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KARACHI: Employers’ Federation of Pakistan (EFP) Vice President Zaki Ahmed Khan has been appointed as the Focal Point for promoting the International Labour Organisation (ILO) MNE Declaration.
The MNE Declaration is the only ILO instrument that provides direct guidance to multinational and national enterprises on social policy and inclusive, responsible and sustainable workplace practices. President EFP Ismail Suttar made the announcement stating that Zaki Ahmed will be the first focal point in the Asia Pacific region.
A tripartite meeting held at ILO country office Islamabad last week to appoint EFP as the National Focal Point for promoting the ILO MNE Declaration. Pakistan Workers’ Federation(PWF) General Secretary Zahoor Awan proposed to nominate EFP since it is poised to undertake this project due to its wide networking with national and multinational enterprises and their supply chain.
It may be mentioned that Zaki Ahmed Khan has successfully steered the activities under MNED Project particularly in the third phase from August to December 2020 during which around 370 managers and workers from fifteen enterprises of Sialkot sports goods industry were provided factory-based training in Improving Productivity and Competitiveness, Occupation Safety and Health (OSH) and other ILO principles.
A number of activities including awareness-raising seminars on child labour and forced labour, tripartite social dialogue platform establishing National Task Force on Child Labour, sports-related activities and seminars for showcasing socially responsible labour practices in Sialkot’s sports goods industry at Tokyo Olympics were organised.
In this regard, Zaki’s intensive engagement in MNED project, his role as the EFP”s focal point in promoting MNE declaration in Pakistan was significant. The role includes raising awareness of MNE Declaration amongst government ministries and agencies, multinational enterprises and employer organisations, organising capacity-building events, development online information and dialogue platforms in local languages where possible and promotion of ILO helpdesk for business and the company-union dialogue.
