NAP Priority Areas
Scroll to NAP Priority Categories:
1.
Conduct a mapping exercise to chart national progress made against, and steps required to advance, the four elements of the Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, that is: (1) the eradication of modern slavery; (2) abolishment of child labour; (3) elimination of discrimination in business activity and the workplace, including the gender pay gap, and; (4) protection of the right to freedom of association.
3.
Conduct a mapping exercise, including a consultative process, to assess the national legislative, policy, and regulatory framework relevant to human rights in the digital economy, including freelance work and the gig economy, and gather recommendations on steps needed to ensure the application of the Protect, Respect, and Remedy framework to the digital economy.
4.
Review and update existing legislation to strengthen the protection of human rights within the context of business activity, incorporating gender equality as a foundational and cross-cutting theme, in line with Pakistan’s Constitutional and international obligations, and in support of the framework of the UNGPs.
5.
Issue and disseminate BHR guidelines for business enterprises in line with the NAP—its priority areas, proposed actions and State expectations of business enterprises—and with regards to non- financial reporting on corporate human rights policies, human rights due diligence, and remedial mechanisms.
6.
Strengthen regulations, with respect to overseas labour abuse, on the registration and oversight of recruitment agencies providing overseas employment opportunities, and work with other Governments to ensure safe and just labour migration.
8.
Incorporate mandatory principles of Business and Human Rights, including NAP and the UNGPs, into technical and vocational training.
13.
Ratify ILO Convention No. 190 (Violence and Harassment).
14.
Enact proposed amendments to the Protection Against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act, including but not limited to clarifying, and expanding where required, definitional ambiguities in light of the objective and purpose of the Act, and to promote effective and comprehensive safeguarding against all forms of harassment in all workplaces.
15.
Conduct a national study to determine the sectors in which significant gender disparity is prevalent, and utilise the findings of the study to assess and develop a policy regarding the mandatory reservation of quotas for women in different sectors.
16.
Review, and amend where required, existing laws pertaining to all forms of violence against women and girls, and ensure effective functioning of Gender-Based Violence Courts.
17.
Create Women and Transgender Persons’ Business Incubation Centres, and strengthen and facilitate existing ones in all Provinces, and provide equal funding opportunities for women and transgender-led businesses.
18.
Develop Labour Policies, or ensure implementation of existing Policies, which introduce a requirement for businesses to create an Internal Equal Opportunity Committee that receives complaints and conducts inquiries regarding wage gaps and discriminatory hiring practices.
19.
Strengthen existing, and develop where required, civil remedies for discriminatory action based on gender, ethnicity, religion, disability, age, or any other factor.
20.
Increase access to low-interest or interest-free loans to women and vulnerable or marginalised groups.
21.
Provide capacity-building support in the value chain for women and vulnerable or marginalised groups, and build awareness about their rights under the law as well as available remedial mechanisms in case of violations of their human rights in business activity or the workplace.
22.
Streamline regulatory requirements and procedures for business enterprises, aiming to reduce barriers to entry in business activity faced by women and vulnerable or marginalised groups.
23.
Develop Provincial policies and mechanisms, or ensure implementation of existing ones, related to the non-discrimination and inclusion of women and vulnerable or marginalised groups in business activity, and the provision of safe, healthy, and dignified working spaces for women and vulnerable or marginalised groups in the workplace.
24.
Identify areas through a consultative process where additional funds need to be allocated to address gender inequality in business activity and the workplace.
25.
Increase awareness about harassment at the workplace and gender-based discrimination, and existing reporting and remedial mechanisms, such as the Provincial Ombudsperson.
26.
Conduct Provincial mapping exercises to comprehensively assess existing challenges and deficits, and provide recommendations to eliminate discriminatory practices against women and vulnerable or marginalised groups in business activity or in the workplace.
28.
Encourage private and public sector businesses to reduce gender gap and consider developing quotas to ensure adequate participation of women in the economy.
29.
Establish Provincial Entrepreneurial Advisory Cells for and led by women and vulnerable or marginalised groups.
30.
Develop mechanisms to ensure vocational training of female prisoners to rehabilitate them and ensure their participation in the economy after completion of their prison sentences.
33.
Conduct feasibility study on the future enactment of mandatory human rights due diligence legislation in Pakistan, studying the legislative, regulatory, and economic framework in this regard.
35.
Develop and launch a Human Rights Due Diligence Partnership Project with the private sector, for the purpose of establishing a framework and standards for human rights due diligence reporting.
36.
Establish voluntary and common standards for conducting and reporting human rights due diligence in business activity, applicable to both the direct operations and across the value chains of public and private enterprises.
37.
Adopt a National Policy on Home Based Workers (HBW).
38.
Ratify ILO Convention No. 177 (Home Workers).
39.
Ratify ILO Convention No. 189 (Domestic Workers).
40.
Incorporate the terms of all ratified ILO conventions into the legal framework governing the rights of all workers in Pakistan, including those in the informal economy.
41.
Strengthen labour inspection mechanisms, including by ensuring the sufficient funding and capacity of the mechanisms, and conduct regular inspections of business enterprises, including in the informal economy, to safeguard adherence to minimum wage and other labour rights. Ensure inclusion of women as labour inspectors as well.
42.
Conduct a review process of labour laws, standards, and policies to gauge the differentiated impacts or deficits of these laws, standards and policies on women and vulnerable or marginalised workers, including in the informal economy, and identify and enact as required new or amended laws, standards, or policies.
43.
Register all labour, including in the informal economy, and establish, or strengthen existing, Labour Management Information Systems.
44.
Formalise all enterprises, including in the informal economy, and digitise business data.
45.
Formalise and strengthen wage payment mechanisms across all sectors, including the informal economy.
46.
Provide life insurance and ensure compulsory EOBI Registration.
47.
Ensure provision of appointment letter or employment contracts as a requirement in the informal economy.
48.
Pass Provincial legislation, or strengthen compliance with existing legislation, on Domestic Workers.
50.
Conduct an Impact Assessment of COVID-19 on the tourism industry (including a gender impact assessment), with a focus on adverse human rights impacts.
62.
Bring up-to-date health and safety legislation, standards, rules and guidelines, and independent enforcement mechanism for all sectors, with immediate priority allotted to the most hazardous sectors based on available data or reported concerns, and account for the differentiated needs of workers, including women, elderly workers, and others.
64.
Conduct a national study on barriers to entry and advancement of women in the justice sector.
68.
Ensure the effective functioning of public grievance redressal mechanisms such as the Ombudsperson Offices and enhance their capacity to resolve complaints.
69.
Conduct compliance review to verify that effective and gender responsive organizational remedial mechanisms, including Inquiry Committees, are established in all public and private enterprises.