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Foreword The issue of children stitching footballs in Sialkot has become politicised and commercial interests are at stake. The voices of child stitchers and their families have been drowned out by the international clamour for 'solutions'. This situation analysis places children at the centre of the debate and allows their voices to be heard; they are voices which ask questions and raise issues which may be difficult for all involved - in the private sector, pressure groups, government and international organisations. Some of the action proposed to address child labour in the football industry in Sialkot has been based on a limited understanding of the lives of Sialkot's children, and of child labour and social development issues. It does not recognise that despite its problems, football stitching is one of the less hazardous forms of work children engage in, and that many families depend heavily on children's income from football stitching. Rapidly phasing out children's involvement in football stitching before alternatives are in place may result in them taking up more hazardous forms of work. It is therefore essential that fliture action on this issue is based on sound and detailed information about the lives of football stitching children. This report is intended as a resource for all those developing such programmes. In February 1997, a Partners' Agreement between the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI), the international Labour Organisation (ILO) and UNICEF was signed in Atlanta to eliminate child labour in the football industry, defined as situations 'where children under age 14 are working in conditions that interfere with schooling, or that are hazardous or otherwise injurious to their physical, mental, social or moral wellbeing'.' This programme will phase out children's involvement in football stitching over the next eighteen months, and will instigate a social protection programme in order that children and their families do not suffer from losing stitching income. The programme also expands children's access to education. Details of the programme are outlined in the Partners' Operational Framework, in Appendix VI. The Save the Children Fund-UK (SCF) has been working in Sialkot since july 1996 and has joined this programme in accordance with its mandate to promote the rights and best interests of children. SCF's work in Sialkot forms an important part of its strategy for addressing child labour issues in other sectors and other parts of Pakistan.

This report confirms that children stitch footballs primarily because they and their families need the money. The western concept of childhood as a time of few responsibilities is shown to oversimplifiying the reality of the lives of Sialkot's children. Many of the children do have some education; it is not just a matter of stopping them from stitching footballs and sending them to school to grow into balanced and rounded adults. Their families' incomes must be protected and improved so that they will not suffer as a result of changes in the industry and so that children can afford to gain adequate schooling. The main challenge for the Sialkot programme is to ensure that the proposed changes in football production result in sustainable improvements to children's lives, through protecting and enhancing household incomes and improving the quality of education so that children have more incentive to go to school. Communicating the progiamme effectively to the communities involved will be essential for its success. The considerable challenges inherent in this programme can only be met by an innovative and creative partnership between the private sector in Sialkot and internationally, the Government of Pakistan, Pakistani NGOs and Community Based Organisations with the support, in the first few years, of the international community represented by the International Labour Organisation, Save the Children and UNICEF. It is hoped that this combination of organisations and competencies will provide the basis for the creation of long lasting institutions which can benefit Sialkot's children and their families well into the next century This study represents the most detailed picture of child football stitchers and their families to date, and is intended be a source of baseline information for all involved. The Executive Summary and Recommendations will be translated into Urdu. Other key sections will be translated as needed. The task now is to use this information to make decisions which will promote the rights and best interests of Sialkot's children, especially at a time when the pressure for results is considerable. David Husselbee May 1997

Executive Summary This report details the findings of Save the Children's research into the situation of children working in football stitching in and around Sialkot, Pakistan. It is intended as a reliable baseline on which Save the Children and other organisations can base programmes to assist children displaced from football stitching. As such, it makes a particular contribution to the Social Protection component of the Sialkot programme. . The organisations developing programmes in Sialkot will need to collect more specific data on particular issues before starting their programming; some of these are highlighted in this report. Save the Children's research is not intended to establish precise numbers of children stitching footballs throughout the Sialkot District. This will be the task of the Sialkot programme's monitoring component. Nor does this research attempt to estimate the percentage of football production which relies on children's labour. Instead, based on a representative sample of households in villages throughout the Sialkot District it: highlights the perspectives of the children and families themselves examines in detail the reasons children work analyses the probable impact on children and families of eradicating children's involvement in football stitching and phasing out home-based production constitutes a basis for monitoring changes in children's and families' well-being as a result of the programme

Key findings

1. The vast majority of children stitch footballs because they are poor. 81 per cent stitch to help their families meet basic needs, such as food, clothing, fodder for the family's animals, and education. Families where children stitch footballs are, in general, considerably poorer than those without children stitching. The need for children to supplement household income has increased in recent years as the purchasing power of poor households has declined.

2. Stitching footballs does not necessarily prevent children from attending school. Rather, they work because their families need the income, and cannot afford to send them to school. 72 per cent of non- schoolgoing child stitchers do not attend school because their families cannot afford to send them. 24 per cent prefer to work because the low quality education available does not offer them useful skills for the fliture. Although only 20 per cent of child stitchers attend school, 58 per cent have received some education.

3. Stopping children from stftching balls will significantly reduce family income. On average, children's earnings from football stitching represent 23 per cent of household income. In many families there are no unemployed adults or older siblings who can take over stitching from children.

