Social Protection Of Labour By ILO And Causes Of Its Failure In Pakistan

Introduction

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) is an organization works as an agency of United Nations and it deals with labour problems, specially international labour standards, social protection, and work opportunities for all. It has 187 member states. In 1969, the organisation received the Nobel Peace Prize for improving peace among classes, pursuing decent work and justice for workers. ILO has several “Priority Areas” and social protection of labour is one of them. The ILO actively promotes policies and provides assistance to member countries to extend adequate levels of social protection to all members of society. Social security covers different areas including health care and income security, particularly in cases of old age, unemployment, sickness, invalidity, work injury, maternity or loss of a main income earner. Pakistan is one of those countries which avail the opportunity of benefiting from social protection programmes run by ILO. But here the point to ponder is that whether these programmes and initiatives have been proved fruitful on their own or are there some domestic factors which affect the efficiency of these organizations. Theory of Liberal Inter-Governmentalism by Andrew Moravcsick, argues that “state-society relations, the relationship of state to the domestic and transnational social context in which they are embedded, have a fundamental impact on state behaviour in world politics.” He further states that domestic factors, domestic pressure groups, and all such other factors shape the preferences of states in international cooperation and efficiency of international organizations within that state. Hence, the basic purpose of this study is to describe the phenomena, that how Social Protection Program of ILO is affecting the labour conditions of a developing country like Pakistan. Furthermore, this research is an attempt to describe the obstacles and impediments in the smooth working of these labour protection programmes in Pakistan. So, the question of our focus in this research is, “Why social protection programs organized and operated by ILO are abundantly effective in Pakistan?” The central argument or point which can be the possible answer to this question can be, that the problems in domestic political conditions and negligence of government, are the reasons due to which these Social Protection programmes couldn’t prove fruitful.

Literature Review

Selwyn (2013) in his article welcomes the developments by ILO Social Protection. However, he also argues that the social advancement concept represents an elite conception of relations between capital, the state and labour. It is argued that the notion, derived from the International Labour Organization's Decent Work Agenda, refutes the reality of labour's exploitation by capital and is therefore only partly equipped to explain the existence of indecent work. Browne (2016) in his writing recommends that social protection programmes have a small effect on dropping child labour. Social protection is broadly successful in reducing child labour, but this consequence is not often measured, meaning the indication is lacking or weak. Khanal (2012) states that in welfare economies, social security and protection systems covering universal family benefits, social assistance and social insurance have been critical in improving poverty and enhancing people’s living standards. In Nepal, social protection plays the role of a catalyst in assuring durable peace.

Access to and Effects of Social Protection on Workers living with HIV and their Households: An analytical report by ILO (2013) demonstrates that even though policies do not eliminate people living with HIV, they face encounters in accessing the existing social protection services; primarily a lack of adequate knowledge about the programmes, complex procedures for accessing programmes, and humiliation and discrimination. Kulke (2013) argues that in response to the questions as to whether the existing ILO social security standards have lost their importance and whether the new Recommendation has been adopted with a view to substituting the existing ones, the article concludes that its implementation not only complements but also widens and strengthens the current international social security code. Syeda M. Hassan (2013) concluded that the social protection programs and schemes in Pakistan are unable to produce projected impact on poverty improvement due to inbuilt structural design blemishes and clear problems in their implementation. Jamal (2010) stated different programmes in his research, that are initiated in Pakistan but he concluded that in the absence of a cohesive and clearly articulated social protection policy, individual programs remain ad-hoc, reactionary and split. Kabeer (2010) talks about gender inequalities in the distribution of power. Given the widespread evidence of the extent to which women, particularly poor women, have been marginalised in processes by which development policies are designed and implemented, it suggests that explicit consideration needs to be given to strengthening women's capacity for voice and action at multiple stages of the planning cycle. Social security systems are typically for people working in formal sector and consist of social assistance and social insurance measures. Hence, it is a component of social protection, whereas, safety nets are generally short-term emergency steps, placed to prevent people from falling underneath a given standard of living. In this report of ADB, it is claimed that in Pakistan, current policy focuses on targeted schemes rather than those concerned with employment creation or employment-related forms of social protection. Expectations from the private sector play a much greater role in the provision of social protection. Conceptually, therefore, the provision of social protection in Pakistan is steadily moving away from social protection as part of citizenship rights, toward an emphasis on private and market-based provisioning. Hence, a future social protection strategy for Pakistan needs to address both the consequences of being poor as well as the risk of becoming poor. Social protection programs initiated by ILO in Pakistan Pakistan is a developing country, it is facing many problems in giving incentives, facilities, and awareness in several sectors. Hence, under the Decent Work Project, programmes are initiated for protection of labour in Pakistan with the collaboration of ILO. These programmes are discussed below: Extending Social Protection in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province through Building a Social Protection Floor within the Framework of a Social Protection Policy: In partnership with the Japan Social Safety Net Asia and the Pacific (JSSNP), the ILO in Pakistan is working meticulously with the Government of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa to develop and pilot a Social Protection Floor targeting the 27 million inhabitants of the province, of which 39 per cent live below the poverty line and are in necessity of basic social transmissions and social services. The study titled ‘Institutional Mapping of Social Protection Schemes in the Province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’ suggests that assisting the provincial government in founding a wide-ranging social protection system based on the contemporary international concept of ‘social protection floor,’ according to a development planner education, food distribution, shelters, etc. Facilitating implementation and review of DWCP among tripartite constituents: After the devolution of “labour” subject to Provincial Governments, ILO has established mechanism whereby DWCP meetings take place with Federal Ministry of OP&HRD, all four Provincial Labour Departments, Employers Federation of Pakistan (EFP) and Pakistan Workers Federation (PWF) on a quarterly basis. All planned interventions are reviewed in detail and plans for next three months prepared, within the parameters of DWCP. Furthermore, following programmes are there:

