Foreword

Launched in 1997, the“Elimination of Child Labour in theSoccer Ball Industry in Sialkot”project achieved all its measurabletargets, and beyond. The statisticalsuccess, of course, has its ownimportance because the projectended up educating 10,572students through 255 non-formaleducation centres, mainstreaming5,838 of them and providing healthcover to 5,408 students. It alsosucceeded in cleaning up 95 percent of the manufacturing line ofhand-sewn soccer ball (or football,as it is known in most parts of theworld) industry in Sialkot district.

The real contribution of theproject, however, goes beyondthese tangible targets and lies insocial engineering (perceptional andbehavioural transformation) that itwas able to perform on the targetcommunity. The most telling long-term impact of the ILO-IPECSoccer Ball Project was convincingthe people of Sialkot district thatchildren must not be denied theirright to be children; right toeducation, recreation and healthcover. It changed the way targetgroups and general public looked atthe issues of child labour andeducation, and built up a rich socialcapital to sustain that socialtransformation. The people ofSialkot district are now deeplyconvinced that child labour is asocial evil that must be eliminatedwith all means at the disposal of a

particular individual, family andcommunity. Parents are putting inextra time to earn additionalincome and cutting on expendituresfor keeping their children off thework and in the schools. Thismomentous social change wasrecognised and formalised at thepolitical level when the DistrictGovernment of Sialkot, underpopular pressure, pledged in 2003to purge the entire district of allkinds of child labour. It has sincebeen preparing plans to cleanse

hotels and automobile industry ofchild workers.

Another legacy of the ILO-IPECproject is a rich social capital in theform of 10,572 educated students,49 schools sustained by thecommunity and the partner NGOs,trained teachers and six fullycapable non-governmentalorganisations that can help realisethe dream of a child labour-freedistrict. These schools are livingexamples of community’scommitment to the ideals ofeducation as established by theproject. The chief of DistrictGovernment recognised this factwhen he claimed that the districtnow has six fully functional NGOscapable of taking up any kind ofchild labour projects. The ILO-

4

IPEC project helped improve theoperational, auditing and reportingstandards of these NGOs whichcan now independently take upsuch assignments. The districtgovernment chief himself headsone such NGO.

Perceptional change incommunity about child labour ishalf of the success of the ILO-IPEC project, the other half isequally strong and deep rootedchange about the need ofeducation. Parents now know thattaking children off the work onlysolves 50 per cent of their problemand the rest 50 per cent can onlybe solved through education.

This verifiable change is fullyreflected by the fact that over 70per cent budget of Sialkot districtgovernment is now spent oneducation sector. This change hasgrown out of popular passion foreducation and the districtgovernment is compelled torespond to people’s will. It may beworth mentioning that Sialkot is theonly district in the country withsuch a huge allocation foreducation and has been boastingthe fact on many national forums.

Being a model of the public-private partnership, the project alsobrought out humane aspect ofprofit-driven capitalism that isroundly accused of exploitingcheap labour of children formonetary gains. In this case, theSialkot Chamber of Commerceand Industry (SCCI) fullycommitted itself to purging itsmanufacturing line of child labourand shared the cost. During the fagend of the project, the chambercreated two organisations —Independent Monitoring

Association for Child Labour(IMAC) and Child and SocialDevelopment Organisation(CSDO) — for keeping upmonitoring and social serviceswhen the ILO-IPEC leaves. Thatshows the willingness of theindustry to carry forward the spiritof the project. The purpose ofwriting this monograph is todocument the measurable andimmeasurable targets that the ILO-IPEC Soccer Ball Project achievedand help other industries know, thatwish to purify their manufacturingline, how to create, foster andsustain a healthy social change.

Raising awareness and directintervention in carefully selectedareas have produced tremendousresults in the case of ILO-IPECproject. This is an attempt at

piecing together all the facts thathelped achieve results and ensuredsustenance of trends.

This booklet is also meant foracknowledging the role of USDepartment of Labour (USDOL),International Football Federation(FIFA) and the Sialkot Chamber ofCommerce and Industry (SCCI)which they played during theproject. The Sialkot DistrictGovernment was equallycooperative and its pledge tocarry forward the spirit of theproject remains a matter ofpride for both, the ILO andpeople of the area. Otherpartners — Bunyad, Sudhaar,Biadarie, IMAC, CSDO, PRSP,CDC — also lend untiring supportduring the project and in thepreparation of this booklet.

5

Child Labour

Child labour is a global issue that ispresent in varying degrees of intensityin both developed and developingcountries. According to ILOestimates, there are over 250 millionworking children worldwide andabout 120 million of them work onfull-time basis. It is believed thatnearly one-third of the full-timeworking children are engaged inhazardous occupations. Incidence ofchild labour differs from region toregion and country to country. Thedeveloped world is not totally freefrom child labour, but the largestnumber of child workers areconcentrated in Asia and Africabecause of rising poverty anddeclining economic growth. Indeveloping countries, child labour ismostly found in agriculture and non-formal sectors.

Child labour is a complex problem.It is not a simple question oflegislation and its enforcement. It hassocio-economic causes peculiar toevery society, which must beaddressed if a long-term solution tothe problem is to be found. It is aproduct of poverty, over-population,lack of adequate educational facilities,rural-urban economic gap andincome inequalities. Unless acomprehensive approach is adopted,the solution sometimes prove worsethan the problem itself as happenedin some countries where children,driven from one industry underinternational pressure, ended up in

more hazardous jobs.In early and mid-90s, the issue of

child labour assumed a globalproportion when the Western medialaunched an intensive campaignagainst it. International human rightsand child rights organisationshighlighted the problem ofexploitation of child labour in theexport industries in developingcountries. This campaign placed theThird World export-orientedindustries under double pressure. On

the one hand, it resulted in risingconsumer resistance to the purchaseof exports allegedly made with childlabour, and, on the other, manyWestern countries initiated legislationto ban exports involving child labour.The Third-World export industry thusfaced a clear choice; either clean theirassembly line or face theconsequences of worldwide anti-childlabour legislation and rising consumerresistance. Most of the exportmanufacturers in developing worldopted for the former option. Pakistan,being no exception, also moved tosave its export industry.

The Government of Pakistan, incollaboration with ILO, conducted asurvey in 1996 to ascertain the

6

extent, incidence, nature, size andsocio-economic characteristics ofchild labour in the country. Thesurvey showed that out of 40 millionchildren between 5-14 years of agein Pakistan, 3.3 million (or 8.3 percent) were working children. Theprevalence of working children inrural areas was 10.3 per cent, andboys (14.2 per cent) had a highertendency to work than girls (6.1 percent). Similarly in urban areas, theparticipation was 3.3 per cent, andboys (5.6 per cent) had higherparticipation than girls (0.8 percent).

The survey indicated that about67 per cent of the employed childrenwere engaged in the agriculturalsector. Girl workers had a higherpercentage (77 per cent) in agriculturesector than boys (64 per cent). Themanufacturing sector ranked secondwith employment of about 11 percent children. The next importantsector was wholesale and retail tradefollowed by community, social andpersonal services and they absorbedabout 9 per cent and 8 per centrespectively. A majority of theworking children (74 per cent) wereengaged in the agricultural sector inrural areas while in urban areas mostof the children were engaged in themanufacturing sector (31.2 per cent).

