Lessons learned: Building migrant women’s groups and networks

The Lessons Learned outlined in this paper draw attention to reflections and good practices from the experiences of building of migrant women’s groups and networks in both countries of origin and destination.

The ILO’s TRIANGLE in ASEAN programme, supported by Global Affairs Canada and Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, recognizes that gender inequalities and discrimination limit the opportunities for women to benefit from migration, restrict women from reaching their full potential and increases the risk of exploitation. Aiming to increase women’s empowerment, TRIANGLE in ASEAN has supported six civil society organizations in Cambodia, Myanmar and Thailand to build migrant women’s groups and networks.

The ten lessons learned outlined in this paper cover practical issues including training of facilitators, the formation and maintenance of groups, and the building of wider networks nationally and cross-border. Other lessons learned address more complex issues that the migrant women’s groups have encountered. The lessons learned, like the groups themselves, are a work in progress. Building networks, tackling sensitive issues, advocating more broadly for the rights of migrant women and deepening the analysis of the complex social, economic and political factors through greater connectivity with social movements are all on the agenda for future interventions.

Women members of groups have gained more confidence, can more openly share and are expressing their opinions. Better informed, with more self-esteem, they are taking their own needs and knowledge into more consideration in decisions about migration. Migrant women’s group leaders are working together to advocate for policy changes and are prepared to tackle societal attitudes which discriminate against women and stigmatize migrant women.

The vibrant, enthusiastic migrant women’s groups built during this project are pleased to share their experiences with the hope that more migrant women will be able to build resilience through starting their own groups and be able to collectively address the inequalities, stigma and exploitation that migrant women currently face.

 

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Regional Planning Meeting for Promoting ASEAN Women Migrant Workers’ Rights through Organizing

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  • 11th October 2018

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Key documents

Spotlight on Gender-sensitive Reporting in Journalism

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  • 24th March 2021

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Key documents

COVID-19 and women migrant workers in ASEAN

This brief explores the multi-dimensional impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women migrant workers in and from the ASEAN region. While women migrant workers in the ASEAN region strive to protect their livelihoods and their health, COVID-19 has presented them with a health crisis, compounded by detrimental impacts on freedom from violence and harassment, employment, income, social protection, access to services, and access to justice. This brief outlines the critical programmatic and policy responses needed. ILO-UN Women Safe and Fair Programme, as part of the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative, is committed to ensuring women migrant workers’ rights are protected and they receive support when and where they need it.

 

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COVID-19: Impact on migrant workers and country response in Myanmar

Country brief prepared by the ILO Liaison Office in Myanmar on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on migrant workers, and country's responses.

 

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Experiences of ASEAN migrant workers during COVID-19: Rights at work, migration and quarantine during the pandemic, and re-migration plans

The COVID-19 pandemic is disrupting labour migration throughout the ASEAN region and globally. In 2019 there were an estimated 10 million international migrants in ASEAN, of whom nearly 50 per cent were women. The ILO undertook a rapid assessment survey, interviewing ASEAN migrant workers from end-March to end-April 2020 about how COVID-19 has impacted them. This brief summarizes the responses of the 309 women and men migrant workers who participated in the survey.

 

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A very beautiful but heavy jacket: The experiences of migrant workers with diverse sexual orientation, gender identity and expression in South-East Asia

The study reveals migrant workers with diverse sexual orientation, gender identity and expression (SOGIE) in South-East Asia benefit from labour migration, yet experience discrimination.

Among the millions of migrant workers who move between countries in South-East Asia and beyond, little is known about the motivations and experiences of migrant workers who are also people with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and gender expression (SOGIE) including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people.

This report fills that gap. It draws on surveys and interviews with 147 migrant workers with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and gender expressions, exploring their experiences across the migrant work journey as they travel from countries of origin such as Cambodia, Myanmar, the Philippines and Viet Nam to work in countries of destination in South-East Asia (especially Thailand), East Asia, and beyond.

The report also explores how labour migration policies and practices can acknowledge or address these experiences while protecting and promoting the rights of migrant workers with diverse SOGIE.

 

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Gender equality in labour migration law, policy and management (GEM Toolkit)

The Gender equality in labour migration laws, policy and management GEM Toolkits is a set of nine practical tools, developed by the International Labour Organization (ILO) to facilitate the implementation of gender mainstreaming strategies in labour migration and related employment, social protection, and equality laws, policies, programmes, projects, as well as in day-to-day labour migration management practices.

The overall purpose of the GEM Toolkit is to contribute to eliminating discrimination against low-income women migrant workers in employment and occupation, and to shaping more gender-responsive labour migration laws, policy, and management in ASEAN for the benefit of both women and men migrant workers.

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Regional operational guidelines on fair and ethical recruitment in ASEAN. Improving regulation and enforcement: A resource for regulators

The regional operational guidelines provide guidance to government regulators on fair recruitment practices, licensing private recruitment agencies, monitoring recruitment processes, and acting on complaints related to the recruitment process. Developed within the framework of the ILO general principles and operational guidelines for fair recruitment, these regional operational guidelines are relevant to both countries of origin and destination.

Labour migration plays an important role in fostering economic and social development in the ASEAN region. Fair and ethical recruitment can protect migrant workers from experiencing labour rights’ violations, including trafficking and forced labour. However, recruitment is often an imperfect process, characterized by fraudulent and exploitative practices. These imperfections have been particularly damaging to the interest of workers seeking jobs across national borders.

The new ILO regional operational guidelines on fair and ethical recruitment provide guidance on licensing of private recruitment agencies, the monitoring of recruitment processes, effective inspection and enforcement mechanisms, and acting on complaints. The regional operational guidelines have been developed as a practical resource for regulators in the ASEAN region and are intended to apply to both countries of origin, and destination, depending on the context.

 

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Country of origin complaints mechanisms for overseas migrants from Myanmar

This Briefing Paper is the first in a series of Briefing papers providing technical input on particular migration issues being produced by the ILO Yangon supported by Livelihoods and Food Security Trust Fund (LIFT). The briefing paper provides the international legal framework and guidelines governing complaints or grievance mechanisms for migrants. It analyses different mechanisms currently available to Myanmar migrants including the government complaints mechanism, embassies, Myanmar Overseas Employment Agencies Federation (MOEAF), Anti-Trafficking in Persons Division, ILO Forced Labour complaints mechanism and civil society organisations and labour organisations support services. It provides examples of good practices from other countries of origin.

Finally the paper proposes a set of policy recommendations to extend and improve complaints mechanisms for migrants. The Annex includes relevant treaties, examples of laws and structures from other countries, a tabulated breakdown of lessons learnt and samples of complaints forms. Other Briefing papers in this series to support the development of improved labour migration governance in Myanmar will include Recruitment, Social Protection and Policy Cohesion.

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