LAHORE: Stakeholders from diverse social development backgrounds resolved to deliver on Pakistan’s national and international commitments on women’s empowerment with specific focus on working mothers and childcare centres at a Roundtable Consultation.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) Pakistan organised the event at a local hotel on Friday.

The roundtable discussion was arranged in partnership with the Women’s Development Department to understand how to improve/expand the implementation of the Punjab Daycare Fund established under the Chief Minister’s Women’s Empowerment Package, to support low-income working mothers and fathers.

The participants, including parliamentarians, department representatives, civil society groups, All-Pakistan Women’s Association (APWA) and the media, appreciated the Punjab government’s ongoing work with regards to establishing specific mechanisms and allocating resources to help employers set up childcare centres for their staff who have children up to age five.

The participants also pointed out gaping schism between policy and implementation and made a plea for governmental mechanisms to become more user-friendly and enhance their clients’ awareness and trust upon the system. The employers too need to be mobilised in order to realise the goal of fostering an enabling working environment for working mothers through setting up of childcare centres for their children, the discussants agreed.

MPA Ms Shameela appreciated the progress made in providing childcare facilities for working parents, but pointed out that women need more information about availability of such services and more control over how to arrange childcare.

Ms Reiko Tsushima, Senior Gender Specialist, ILO emphasised that a range of measures were needed to redistribute the care responsibilities between public and private sphere and men and women, including introduction of parental leave and flexible working time arrangements.

The Womens’ Development Department representative underpinned the significance of this initiative saying that this was a unique initiative of the government of Punjab. The discussants agreed on setting up an informal Advocacy Working Group to work closely with the media and regional partners to raise awareness on ECEC, child development and gender equality.

The government of Pakistan is required to make efforts for ensuring a safe and congenial environment especially for working women at entire public and private workplaces under the ILO conventions it ratified in the past.

“Since social and cultural barriers minimise women role in the country’s uplift, we really commend those working for their families despite all this. So such women must be given an environment that could save them from various problems such as sexual exploitation,” says Ms Reiko Tsushima.

Speaking to Dawn, Ms Reiko said the government would have to place women on top of the priority lists leading to the country’s growth. Though Pakistan continued taking steps by recognising women as its economic asset, there was a lot to be done in ensuring payment of wages, security and safety to women at workplaces. And the working women’s kids/babies too were required to be given a homelike environment at daycare centres, she added.

About establishment of daycare centres for working women and their babies at public and private institutions, she said the ILO was keeping in touch with the government to ensure establishment of such centres at all workplaces. “I think the government should allocate sufficient funds in annual budgets,” she said, adding that the government, like western countries, should introduce a special facilitation package for women that should include grant of leave to women for preventive care and looking after the elderly parents.

Answering a question, Ms Reiko said since the ILO had a monitoring role in streamlining various issues concerning women and their kids, it had involved the trade unions to keep watching the untoward events at workplaces and take up these with those responsible for removing such problems.

Published in Dawn February 21th , 2015

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