About 70 per cent of the childrenwere working as unpaid familyhelpers followed by employed 23 percent and self-employed 7 per cent.Boy and girl unpaid workersaccounted for 67 per cent and 78per cent respectively. In rural areasthree-fourth of the children wereworking as unpaid family helperswhile in urban areas it was less than

one-third.The most cogent reasons given by

parents and guardians for letting thechild work were: to assist inhousehold enterprise (69 per cent)and to supplement household income(28 per cent).

The reason of assisting in householdenterprise was more important forgirls (76 per cent) compared to boys(66 per cent). In rural areas the mainreason was letting the child assist inhousehold enterprise (74 per cent),while in urban areas it was tosupplement household income (61per cent).

One result of the Western mediacampaign against child labour washeightened awareness of the problem

both at the government and privatesector levels in the developingcountries. It is now recognised that acomprehensive approach is neededto address the issue in its multifariousforms and dimensions.

Towards this end, the Governmentof Pakistan initiated a series oflegislative, policy and administrativemeasures to ensure prevention,withdrawal and eventual eliminationof child labour in various industries.Relevant laws were amended andstrengthened and, where needed, newlegislation was enacted.

These included Employment ofChildren’s Act 1991 and BondedLabour Abolition Act 1992. TheGovernment of Pakistan also signed

7

and ratified the UN Convention onthe Rights of the Child. It has alsoratified ILO Convention 182 on“Worst Forms of Child Labour” onOctober 11, 2001.

Since then, the government hasconsistently striven to create anenabling environment by setting upspecial high-powered committees,commissions and task forces toensure the protection of rights of thechild in the spirit of CRC. Closemonitoring and enforcement of lawshave started showing results andchildren are leaving most industries,especially export oriented, inPakistan.

At the same time, the governmenthas also encouraged various industriesto seek the active cooperation of theUN agencies like ILO, UNICEF andinterested donors to start child labourelimination and rehabilitationprogrammes at their own levels. As aresult, major action programmeshave been formulated andimplemented for the phasedwithdrawal and rehabilitation ofchild labour through educationand vocational training. Theseinclude, besides others, soccer-ball,carpet and surgical instrumentsindustries.

Of all the export industries inPakistan, the billion-dollar hand-sewn soccer ball sector was thefirst to feel the heat and respond tointernational sensibilities on the issueof child labour. The soccer ballindustry, like others, also had a clearchoice: either respect internationalfeelings on the issue of child labouror get ready for consumers’ wrathand legis lat ive sanctions. Thesoccer ball industry picked the firstoption.

The Sialkot StoryAround 75 per cent of soccer ball

are produced in Pakistan and all ofthem are made in and aroundSia lkot d i s t r ic t . Over 50international soccer ball brands relyon S ia lkot to meet t h e i rcustomer demand. For the lasteight decades, the district is famousthe wor ld over for soccer ballproduction. It is estimated that thereare about 10,000 urban workers and30,000 rural workers in the surroundingvillages of Sialkot involved in theproduction of soccer balls.

In 1996, an ILOstudy in the districtestimated morethan 7,000children betweenthe ages of 5 and14 stitched balls.

It was alsoestimated thatmore than 95 percent of thechildren stitchingsoccer balls werebetween the agesof 10 and 14. Theyworked in smallshops or at home.Seventy per centof the childrenwork 8 to 9 hoursa day, others 10 to11 hours per day.Of them, around19 per cent of theboys and 36 percent girls hadnever attended a

school. A study conducted for theSoccer Industry Council of America(SICA) found that stitchers madebetween Rs20 to Rs30 (orapproximately 40 to 50 cents) per ball.

It was under these circumstancesthat the ILO and SCCI conceived theproject which sought to eliminate childlabour from the soccer ball stitchingindustry in 18 months and provideformer child workers witheducational opportunities so that theywere not simply forced to work inanother industry.

8

Eager to solve the problem of childlabour in soccer ball industry, theSialkot Chamber of Commerce andIndustry (SCCI), premier body ofsoccer ball exporters, signed anagreement with the InternationalLabour Organisation (ILO) and theUnited Nations Children Fund(UNICEF) on February 14, 1997.The agreement, known as AtlantaAgreement, was aimed at prevention,phased withdrawal and eventualelimination of child labour.

As a corollary of the agreement, aproject “Elimination of Child Labourin the Soccer Ball Industry in Sialkot”was launched with the financialsupport of the US Department ofLabour (USDOL) and the SCCI andthe FIFA also contributed to theproject. The project was aimed atreducing child labour throughworkplace monitoring and provisionof alternatives to the childrenwithdrawn from the conditions oflabour.

The main idea behind the projectwas to provide education to workingchildren as an alternative to work. Itfurther sought to mobilise local

communities to have ownership ofthe non-formal education plan andlink it with the formal educationsystem for facilitating absorption(mainstreaming) of these children intobetter system.

The project was designed with astrong focus on prevention of childlabour and their gradual removalfrom conditions of labour withappropriate options. With thispurpose in view, non-formal schoolswere established to provide educationto stitcher children.

A family-based approach wasadopted to enable other members ofthe stitcher families and relianceplaced on viable income replacementschemes for them.

The participation ofmanufacturers, exporters,contractors and other workers wasensured through motivation andemphasis was placed on action-oriented research, monitoring andevaluation, and systematic feedbackof results to ensure betterimplementation of the project.

Target Groups

Selection of target groups remainsthe most vital part of any socialproject because it can later turn outto be a difference between successor failure of the project.

Target groups, in this case, wereidentified according to the intended 9

Elimination of Child Labour

identifying children of or under theage of 14 involved in the productionand assembly of soccer ball.

A project coordination committeewas established within the frameworkof Partners’ Agreement and theSCCI agreed to set up stitching unitsand rid the business of child labourin 18 months.

The external monitoring system wasaimed at verifying informationprovided by the SCCI and internalmonitoring managers, and ensuringthat withdrawal of children fromconditions of labour is systematicallytracked. In addition, it also monitoredthe status of those placed under theSocial Protection Component toensure that they continueparticipating in the programme.

The social protection andrehabilitation programme,implemented by a partner NGO,BLCC, was aimed at prioritising targetgroups comprising children and their

families affected by prevention andmonitoring programme. Four areasidentified for the purpose were:setting up of non-formal educationcentres, provision of health facilitiesto the affected children and theirfamilies, arranging recreationalactivities and providing micro-creditsto the affected families to increasetheir income.

Firstly, 185 non-formal educationcentres were set up to provideprimary education to children basedon the curriculum of the Punjab TextBook Board. Provision ofrecreational facilities, counselling andassistance in getting access to basichealth care constituted the servicesavailable to these children. They wereprepared to be inducted inmainstream education system toensure that they do not revert to childlabour once out of ILO-IPEC net.

Under the loan facility, the partnerNGO also extended loans amounting

impact and spirit of the project.Of all stakeholders, target groupswere chosen to directly reachthose people who wereeconomica l ly a f fected bywithdrawal of the children fromconditions of labour, can help realisetarget of the project and maximisesocial impact on the community.

