When a gender reveal isn't a good thing - testimony from a GK traditional birth attendee in Bangladesh

Halima, 57 years: "I received Traditional Birth Attenders (TBA) training from Gonoshasthay Kendra (GK) and began working in my village. In Bangladesh, maternity care often occurs at home due to stigma around women going to hospitals. As a TBA, I provide health advice to pregnant women and support them during follow-up visits with GK paramedics and I also bring them to our sub-centers for ultrasound scans. Unfortunately, I sometimes encounter uncomfortable situations where families try to know the fetus’s gender. This can be dangerous: if it’s a boy, often the family is very happy and the mother praised and taken care of. However, if it’s turns out to be a girl, families can be unhappy and can blame the mother, neglect her or even lead to physical and mental abuse them.

To prevent this, in 2020, the Bangladesh High Court issued a rule to prevent gender-based discrimination against unborn children. GK not only abides this but to contribute addressing this serious issue, has incorporated gender awareness into our midwifery training. Through workshops, we educate elders and family members that woman are not responsible for a baby’s gender and that daughters are just as much of a blessing as sons. Within our role of traditional birth attendees, we can help eliminate discrimination and contribute to dismantling societal stigma.

Since my gender awareness training, I’ve actively promoted change within many  families and villages and have been proud to witness this."

India context in 2023: women, health and agriculture

Women’s Right 

The Women’s Reservation Act, 2023 (also known as the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam) is a historic step towards gender equality in Indian politics. It reserves one-third of all seats in the Lok Sabha, State legislative assemblies, and the Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi for women. This includes seats reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) as well. The proposed legislation aims to continue this reservation for 15 years.

Health Policies

The Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) is a significant component of the Ayushman Bharat initiative launched by the Government of India. A flagship scheme aimed at achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in India. It moves away from a fragmented approach to health service delivery and focuses on comprehensive, need-based healthcare. It provides cashless and paperless health insurance for secondary and tertiary care across public and private empanelled hospitals in India. PM-JAY is a crucial step toward ensuring affordable and accessible healthcare for millions of Indians, reducing out-of-pocket expenses and improving health outcomes.

New policies in Agricultural Sector

The new agriculture policy of the Indian Government aimed to promote growth in the Indian economy by focusing on increasing agricultural productivity, encouraging the adoption of modern agricultural practices, and promoting value addition in the agricultural value chain.

A blind woman gets new inspiring insights - INSP!R Indonesia 2023

Rina is 47, from Indonesia and a member of the Indonesian Association of Women with Disabilities (HWDI), member of INSP!R Indonesia:
 “As someone with a disability, INSP!R Indonesia has given me new insights. Before, I mostly talked to other disabled people. But with INSP!R Indonesia, I learned that many organizations discuss disability issues, especially social security rights. I work in a hotel and know about social security, but many of my disabled friends don’t. Some can’t hear or speak, and few go to school. 

I hope INSP!R Indonesia can create schools for people with disabilities. Education is essential not only for disabled kids but also for their parents to understand its importance. With support, people with disabilities can be independent.”

Statement from the INSP!R Network for the International Women's Day: For a future of equality and access to the right to Social Protection

Under the slogan: For an equal future with access to the right to Social Protection, the International Network for Social Protection Rights - INSP!R demands on International Women's Day that women deserve an equal future without stigma, stereotypes or violence; a future that is sustainable, peaceful, with equal rights and opportunities for all.  

In these years, the COVID-19 pandemic provoked an unprecedented global crisis in the world of work, reflecting marked reductions in employment and labour participation, which translated into historic increases in unemployment (125 million jobs lost, according to ILO data), affecting women, young people and informal workers the most.  

The negative effects have contributed to the increase of multiple inequalities such as ethnicity, age, socio-economic status, disability or geographical location, further impacting women in precarious conditions and increasing their risk of social exclusion. This is a setback in social rights worldwide (UN Women).  

The INSP!R Network, present in Latin America & Caribbean, Asia, Africa and Europe, noted that women are placed in more precarious jobs, not only in terms of salary, but also in terms of working conditions, instability or violation of rights, as well as a greater probability of being employed in the informal economy.   

