January 15, 2008	Tuesday	Muharram 05, 1429

ISLAMABAD, Jan 14: Speakers at a seminar here on Monday asked the government to prioritise appropriate wages and working conditions in the draft of the national employment policy.

They said the national policy must guarantee equal job opportunities to both the sexes and different strata of the society.

The public seminar on ‘Challenging Unemployment, Creating Decent Work for All?’ had been organised by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI).   Alice Shackelford from the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) urged the need for a gender-based approach. She said the draft policy should adopt innovative approaches and uphold national and international commitments of Pakistan for women empowerment. Mechanisms for accountability and institutionalisation, capacity-building of women, involvement of civil society and linkages between various policies, institutions and departments should be the hallmark of the draft.

She lamented that illiteracy, feminisation of poverty including ‘ex-feminisation’ of workforce in some areas, exploitation of women working in informal sector, gender imbalances in higher offices and workplace related gender issues were some of the pressing problems which needed real consideration in the national employment policy of Pakistan.

She cautioned that the repercussions of globalisation were going to be much higher for the less protected especially women in future. She also urged replication of good practices such as the case of bangle city, rural growth triangle scheme, village support centres, productive promotion and support centres for a decent and gender-sensitive workplaces.

Dr Sabur Ghayur, a representative of the Ministry of Labour Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis, said the focus of the draft policy was growth-oriented, productive employment, decent work for all and initiation of targeted measures.

The draft was focused on development potential and constraints of the country.

While citing recommendations of the National Manpower Commission 1989, he said war for employment generation and poverty alleviation had to be fought and successfully won in rural areas and small towns.

Pakistan’s rural labour market was facing many challenges that included a low absorptive capacity of the formal sector and an increasing informal sector, tackling unemployment of the illiterate population and lack of technical education and vocational training opportunities.

One of his ministry’s suggestions to tackle these bottlenecks were the three-tier growth triangle as well as of special measures for employment creation in rural areas, such as the ‘One Village One Product Programme’.

An employment guarantee scheme for rural areas was another measure adapted from the India experience to ensure decent employment for all, he said.

Dr Sajjad Akhtar from the Centre for Research on Poverty Reduction and Income Distribution (CRPRID) said no doubt the country required a growth-oriented employment policy, but its scope and value-addition could be enhanced by specifically focusing on structural issues faced by Pakistan’s labour market.

Some of these were contractual/temporary labour in manufacturing sector, growing share of unpaid family helpers specifically of females in the rural areas, the effective compliance of minimum wage laws and youth unemployment.

While representing Pakistan’s Workers Federation, Mohammad Akram Bunda appreciated the government for its efforts for a participatory and transparent national employment policy for the country. He said it was the need of the hour to wisely utilise the potential of Pakistan’s rural population which was 70 per cent of the total population of 160 million.