Under Phase-I, the project hadfollowing target groups;

! Twenty-two manufacturers, 500to 1,000 sub-contractors and about200 young and adult workers;

! Children under the age of 14,working in the soccer ball industryfor manufacturers participating in thePrevention and MonitoringProgramme and their youngersiblings;

! About 200 members of SialkotChamber of Commerce andIndustry;

! Adult members, particularlywomen, of the families of workingchildren withdrawn from soccer ballindustry

! NGO implementing theprogramme (BLCC) and local CBOs(a field staff of 100) and

! Some 100 officials ofgovernment line departments inSialkot.

Project Components

The project had two basiccomponents: prevention andmonitoring and social protection. Theformer was aimed at establishing acredible two-tier system of internaland external monitoring foridentification and removal of childrenfrom soccer ball industry.

The internal monitoring system wasa volunteer programme and largelycarried out by manufacturersthemselves. It was aimed at 10

to Rs718,000 to 68 families whoseincome was reduced by thewithdrawal of their children from theconditions of labour.

It also set up seven centres forproviding pre-vocational andvocational training to 535 girls. Itoffered long and short-term coursesto these girls for enhancing theirincome and compensating them fortheir lost income.

In order to elicit public support andinvolve communities, the partnerNGO established a number of VillageEducation Committees (VECs) andFamily Education Committees(FECs). It also conducted more than100 workshops for FECs to makethem understand the concept behindthe programme and build theircapacity for taking charge of theproject. Another 40 workshops forthe community were in addition tothose conducted with FECs.

ACHIEVEMENTS OF PHASE-IDuring the first two years of its

operation, the project achievedtremendous success. The ILO-IPEC undertook an externalevaluation, which confirmed that:

! Number of participatingmanufacturers increased.

! Effective monitoring systemwas in place by the end of Phase-I.

! 100 per cent monitoring ofparticipating manufacturers, whoproduced 90 per cent of the totalproduction, was being carriedout on a sustained basis.

! Some 185 non-formaleducation centres wereestablished. The communityprovided premises for 137 NFE

centres.! Community organisations

were organised with amembership of 1,870 and 40workshops were held with themto create awareness about childlabour.

! The project proved to be atrendsetter and export orientedtrades such as the PakistanCarpet Manufacturers andExporters Association(PCMEA) and the SurgicalInstrument ManufacturersAssociation of Pakistan (SIMAP)adopted similar approaches toaddress the child labourproblem in their respectivesectors. 11

PHASE-II of the ProjectSince the project had achieved

concrete results during its Phase-I, itwas extended to consolidate andsustain them. Prior to the project, anILO-funded survey had estimatedexistence of more than 7,000children working in the stitchingindustry. By the end of Phase-I, theproject had covered 8,191 of themthrough 185 NFE centres.

The project had started effecting aperceptional change in thecommunity and industry about childlabour and convinced both of themabout the need to deal with it. It was

hard to leave the process mid-wayand run the risk of spoiling alreadyachieved results, especially whenthe ground had a l ready beenprepared for furthering the resultsand every stakeholder was ready tocooperate.

Though the project was monitoring100 per cent production of thosewho had voluntarily joined it, therewere still some manufacturers outsidethe ILO-IPEC monitoring net whowere still to be mobilised for joiningthe project, and take it to its logicalend.

Though the project had formalisedthe industry and stitching was beinglargely done at the recognised anddocumented centres, but chances ofsome of children still sewing balls attheir homes were hard to be ruledout. For this purpose, it was necessaryto expand the monitoring net tohitherto uncovered areas and bringthem under the ILO-IPECmonitoring system and purge theindustry of remaining vestiges of childlabour.

On top of all this, there was nomechanism to cont inuemonitoring the industry once theILO-IPEC packs up. I t wasnecessary to create a set-up thatcould prevent the industry fromrelapsing into old pract ice ofdo ing bus ines s and ch i ld renreturn to stitching.

The difference between bothphases was that of focus. The Phase-I was launched to reach the targetgroups, create awareness, convincepeople about the rationale of theproject and try to make them part ofthe project. The Phase-II wasclearly focused on consolidation,expans ion and sustenance ofres u l t s of the Phase-I , bu i ldcapacity of the partners to sustainthe project beyond its stipulatedtimeframe and create a credibleindependent system that couldcontinue monitoring the industryafter the formal ending of theproject.

These circumstances led to thelaunching of the Phase-II of the 12

and expansion. They were:1 To prevent and eliminate child

labour in the production of soccerball in Sialkot district and preventfurther child labour in the industrythrough workplace monitoring andprovision of alternatives to childrenand their families.

2 To implement a social protectionprogramme that is fully operationaland functional; providing affectedchildren and their families withquality basic education, pre-vocational and skills training, basichealth care and income generationopportunities.

3 To increase the capacity of

partner organisations — the SialkotChamber of Commerce,Governmental and Non-Governmental Organisations.

PROJECT STRATEGY

The project strategy, thoughkeeping the same overall facade,was adjusted to new goals andobjectives. For example, area-based monitoring was added forbr ing ing h i ther to unreportedcentres under the ILO-IPECmonitor ing system. Since thePhase-II was focused on givingpermanence to monitoring process

13

project and clear the industry of anyremains of the problem.

TARGET GROUPS

Though the overall direction of theproject was the same and so weretheir target groups, but the Phase-IIwas to particularly benefit:! 10,000 children including(a) stitching children who were

already part of the project;(b) Children under the age of 14

still found in the soccer ball industryand their younger siblings and

(c) Other children found doinghazardous work and those at the riskof child labour in areas of operationof the project.! About 2,000 adult members,

particularly women, of the familiesof (ex) working children preventedand withdrawn from the soccer ballproduction, who will benefit from thesocial protection.! NGOs, community-based

organisations, the SCCI and localgovernment who will benefit fromcapacity building activities of theproject.

OBJECTIVES

Since the Phase-II of the projectwas launched with a clear objectiveof attracting those children and theirfamilies who are still not part of theproject and consolidating results ofthe Phase-I, it understandably hadvery strong component of socialprotection and capacity building ofpartners.

The long-term objective was tocontribute to the progressiveelimination of worst forms of childlabour in Pakistan, immediateobjectives experienced some revision

and luring the rest of child workersand their families along withremaining manufacturers in theproject, strong social componentand the capac i ty bu i ld ing ofpartners became corner stones of theproject.

The prevention and monitoringcomponent, designed to preventchildren under 14 years of age frompouring into the soccer ball industry,can be divided into two parts.

The internal monitoring systemcontinued to be carried out bymanufactures through theiremployees, who were asked tofurnish information regardingtheir annual production in termsof exports and domestic markets,information about their contractorsand sub-contractors and stitchingcentres and stitchers. Manufacturerswere supposed to keep record of theirstitching centres to monitor changesin workplace and share thisinformation with ILO.

The internal monitoringinformation was then fed into theILO-IPEC database where software,especially designed for the purpose,helped randomly select stitchingcentres to be visited by the ILO-IPECmonitors on a particular day. Theprocess turned every visit into asurprise visit for every centre.

The ILO-IPEC teams continuedexternal monitoring and collection ofinformation about stitchers presentat a centre, check average numberof stitchers attending a centre fromthe manufacturers’ record andnumber of balls stitched.

They also gathered information, ifavailable, about total manufacturingorders with a particular manufacturer.