In 2020, only 46.9% of the world's population had access to at least one social protection benefit, and only 44.9% of mothers with new-born children had access to maternity cash benefits.  Even with women's greater vulnerability to poverty, only 23 per cent of the social protection and labour market measures adopted in response to COVID-19 are demonstrating gender sensitivity. The strain on health systems led to the disruption of essential services, including maternal health services, with an estimated 12 million women in 115 low- and middle-income countries experiencing difficulties with family planning services, resulting in 1.4 million unintended pregnancies according to UN Women (2022).  

This social crisis continues despite the economic recovery in some parts of the world, with unemployment rates and levels of poverty and extreme poverty higher than before COVID-19. The loss of employment and the reduction of labour income during the pandemic have particularly affected the lower income groups; it has also highlighted the vulnerability of a large part of the population in the medium-income groups, characterised by low levels of contributions to contributory social protection and very low coverage of non-contributory social protection.  

The high levels of informality facilitated the termination of employment relationships without compensation, for example, domestic workers found themselves in irregular situations in which they were exposed to contagion and forced to carry out tasks outside of those agreed.  Of these workers, only 25.5% were covered by or paid social security contributions. Although progress has been made in some countries with regulations governing the sector, based on ILO Convention 189, 11.2% of them are living in poverty. In addition, women's workload in the home has intensified, with data from 16 countries showing that women spent 31 hours a week on care work.  (UN Women) This increase in domestic responsibilities resulting from crisis confinement has raised the risk of a "return to the conventional" with regard to gender roles.  

Moreover, reports of violence against women and femicides increased in many parts of the world. Even before the pandemic, it was estimated that 245 million women aged 15 and over had experienced domestic, physical, sexual and workplace violence.    

In light of this, the INSP!R Network and its partners demand that:   

-Public policies should focus on the real situation of women in all spheres and put an end to the dynamics of social exclusion. If we do not broaden our vision, if we do not incorporate the gender approach in the fight against poverty and social exclusion at a time as important as the present, we will be perpetuating and reinforcing the inequality of our system. And instead of moving forward, we will be moving backwards. The current crisis cannot but be an opportunity to transform our global care system and to guarantee real access to gender responsive social protection systems.  

-Public administrations, policy makers, economic and social actors and society as a whole should promote and implement response plans to the current health, social and economic crisis that address the gendered impact of the pandemic. They should promote education for equality with the aim of eradicating the intergenerational transmission of gender inequality on which our current system is based.  

-States should orient development processes towards guaranteeing the full exercise of all human rights, including the right to social protection and labour rights for all women. This entails addressing:  

1. the indivisibility of women's rights, including sexual and reproductive rights, economic, social and cultural rights,  
2. the importance of dismantling the unjust social organisation of care, patriarchal cultural patterns and male-centred biases in economic, social and cultural systems,   
3. Promote the adoption and implementation of laws, policies, comprehensive and multisectoral action plans, international standards such as conventions 189 and 190 of the ILO to prevent, address, punish and eradicate different forms of gender-based violence and discrimination against women.  

The INSP!R Network recognises that there can be no progress and equality without women's equal rights and full participation; and there can be no gender equality without women's enjoyment of their human and labour rights, essential for women's empowerment and an equal future with the right to social protection for all.

Publication: a pocket guide on gender equality

 On the eve of 8 March, International Women's Rights Day, WSM is publishing a handbook to share reflections and good practices on gender equality on four continents, in four languages (FR, NL, EN, ES). Mixing theory and practices, it aims to encourage organizations to make a concrete commitment towards greater gender equality.

Gender equality means equal rights and equal opportunities between men and women. Equality between men and women is essential to ensure the sustainability and inclusiveness of development. It is an essential principle that is, however, rarely applied.

It seemed essential to us to propose a practical tool that popularized this thematic, proposes an analysis grid, while highlighting inspiring testimonies and good practices from our network. The objective is to be able to address this issue in a practical way at different levels: at the level of organizations (including our own organizations), but also at the level of networks.

