Hanoi (VNA) – The UN Women and the InternationalLabour Organisation (ILO) opened a consultation dialogue in Hanoi on May 10 toannounce a project which aims to ensure that labour migration is safe and fairfor all women in the ASEAN region.

The project “Safe & Fair: Realising womenmigrant workers’ rights and opportunities in the ASEAN region” (2018 – 2022) ispart of the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative to eliminate violence against women andgirls. 

Implemented by the ILO and UN Women, it willprovide technical assistance so as to ensure safe and fair labour migration forall women in the region. It attracts the participation of government agenciesof the 10 ASEAN member nations, namely Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The “Safe & Fair” project aims to achievethree inter-linking specific objectives: women migrant workers are betterprotected by gender-sensitive labour migration governance frameworks; womenmigrant workers are less vulnerable to violence and trafficking and benefitfrom coordinated responsive quality services; and data, knowledge and attitudeson the rights and contributions of women migrant workers are improved.

Opening the two-day dialogue, ILO VietnamDirector Chang-Hee Lee said in the ASEAN region, more and more women have beenmigrating. International labour migration in ASEAN has increased by some 10million workers over the past decades, and nearly half of them are women.

The migration of women workers is an importantaspect of the labour movement in the region and could be an important sourcefor stronger women empowerment when women migrant workers make considerablecontributions to the socio-economic development of the countries of origin anddestination.

He noted during the migration process, womenhave to face the risks of violence and human trafficking while discriminationmay hamper their access to fair recruitment and sustainable employment, theyhave also gained little protection or access to support services.

Women migrant workers’ positive experience andcontributions can be fully ensured only when their safety, labour rights andhuman rights are fully protected, he added.

At the event, Head of UN Women Vietnam ElisaFernandez said Vietnam is a country of origin, not a country of destination oflabour migration. Therefore, it needs efforts at the national level to assistwomen to access information more effectively and eliminate violence againstwomen, especially migrant women.

The country is one of the first nations to pilotthe UN programme on essential services for women and girls subject to violencein order to help ensure safety for women migrant workers, she noted.-VNA