The social component receivedemphasis during the Phase-II

because it had to attract rest ofthe child workers and the i rfamilies who were still sitting onthe fence. Major focus of thesocia l component , of course ,remained non-formal education.All 185 NFE centres, establishedduring the Phase-I, were retainedand their infrastructure improved.Since target children were around10,000 in the Phase-II, 70 moreNFEs were es tab l i shed . Pre-vocational training, for providingalternative skills to the studentswere planned and executed, which

14

included fabric painting course forchildren and cloth stitching coursefor older girls covered by theproject. Health cover was alsoprovided to the students of NFEcentres.

Capacity building of partners andstakeholders received addedattention during this phase becausethey were supposed to take over fromwhere the ILO-IPEC would leave.The Sialkot Chamber of Commerceand Industry (SCCI) and its plan forchild protection were focal points ofcapacity building exercise.

ACHIEVEMENTS OF PHASE-IILaunched in 2000, Phase-II

of the project made steadyprogress to achieve all itstargets. The main achievementsof the project were:

! Over 10,000 childreninvolved in it have been given asecond chance in life.

! 49,765 monitoring visitswere made by the ILO-IPEC upto February 2003.

! 255 non-formal educationcentres were established byBunyad Literacy CommunityCouncil (BLCC) and Sudhaar.

! 177 Village EducationCommittees (VECs) wereformed.

! Around 243 FamilyEducation Committee (FECs)were established.

! These NFEs educated10,572 children.

! Out of them, 5,838 studentswere mainstreamed.

! The partner NGOs havesustained 49 NFE centres at 27locations.

! The Punjab RuralSupport Programme (PRSP)had extended micro-credits ofRs20.965 million to 2,139borrowers and 465 individualsbelonging to soccer ballindustry were given training inindustrial electronics, databasemanagement, leather stitching,screen printing, fabric painting,industrial stitching, beauticians,motor driving, plumbing,

welding, tailoring andcomputers.

! Sudhaar, under its pre-vocational training programme,collected data of technicalschools and teachers anddesigned six pre-vocationaltraining manuals and designedcareer counselling manuals forteachers.

! Some 31 NFE and sixformal schools’ teachers wereprovided pre-vocational trainingin fabric painting, who in turntrained 391 students in the art.

! Eleven teachers from thegovernment schools wereprovided pre-vocational trainingin electricity trade who helpedtrained 419 students of formalschools.

! Some 55 individuals weretrained in career counselling.

! Some 216 youngsters werelinked to Vocational TrainingInstitute (VTI) and 22 toapprenticeship training at theApprentices Training Centre(ATC), Sialkot.

! Strengthening andcapacity building of VTI(women) Pasrur and ATCSialkot was carried out.

! Some 2,179 students weremedically examined four timesunder the Action Programme onDistrict Health Care carried outby Biadarie.

! About 1,528 children havingmajor problems and needing

further tests and screening werereferred to the nearest healthservice provider.

! Thirty-three students inneed of different types ofsurgeries were operated upon.

! Four training and follow upsessions on general principles ofhealth and personal hygiene andfirst aid were conducted for theNEF teachers.

! Around 70 first-aid kitswith necessary medicines weredistributed among NFEs.

! Some 216 latrines at 108locations were constructed toraise awareness about hygienicconditions in the villages.

! Six medical camps werearranged and 1,884 individualsbenefited from them.

! Twelve interactive theatreperformances were arranged byCommunity DevelopmentConcern (CDC) to raiseawareness among people aboutthe issue of child labour.

! The SCCI has establishedChild and Social DevelopmentOrganisation to take care of thesocial side of their business afterthe pack up of the ILO-IPECproject.

! The ILO-IPEC projectsucceeded in establishingIndependent MonitoringAssociation for Child Labour(IMAC) for taking overmonitoring component once theproject ends. 15

Impect of the project

The ILO-IPEC Soccer Ball Projecthas made multi-dimensional impactat four different social levels i.e.children, family, local community andindustry. This impact is fully reflectedin a verifiable behavioural changetowards the issue of child labour atthese four levels. Before theintroduction of this project, none ofthem ever realised the social andeconomic immorality, health hazardsand allied problems of keepingchildren on the stitching job.

The businessmen were awardingcontracts to middlemen and gettingthe job done without bothering about

who was doing what in the stitchingprocess. Though it was never in theircommercial interest to make childrenstitch because the payments weremade on per ball basis and did notvary for an adult or a child. It wasalso not in their interest to spend timeon checking who was preparing ballsand why, and keep children off thejob. Thus an unhealthy inertia grippedthe soccer ball stitching industry foryears. The ILO-IPEC Soccer BallProject succeeded in ending thatharmful status quo. Now,businessmen have their own internalmonitoring mechanism to ensure thatno child gets into stitching. Firstly, they

developed an internal system tocheck the menace and hired peoplefor monitoring and secondly theyfully cooperated with the project byproviding detailed and honestinformation to the ILO-IPEC teamsabout children working under them.By the end of the project, they helpeddevelop an independent monitoringsystem for keeping their business childfree.

The project has for the first timeexposed these children to life beyondunending drudgery of stitching balls.Before the project, life for thesechildren was limited to stitching and

16

Khawja Zaka-ud-Din of theCapital Sports, Chairman IMAC andPresident CSDO and one of themost spirited advocates of childrights and the man behind bringingthe industry on board, claims thatlife would never be the same forsoccer ball manufacturers after theproject. It has effected fundamentalbehavioural change both in businesscommunity and general public aboutchild labour. Employers know thatthey cannot keep children in stitchingbecause it is socially andeconomically undesirable for localas well as international community.An employee now knows that hischildren are meant for school andnot for stitching units and he canbreak the vicious economic circleonly by sending his child to school.

As a result, a new workingrelationship has emerged betweenemployer and employee that is basedon a new concept of socialresponsibility. Both parties nowknow that children should notbecome social security net of society.This is an effective social

engineering that the project has beenable to perform on the people ofSialkot district.

Before the project, businesscommunity never considered childlabour a problem, leave aside businesshouses sharing fiscal responsibility foreducation and social well being ofchild stitchers. It never even botheredto check if child labour existed in thestitching process and what was itsnumerical value. The industry wassimply indifferent to the problem.Not any more! Now, all big, mediumand small business houses havebecome cons c i o u s o f t h ep r o b l e m a n d t h e i rresponsibil ity in dealing with it.They have created an internalmechanism to keep children out ofstitching and submitted to anindependent monitoring of the wholeprocess. They have also developed asystem of penalties in case ofviolation in this regard. It shows thecommitment of the industry indealing with the newly realisedproblem of child labour.

The depth of perceptional change

in the industry about child labourcan be measured from the fact thatthe industry has helped ILO createan independent body forcontinuous monitoring of childlabour after the formal ending ofthe ILO-IPEC Soccer Ball Project.

Since the project had anothervital component of socialprotection, the industry has alsocreated an organisation called theChild and Social DevelopmentOrganisation (CSDO) for takingcare of the social side of the project.Though the organisation is just atthe take off stage, but it shows thecommitment of the industry tocontinue working on the guidelinesset by the project for dealing withchild labour.

The decision of the industry tocontinue travelling down the pathset by the project for dealing withthe issue of child labour is ampleproof of the success of the project.It shows that the industry agreedto the spirit of the project and isnow willing to carry on with thesame spirit.