1. Social Protection Reform Strengthened in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa [KP] Province (PAK-105) in Pakistan, the ILO is supporting national constituents in encouraging the concept of the Social Protection Floor, the safety of workers against workplace timidities, the protection of workers with HIV and AIDS, and the protection of migratory workers against numerous types of exploitations they face, both in their native country as well as in destination countries. By the end of year 2014, a multi-tiered coordination had been successfully developed which includes steering committee, it is headed by the Additional Chief Secretary (Development) of KP Government and including all relevant Government Departments and Workers’ and Employers’ organizations. It was established at the provincial level it works as a think tank on social protection in the province.
• Social Protection Reform Unit (SPRU) initiated in the Planning and Development Department.
• Forum of Development Partners established to advance the harmonisation among donor agencies and development partners, share good practices, and build collaborations. The existing membership includes UNDP, UNWOMEN, UNICEF, ILO, BISP, GIZ and the Planning Commission of Pakistan.
• Coordination Forum of Social Protection Agencies including public sector agencies (Departments, Funds, Programmes, Authorities, Commissions etc.)
2. Migrant Resource Centre [MRC] (PAK-105) The first ever migrant resource centre (MRC) with the Protector of Emigrants Office, was launched by the EU funded ‘South Asia Labour Migration Governance’ Project (SALM) with the intention to serve as a one-stop-shop for intended migrant workers, workers about-to-leave and for returnees.
3. Joint Action Plan on Occupational Safety and Health [JAP-OSH: 2013- 2016] (PAK-107) The Pakistani garment industry saw a major setback in 2012, in the form of a factory fire in Baldia Town in Karachi. More than 250 workers were killed and more than 1200 others rendered jobless. After that, an immediate refurbishment of the Government’s labour inspection machinery and the strengthening of Occupational Safety and Health Systems were launched to evade such incidents in future. Realizing these factors, the Government of Sindh, the Employers’ Federation of Pakistan (EFP) and the Pakistan Workers Federation (PWF), prepared a ‘Joint Action Plan on Promoting Workplace Safety and Health in Sindh’ with technical support from the ILO, that was signed in September 2013.
4. Study on HIV/AIDS in Work Places in Pakistan (PAK-105) The National Policy on HIV and AIDS places its emphasis on a multi-sectoral approach. It recognizes the full participation of employers and employer groups in the national response. But, it is cumbersome to understand and report the presence of HIV and AIDS at the workplace as people do not open or find it comfortable to share or talk on this topic.
5. Guidelines for Migrant Workers: Travel Smart Work Smart (PAK-105) To provide the necessary information and to equip migrant workers with knowledge about their rights and duties in their countries of destination. Moreover, the ILO, has developed two booklets titled “Travel smart – Work smart” under its EU funded project SALM, for migrant workers going to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
6. Labour Inspection and OSH Profile of Pakistan (PAK-107) In 2014, a thorough national assessment of the current situation was take on with regards to Labour Inspection and Occupational Safety and Health in Pakistan.
7. Foundational Training Course on OSH and Labour Inspection in Sindh (PAK-107) The ILO with the partnership of Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands supported the Sindh Labour Department to launch a series of foundational training courses for the Labour Inspectorate of Sindh. In Karachi, a training course took place where 120 Labour Department officials, employers and workers were qualified on the fundamentals of OSH and Labour Inspection.

