Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development (OPHRD) on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding for initiating the third Decent Work Country Programme (DWCP) to explore job avenues for the youth and creating enabling environment for the working people.

International Labour Organisation (ILO) Asia Pacific Deputy Regional Director David Lamotte was also present on the occasion. Speaking on the occasion, Khizer Hayat Khan said the DWCP would hopefully yield positive results in terms of job creation for the youth and also promote decent working environment for the rural folk.

He said that youth comprises a major chunk of the total population and it is very essential to harness their potential in constructive way for the development of the country.

The DWCP for Pakistan was developed by the ministry in collaboration with Employers’ Federation of Pakistan (EFP) and Pakistan’s Workers Federation (PWF) with the technical support of the ILO.

Pakistan’s DWCP was developed through a consultative process that included a wide range of stakeholders including academia, media, Economic Affairs Division, Women in Development Department, Ministry of Agriculture as well as the Ministries of Commerce, Ministry of Textile and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Being among the pioneer countries to design and implement DWCP’s, Pakistan continues to seek avenues for upholding fundamental principles and rights at work for its 60 million strong work force which largely operates in the informal economy and the agriculture sector in particular.

Within this context, a number of decent work deficits exist in Pakistan’s labour market resulting in the incidence of the working poor. Thus, the working conditions and productive capacities of less fortunate who continue to make an effort to survive by working at the threshold of the poverty datum line needs to be improved.

Pakistan’s DWCP covers a five-year period i.e. 2016-2020 and is aligned to the country’s Vision 2025, provincial development plans, the One UN Plan as well as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s). The DWCP is premised on the human rights based approach and results based management principles for program development.

The priorities of Pakistan’s third DWCP include promoting decent work in the rural economy and job creation for youth and vulnerable groups, strengthening compliance with International Labour Standards through social dialogue and extending social protection floors.

The development of the DWCP was informed by a comprehensive country programme review undertaken in April 2015 which was followed by a priority settings session in September 2015, result-based management training in November 2015 to enhance the implementation capacities of.

The DWCP seeks to make positive changes in the world of work through the application of normative actions.

It also responds to the policy and legislative environment as well as the constitution of the country which promotes equality of work. The MoU was signed among the ministry, EFP and PWF regarding DWCP.

The MoU was signed by OPHRD Secretary Khizer Hayat Khan, Secretary General of the PWF/ILO governing body member Mr. Zahoor Awan,P the EFP President Khawaja Nauman and ILO Country Director Ingrid Christensen.