Brick by brick

Some of the home-based workers working under the programmeOn the occasion of International Labour Day, You! takes a look at the efforts being made by HomeNet Pakistan for the upliftment of female home-based workers in Sindh...Tomorrow, 1st May is International Labour Day - a day dedicated to labourers all around the world, to celebrate the achievements of workers. Labour Day has its origins in the labour union movement, specifically the eight-hour day movement, which advocated eight hours for work, eight hours for recreation, and eight hours for rest.While there are specific laws and regulations for labourers who work in factories and other outlets, there are hardly any laws for home-based workers (HBWs). In Pakistan, the situation is quite grim. The informal estimates indicate that there are 20 million home-based workers in the country of which 12 million are women who are engaged in bangle making, stitching, weaving, packing, sorting, cutting, etc. Unlike other types of workers, home-based workers do not have access to social security benefits and have long working hours with no operational safety and health standards in their work area. Moreover, they lack access to and knowledge of the market, are lowest in the production chain and suffer exploitation by middlemen.However, a major development came last year with Sindh Home-Based Workers Act, 2018, promising legal rights to social security, employment and old-age benefits to thousands of labourers who work from home. It is hoped that Sindh's Home-Based Workers Act, 2018, will be implemented by the end of 2019.In this regard, a recent positive outcome has been the launch of health insurance cards for home-based workers - an initiative of HomeNet Pakistan (HNP) in collaboration with UN women and Jubilee Insurance. While discussing the purpose of launching health insurance cards for HBWs, Ume Laila Azhar, Executive Director of HomeNet Pakistan, says, “As government of Sindh is still deciding on the social security provisions to be given to HBWs by amending the SESSI law and other related labour laws, which is going to be a time-consuming process. We thought of giving some relief to HBWs in the shape of health insurance cards. So, under the present funding arrangements from UN women we had a cushion for social insurance, which we utilised for the facilitation of the health cards. It took us about six months for the final implementation of the scheme.”“The scheme has been simultaneously launched in four districts of Sindh and Baluchistan respectively - Karachi, Thatta, Quetta and Loralai. We intend to add on more cities in coming months/years. The health insurance for HBWs has been packaged in a way so that in future Labour and Human Resource Department of government of Sindh may pick it up as an exclusive and innovative scheme for women in home-based economy under social security measure to be aligned with policy and law,” explains Ume Laila. Another milestone which HNP feels proud of is providing assistance to HBWs in directly selling their products in the market via online. The e-marketing of home-based entrepreneurs would bring ease to their business with expanded outreach. HNP has introduced this initiative so that Government of Sindh may replicate it in all districts of Sindh, bringing the home-based products to the national and international market. This is encouraging to see the commitment of WDD (women development department) to adopt the e-commerce platform for generating business for the women led initiatives from the micro level.“It is an innovative marketing tool for HBWs to get orders online directly from the clients without the interference of middleman. For this purpose, we have formulated a short capacity development course for HBWs where they learn the financial and management skills and new techniques of marketing and running businesses using IT related technologies,” shares Ume Laila.Talking about how HNP is helping HBWs, Ume Laila describes, “HomeNet Pakistan, which has been in operation since 2005, is a network of organisations working for the rights of home-based workers, exists at the national level and is actively pursuing passage of home-based worker rights bills through the provincial assemblies. We are building up the missing links by adopting the value chain approach for bringing the women from bottom to the mid-level. By addressing the issues as they face in terms of capacity enhancement, product development, access to loans, educating them in business development, utilisation of loans, linking them with public and private skill training institutes for advance level courses, providing them machinery where possible and as required. And raising their collective bargaining skills, linking them with relevant institutes, educating them on their rights, organising them etc.”This scribe got an opportunity to talk to a few home-based workers who have their small businesses and seem very happy with the kind of support they get from HNP.Hasina Ali, a 38-year-old married woman, is a resident of Shah Faisal Colony, Karachi. Her forte is Balochi hand embroidery. “I have been working for 20 years. I work from home. I have my small set up where 18 to 20 women work for me. We are experts in handmade embroidery, crochet and applique work. I am from Quetta, Balochistan and hence embroidery is in my blood. Traditional Balochi embroidery is done without tracing. Unfortunately, this craft is dying and I am trying to revive this art by giving training to other women,” tells Hasina. “Another point which I like to highlight is that we are severely under-paid. People come to us and buy our products on much lower prices and sell it again in the market on higher prices or do exhibitions - claiming it as their original work. Actually, we are the real artisans but we are exploited and forced to sell our commodities at cheaper rates as we need money to run our homes,” laments Hasina. HBWs while attending one of the training sessionsWhile appreciating HNP for introducing her to e-marketing, Hasina says, “Now, we have started working online. It's been only three months but the best part is that we are starting to get orders from abroad too. I got my training from APWA Centre in collaboration with HNP where I got to learn the nitty-gritty of e-marketing. I am so grateful to HNP for showing me a path to connect with/to the outside world.” 