Designed both to raise awareness and to capitalize on experiences, this "roadmap" is also a tool in which we set out our vision and strategy on gender equality in a very accessible way. Available in four languages (FR, NL, EN, ES) and mixing theory and practices, it is intended to be a guide to launch an in-depth reflection with our partner organizations on the concrete steps to be taken to achieve gender equality. It is not intended to be exhaustive.

We illustrate this with inspiring cases, lessons learned, concrete advice and recommendations, do's and don'ts from our partners in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Belgium.

Women Power: Gender in India: new documentary

A documentary regarding women power entitled SHAKTHI has just been released regarding gender in India, figuring SWATE, one of  the sister movements of AREDS in Karur. 

Here also in Spanish.

ILO Convention 190: One year later....

In June 2019, the ILO adopted the Violence and Harassment Convention, 2019 (No. 190) and its supplementing Recommendation (No. 206). Violence and harassment is unacceptable anywhere and at any time, whether in times of prosperity or of crisis. Nevertheless, the risk of violence and harassment is even higher in crises, including during the current COVID-19 outbreak.

 

To mark the first anniversary of the adoption of both instruments, the ILO will organize a virtual high-level event with the participation of the ILO Director-General, Mr Guy Ryder, to discuss their role in responding and recovering from the current COVID-19 pandemic.

WSM and the members of the network on the right to social protection were strongly invested in the drafting and passing of the ILO Convention 190 regarding Violence and Harassment in the world of work. Today, two members of the ANRSP attended the ILO webinar. Sulistri from KSBSI shared:"Uruguy is the first country which  ratified C190 and Fiji’s ratification has already reached ILO Geneva."

Sr Christy from National Domestic Workers Movement in India added:"ILC190 is even more relevant in COVID-19 pandemic times. Violence against those caring for the sick, disabled and health workers are increasing. There are limited opportunities for trade unions, people's movement and organisations to intervene. We should initiate policy making and awareness raising and it is more important than ever to push governments to ratify and implement the Convention, as C190 protects all range of workers, formal and informal, as well as ethnic groups." 

Bangladesh: NGWF demands six months maternity leave

In light of the International Women’s Day 2020 on 8th of March, National Garment Workers Federation (NGWF) has demanded 6 months maternity leave in private sectors, including for the garment workers. The rally was held on Friday 6th of March 2020, in Dhaka, Bangladesh. M Amirul Haque Amin, President of NGWF, said that the government already declared 6 months maternity leave for the public sector, but the country’s private sector, including the garment industry, still has only 4 months maternity leave. NGWF also demanded the government of Bangladesh to ratify ILO Convention 190 to stop all types of violence and harassment against women. More than two hundred women joined the procession in front of National Press Club, carrying banners and festoons with demands of 6 months maternity leave and ratification of ILO Convention 190. The rally started in front of National Press Club and went to the High Court, Palton Circle including some other street and ended at Topkhana road.

Garment Workers Rally Demand for ratification of ILC102 and 190

From the National Garment Workers Federation (NGWF) 
Bangladesh is transforming from LDC to middle income country and at the same time the rate of GDP and average life expectancy of people have increased tremendously. Currently the total GDP is 317.47 Billion USD, the average income is 1.909 USD and GDP increases by 7.2%. Much of this comes from the hard work of the garment workers. Unfortunately, the government of Bangladesh has yet to ratify the ILO Convention 102 regarding Social Security of Workers and workers, including in the garment sector, are deprived of social security system.
Next to the need for social protection, women workers are the victim of different violence, including sexual harassment in the workplace. The government of Bangladesh also still has to ratify the ILO Convention 190 regarding Violence and Harassment.
On Friday 8th November  2019, NGWF arranged a garment workers’ rally demanding the ratification of the ILO Convention 102 and 190 which started with a brief assembly in front of the national press club. The rally then headed to the High Court, and ended at the central office of the Federation.

