Beyond Awareness: A Qualitative Evaluation of Civil Society–Led Advocacy and Communication Campaigns on Child Labour in Pakistan's Brick Kiln Sector, 2007–2024

Abstract

Pakistan’s brick kiln sector remains a persistent site of child and bonded labour in South Asia, with an estimated one-third of its four-million-strong workforce being children. Despite sustained civil society advocacy and communication campaigns between 2007 and 2024, child labour prevalence has shown minimal measurable reduction. No prior study has systematically evaluated the comparative effectiveness of communication models in this sector across a longitudinal timeframe.

This article maps and categorises civil society-led advocacy and communication campaigns targeting child labour in Pakistan’s brick kiln sector from 2007 to 2024, evaluates documented policy and practice outcomes, and identifies communication model characteristics most strongly associated with measurable impact. A qualitative secondary analysis was conducted through systematic document review of ILO and USDOL evaluations, NGO reports, legislation, and case studies, analysed using thematic analysis, a comparative framework of communication models (SBCC and Rights-Based Approach), and a political economy lens.

Results show that campaigns predominantly used information-dissemination models generating outputs but limited sustained practice change. Participatory and rights-based approaches showed stronger outcomes, though sector-specific evidence remains thin. Across all models, the political economy of the kiln industry, particularly the peshgi bonded debt system, kiln owner political organisation, and weak provincial enforcement, functioned as a binding ceiling on effectiveness.

Civil society advocacy achieved legislative reform, including the Punjab Prohibition of Child Labour at Brick Kilns Act 2016, but structural enforcement failures render this progress flawed. Communication-only interventions cannot overcome structural constraints. Future programming must integrate rights-based communication with economic alternatives, legal empowerment, and sustained enforcement action directed at state duty-bearers.

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