A strong common collaboration among all the stakeholders is required to define and achieve the common goal of preventing child labour. Thus concluded “National Consultative Workshop on Elimination of Child Labour in Agriculture/Cotton, Textile and Garment Value Chains in Pakistan” held in Islamabad on December 13, 2022. The workshop was organized by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in collaboration with International Labour Organization (ILO).  
The workshop was held under the “CLEAR Cotton Project: Eliminating child labour and forced labour in the cotton, textile and garment value chains” (2018-2023). The Project is mainly funded by the European Union. Pakistan is among the four countries including Burkina Faso, Mali, and Peru where the CLEAR Cotton Project is being implemented. In Pakistan, the project is being co-implemented by FAO and ILO.
Speaking on the occasion, Ms. Khemphone Phaokhamkeo, ILO Country Director (Officer in Charge) in Pakistan said that fighting child labour is important for ILO and has been a priority since its establishment in 1919. Pakistan has also ratified 36 international conventions including the ones on the elimination of child and forced labour. As a member state of ILO, Pakistan should take steps to respect compliance of these conventions.
Ms. Florence Rolle, FAO Representative in Pakistan while addressing the inaugural session said that; “Looking at the statistics of the out of school children and stunting rate in Pakistan, we realize that these are the key issues that we need to address. Nonetheless, the question is how? It is often said that children are the future. In my opinion, they are the present. We need to address the present so that they become the future of Pakistan. Almost 70 percent of the child labour in Pakistan is involved in agriculture, therefore, for FAO this is a major concern. The CLEAR Cotton project was first of its kind in Pakistan where we worked with the awareness raising in communities. Child labour in agriculture is not only about children being out of school, but it is also a major health issue as they are exposed to pesticides. FAO through its various initiatives is also trying to increase the outcomes of the smallholder farmers so that the vicious circle of child labour is broken.”  
Mr. Azhar Iqbal Malik, Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis, and Human Resource Development and Mr. Syed Khalid Gardezi, Additional Secretary, Ministry of National Food Security and Research, also represented the government and their respective ministries. They appreciated the project for being inclusive by involving all stakeholders to end the threat of child labour.
Dr. Ulrich Thiessen, First Secretary, EU Delegation, Pakistan shared the findings of a results oriented monitoring report compiled in 2022. The report termed the project a well-designed intervention, with good reflection in the country action plans and for addressing the key needs of the target groups and beneficiaries and having a balanced approach. However, it also raised concerns on slow progress and limited anchorage with relevant global platforms on child and forced labour. The report also highlighted the room for improving the flow and meaningfulness of communications on this intervention. Dr. Ulrich emphasized that the workshop is a good opportunity to reflect on whether these concerns are valid or not and to what extend they can be addressed.
Project partners and beneficiaries’ representatives concerned government collaborators, donors and development partners, civil society organizations (CSOs) and other stakeholders relevant to agriculture/cotton, textile, and garment value chains participated in this workshop and presented their achievement as part of clear cotton project across Pakistan.