KARACHI: The International Labour Organisation (ILO) plans to launch the Better Work Programme in Pakistan in order make industrial units meet World Compliance Index.

At an interactive session held on Saturday with the members of major representative bodies of textile sector at the TMA House, ILO country director Ingrid Christensen said the BWP committee would be meeting in New York next month and after considering the availability of funds would approving the programme for Pakistan.

Responding to a question, Ms Christensen said the funds would also be available from Export Development Fund. Many other countries have also shown keen interest in providing ILO’s BWP for Pakistan, he added.

She explained the objective of her visit was to introduce BWP’s operational details which could help industry achieve efficiency, higher productivity and social security of workers and their living standards.

Once we were able to take on board the industry and convince them about the benefits of BWP only then the launching would be possible, she added. The ILO BWP is currently happening in eight countries and engages 150 world brands. The results have been remarkable as it helps workers to meet potential production growth of up to 25 per cent, she added.

Speaking on the occasion, Joint Secretary Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Atika Raffat stressed that Pakistan is committed to international labour laws.

However, she regretted that due to poor performance and compliance index, Walt Disney pulled out of Pakistan in 2013. Thereafter, she said the government started its efforts to overcome this situation and engaged with ILO.

Published in Dawn, October 27th, 2019