Domestic workers in India stand up for each other and better working conditions (NDWM/NDWF)

 Rekha, a 34 year old domestic worker was accused of stealing jewelry from an employer she had left a month earlier. After the complaint, she was repeatedly called to the police station and harassed to return the jewelry, though she claimed her innocence. As a member of NDWM, she took the matter up with her trade union and the members drafted filed a complaint against the employer for false allegations. Though initially, the police was reluctant to accept the complaint, they were eventually pressured into recognizing there was no proof for the allegation from the employer. The employer also apologized for acting in haste as it could have endangered the life and work of the domestic worker. – NDWM

The National Domestic Workers Movement (NDWM) and its Federation (NDWF) gather over 50.000 domestic workers monthly in their neighbourhoods to discuss common problems. They learn about their labour rights, agree on common rates but also show solidarity or find legal aid if one of them is facing problems, ranging from unfair dismissals to domestic abuse. Strength comes from unity and they ensure the collective voice of domestic workers is heard by employers and authorities.
This collective voice also matters for policy changes: NDWM and NDWF mobilised over 150.000 domestic workers in 2018 to demand to better wages and social security coverage. The advocacy teams at central and state level also met with 66 Members of Parliaments and 77 officials to elicit support for their cause.

To illustrate some of the achievements regarding domestic workers in 2018:

• 887 domestic workers received social security and social welfare benefits, with over 3,8 million INR or almost 50.000EUR disbursed.
• After nearly two decades of persistent campaigning by NDWM and like-minded organisations, the Tamil Nadu Government established a minimum wage for domestic workers. Though this was a great success, the fixed rates were disappointingly low (39INR or 50Eurocent per hour). 
• Domestic workers are especially vulnerable to abuse by their employers. In an effort to promote zero tolerance for violence at the workplace and at home, several training programmes were conducted in all states about legal remedies and encouraged to voice any problems faced.
• As alternative income generating activities, cooperatives are still being initiated with the support of NDWM and NDWF in Maharashtra, Bihar, Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu. As this is still a relatively new concept, domestic workers need time and coaching regarding the functioning and benefits of cooperatives.

For its 100 year anniversary, the ILO marks the occasion with the adoption of Convention 190 on violence at work!

The Commission of Norms of the International Labor Organization (ILO) adopted on Monday, June 17, 2019 the Convention 190 aimed at eradicating violence and harassment in the world of work. Noticeably affecting all types of work all over the world, this binding instrument will now have to be ratified by the member states of the organization.

In 2018, the International Labor Organization (ILO), alerted to the catastrophic consequences of violence and harassment in the world of work, launched a normative process to develop a binding international standard to combat this unacceptable problem. After two intense working sessions organized during the International Labor Conference in June 2018 and 2019, the work has just ended this Monday, June 17, to the applause of the 500 people composing the Standards Committee, exhausted by two weeks of hard work which often continued till late.

India: SWATE from AREDS observes International Women’s Day

Besides facilitating the grassroots women to improve themselves economically and socially, SWATE has been conducting programmes to enhance their political awareness. Further, it has been fighting for ascertaining justice whenever women and girl children are subjected to sexual abuse and to any form of violence. Various women’s movements are fighting for women’s freedom and gender equality. As a token of extending solidarity to the international movement for women’s emancipation, SWATE observes the International Women’s Day every year. This year, it focused on five issues:

1. Total prohibition of liquor, 
2. Employment for youth,
3. Gender equality and ending violence against women, 
4. Free and fair election, 
5. Promoting organic farming.

AFWA: Executive Summary with Key Findings related to gender-based violence in H&M, GAP and Walmart

Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA) has published an Executive Summary that condenses the Key Findings and Risk Factors related to gender-based violence in garment global supply chains of H&M, GAP and Walmart, easier to quickly reference and share (here) which you can also find it at their webpage.

AFWA is proud of these research reports that have served to fuel, strengthen and support the tripartite dialogue at the ILO in favour of labour - as trade unions and governments have struggled for the last ten days with the obstructionist tactics of employers lobby dominated by multinationals at the ILC in Geneva. The findings from the reports have been startling and provided most current evidence.

On June 5th, the Guardian covered Asia Floor Wage Alliance’s research on gender-based violence in H&M and GAP supply chains. The newspaper reported that, “Gap and H&M both would investigate the allegations [of gender based violence in their supply chains] and that they welcomed initiatives to tackle violence, including an ILO convention.”

ILO #MeToo: WSM and partners explain why we need an ILO Convention on violence on the work floor

An international norm about (sexual) violence on and around the work? Everyone at the International Labor Conference in Geneva wants it. Governments, employers and employees: #Iwant! But why don't those negotiations go as smoothly as hoped for?

