Nearly 39 percent of Pakistanis live in multidimensional poverty, with the highest rates of poverty in FATA and Balochistan. Pakistan’s MPI showed a strong decline, with national poverty rates falling from 55% to 39% from 2004 to 2015. However progress across different regions of Pakistan is uneven. Poverty in urban areas is 9.3 percent as compared to 54.6 percent in rural areas. Disparities also exist across provinces.
The report found that over two-thirds of people in FATA (73 percent) and Balochistan (71 percent) live in multidimensional poverty. Poverty in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa stands at 49 percent, Gilgit-Baltistan and Sindh at 43 percent, Punjab at 31 percent and Azad Jammu and Kashmir at 25 percent. There are severe differences between districts: Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi have less than 10 percent multidimensional poverty, while Qila Abdullah, Harnai and Barkhan (all in Balochistan) have more than 90 percent poverty.
The Multidimensional Poverty Index uses a broader concept of poverty than income and wealth alone. It reflects the deprivations people experience with respect to health, education and standard of living, and is thus a more detailed way of understanding and alleviating poverty. Since its development by OPHI and UNDP in 2010, many countries, including Pakistan, have adopted this methodology as an official poverty estimate, complementing consumption or income-based poverty figures.
Reduction of multidimensional poverty is one of the core objectives of Pakistan’s Vision 2025 inclusive and balanced growth, which benefits everyone and especially the marginalized communities,It must be government's priority and is essential for promoting harmony in society. MPI is a useful instrument for inform public policy for targeting, budgeting, resource allocation and inclusion. Pakistan’s MPI establishes baseline not for only Vision 2025, but also for Pakistan’s progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals,
Marc-André Franche, UNDP Country Director says, “We consider this a highly innovative approach because of its multi-faceted nature and the availability of estimates at the sub-national level. Multidimensional poverty provides useful analysis and information for targeting poverty, and reducing regional inequalities. Many countries are using MPI to inform government priorities for planning and it is encouraging to see Government of Pakistan adopting MPI to complement monetary poverty measure in Pakistan.”
Shahzab, 10 years old, screwing the parts of motorbikes in a workshop with tinted hands and cloths with oil, was unaware of the seminar being held on the Child Labor Day in a five star hotel on Saturday in Islamabad.
“I don’t know what kind of this day is. I come for work at 8 a. m. and remain here till 8 p.m.,” Shahzab told Xinhua.
Shahzab is living with his senior mechanic and the owner of the workshop for last four years. His father handed him to the owner due to poverty. Now his father comes monthly only to receive his wages, about 1,200 rupees (1 dollar about equals 85 rupees) per month.
“Why the people don’t know these children are flowers of heaven and a beautiful creation of God, we should bring them up in soothing atmosphere instead of these hardships,” said Muhammad Zubair, a customer in the workshop.
Millions of children might be seen throughout the country working as a full time laborer even on the day when the International Labor Organization (ILO) along with other organizations, appealed to the world to “go for the goal – end child labor.”
ILO aims to end the worst form of child labor by 2016. But in Pakistan the child labor is growing instead of ending or lessening.
The Survey of All Pakistan Labor Force in 2007 and 2008 showed that there have been over 21 million labor children between the ages of 10 to 14 working in the country, out of which 73 percent are boys and 27 percent are girls. It is almost double of what Human Rights Commission of Pakistan estimated in 2005.
Pakistan’s National Child Labor Survey conducted in 1996 found that 3.3 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 were working in different fields on full time basis across the country. In Pakistan, ILO, along with Provincial Labor Department, is working to organize speech competition, an exhibition of paintings, a magic show for kids, and a street walks to raise awareness among people against the child labor.
Activists working to eliminate the child labor said that children work in the rural areas as bonded workers and often are not paid for their labor. Most of them work only for food and shelter that they get from the employer.
Sagheer Aslam, a child rights activist in Islamabad, is of the view that poverty, illiteracy and parents’ authority over the children’s choice of work and wages are the main reasons behind the child labor.
“Social status, lack of proper skills and the ignorant attitude of the society are some other major factors in the promotion of this social evil,” said Aslam.
The number of child laborers is rising day by day in Pakistan, opposite to the other parts of the world.
“How will my family survive if I do not work and earn money to feed them?” says 12-year-old Hameed when I ask him why he isn’t in school.
Hailing from Taluka, a subdistrict of Khairpur, Sindh, Hameed, along with other children of his age, is a handicraft maker.
The work requires him to start his day much earlier than school going children. He goes to a local store and works till sunset, earning only Rs100 per day making sofa-like chairs known as moorho in Sindhi and Mohda in Punjab. They are made using chusquea culeou bamboo (sarkanda or Kana), combined with reeds and straw.
Pakistan has been unsuccessful in providing social protection to its citizens.
The country’s first report on poverty (2015-16) reveals that 39 percent of Pakistanis live under multidimensional poverty and its prevalence is higher in rural areas.
The state’s neglect has given rise to child labour. Children’s social development is compromised and child labour is given precedence over education.
Like Hameed, all the child labourers are from poor households and don’t have any other choice but work at a young age to support their families.
Although child labour has declined globally, it has witnessed an increase in Pakistan. It is estimated that there are 0.88 million children between 10-14 years of age engaged in labour in Sindh.
The agriculture sector in rural areas of Sindh provides various opportunities of informal work.
Most children work at farms to assist their elders in harvesting or handling the byproducts of crops, which includes making products like moorho and other furniture.
There are many safety hazards children are exposed to. They have to go to the fields to gather reeds, straw and bamboo.
It’s dangerous because of the insects, scorpions, snakes, and wild animals in the fields. They collect raw material without any safety equipment, usually with their bare hands, which can cause injuries.
Despite the hard work, they earn a meagre wage, which is not enough to lift their families out of poverty.
Normally, a moorho is made within a few days and the child gets Rs300 to 400 per chair sold, even though the market price of the product is ten times that amount.
As the vicious cycle of poverty and exploitation continues, these children remain aware of this. But to them, survival is more important.
These children are like any other. They too have dreams for a better future, for seeking an education and having better jobs.
Yet, given the state of affairs of the country and especially Sindh, it’s unlikely that they would be able to live their dreams anytime soon.
