Pakistani Labor laws and Reproductive Health Rights. Stakeholder Dialogue Women Leadership for Reproductive Health Our World. July 5 th, 2012 Lahore

Transcription

1 i Labor laws and Reproductive Health Rights Stakeholder Dialogue Women Leadership for Reproductive Health Our World July 5 th, 2012

2 Contents Contents Contents... 2 Executive Summary... 3 Context... 4 Stakeholder Dialogues... 4 Policy Delphi... 5 Proceedings Session Issues Highlighted... 5 Proceedings Session Issues Highlighted... 6 Way Forward... 7 Annexure... 8 Annexure 1 - List of Participants... 8 Annexure 2 Event Photos... 12

3 Executive Summary Lead has initiated the project, Our World - Women Leadership for Reproductive Health to capacitate a network of leaders in mainstreaming Reproductive Health in Development sector. The project has a tiered approach in which each tier has a specific function and goal, from sensitization and information-gathering to policy assessment and recommendations. This report details the proceedings of 2 events, Stakeholder Dialogues, conducted in on July 5, The purpose of these Dialogues was to discuss key issues around 2 themes: i) i Labor laws and Reproductive Health Rights and ii) Implementation of gender/women protection laws in corporate and social sectors of. The discussion was meant to elicit perspectives from theme experts in an effort to bridge the gap in policy, implementation and actual needs. Over the course of the Stakeholder Dialogues, it became apparent that even though there have been several laws incorporated into the country s legal system to address the Reproductive Health needs of the society, several key areas remain unattended to. These include women in the informal labour sector and adolescents. Moreover, the laws that do exist remain discrete and their intended beneficiaries remain unaware. Certain issues like domestic violence and misogynistic tendencies persist due to societal inertia, brought on by centuries of tradition. Added to the lack of effective law enforcement system, victims become more hesitant from raising their voice. There is also a need for civil society to act as a monitor rather than service provider. Due to the vacuum created by public sector in providing effective services, civil society has taken up many responsibilities it is unsuited for. However, a dearth of resources leads to ineffective up-scaling of initiatives. It is therefore necessary for civil society to act as a facilitator to government rather than competitor. In light of the findings, 2 Discussion Papers will be prepared which will elaborate upon some of the themes that have emerged.

4 Context Leadership for Environment & Development (LEAD) has been working towards cultivating leaders in the fields of climate change, environment, health and sustainable development since its inception in LEAD, with the collaboration of David and Lucile Packard Foundation, launched Our World, a project aimed at building women leadership in the fields of reproductive health and development. The goal of the project is to generate debate and dialogue with multi-sectoral experts; academics, intellectuals and policy makers, on pertinent issues in the field of health, climate change and development. The project has developed a tiered-knowledge flow within which each level of engagement produces knowledge products which enrich the proceedings of the following tier. The project design focuses on first sensitizing the multi-sectoral experts absout the inter-linkages among three key thematic areas (caucuses); i) Millennium Development Goals and Health, ii) Population, Health and Climate Change and iii) Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Leadership. Each of the above has Reproductive Health (RH) as the cross-cutting theme. After the sensitization tier these Caucus members identify key interventions areas based on; i) Knowledge they already possess, ii) discussion with thematic experts (stakeholders). Each caucus undergoes the process of knowledge generation with the ultimate objective to provide actionable policy recommendations. The events on Thursday, July 5, 2012 at Pearl Continental Hotel,, were the first 2 in a series of 5 such Stakeholder Dialogues. Stakeholder Dialogues This tier correlates with the above-mentioned stage in which caucus members identify intervention areas with the help of key stakeholders from respective themes. The goal of the Dialogues was to collate and discuss diverse perspectives on the topics of; 1. i Labor laws and Reproductive Health Rights and 2. Implementation of gender/women protection laws in corporate and social sectors of. Both these topics were discussed as part of the caucus Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Leadership. In this regard experts from the fields of i Law, Human rights and gender studies were identified through 3 major sources; i) References from project team, ii) LEAD s resource pool including consultants,

