Association of Network for Community Empowerment
Association of Network for Community Empowerment (ANCE) a non-profit, non-governmental organization founded in 1996 and based in Lahore-Pakistan.
About Association of Network for Community Empowerment (ANCE)
About Association of Network for Community Empowerment (ANCE)
Association of Network for Community Empowerment (ANCE) a non-profit, non-governmental organization founded in 1996 and based in Lahore-Pakistan. ANCE is registered under Voluntary Social Welfare Agency Registration and Control Ordinance 1961 of Social Welfare Department, Govt. of Punjab.
ANCE aspires to create a just society, based on the principles of mutual respect, support and totally devoid of all kinds of discrimination on the bases of caste, religion, gender, or any other social or political identities. The driving spirit of ANCE is to work for community empowerment with optimum participation of the local community.
ANCE is working for the promotion and protection of human right, including child right and in this regard conduct research, education, skill development, advocacy; awareness raising and outreach activities. Its portfolio includes projects on elimination of child labor, education, health, environment and women empowerment. We focus on the empowerment and mobilization of impoverished people providing education, technical training, small business support and organizing bonded laborers to campaign for their genuine rights. ANCE is providing nonformal education as well as technical training skills to the working children with an aim to prevent their enterance into labor market, motivate and move children from worst form of labor to less hazardous child labor.
What We Do
What We Do
Since its establishment in 1997, The Association of Network for community Empowerment (ANCE) has worked a number of various kinds of international and national projects funded by ILO-PK, UNVTF, save the children Sweden, ILRF and other donor’s agencies
Child Labor
According to ILO, Child Labour is defined as work that has the potential to deprive children of their childhood, their dignity and is also harmful for their physical, moral and mental development and it interferes with their education (either by not allowing them to attend school, leaving school prematurely i.e.,
It refers to work that:
- is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children; and
- interferes with their schooling by:
- depriving them of the opportunity to attend school;
- obliging them to leave school prematurely; or
- Requiring them to attempt to combine school attendance with excessively long and heavy work.
Whilst child labour takes many different forms, a priority is to eliminate without delay the worst forms of child labour as defined by Article 3 of ILO Convention No. 182
Child labor in Pakistan, ranging from light work to more serious and hazardous work, exists in a number of sectors with varying degrees of prevalence. Most child labor is in the informal sector, mainly agriculture and domestic labor, which are areas that are outside the scope of national child labor legislation. Child labor is also found in many manufacturing processes and industries in contravention of child labor laws.
In the rural areas, children are engaged in unpaid farm work. In these chores, girls take on a disproportionate share of the total workload and their added responsibilities include domestic work. In urban settings, children are employed in more diversified occupations. The most well known sectors are the soccer ball stitching, carpet, glass bangle, tannery, and surgical instrument manufacturing industries, brick kilns, coal mines, automobile workshops, the loading and unloading of goods, seafood processing and deep sea fishing, and in settings such as hotels, restaurants and shops. Children are also self-employed as shoe polishers, rag pickers (sorting out refuse and recycling), street vendors and car washers.
Education
The fundamental role of education in contributing to the cognitive, emotional and intellectual development of a child cannot be overstated. Hence the right to education has time and again been recognized as an essential right to all human beings. Furthermore, the universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in education 1960, the international Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 1966 and the United Nations convention on the rights of the child 1989 have all instituted the basic right of all individuals to get meaningful education. Pakistan , in additional to being a signatory to those conventions, has also endorsed MDGs and education for All (EFA) goals thereby giving education a pivotal role in the country’s future growth and development.
Actual aim of providing education to the bonded children is given them a prosperous future and make possible them to get rid from worst form of child labor. In order to non-formal education a smooth way was provided to the brick kiln children by ANCE , so that they can enjoy the colors of life and can change their mind set to live a free life without bounded labor.