Culture ofsocial

responsibility

17

18

killing time on the streets. They havebeen exposed to joys and futurepossibilities that education can offer.They have internalised the changeand beginning to dream for theirfuture. These children now know thatthey are real people and want tobecome doctors, nurses, lawyers,businessmen, teachers, and what not.This behavioural change amongchildren shows that they havedeveloped a long-term interest ineducation. They want to pursue theireducational career even after the ILO-IPEC project. Providing thesechildren a second chance in life isperhaps one of the greatestachievements of the project.

The social sustainability of theproject is ensured by the attitudinalchange that this project has broughtat the family and community level.The parents now know that childrenare meant for schools, not forstitching. The sheer number of VECs(village education committees) and

FECs (family education committees)set up during the project substantiatethe claim of social change atcommunity and family level. TheseVECs and FECs are actively workingto ensure continuity of schools afterthe formal ending of ILO fundingfor the project. The perception of theissue of child labour at family andcommunity level has changed

because of behavioural change thateducation has brought in children.Parents now know that children didnot create poverty and they shouldnot suffer its consequences. They nowsee their children being more hygiene-conscious, looking neater and clean,being good mannered and living witha hope and striving for a betterfuture. All these factors haveconvinced the families of stitcherchi ldren and community thatch i ld of a s t i tcher may notnecessarily be a stitcher. They canbreak the vicious soc ia l andeconomic circle through educationand better planning. Parents workextra time to ensure that their childrengo to schools instead of stitching units.This remains one of the mostpowerful social impacts of the ILO-IPEC Soccer Ball Project.

The remarkable social acceptabilityhad been another hallmark of theproject. In the beginning, both thebusiness community and targetpopulation were slow to respond. Butthey joined the project in droves onceit started to have impact on their

According to Mian Naeem Javed,chief of Subl ime Sports andDistrict Nazim of Sialkot, theimpact of project was muchwider than it was intended to. It hasnot only effected its targetpopulation, but helped changeattitude of general public abouteducation and child labour.

Along with the ILO-IPEC SoccerBall Project came the UniversalPrimary Education of the UNICEFand Sialkot was one of threebeneficiary districts. Bothprogrammes complimented eachother and helped people realise thepossibilities and joys that educationcan offer to the children andposterity. The realisation wasespecially intense among the stitcherfamilies. For the last few years, thedistrict government is under veryactive popular pressure to createmaximum educational facilities inthe district, leaving everything aside.Responding to the demand, the

district government is spending over70 per cent of its budget on educationsector. This is unprecedented in acountry l ike Pak is tan wherenational spending on the sectordoes not go beyond 2 per cent of theGDP.

This change in attitude foreducation is the most significantcontribution of the project. Around47,000 children have completedtheir primary education in the lastsix years in Sialkot district. Out of122 union councils, 84 now havehigher secondary schools. The districtnow has 100 per cent primaryenrollment. These figures soundmythical in a society like Pakistan,but they are true. People havemade all this possible through avery energetic demand for educationthat forced the district governmentto respond.

The same is also true as far as childlabour is concerned. People nowknow, thanks to the ILO-IPEC

Education isnow thebuzzword

19

project, that child labour has its rootsin illiteracy. If a child is not going toschool, he is attracted to stitchingunits and other non-productiveactivities. The popular demand is nolonger limited to cleansing soccer balland surgical industry of child labourbut people now want other industrieslike automobile and hotels to bepurged of child labour as well.Responding to this popular demand,the district government passed aresolution last year for clearingSialkot district from every form ofchild labour.

Another significant contribution ofthe project is training of many localNGOs up to the internationalstandards. The district now hasaround six local NGOs that arecapable of conceiving, planning andexecuting projects on child labourand education. Since their standardsof operation, reporting and auditinghave also improved, the districtgovernment and people at large hopethey would not have any problemgetting necessary funds from anydonor.

Sialkot District, though sparingas much funds for education asit can, certainly needs help forhigher education. It has educated allits children up to primary level,but taking them beyond thatwould need funds and donoragencies can be of great help in thisregard.

social life. Social support for theproject grew substantially when thetarget population and businesscommunity realised that it was fortheir own good and did not have anyhidden agenda. The communityprovided 137 buildings out of the total185 NFEs set up in the Phase-I of theproject. The magnitude of contributionspeaks for itself.

The mere fact that the number ofpartner business houses swelled from22 in the beginning to 111 by April30, 2004, reflects the magnitude ofsocial and economic acceptability ofthe project. Better awareness provedto be a key to solving the chronicsocial problem of child labour andthe ILO-IPEC project team providednecessary information in abundanceto every stakeholder.

The social acceptability of theproject further grew when it helpedimproved working conditions atthe stitching centres. Before thelaunching of the project, most ofthe stitching was done at homesand it was difficult to monitorhome-based uni t s for soc ia lreasons. The business communityand the ILO agreed to develop

village-based and purpose-built unitsnear city that were easy to monitor.On the one hand, these units ensured

Ms Iffat Yasmin, incharge of afemale stitching centre at ChakKake, thinks that the mostpowerful impact of the ILO-IPECproject is women empowerment.Girls at the centre have becomeconfident and assertive over thelast few years. Thanks to the ILO-IPEC teams and internalmonitors, these women now knowthat industry needs them as muchas they need jobs. They cannot bethrown out of the jobs at the willof a middleman. They also knowthat they are now part of a laboursystem that has in-built respectand protections for its workers.The very sense of breaking theshackles of an exploitative systemthat was based on the whims ofthe middleman has given theseworkers a new sense of personaland economic freedom. Theirrespect and wages have gone up.The culture of stitching unit haschanged and a new social contractseems to have emerged at these

EMPOWERING WOMEN

20

abolition of child labour from theindustry because of internal andexternal monitoring and, on the other,helped improve working conditionsby formalising the stitching process.Now, some workers at the purpose-built units even enjoy health coverand one meal a day at exporters’expense.

The fact that workers now gatherat one place has made it increasinglydifficult for middlemen and exportersto keep them underpaid as used tohappen before the project. Theirwages have increased at the formalunits. Over 95 per cent of thestitching sector has now become

formal, free of child labour andbet ter pa id because of theinter vention of the ILO-IPECSoccer Ball Project.

The project has also brought to thefore the human face of the capitalistindustry that is generally accused ofmaking profits at the expense ofchildren and their future. The soccerball industry not only whole-heartedlypledged to remove children fromstitching, it also developed an internalmonitoring system and invited acredible international body like theILO to monitor the process. Theindustry could have removedchildren from centres and sit back.

But it responded to the concernsof international community forsocially responsible businesses andjoined the ILO in creating anelaborate set-up, which includedsoc ia l , vocat iona l and hea l thcovers, for the rehabilitation ofvictims of child labour. Being aremarkable example of public-private-international cooperation,the pro ject proved to be atrendsetter in and outside Pakistan.It has shown the way to deal with theproblem of child labour to otherindustries and countries. The carpetand surgical instrumentsmanufacturing industries initiated

their own plans to rid theirmanufacturing line of the childlabour by replicating the ILO-IPEC Soccer Ball Project. Both ofthem have reported equallymarvelous successes. A delegationfrom India visited Sialkot to studythe project and reasons behind itssuccess and internationalacceptability.