5 fellows and network members and iii) experts listed on various academic websites. In order to ensure a focused, goal-oriented discussion the Stakeholder Dialogue was modeled on the Policy Delphi technique. Policy Delphi This method was designed principally as a communication technique aimed at highlighting all the possible consequences of a policy. This technique builds on the premise that an informed policy making process requires a conglomeration of relevant stakeholders to discuss all pertinent aspects and repercussions. This in turn leads to an analysis rich with multiple variables, each affecting a specific aspect of the policy. The choice provided therefore inherently takes into account all possible consequences. Proceedings Session 1 The Stakeholder Dialogue built on the Policy Delphi model and identified key issues and objectives to be discussed for each topic. Since both the topics were part of the Entrepreneurship, Leadership and Innovation caucus, the caucus facilitator, Dr Saman Yazdani, identified the key areas to focus the discussion on. These were set as the objectives for each session. The first session was on, i Labor laws and Reproductive Health Rights. The session started with a round of introduction by each participant. A brief overview of LEAD and the project purpose was provided by Ms Yumna Hasany, YPO - LEAD. The caucus facilitator, Dr Saman Yazdani, acted as the moderator for the discussion. She initiated the discussion by outlining the purpose of the forthcoming dialogue. Building on the objectives highlighted, she underscored the need to view this as a brainstorming session in which all participants were meant to feed in their perspectives. The expected outcome was identification of key themes to be researched further through Discussion Papers. Issues Highlighted 1. The fast-tracked industrial development pattern followed by India has brought forth numerous hurdles to improvement in human development indicators due to old, British era legislations in the legal system. This has ramifications for as it too, has a similar legal code. One example being there is no leave permitted for abortion. It may be taken as a sick leave but remains unaddressed in the legal system. 2. There needs to be a re-assessment of how effective the existing legal system is in providing essential rights to the common man. For instance the social security net established by Government of (GOP) has been unable to account for female workers since most industrial owners refuse to let the Labour department enter their premises. Since female workers form most of the informal labour force which can only be verified physically, these remain under-reported. 3. RH rights remain discrete. The lack of sensitization of female workers has been identified by Family Planning Association of (FPAP) in their project initiated in Faisalabad. Most women view maternal leave as a privilege rather than a right. The recently passed Women Protection Bill remains a policy document. Although the bill includes injunctions to sensitize the

6 masses, the government itself has not yet been able to inform all of its 50,000 strong Lady Health Workers (LHWs) about it. 4. Women workers in unskilled labour force are especially vulnerable to discrimination. There have been several cases where the employers put inhumane conditions, such as no marriage or no pregnancy during employment, on women upon hiring. This issue takes added significance when noting the high composition of Labour force being of informal sector. Labour laws focus only on the formal sector thus leaving the informal sector open to human rights abuses. 5. Adolescents remain a high-risk group within the society. The taboo associated with educating them about RH leads to uninformed decision-making on their part which may have serious consequences. 6. The overall legal system of has to be taken in the context of its economic condition. A very weak regulatory regime induces legal systems to remain lax. Moreover, the rights proposed for labour force need to be weighed against the economic opportunity cost in terms of increased cost incurred by employers., being a developing country, has a comparative advantage in cheap labour. If this is negated, the negative impact on foreign investment may cause more harm than benefit. 7. The lack of resources was exemplified by a joint UNFPA/UNICEF initiative with Punjab Government during the floods of By providing an extra technician and staff to each of the Basic Health Units (BHUs), the government was able to provide round the clock medical services in flood-hit districts. The cost incurred, provided by UNFPA/UNICEF, was Rs 86,000 per BHU. However it showed the inability of government to provide such funds. Proceedings Session 2 The session started similarly to the morning session, with Ms Yumna Hasany providing a brief overview of LEAD and the project while Dr Saman Yazdani detailing the envisioned outcome of the ensuing discussion. Issues Highlighted 1. Law cannot bring about societal change on its own. Laws reflect the change in society. Therefore these need to be taken in the context of societal norms. In, the laws have to be viewed in conjunction with their implementing arms as well as society s openness to them. An ombudsman s office in all provinces is necessary to help address such issues. 2. Harassment at work place, although addressed by a recently passed bill, remains extremely under-reported. The overall perception amongst women is that such inconveniences have to be borne and not taken to court. The number of cases reported to District Bar Council remain negligible even with no lawyer fees. 3. Domestic violence remains an imminent threat in a society which still tends to discriminate against women. The stigma attached with reporting such incidents and the lack of speedy and effective justice reflects a deep malaise in society. 4. Civil society has misappropriated the responsibility of providing services to an extent. Due to the vacuum created by GOP in providing effective services, civil society tried to fill the gap. However, the lack of resources available to civil society limits the extent of such service delivery