"Violence behind closed doors"
It is clear to everyone that we are negotiating a new international labor standard. Examples of violence and bullying in the workplace were suddenly discussed in living rooms worldwide last year. #metoo! has awakened the world. Previously unspoken and tolerated abuses have been highlighted in the media.

You also notice this at the Labor Conference. The hashtag is frequently used from the crowded benches of representatives from government, employers and employees. For the more than 200 women and the (unfortunately) few rare men who defend the interests of the employees here, the hashtag gives them a louder voice. And the perseverance to go for a powerful, binding instrument. The many women know very well why they are here. Tells Sr Christy Mary of the National Domestic Workers Movement in India, founded by Belgian sister Jeanne Devos. "In India, violence against women has increased in recent years. That is no different in the workplace, and certainly not for domestic workers who work behind closed doors, "Christy testifies. "Today, India has no law that protects women from violence in the workplace. A binding international standard would help us to put the government under pressure to comply with it."

Intimidation or a compliment?
Everyone had expected that it would be difficult. After all, the employers are not jumping for additional regulation. And certainly not if they would be held responsible for violence and intimidation that is not strictly on the work floor, but also in work-related activities outside. The relocation to and from work, company parties, or intimidation by customers and others. And then the debate about what violence and intimidation should encompass. The search for a definition - the first article of a possible new labor standard - has occupied the conference for the initial full four days (and late evening!).

Do we really want to punish everyone who gives a colleague a compliment about a nice dress, is what we hear from the employers' side. Do we really want to punish everyone who gives a colleague a compliment about a nice dress? Those who are without sin, cast the first stone ... #Ihave!

Whatever will be the result, it is important for the workers' group that it concerns physical as well as psychological and sexual forms of violence and intimidation, as well as violence or bullying of a sexist nature aimed at women, gays, transgenders or anyone else. Yet no one expected that it would be this difficult. After a week of negotiation - there is a draft text with 37 articles - we are still talking about the first three articles: the definitions of violence and intimidation in the working environment and the scope of a possible new labor standard. The employers' group plays it extremely smart. They leave no opportunity to emphasize how important they think this is, but don't hesitate to continue to raise issues so cloud the debate. Enough to ensure that all 187 authorities present are thoroughly reviewing their own national laws or practices and start rounds of debates and discussions until late in the evening. For the workers' group, there is nothing else to do but to dig in.

As it looks currently, it will inevitably turn out to a vote on one of those late nights. Do we want a binding regulation or just a more voluntary recommendation? For the trade unions and the many NGOs that are present here, including World Solidarity with its various partners, lobbying has been done to get as many governments as possible on our side. Belgium at least, represented by Labour Minister Kris Peeters, emphasized yesterday in the plenary session of the Conference that it is in favor of a binding instrument, and does everything it can to tackle gender-based violence in its own country.

Sr Christy – NDWM India: The ILO Convention is very important for us in India because in India, violence in the workplace is increasing. Also for the National Domestic Workers Movement it is very significant because domestic workers are vulnerable to abuse and harassment. Since they are working behind closed doors, the crimes against domestic workers are often not reported. After this Convention, since the government of India is in favour of a Convention, it will help us to lobby with the government to pass legislation.

Koumoura (CNTG, Guinée): There are many types of violence: sexual violence, physical violence, moral violence, psychological abuse and also commercial violence. We, as a union, what do we do? We are already confronted to several types of violence. Women come to us, to tell us that they suffer at the workplace, that they are harassed. What do we do? We try to provide them with support, we tell them that we must break the silence. As soon as you are harassed by your superior, because you have to recognize it, we have serious problems. Harassment is a serious form of violence that humiliates women. But this is a big taboo for woman in our countries. We cannot say what happens, if not the woman, she loses her honor, whereas it is not about that. We must break the silence to really fight violence. So we tell them: break the silence. That is why it is our joy that this convention is made, that it is drafted to punish the perpetrators of violence and harassment.