The ILO-IPEC Soccer BallProject assumed addedsignificance when it became thefirst project of its kind in whichthe govt, the industry and theNGOs joined hands to deal withthe issue of child labour.

centres.The women stitchers do not

settle for less than fixed paymentsalso because they have to make upfor the fiscal loss caused by thewithdrawal of their children. Thesewomen now work extra time notonly to fill in the financial gap leftby their children but also foot thebill of their studies. The substantialeconomic contribution that thesewomen are now making to theirfamilies has given them a newsense of respect andempowerment. This is a refreshingchange that the project has broughtin its target communities and areas.

Explaining the extent of fiscalempowerment of women, Ms Iffatpointed towards Asia Fazil whosemother died recently and her fatheris physically handicapped andunable to work. The girl said thatshe has two young school-goingbrothers. Asia claimed that she hadbeen spending half of her incomefor meeting daily householdexpenditures and saving the rest forher dowry.

According to Asia, the project has

increased her income by at least 30per cent. She used to get Rs10 forstitching a toy ball but now she getsRs13 for the same. “My output hasalso increased because of formalcentre. I used to stitch balls athome, and was not able to fullyconcentrate either on stitching orhousehold. Now it is easier for meto quickly finish off my domesticwork and come to the centre andstitch balls with full concentration.It has increased my output andhelped improve quality of work,and my income.”

“Had it not been for the ILO-IPEC project, I could have found itvirtually impossible to generateextra income and make savings formy marriage. What else I couldhave done in a remote village likemine. Agriculture is the onlysources of income and my familyhas been supplementing it withstitching. One could generate alimited income from the stitchingbefore intervention of the SoccerBall Project. The formalisation ofstitching units has increased ourearnings,” Asia said. 21

One of the most crucial aspects ofany donor-driven plan remains thefate of the project once money stopsflowing in from foreign sources. Butthat does not seem to be a case withthe ILO-IPEC Soccer Ball Project;it was able to ensure institutionalsustainability with the decisive helpfrom the business community whenit created two institutions to take careof both the components of theproject i.e. social and monitoring.

The Phase-II of the projectenvisaged setting up of anindependent monitoring body thatwould take up the task from whereinternational organisations planned toleave. In pursuance of the sameobjective, Independent MonitoringAssociation for Child Labour (IMAC)was established on May 14, 2002. Itinherited all human and materialresources (trained monitors, softwareand hardware and vehicles) from theILO-IPEC and started working onthe same pattern previously set bythe ILO-IPEC for monitoring. Itbecame operational on March 1,2003 and has since been working asa credible replacement of the ILO-IPEC monitoring component.

The most significant part of thecreation of the IMAC was itsacceptability by the industry thatshowed willingness to submit to itsstrict monitoring procedures. Oneproof of the same is that after ILO-IPEC initial funding for a year, theindustry would financially sustain the

body. It has already levied a certainamount of contribution on everyexported ball to permanently maintainthe body.

Another proof of its acceptabilityis the willingness of manufacturersto provide all details of the businessand submit themselves to the IMACmonitoring. The same ILO-IPEC

team, which joined the IMAC at itscreation, now visits centres to keepthem free of child labour.

Since the membership is absolutelyvoluntary, only those willing to followits rules join the body. On its part,the SCCI has reduced themembership fee from Rs100,000 toRs15,000 only.

The IMAC is now monitoring 1,917stitching centres of 111manufacturers where 32,187 stitchersare working. This represents about95 per cent of production line ofhand-sewn balls. There are still

Shagufta Rani d/o MuhammadSaeen, resident of village Bagiari, isone of the 2,179 beneficiaries ofhealth care programme during thePhase-II of the project. Living in anarea infested with diseases like goiter,scabies and tuberculosis, most of theresidents do not have any healthfacility, and so did Shagufta Rani.

She started missing school with thecomplaint of abdominal pain. One ofthe field supervisors and the teachernoticed her absence. They both wentto her house and found her downwith pain, which Shagufta said,recurred periodically. She was takento a doctor on the panel of a partnerNGO who diagnosed appendicitisand recommended operation. Shewas taken to the clinic of the doctorwhere she underwent surgery and hasbeen living a normal life since then.

“I have two brothers and threesisters and my father died years ago.My family did not have any incometo spare for my medical upkeep. Hadit not been for the ILO-IPEC

LUCKY BENEFICIARIES

Sustainability

22

approximately 78 very small andseasonal manufacturers outside theIMAC net, but they represent fiveper cent of total production andhardly matter.

Since the IMAC is workingaccording to the guidelines set by theILO-IPEC Soccer Ball Project, it isalso pursuing the same two-prongedmonitoring policy. Internalmonitoring consists of informationprovided by the manufacturer at thetime of voluntary joining. The newentrant deposits a joining fee with theSCCI along with some basic

can only thank the ILO-IPEC projectthat not only provided me education,but also helped me live a normalhealthy life.

One can imagine how life haschanged for those 33 students whounderwent different types of surgeriesand been living normal life since then,says 16 years old Sugra Rani of thesame village. I also had appendicitisand underwent operation likeShagufta. “My father, a tonga (horse-

pulled cart) driver, died last yearand left behind six children and awife. With no bread earner, lifebecame hard for us when our housecollapsed two monsoons ago. Itwas in these circumstances thatthe project came to my healthrescue. Had it not been for theproject, I could still have beenvisit ing some local quack orsome spiritual healer for a physicalproblem that was ruining my life.One has to understand the valueof the health service of the projectin the local context. The people ofthe whole area are living underextremely unhygienic conditions.Over 100 villages in the areahave only one certified doctor.One does not need to be a geniusto unders tand loca l hea l ths tandards in thesecircumstances. I t was underthese conditions that the ILO-IPEC came up with a healthcover for its children. Children,given a second chance in theirlife with education, got the thirdone with the health cover, shesaid.

project’s health cover, I could neverhave undergone such a costlyoperation,” she said. With no breadearner, we were finding it hard tomake our both ends meet. My eldersister and I, along with our adultbrother, stitch balls and go to fields.The income is hardly enough to keepus alive, how we could have sparedmoney for such an operation is hardto imagine. I could have suffered thispain forever, with risk to my life. I

23

information like names of theexecutives, location of the factory,contact (mailing address, telephone,fax, e-mail addresses) information,production capacity, number ofproduction units and number ofworkers. This is known as internalmonitoring information. First time,this information is submitted to theSCCI, which sends it to the IMAC.It is fed to the IMAC database. Anindividual code number is allottedto the manufacturer who i srequi red to pr int th i s codenumber on every ball stitchedunder h i s brand name. Amanufacturer desirous of joiningis kept on a waiting list until twomonitoring visits to his centres forverification of information given byhim. Once his application is acceptedby the SCCI, he signs an undertakingof obligations of a partner of theprogramme. Once in the net, themanufacturer is required tocontinuously update the IMAC aboutany changes in centres or productionpatterns.

