ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that civil society organizations can help low-income communities, especially women, access public sector resources only if they can engage both the state and civil society. Rights-based talk, legislation and budgeting cannot produce results unless civil society organizations (CSOs) create support systems that help women to claim rights owed them by the state and the business sector. Pakistan inherited a pristine and pure agricultural production system. There was no use of chemical fertilizers or insecticides up until the advent of the Green Revolution in the 1960s. The chapter assesses why efforts by various CSOs have not had much success in providing protection to women cotton pickers. It reviews the relationship between the state, civil society and the communities in relation to realization of right of female cotton pickers to work in a safe environment in Pakistan in view of the evidence from the field.