Garciela Lopez, World March for Women, Latin America: Women around the world need a legal instrument to combat gender-based violence and harassment. We need a binding convention that obliges states to work toward this. We need a legal instrument that obliges employers and employees alike to respect and obtain a life free from violence and gender-based harassment in the workplace. Work must be understood as meaning the formal and informal economy, as well as other forms of work, in the community and also in our homes. We are one-third of the working population that suffers daily from harassment and gender-based violence.

Webinar Women, SSE and Social Protection from RIPESS

RIPESS, a member of the Latin American network on the right to social protection invites the Asian partners to their fifth webinar, focusing on Women & SSE on Tuesday June 12th at 13h UTC/GMT (15h Europe/18h30 Delhi/20h Bangkok).

This panel of experiences will explore to which extent SSE represents a means to provide social protection for women? We will explore the subject, identify successful practices, confirm structuring strategies that can  engage the movement, networks and SSE organizations, working together to improve the women’s lives. With activists and experts in the field, we'll lift the veil on this current reflection to move forward together: a guest from the Women Promotion Centre Gregoria Apaza from the network from Bolivia, Elise Pierrette Memong Meno from the network from Cameroun (RESCAM), and Santiago Fisher from World Solidarity from Belgium. The session will be animated by Ethel Coté (Women entrepreneurs network - Women of the world, Canada).

As a reminder, with these webinars, RIPESS is inviting participants to an annual virtual meeting cycle (2017/2018), in which we want to leave enough time to listen to experts' testimonials on different topics of interest identified by our group, and create an international space for exchanges. Please note that our meetings take place in the three RIPESS' languages (French, English, Spanish). See the summary of the last Webinar#4 (Governance&SSE).

Please subscribe at info@ripess.org or the Facebook page, and we will explain you how to join the webinar.

International Women's Day: message from the IYCW

“Exploiting people is a crime, but exploiting

women is worse: it destroys harmony”

Pope Francis I

More than hundred years after we first celebrated the International Women’s Day, this year is a good time to review the developments and advances, to reflect on new inspirations, to act for change and to propose alternatives. It is also a moment to celebrate the courageous commitment of ordinary women in our lives, in the movement and in society, who have played a protagonist role in the history of the movement and their communities.

“I am 25 years old, I live in Egypt, and I am a woman.’ This statement connotes various difficulties in my life. “I live in a country where men dominate women. As a woman, I often get sexually harassed and I am considered a sexual object. As a 25-year-old single woman living in a country like Egypt where most girls get married at 18 years old, I am discriminated. My problems are not dissociated from other issues in our society where there are huge gaps between the rich and the poor, where jobs are increasingly precarious, where there are a lot of tensions and conflicts, and where women are strongly affected.” - Basma

Today as we celebrate the International Women’s Day with all young women workers and women of different backgrounds around the world, the struggle towards empowerment, gender equality, equal work opportunities and human rights is worth commemorating, but it is far from being over yet. The testimony of Basma reflects millions of situations of young women workers around the world. Statistics and data show that women are much more likely to have low salaries, including lower salaries than men for the same or comparable work, to engage in informal work, to lack access to social protection, and they are much less likely to be promoted. Most often, women are not given equal opportunities for education and they carry out multitask duties at work and at home. They are also subject to sexual harassment at work and in society. Female migrants and refugees face specific risks.

Today’s world of work is different from then. We are in a new era of globalization and digitalization of work, yet women remain disadvantaged, vulnerable, exploited, excluded, killed and abused, simply because they are “women”. These realities show how women are deeply suffering from the deficit of dignified life and dignified work. Pope Francis emphasized the value of women in the world, saying that women bring harmony and peace.

The International Young Christian Workers (IYCW) and its member national movements recognize the role of women in the movement, in the family, and in society. No man or woman is superior to the other, all humans are created equal in dignity and in rights.

International Women's Day: message from Latin America

Women have rights, including the right to a dignified life! This also means a life without violence! Women, either organized or not in social movements, have already struggled for a long time against violence of which they are too often victims. On the occasion of this International Women's Day, the "continental network for the right to social protection" in Latin America, facilitated and supported by WSM in recent years, sheds light on these women who suffer from physical violence, psycho -social and sexual in the workplace. The network calls for the International Labor Organization to adopt a new international regulation that clearly defines the concept of violence in the workplace and the responsibility of governments to provide an adequate response. Part of the answer is to guarantee access to a strong system of social protection.

