India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Pakistan,” she said mentioning that HomeNet South Asia has taken up issues and uplifted the status of women HBWs in these respective countries.
She also shared in detail with the participants’ procedure adopted under the law for registration of home-based workers mainly comprising women, people with disabilities as well as transgenders.
Issues and challenges faced by HBWs were particularly discussed.
HomeNet representative for Karachi Naheed Syed referred to the urgent need for female labour inspectors at the district level so as to streamline the monitoring process crucial to protect rights of women HBWs at their respective workplaces.
Syed Ashraf Ali Naqvi, Shaheen Nisar Mangi, Habib Junaidi, Abid Hussain Zawavi and Gulfam Nabi Memon also spoke on the occasion.