29-year-old Zubi Nadeem, another home-based worker from Shah Faisal Colony, shares her views with this scribe, “I have been working since I was 12 years old. I do all kind of hand embroidery. My expertise are embroidered bed sheets, covers, cushions, crochet etc. I am passionate about my work and this passion has led me to APWA Centre where I was trained for e-marketing. Now, I have started taking orders online and it's a big thing for me.” Talking about the kind of problems home-based workers face, Zubi enunciates, “Life is really tough for us. We, HBWs, usually live in small homes. We need more space as it's really difficult to manage our work in a small area. There is persistent load shedding in our area because of which we cannot deliver our assignments on time. Being from a conservative family, it is also difficult for me to go out and interact with men for business purposes. Now that I am a little bit computer literate, it will be easy for me to get orders online without being harassed by men.” Ume LailaHafeeza is a 50-year-old widow from Lyari, Karachi. For Hafeeza, life has been really tough. “I am a Baloch so I am naturally good in Balochi embroidery. I do different kinds of hand embroidery like palewar, Arif ka chadar, dubal, seya dosh, chakori etc. It's intricate hand work demands a lot of hard work. I earn around 15,000 per month which is peanuts in lieu of our labour. There are no savings and on top of that heavy electricity bills just upside down our already tight budget. However, thanks to HNP for giving me training and I have started taking orders online too which may help in enhancing my income,” comments Hafeeza. It is heartening to note that not only workers from Karachi but workers from other cities of Sindh are also getting benefited from the health insurance scheme, initiated by HNP. Shanaz Soomro, a 45-year-old home-based worker from Thatta, while applauding the efforts of HNP expresses, “I have been stitching clothes since many years. I am a married woman with two boys. My husband was a driver but he has stopped working, so now I am the sole breadwinner of the family. I work from home and my customers are mostly local women. In our area, there are no health facilities for poor people like us. So, when I got to know that I am one of the beneficiaries of health insurance card, my joy knew no bound. It's a very good initiative for HBWs. Now, people like us will get our free medical check-ups. Thanks to HNP for reaching out to us.” Shanaz also tells this scribe how difficult it is for women like her to manage both ends meet in this inflation. “We live in extreme poverty. It is very difficult for us to educate our children within our limited budget. There is no entertainment for women. How can we think of outing when our basic needs are not fulfilled? I hope the Sindh government will also look into our matters.”But according to Shanaz, some positive impact has also developed in Thatta with regard to men's behaviour with women. “Because of active media's role, awareness has been created. Since the law has been passed in Sindh Assembly against domestic violence, our men have stopped beating us out of the fear of imprisonment,” informs Shanaz.When people get retired from work at 60, Fakhrunnisah is one enterprising woman from Thatta who willingly works at 60. “I am a widow. I have two girls and two grown up boys but I am not financially dependent on my children. I go to Karachi/Hyderabad once a week and buy loose material from the market. Then I sell it in Thatta from my home to local women. I also go to villages and sell my stuff. My work is very difficult. Some days I sell and some days I don't get to sell a thing. I have been working since I was very young. After my husband's death, my in-laws threw me out of the house. At that time my youngest son was three years old. Then I had no choice but to work for my survival. Now, my youngest son is 22 and he is a labour,” states Fakhrunnisah.“We are facing a lot of problems in Thatta and nearby villages. Age-old customs are still prevalent in villages. Girls are still getting married at the age of 12 and 13. Electricity is another issue. Then there is water scarcity. And there is absence of medical facilities. Now that HNP has started this scheme of health insurance cards, it is hoped that many women will be benefited from this venture,” adds Fakhrunnisah. Izat Khan Lashari, a coordinator from Thatta, highlights that women in Thatta are now more aware of how important it is to be financially independent. “More and more women are sharpening their skills in a bid to enhance their income. We have opened a training centre, last year, where women are being trained in designing, embroidery and cutting,” informs Lashari. Attendees at the Consultation with Parlimentarians of Sindh AssemblyAs we are celebrating International Labour Day, we must not forget about the home-based workers who are also an integral part of our economy. According to Ume Laila, “HNP in Sindh is under discussion with Women Development and Sindh Government to adopt the e-commerce model and implement across country by involving the local organisations who are already doing great work.”“On the occasion of International Labour Day, I urge the government to adopt an inclusive economic growth strategy based at all levels and the home-based informal economy stakeholders should be the part of the strategy with equal rights and status as workers. We demand the recognition of the HBWs as workers as under the ILO Convention C 177 - ensuing that all HBWs are registered and have access to social security, have minimum wage and equal opportunities,”6 she concludes.You can contact Erum Noor Muzaffar at iram29@hotmail.com

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