At a glance

Partners
Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, Provincial Departments of Labour, Provincial Departments of Environmental Protection, Ministry of Climate Change, Pakistan Workers’ Federation, Employers’ Federation of Pakistan, industrial and trade associations from the textile and leather sectors and other trade unions.

Implementing Partner: World Wild Fund for Nature – Pakistan (to implement environment component of the ILES project)

Target beneficiaries
Pakistani workers in selected textile and leather enterprises, selected enterprises from the textile and leather sectors, trade associations, chambers of commerce, international buyers, workers’ organizations, government officials and the media.

Geographical focus
Pakistan

Sectoral coverage
Enterprises in the textile and leather sectors (Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad and Sialkot)

Project objectives

The overall objective is to promote sustainable and inclusive growth in Pakistan by supporting the economic integration of Pakistan into global and regional economies and by improving compliance with labour and environmental standards and increased competitiveness.

The specific objective is the promotion and implementation of and compliance with international labour and environmental standards through the implementation, application and enforcement of national legislation and standards by the public and private sectors in Pakistan.

The project will:

• assist public sector institutions, in consultation with social partners, to effectively strengthen, implement and enforce existing and new legislation and to promote respect for and compliance with international labour and environmental standards in Pakistan; and
• assist enterprises in the textile and leather sectors, and their associations, to institutionalise the implementation of, and compliance with, national labour and environmental legislation.

Main activities

The project adopts a four pronged, gender-sensitive, intervention strategy to improve labour and environmental administration and compliance with labour and environmental standards, with a focus on the textile and leather sectors:

• MACRO-level interventions to create an enabling environment (legislation, regulations and policies) for adherence with international labour and environmental standards;
• MESO-level interventions, including strengthening institutional capacities for better application, monitoring and reporting of international labour and environmental standards;
• MICRO-level interventions, to strengthen the capacities of enterprises to comply with national and international labour and environmental standards; and
• META-level interventions, including creating a gender-responsive knowledge-base and awareness amongst stakeholders.

Project outcomes

• The capacity of federal and provincial labour and environmental administrations will be strengthened to better implement and enforce labour and environmental laws and standards in Pakistan.
• Enterprises in the textile and leather sectors will be supported to effectively implement decent work, labour and environmental standards.
• The capacity of employers and workers will be enhanced to encourage effective tripartite consultation on labour and environmental compliance.
• Institutional systems at trade association level will be strengthened to promote labour and environmental compliance.

Since 1919, the International Labour Organization has maintained and developed a system of international labour standards aimed at promoting opportunities for women and men to obtain decent and productive work, in conditions of freedom, equity, security and dignity. In today's globalized economy, international labour standards are an essential component in the international framework for ensuring that the growth of the global economy provides benefits to all.