Once internal monitoring system iscomplete, the next step is externalmonitoring, third party monitoringand the role of the IMAC becomeseven vigilant. It has an elaborate teamof monitors, with a gender balance,that undertakes monitoring visits. Formonitoring purpose, Sialkot districthas been divided into seven zones andeach zone is sub-divided into variousclusters. At present, there are 36clusters which are sub-divided intoproximities. The data about eachmanufacturer is fed into the IMACcomputer system that randomlyselects centres to be visited on aparticular day, turning every visit intoa surprise visit. The monitors are

given lists of centres just beforeleaving office for pre-empting thepossibility of prior leak ofinformation and are required toverify internal monitoringinformation provided by therespective manufacturer for thatparticular stitching centre.

In order to locate un-registeredwork of the participatingmanufacturers, the IMAC monitorsdo not restrict their visits to theregistered centre alone. They alsovisit those villages where there is noregistered stitching centre. The

exercise is meant for geographicallycovering the whole of Sialkot districtand collect data about the stitchingactivities which are not yet in themonitoring net and identify anyactivities which a participatingmanufacturer may be hiding.

The IMAC monitors also recorddata about the working conditions(work space for every stitcher, lightand sanitation conditions and generalatmosphere of the centre) in orderto keep them at a minimum givenstandard.

The IMAC, in addition to

Fifty years old Zahida Altaf ofSadrana village received a loan ofRs10,000 from one of the partnerNGO and claimed to have a hopefor working her way out of abjectpoverty.

She claims: “Our family earningswere hardly enough to keep lifegoing. One of my stitcher daughterswas admitted to an NFE centre.During her education, she told methat the family can have a loan of

Rs10,000 at a certain markup. I hadalready been saving money to buy abuffalo to start selling milk andimprove diet of my family. The loansuddenly shortened the route out ofextreme poverty. I got the loan,added my own savings to it andpurchased a buffalo. Since then, Ihave been selling milk. I managed toreturn the loan out of milk moneyand now own a buffalo that is apermanent source of income and

LOANINGOUT OFPOVERTY

24

help improve diet of the family.”While praising the loan facility, Ms

Altaf says that ideally markup rateshould have been less than what wascharged. “Though I was able toreturn the money with markup, itcertainly proved to be a bit extraburden in the end. In the future,project planners should plan themat lower rates so that benefit couldcome quickly and substantially tothe loanees. It is not to argue thatloan did not benefit people but onlyto argue in favour of reduction inthe markup rate.

Razia Bibi of the same village isanother beneficiary of the loancomponent. She says that shebought three goats with the moneyshe received from the project .Since then she had been sellingmilk and dealing in goats. Nowshe owns six of them as she hasbeen re-investing milk money andprofits of business.

“The loan helped me break thevicious circle of poverty. Our familyhad been living on paltry incomefrom stitching. It came further downwhen my daughter joined NFEcentre and quit stitching. The loangave a new hope to the family. The

village had a demand for goat milkand we decided to go into thebusiness. With the loan, I purchasedgoats and started selling milk andtrading off goats whenever it broughtme reasonable profit. Now I am partof a business cycle; I buy small goats,bring them up and sell them. Peopleof the village come to me if they wantto buy a goat. The loan has certainlyhelped me take one step out ofpoverty.”

monitoring job, is also offeringcapacity-building consultancies tothose interested in developing aworkplace monitoring system andthe training of relevant professionals.

Apart from prevention andmonitoring, other strong componentof the ILO-IPEC project was socialprotection. In order to givepermanence to social protection ofthose involved or removed from thestitching industry, the Phase-IIpledged to provide technical andfinancial assistance to Child andSocial Development Programme(CSDP) of SCCI for developingits programmes and strategies inregard to child labour issues. TheSCCI, now better aware on theissue and committed to socialresponsibility of its business, hasrenamed CSDP as Child and SocialDevelopment Organisation (CSDO)and developed it as a social arm ofthe chamber. The CSDO has fourobjectives; advocacy andcommunication on child labour, workas a resource centre, developmentplanning and implementation andestablishing a Social DevelopmentFund.

The CSDO signed a two-monthAction Programme with ILO-IPECon March 1, 2004 for the capacitybuilding of Sialkot Chamber ofCommerce and Industry throughCSDO for combating child labour.Capacity building training workshopfor maximising performance,establishing a library, developing adatabase and material on CorporateSocial Responsibility and childlabour were the main activitiesunder this Action Programme.During that period, the CSDOdeveloped a library and database 25

about child labour, education andhealth.

The creation of the CSDO showsthat one of the biggest achievementsof the ILO-IPEC project isconvincing the business communityof Sialkot that corporate socialresponsibility goes much beyond afew international certificates andworld’s acknowledgments on a fewfronts. It is a culture that mustpervade the entire industry andnothing short of that serves thepurpose.

The SCCI, through theestablishment of IMAC and CSDO,has proven its determination tocontinue working for the bettermentof children and a new culture ofsocial responsibility. Those wereprecisely the aims of the ILO-IPECSoccer Ball Project.

In addition to creating a crediblemonitoring system andinstitutionalising social component ofthe ILO-IPEC Project, the SoccerBall Project also created substantialsocial capital in Sialkot district thatcan sustain the momentum for yearsto come. With the ILO operating inthe area, many local NGOs had theirfirst exposure to internationalstandards of working. Their reportingand auditing methods improvedmarkedly and they were exposed toworld beyond local realities. In thisperiod, the district of Sialkot has hadsix fully trained NGOs that are readyto undertake such projects. In factthey are already planing to expandtheir work to hotels and automobileindustry.

Around 177 VECs, 243 FECs,10,572 educated children with 5,838mainstreamed to formal schools,hundreds of trained teachers in

different skills and thousands ofskilled and clean children are themost persuasive arguments againstchild labour. These socially betteraware people will serve theircommunities for years to come andhelp rid them of social evils like childlabour.

International respect andacceptability of its working havealso ensured the sustainability ofthe spirit of project long after itsformal ending. All internationalbodies dealing in the soccer ballstitching industry and labour andchild rights have accepted the

sincerity of effort by the SialkotChamber of Commerce andIndustry (SC C I ) a n d t h ecredibil ity of ILO monitoringmechanism. Pakistan, which lostabout 15pc, out of total 75 percent world market share in thelate nineties, was able to quicklyrecover its lost space on the basisof its efforts. At present, soccerballs of more than 50 internationalbrands are being prepared inSialkot. After the formal endingof the project, the IMAC nowmonitors the industry.

Muhammad Shafiq, a teacher atthe non-formal education centre atvillage Gogial, claims that theproject has made multi-dimensionalimpact on children. Before theestablishment of the NFEs, childrenused to spend the whole day eitheron the streets, quarrelling with oneanother and creating problems fortheir parents, or, at best, stitching.Other unhealthy social activitieswere added extras.

With the induction of NFE

centres, these children have gonethrough a monumentaltransformation. It has providedthem proverbial light at the end ofthe tunnel. They now know thepossibilities and joys that educationcan bring to them. Thetransformation has been both mentaland physical. Education has openednew horizons and taught them thatthey can also become teachers,doctors, nurses and lawyers. In fact,

PASSIONFORWELFAREWORK

26

they have started dreaming abouttheir future, and one must not forgetthat “dreams do come true.”

Now they know the value of timeand have become punctual. Theycome to school in time and finishtheir daily homework efficiently.“They have proven to be the mostwonderful students I ever had.Inspired by them, I am also takingexams for my second master’s inIslamic Studies.”

