More and better jobs through socially responsible labour practices in Asia

The proposed project will contribute towards encouraging MNEs to contribute positively to economic and social development through socially responsible labour practices. Immediate Objective: Socially responsible labour practices (SRLPs) are strengthened in multinational enterprises (MNEs) operating in the selected clusters/sectors in Myanmar and Pakistan. Target groups: Direct beneficiaries and recipients of ILO technical support are the employers’ organisations, trade unions, governments, business associations and companies in Myanmar and Pakistan. In Myanmar, direct beneficiaries will be at the national and sectoral level, as well as the Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business. In Pakistan, the project will be implemented in close collaboration with the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and other tripartite constituents in the Punjab region. Ultimate beneficiaries are workers and vulnerable groups (eg. women, youth) in the selected economic sectors and clusters in the two target countries. This project aims at contributing towards promoting socially responsible labour practices amongst MNEs in Asia. Through initial internal consultation, Myanmar and Pakistan have been selected as target countries for this proposed project. Exploratory studies will be undertaken to analyse the employment situation within the key economic sectors as well as the constraints for promoting employment, their current social responsibility policies and practices, and to identify ways in which more and better jobs could be generated in collaboration with MNEs operating in the countries. Disaggregated data will be generated. During the process of undertaking the research, ILO values as well as instruments will be promoted through 2 awareness-raising activities (1 in each target country) addressed to ILO constituents in order to promote socially responsible labour practices (SRLPs). The findings and recommendations of the study are to serve as inputs for evidence-based dialogues at the country level, to discuss the challenges and to identify the way forward. It is meant to be a contribution for ILO DWCPs and other existing ILO operations at the country level, in that the ILO studies will help identify decent work priorities where collaboration with MNEs could be sought. This model of engagement with MNEs through an exploratory study is built on the earlier experience gained through the implementation of ILO-UNIDO Youth Employment project in 4 West African countries financed by the Government of Japan. These expertises of tripartite plus initiatives involving MNEs are now rolled out in over ten countries. It reinforces the ILO’s efforts in promoting the MNE Declaration which aims ‘to encourage the positive contribution that multinational enterprises can make to economic and social progress’ and contained a series of recommendations on socially responsible labour practices that fostered a partnership approach to addressing national development and decent work priorities while ensuring that MNEs also benefit through enhanced competitiveness. On the training component, the proposed project will build on existing training materials, developed jointly with the ILO-ITC Turin, such as the MNE Declaration e-learning module and the ILO-ITC course "International labour standards and corporate social responsibility: frameworks and practices”. 2 countries have been selected for this project: Myanmar and Pakistan Through initial consultation with the ILO country offices, following topics and areas of intervention have been proposed. They are subject to further consultation once the project proposal is approved.

Project symbol

RAS/14/59/JPN

Admin unit

MULTI

Start date

15/02/2015

End date

31/03/2017

Total allocation

135544

Total expenditure

Status

Closed

135544

Development Partners

Japan, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare

Country/Countries

Pakistan
Myanmar

Outcomes

Strong and representative employers' and workers' organizations
Promoting sustainable enterprises