Health
Pakistan is a signatory of the Millennium Declaration which obligates it to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. These goals represent an agreement of world leaders to work towards eradicating poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation and discrimination against women. Health forms an important component of the development goals as out of the eight core MDGs, three are directly health related. Studies reveal that many developing countries will not reach the MDG targets without effective policy initiatives and expenditure of additional resources.
ANCE has worked successfully in the sector of primary health care for bonded families. Because they are deprived of medical facility and qualified medical practitioners that’s why there is need to educate the community regarding preventive measures family planning awareness and practices.
Bonded Labor
Laborers play an important role in the progress and prosperity of any country but unfortunately no body care for the laborers especially brick kiln workers. In the meanwhile the Brick kiln forced Labour workers are the most vulnerable section of the society due to the poor economic and social conditions. The brick kiln workers are unaware regarding their legal rights and lot of issues of the brick kiln workers are not address by the Government as to ensure the Birth Registration, CNIC, Social Security cards, BISP, recreational facilities, freedom of expression, to organize their movements and non-formal education facilities to the brick kiln children at their door step.
Millions of brick kiln children are engaged in forced Labour that is hindering their development, livelihoods education, and future. The Government of Pakistan has ratified ILO Conventions on forced Labour (29 & C 105) and on Child Labour (C 138 & C 182) and on workers right on freedom of Association and right to collective bargaining (C 87 & C 98). Many of them are involved in the on forced Labour that root irreversible physical or psychological damage, or that even threaten their lives. This situation represents an intolerable violation of the rights of individual children. Pakistan is facing cruel situation regarding the child forced Labour and regarding the provision of the basic facilities of life to the brick kiln workers such vulnerable section of the society. In such kind of situation the vulnerable section of the society and the at-risk communities living from hand to mouth they are not able to access to the basic services of the normal life. They never thought to send their children at school for education because the children have needed to support family.
Home Based Worker
Home-based worker’ refers to the general category of workers, within the informal or unorganized sector, who carry out remunerative work within their homes or in the surrounding grounds. However, the term ‘home-based work’ encompasses a wide diversity. Home-based workers do piecework for an employer, who can be a subcontractor, agent or a middleman, or they can be self-employed on their own or in family enterprises. They can work in the new economy (assembling micro-electronics) or the old (weaving carpets). Home-based workers are not confined to the developing countries (India and Vietnam) only but are found in developed countries as well (Ireland and the Netherlands). It is estimated that there are over 100 million home-based workers in the world and more than half this number are in South Asia � of whom around 80% are women.
Among various segments of the Indian labor force, the home-based women workers living in almost every low-income urban locality in the country, as well as in remote rural areas, are amongst the most exploited group of workers today. They constitute a major segment of labor deployment in the informal sector of the economy. Bulk of these worker producers live and work in ‘on-themargin’survival conditions and do a variety of jobs for industry and trade,ranging from sewing garments, assembling electronic components to simple jobs of sorting, packaging and labelling goods. As a workforce, home-based workers have remained largely invisible.
The working and living conditions of home-based worker is perhaps the most ulnerable. As Compared to other sections of the informal sector like street vendors and manual labourers, home-based workers often earn much less. This is despite the fact that many home-based workers, particularly those in sectors like crafts and weaving may be very skilled. Due to the invisibility of their work, the contribution of home-based workers to the economy is ignored, and they are deprived of social benefits and workers rights. Typically, home-based workers are dispersed, illiterate, un-represented and invisible both in the national data or programme. They earn low wages, have little or no legal and social protection,poor working conditions, minimal or no workers benefits.
Every Child Deserves a Safe and Dignified Future
Every Child Deserves a Safe and Dignified Future
Child labor, poor health, and exploitation deny children and workers their rights, trapping families in poverty and limiting opportunities for generations to come without timely intervention.
Child labor, poor health, and exploitation deny children and workers their rights, trapping families in poverty and limiting opportunities for generations to come without timely intervention.
Image Gallery
Image Gallery
Transforming Lives Through Action
Transforming Lives Through Action
Through consistent grassroots efforts, we have empowered vulnerable children, families, and workers to live safer, healthier, dignified lives.