Their interest in personal hygienehas been one of the most tellingimpacts of the project. They are nowthe most neatly lot of their villagesbecause they think, with a measureof justification, that personalappearance differentiates them fromthe rest of the children. These neater,well-mannered and happy childrenhave become an effective argumentin favour of education in thesevillages.

One can hardly exaggerate theimportance of passion that the projecthas cultivated among the children forwelfare work. These children knowthat those committed to the welfareof others have provided them withsecond chance in life. They also

realise the impact of this opportunityon their lives. Now, they themselvesare fully committed to welfare workin their lives. They have been heardtalking about establishing a freeschool or a dispensary once theybecome teachers and doctors. Thisis the biggest social capital that thisproject is leaving behind, he said.

Before the project, these childrenhad only one aim in life i.e. makingmoney, however small. Theirpriorities have changed; now theyrun after the wealth of education.One wonders how a small chanceat the right time could change a childfor the rest of his life and make him/her a useful part of society.

The district govt is maintaininginterest of these children ineducation by relentlessly upgradingprimary schools throughout theSialkot district. Children, especiallygirls, used to stop studying afterprimary level because there were nohigher secondary schools nearby andparents were reluctant to send theirdaughters to the next village forsocial reasons. District Governmenthas solved this problem by upgradingschools.

PAINTINGON FABRIC

Fifteen years old Abida Parveenof Said Nihal village is among the girlswho benefited from the pre-vocational training component of theproject. Being a stitcher since earlychildhood, she did not know anythingbut stitching.

Abida was admitted to a local NFEwhere she completed her primaryeducation. She said that she fearedreturning to stitching unless trainedin some other skill. Painting on fabricfit well in the context.

“The projectprovided us withall the requiredmaterial and atrainer. Now, I cantake care of myown clothes andpaint them. Theylook aestheticallygood whenpainted. I willdefinitely developthis skill along withcontinuing mystudies even after formal ending ofthe project,” she claimed.

One can earn from the skill as well.Local markets have big demand forpainted clothes. It may not bemuch lucrative at this stage, butthe one who can pursue it furthercertainly has a chance of makinggood money out of it. One of themost beneficial aspects of thisparticular component is that it hasdeve loped aesthet ics of thestudents. 27

28

ANOTHER RAY OF HOPESixteen years old Nazia Younas of

Panvana Bajwa village is one of themany beneficiaries of VocationalTraining Programme under Phase-IIof the project. She was a stitcher untiladmitted to an NFE centre and nowenjoys an alternative skill of sewing.

She says that most village childrenwere destined to stitching before thearrival of the project. It changed theirlives in many ways. Education wascertainly the most beneficial, but analternative skill like sewing is by nomeans less important.

“It has added to the confidence ofgirls by proving them capable oflearning and performing other skillsas well,” she says. Education gave thechildren a second chance and analternative skill is certainly a thirdchance. Sewing in rural life is essentialfor girls because it is a social sign ofmaturity. It adds to the family incomeand helps save money whichotherwise had gone to tailors. In villagelife, it is essential for girls to becapable of doing all household works

and sewing is an important part ofthat, she says. Tailoring is markedlyless tiring than stitching and theproject made it possible for girls tolearn an alternative skill.

Sumera Nawaz d/o Nawaz Buttof the same village also says that livesof girls have socially improved withthe learning of tailoring. “No one

from the village, including ourparents, thought us capable of doinganything but stitching which hadbecome a hereditary skill. But bylearning tailoring, the girls saw theirrespect going a few notches up thesocial ladder. This has been one ofthe most significant contributions ofthe project after education. Onecannot dispute the value of educationin any society. But, certain skills likesewing are also very important in rurallife of Pakistan.”

Most of the people in villages havebig families and someone at homeknowing tailoring is a blessing evenif she does not sew clothes for others.“I have three brothers and as manysisters and two parents. One canimagine the amount of money myfamily had been paying to tailors forevery social or any special occasions.Now, we save all that money becauseof the ILO-IPEC Soccer BallProject.”

Muhammad Khalid, a middlemanand running a stitching unit at ChakKake, maintains that the ILO-IPECSoccer Ball Project has eliminatedexploitation from the stitchingprocess. No one can now cheat theworkers of their rights and wages,largely because of the monitoringsystem and formalisation of thestitching process.

All manufacturers now havedeveloped internal monitoring systemand recruited trained staff for thepurpose. These internal monitors nowmeet workers on daily basis anddiscuss with them almost every thing,from working conditions toremuneration. Everybody at everystitching unit now knows whatmoney a middleman is gettingfrom manufacturers and what heis supposed to pay to workers.They are also aware of the factwhat st i tchers are gett ing forsewing a particular ball in the nextvillage. It is hard to deprive peopleof the i r dues in thesecircumstances.

Before the start of the project,the stitching industry was home-basedand one could have easily bargainedwith individuals and families. Theyusually settled for less because no oneknew what a middleman was chargingfrom the manufacturer and whatfamily living next door or village was

EXPLOITATION,NOT ANYMORE!

making out of stitching. The systemwas informal and open toexploitation.

With the beginning of the ILO-IPEC Soccer Ball Project, theindustry became formal because itwas easy to monitor. Now, everystitcher comes to a centre, sits therefor a certain period of time andprepares balls. He/she knows whatwages have been fixed for a certainkind of ball and would not settle foranything less than that.

Informal home based industry wasfinancially beneficial to middlemenbecause a stitcher was getting materialfor ball at his/her doorsteps andtiming was not fixed for stitching. Inhome, they could stitch a ballwhenever they get time and werewilling to get less for that. Now, theycome to centres like a 9-to-5 job anddemand full payment.

The exporters have also establishedan internal mechanism formonitoring. These managers alsocheck wages of all stitchers. So, theinternal monitoring system, originallymeant for checking child labouronly, is now virtually checkingeverything — payments, workingconditions and even behaviour ofthe incharge. These circumstanceshardly leave any space forexploitation that was almost integralpart of the previous system.

MAINSTREAMEDFourteen years old Samina d/o

Nazar Hussain lives in village Dargal.Her father is an agriculturist and hermother had died in her youth. Afterthe death of her mother the system ofthe house was getting disturbed; herbrother and sister left studies forstitching footballs to help their fatherin household consumption. Her fathercouldn’t give much attention towardschildren’s education and eventually allthe children had left the study.

Under the project, an NFE centerhad established in village Dargal on Oct2002. Teacher and VEC membersapproached Samina’s father to enrollhis children’s in the center. Samina toldthat our father turns no adherence onus. I have lost my interest on educationafter the gap of many years. My onebrother and one sister took admissionin the center. My brother and sisteralso insisted me to come with thembut I pay no attention. My brotherand sister daily goes to center, and afterreturning from the centre they told meabout their daily activities, whichultimately cultivates the interest foreducation 1, and after 3 months I tookadmission in the NFE center in Class3.

Teacher told that Samina showsaffection and great zeal in study. She isvery intelligent and hardworkingstudent and learn her lesson swiftly. Sheinsisted her teacher that she wants totake the Government Primary CertificateSchool Examination. For this purposeteacher gave her an extra hour, and shetook the exams. Her dreams cametrue when she has passed the 5th classexam in a good position. Now Saminais studying in Govt. Girls ElementarySchool Charwah in 7th class, andattending her school regularly. 29

7