7 models. It is therefore necessary for civil society to focus on playing the role of watch dog committees, complementing the service delivery components of the government. These watch dog committees should help improve the government s service delivery mechanism through an advisory role. 5. Innovative projects such as literacy through mobile phones help enable the government to implement low-cost, high impact initiatives. Such initiatives provide framework for government to target the growing number of mobile users while providing a valuable service to society. Way Forward The ultimate objective of the event was to elicit knowledge on specific issues from relevant experts so as to identify themes which would be elaborated further in Discussion Papers. These papers will provide the requisite knowledge base upon which the next level of engagement will be initiated. The analysis and recommendations stemming from these papers will provide the framework within which to discuss effective policy recommendations with stakeholders and government functionaries in the next tier of engagement. In this context 2 key themes have emerged. These are: 1. Labor laws, gender and RH: Analysis of. This plans to explore the gaps in present labor laws focusing on specific RH needs of both genders. More importantly, the Discussion Paper will seek to provide recommendations, enabling the present labor laws to be deemed more gender sensitive. 2. Pre and post 18 th amendment analysis of legislation on gender, RH and Entrepreneurship. a. Implications of 18 th amendment on provincial setups. b. Effect on right holders and duty bearers. The aim of the paper is to gauge the change brought about by the 18 th amendment in terms of gender equality, RH focus and impetus to entrepreneurship. The purpose is to assess the impact of devolution on governance and seek to address any gaps.

8 Annexure Annexure 1 - List of Participants Session 1 SR Name Designation Organization Address # 1 Farzana Bari Gender Studies Centre - Qauide -Azam University Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad, 45320, 2 Shabrar Khan Project Monitoring Officer - USAID Gender Aurat Foundation - ( USAID Gender Project) 5-6/3, Raja Kamla State, Canal Park, Gulberg II, 54000, 3 Khalid Qureshi Manager M&E Pathfinder International 4 Asifa Khanum - MER Rahnuma - Family Planning Association of H 579, St 35, E- 11/3, Islamabad 3 - A Temple Road, , 5 Hina Shahid Project - Coordinator AGHS - Legal Aid Cell 131-A/1, Gulberg 3, 2nd Floor, First Women Bank

9 6 Abid Ali Haseni 7 Dr. Zainab Dawood 8 Dr. Naeem Majeed Intern Communication Officer Advisor 9 Zubair Yousaf Program Officer 10 Dr. Noreen Zafar Consultant / Founder AGHS - Legal Aid Cell Jahanndad Society for Community Development National Program FP and PHC Punjab Aurat Foundation- Girls & Women Health initiative 131-A/1, Gulberg 3, 2nd Floor, First Women Bank 100-B, Iqbal Avenue, Opposite Shaukat Khanum Hospital 5 Montgomery Road 5-6/3, Raja Kamla State, Canal Park, Gulberg II, 54000, 27/1, Zafar Ali Road, Gulberg 5, 11 Farasat Iqbal Programe 12 Sahibzad Khan Punjab Health Sector Reforms Programme (PHSRP) Met. Department House # B, New Muslim Town 46-Jail Raod, lahore 13 Munawar Almas Advocate zafar associates 8-G, Mushtaq Gurmani Road Gulberg II Dr. Jamil Ahmad 15 Fasahat - Ul - Hassan Provincial Coordinator Chairperson UNFPA 16 M. Imran Coordinator LUMS Youth Advocacy Net work 99A, E- Ghalib Road, Gulberg -

10 17 M.Hanif General Secretary 18 Dr. Akhtar Provincial Coordinator AIDS Prevention Association of National Program for FP & PHC, 5 Montgomery Road Session 2 SR # Name Designation Organization Address 1 Farzana Bari Gender Studies Centre - Qauid-e - Azam University 2 Salma Khalid Program Manager Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad, 45320, NRSP H 47, St 56, F- 6/4, Isb 3 Aima Mahmood Executive Working Women Organization 93-A, Nawab Town, Raiwand road, 4 Nida Akhtar Finance Secretary Nida Welfare Association 5 Sara Ali Research Associate Research Society of International Law 6 Saima Fayyaz Literacy Coordinator Bunyad Foundation 7 Kanwal Liaquat Executive Community Empowerment and Women Foundation Iftikhar Park, Behind Shalimar Gardens 8 Khalida Irshad Executive Agahee

11 9 Risham Adnan Program Coordinator South Asia Patnership 10 M.Hanif General Secretary 11 Irfan Mufti Program 12 Sahibzad Khan AIDS Prevention Association of Punjab Health Sector Reforms Programme (PHSRP) South Asia Patnership House # B, New Muslim Town 13 M. Malik Deputy Secretary - Social Welfare Dept 14 M. Imran Coordinator LUMS Govt of Punjab 62, Shadman 2 15 Zubair Yousaf Program Officer Aurat Foundation 16 Khalida Irshad Field Manager Agahe 17 Nasreen Zehra Aurat Foundation 18 Sara Javeed Consultant LEAD

12 Annexure 2 Event Photos