4. Many women who currently stitch at home will not be able to go to work in stitching centres. As women constitute 58 per cent of aduft stftchers in the communities surveyed, this will further erode family incomes. This study was unable to quantify the value to households of women's stitching income.

5. Stitching footballs Is less hazardous than other forms of work open to children. Unlike surgical instruments manufacture and brick-making, two important local industries, football stitching does not involve exposure to heat, sharp tools, toxic substances or dust particles that can cause respiratory diseases. Other advantages are that: it can he done at home, making it one of the few options open to women and girls, and meaning that it can be fitted around schooling and household chores; and that it requires no special equipment. It is therefore perceived as a better option than these other forms of work.

6. The main disadvantage of football stitching is that it is poorly paid compared to other employment opportunities, particularly for adult men. A person stitching three footballs per day would be unable to meet all the needs of an average family of 7.9 people from this work alone. Increasing payments per ball for adult stitchers would reduce the need for children to work.

7. Children and adults receive equal pay for work of equal quality. Where deductions are made for poor quality stitching, children's earnings may be lower than those of adults, as children and other inexpenenced stitchers usually make more mistakes. Premium quality balls, which fetch the highest rates, are generally stitched by adults.

8. Prolonged stitching from a young age can cause damage to finger joints, back pain, headaches and eye strain. Where children are stitching full-time with few breaks, their health may be endangered. However, in most cases, children and women rarely stitch uninterrupted for hours at a time, but do so between other household tasks, such as childcare, cooking and feeding animals and leisure activities, such as playing cricket or skipping.

9. Stitching families are not bonded by debt to particular manufacturers. Children generally stitch to assist their families to produce more balls, rather than to pay back debts incurred by their parents or previous generations. The small advances provided to stitching families by some contractors function as a cheap credit system, and do not result in debt bondage.

Recommendations The main challenge for the Sialkot programme is to ensure that changes in football production result in improvements in the lives of child football stitchers. It will therefore be vital to:

1. Protect family Incomes through: 1) Increasing payments per ball to adult stitchers to make football stitching an attractive option for adults, whilst ensuring that the industry in Sialkot remains competitive. 2) Organising single-sex stitching units at community level to maximise the possibilities for women to continue stitching. This will also enable the industry to retain its capacity for production. Community-based stitching units will also protect the employment opportunities of people with disabilities who are unable to travel far from home. 3) Introducing credit and saving schemes and the generation ofalternative income sources. To prevent children and families suffering, these must be the immediate priority for community development initiatives under the social protection programme.

2. Improve education and vocational tmining services so that they can contribute to improving family incomes. Sialkot District is well supplied with existing primary schools; these should be strengthened by improving the quality and relevance of education and training, rather than building new facilities. Any new construction should focus on middle or secondary schools.

3. Build the commitment and capacity of all parties involved to contribute to the programme in Sialkot. Much of the impetus for this initiative has come from international organisations, and despite the commitment of the larger manufacturers in Sialkot, many view the child labour issue as an externally imposed concern that will be solved by outsiders. It is therefore essential to develop local ownership of the programme. This will entail developing strong links between all the partners and a broad commitment to the programme across the industry. International organ isations, especially the international business community, have an important role to play in this process in the first few years.

4. Give the progmmmes developing under the Atlanta agreement time to work. The hasty withdrawal of children from stitching, will present a serious threat to their wellbeing, and may result in them taking up more dangerous forms of work, such as surgical instruments manufacture. Social protection programmes will take time to be effective in supporting children who are excluded from work. The first 18 months of the programme will not result in the adequate social protection of all children involved in the industry, and to become broadly effective the programme will need at least five years.

5. Monitor the social impact of changes in the industry continuously, and use information gathered as a basis for the revision of plans and programmes, to ensure that all action is in the best interests of children. This is best carried out by non-governmental and community-based organisations in the Sialkot District, independently of the formal monitoring system to be organised by the industry and external auditors. The international partners may have a role in assisting Sialkot-based organisations to develop systems and capacity to carry out this process.

6. Ensure that all action taken is based on a full understanding of the reality of the lives of children in Sialkot District in order that all actions taken lead to real improvements in children's lives. Many of the conclusions that have been drawn by those outside Sialkot have been based on a limited perception of the realities of children's lives. This will no longer be the case if clear and detailed information is provided and used, and if Sialkot people and organisations are more meaningfully involved in the process.

Save the Children's approach SCF will:

Identify and work with partner organisations in the Sialkot District to:

develop income-generation, credit and savings programmes to provide alternative income sources develop community-based approaches to improved school management form women's groups, which may, among other activities, make it easier for women to continue football stitching under the new production arrangements strengthen the capacity of partner organisations to monitor the social impact of the programme and incorporate lessons learned into social protection programmes Raise awareness internationally concerning the complexity of issues relating to children's involvement in football stitching Collaborate with all parties involved in the Project Coordinating Committee and the Sialkot Implementation Team to facilitate the effective implementation of the programme.

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Organisation Contact Details:

Save the Children UK
1 St John's Lane
London EC1M 4AR
Tel: + 44 20 7012 6400
Email: supporter.care@savethechildren.org.uk
Website: www.savethechildren.org.uk

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Last updated 23/03/2001 10:37:04