SIALKOT: Almost 95pc of home-based women workers from the selected batch of 800 have undertaken a new trade or job. Of them, 61pc have chosen a new trade for greater economic potential after participating in training for all skills.

The workers claimed they were satisfied both monetarily and with the working conditions. Prof Arshad Mirza, president of Baidarie, an NGO, said this while talking to the media here on Monday.

He said a recent study conducted by foreign consultants evaluated the impact of interventions so far made by Baidarie for the rehabilitation of 16,000 home-based workers in Sialkot who used to hand-stitch footballs after the production method switched to machines.

Prof Mirza said the NGO made sure all of its interventions were made with close relationship with the community. Since societal and cultural pressures were the greatest hindrance to the advancement of home-based workers, any transformation or significant change could not be achieved if they worked away from the community, he added.

He said as many as 32 groups with approximately 800 workers as members had been formed, which met periodically and deliberated on right-based solutions to their problems.

Several research studies conducted by national and international institutions and trade data reflected that due to an unprecedented fall in the hand-stitched ball business recently, almost 50,000 workers, including approximately 16,000 home-based ones in Sialkot district alone, had become jobless or were on the verge of losing their jobs.

In Sialkot and adjoining districts, hand stitching of footballs was traditionally a major source of employment for a massive chunk of unskilled or semi-skilled male and female workers.

Baidarie Women’s Wing President Hina Naureen said they had been working since 1993 for socioeconomic empowerment of women from rural and suburban areas of Sialkot district. She termed it a well-conceived initiative to develop a presentable, replicable and up-scalable model for providing and increasing access to alternative livelihoods for jobless/vulnerable home-based workers stitching footballs in Sialkot.

Published in Dawn, August 5th, 2014