Identifying Gaps in Current Social Protection Schemes Formal social protection measures fall far short of providing effective social protection cover. Besides the lack of coverage, most schemes are marred by ineffective targeting as well as corruption and misappropriation in their operations. Few issues are discussed below:

1. Lack of a Clearly Articulated Social Protection Strategy There is no clearly initiated government social protection policy identifying:
• the dangers against which the defenceless need to be protected;
• a strategy for dealing with the consistently poor
• the type of support to different groups that need assistance; d) a system of listing interventions. Even, there is no official definition of social protection.
2. Inadequate - Government Spending on Existing Social Safety Nets Government spending on safety net programs is insufficient comparative to the scale of the problem. Lack of Committed Funding for Safety Net Programs Ensuring sustainable and predictable sources of funding for safety net programs requires a clear commitment from the Government of Pakistan to provide the necessary resources as and when required. Budgetary allocations for safety nets should be built by Government of Pakistan. Inadequate Current Assistance The assistance extended by most safety net programs currently in operation has lesser impact in improving the poverty of households living subsistence level. The size of endowments disbursed as individual transfers under the FSP and Guzara Allowance scheme does not properly address the needs of the poorest households. The joint coverage of the programs is roughly 2 million households per annum, which signifies roughly 28% of the households living below the poverty line; cash transfers under the FSP provide additional income equal to hardly 16% of the income gap of 20% of the poorest households, while the Guzara Allowance covers only 40% of this gap.
3. Multiplicity of Programs and Non-Core Competence Activities Currently, similar national safety net programs are managed by different agencies with no clear division of responsibilities as to the type of program or target groups. In consequence, there is a proliferation of programs run by each organization, resulting not only in loss of focus but also in scarce resources (both financial and human). Inadequate Targeting Mechanisms and Weak Governance The lack of adequate targeting mechanisms is common to the majority of Pakistan’s existing social safety net schemes. The targeting of such programs also must contend with the implications of weak governance. Since beneficiaries are selected based on administratively determined criteria and identification procedures, there is wide potential for patronage and abuse.
4. Lack of Inter-Agency Coordination Presently, the programs are split and dispersed and efforts need to be streamlined by developing collaborations between different agencies a program; and an apparatus for sharing databases. The existing absence of mechanisms to share data on recipients among various programs can result in manifold payments to the same beneficiaries and waste scarce resources (both financial as well as administrative).
5. Weak Monitoring and Supervision Another major setback is, that monitoring and evaluation preparations for safety net programs are weak, and there is absence of internal review mechanisms accompanied by independent third-party assessments to enhance the reliability of these validation exercises as well.
6. Bureaucratic Structure and Nepotism One of the major setbacks in the success of any developmental or protection program in Pakistan is bureaucratic structure and nepotism. Any reforms or developments couldn’t work just because of negligence, carelessness, and corruption in all the departments and institutes. Lack of law enforcement and efforts for the implementation of such programmes: The behaviour of people engaged in formation and good working of these programmes has always been very careless. Policies and strategies are not strong enough moreover, there is no strict supervision for efficient implementation of such policies which lead to the failure of these policies as well.

Conclusion and recommendations

ILO is a successful and famous organization having vast range of projects and programmes in the world developing as well as developed countries. But the effectiveness of an organization and its smooth working depends upon the domestic conditions of a state as well, as the Theory of Liberal Intergovernmentalism suggests. So, the case of Pakistan is also the one where ILO’s program for the Social Protection of labour are not that efficient and successful. So, this research was designed to answer the question that why is it happening and my central argument was that domestic conditions are affecting its smooth working and success. There are several reasons mentioned above which are proving this argument true. Gaps are there in organizational frameworks, slow processing and lesser efficiency of institutes, as well as individual level carelessness all are having negative impacts. For better working and achieving a developed Pakistan, government must pay attention to law enforcement, better mechanisms for good outcomes of such programmes and policies, steps and measures to eradicate nepotism, and corruption etc. so that at least we can achieve the goals of a better, developed, and prosperous Pakistan.

References

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