ASIATODAY.ID, BANGKOK – The European Union (EU) announced financial support of €13 million to the United Nations (UN) for a new initiative called ‘PROTECT’, which aims to strengthen the rights of women migrant workers, children and at-risk groups in Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.
The three-year PROTECT project will promote decent work and reduce the vulnerability of those at risk by guaranteeing employment rights, preventing and addressing violence against women and children, human trafficking and migrant smuggling.
David Daly, European Union Ambassador to Thailand said, People around the world are being forced to leave their homes in search of a better life. Throughout their journey in transit and at their destination, female migrant workers and children are at higher risk.
“We are proud to continue our efforts to support our UN partners in this new project that aims to address this global phenomenon at the regional level. “Together with Thailand and other partner countries in the region, we will provide protection for women and children, strengthen migration governance, tackle human trafficking and migrant smuggling and develop legal pathways for sustainable migrant policies,” he said in a press release, Monday, March 25, 2024.
There are 10.6 million migrants in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region, of which almost half are women and 1.3 million are children. Migrants, especially those in low-wage jobs, face many challenges including labor exploitation, trafficking, violence and harassment.
Female migrant workers tend to work in the informal sector where they are offered temporary work with little or no social protection. Children accompanying migrant workers face a high risk of violence, exploitation and trafficking as well as inadequate access to child protection services.
The ‘PROTECT’ project will be implemented by four UN agencies, namely the International Labor Organization (ILO), the UN Agency for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF ).
The institutions will work with stakeholders in four Southeast Asian countries to strengthen laws and policies, increase capacity and mechanisms to better protect the rights of target groups and increase access to information and services.
Noting the importance of this new project for the region, Chihoko Asada-Miyakawa, ILO Assistant Director General and ILO Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific stated that labor migration is a driver of economic and social development in countries of origin and destination, providing benefits to migrant workers, communities and providers. Work.
“Migration policies and governance approaches must be gender responsive, more inclusive and in line with international labor standards if we are to provide protection and access to decent work for migrant workers, which is very important for social justice,” he explained.
“Addressing the widespread problem of violence and harassment against female migrant workers in Southeast Asia is imperative. “Through this joint program, we will continue to fight for their rights, safety and dignity to create a future where all migrant women can live and work free from fear and exploitation,” said Alia El-Yassir, UN Women Regional Director for Asia and Pacific.
“Children on the move are particularly vulnerable, especially in the context of labor migration,” said Debora Comini, UNICEF Regional Director for East Asia and the Pacific.
“They are at risk of exploitation, abuse and violence; they lose access to education, health and social protection. Migration policies and practices must be child-sensitive and uphold the rights and best interests of every child, whatever their migration status.”
“To break the cycle of exploitation and violence, the protection of victims of human trafficking and smuggled migrants before and during the criminal justice process is crucial,” said Masood Karitipour, UNODC Regional Representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
“Under this new project, UNODC will build cooperation with law and justice enforcement in the region, ensuring that victims’ rights continue to be upheld and perpetrators of crimes are brought to justice.”
The PROTECT project, which runs until December 2026, is the result of and lessons learned from two previous EU-funded projects: The ‘Safe and Fair: Realizing the rights and opportunities of women migrant workers in the ASEAN region’ project, implemented by the ILO and UN Women, in collaboration with UNODC in 2018 to 2023 and the ‘Protecting Children Affected by Migration in Southeast, South and Central Asia’ Project implemented by UNICEF in 2018 to 2022. (AT Network)
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