The ANRSP meets in Manila

Almost fifty participants, members of the Asia Network on the Right to Social Protection (ANRSP) gathered for six days in Manila to discuss the issues decent living income and social protection. With the input from various international experts, like from the ILO, WageIndicator, ITUC and ITUC Asia Pacific, as well as from experiences in the Philippines regarding the state of the health system, two members from each of the eighteen WSM partners from the six Asia countries agreed on elements to be included in a living wage, compared methodologies and applied them in their national context and found current minimum wages largely insufficient.
A common position on minimum living wage was drafted by the steering committee members, before the participants went on field visits organized by the WSM Filippino partners to a jeepney union and two public hospitals.

Before the second half of the meeting, which focused on social protection, started,  OKRA from Belgium and GK from Bangladesh jointly facilitated a session on the impact of elderly in society and the links it has with social protection. The two other networks in Asia focusing on social protection, the Network for Transformative Social Protection and the Asia Round Table on SP also explained their priorities and how we could complement each other’s work. At the end, plans for the international network on the right to social protection were also discussed as well as the action plan for the years to come and where the network would be advocating. Participants afterwards expressed a 84% satisfaction of the content and how useful it was for them, stating it “helps me a lot to understand the various issues affecting the lives of the people especially in terms of SP and DLI. It helps me to see the whole picture of what kind of SP we have in Asia.”

Labour without Liberty: Female Migrant Workers in Bangalore’s Garment Industry

Press release from India Committee of the Netherlands, Clean Clothes Campaign and the Garment Labour Union, January 2018: 
An increasing number of migrants are being employed in India’s garment factories, supplying to big international brands including Benetton, C&A, GAP, H&M, M&S and PVH. They are more vulnerable and are treated differently than local workers, as new research into working conditions in three Bangalore garment factories reveals.

Uma came from a small village like many of her young colleagues. She was recruited and trained to go work into one of the 1200 factories in Bangalore, the ‘textile capital’ of India. Uma used to go to school and help her mother, now she stitches dresses and sportswear for H&M, Benetton, C&A, Calvin Klein and many other big international brands. Six full days a week. The target is 100 pieces per hour. For a minor like she is - her mates reminded her she was 18, but she turned out to be only fifteen - work at the factory in a faraway city is difficult. She misses her family and friends, who are thousands of kilometers away. Like the many other young female migrant workers, Uma has to support her family with the money she earns in the textile factory. But the monthly salary of 91 euros, minus the pay for rent, electricity and water, is less than the recruiting agent had promised her. He also falsely promised that board and food would be free, but it is not. Freedom of movement outside factory hours is severely restricted. As a young female migrant, not speaking Kannada, the local language, she is isolated and vulnerable to abuse. 

A Trapeze Act: Women Balancing Paid Work and Unpaid Care Work in Nepal

Despite high rates of labour force participation by women in Nepal, there has been very little engagement by communities and the state on the issue of women’s ‘double burden’ of balancing unpaid care work with paid labour activities. The ‘Balancing paid work and unpaid care work – Nepal’ research study aims to create knowledge about how women’s economic empowerment (WEE) policy and programming can generate a ‘double boon’, i.e. paid work that empowers women and provides more support to their unpaid care work responsibilities. Research discussed in this report looks at two WEE programmes in Nepal: (1) a state programme, the Karnali Employment Programme; and (2) a non-state programme, Oxfam Nepal’s Enterprise Development Programme. One of the stark conclusions of the study is that women are currently unable to balance their paid and unpaid care work due to several factors: the lack of availability of decent employment opportunities in rural areas; a lack of quality public resources and services; migration of men; a lack of assets such as land; and prevailing gender norms, especially around women’s participation in unpaid care work and mobility. The report makes recommendations at state, non-state, market, community and family levels. Programmes aimed at women’s empowerment need to have a care perspective in their design and implementation, and grass-roots-level communication and advocacy needs to be encouraged and implemented, in order to reduce women’s ‘double burden’ and move towards a’ double boon’.

Download the study here.