Promoting and Protecting the Rights of ASEAN Migrant Workers (ASEAN TRIANGLE II)

The problem to be addressed in the Project is the human rights of women and men migrant workers whose employment and working conditions are among the most difficult in the region, and the under tapped development potential of better labour mobility and remittances. Both these issues are reflected in ASEAN priorities and the Sustainable Development Goals. • First, regional systems governing labour migration, including social protection, need to be improved to better protect the human and labour rights of women and men migrant workers. ASEAN Member States have made steady improvements to the governance frameworks of labour migration at the national and regional level, though important challenges remain and there is considerable room for improving existing structures (Protection). • Secondly, the economic and social development impact of migration is not maximised. Remittance costs are uneven in the region (Development). • Labour mobility and skills recognition systems exclude the vast majority of low and medium skilled workers migrating in the ASEAN. Labour mobility is a key feature of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and its 2016-2025 Blueprints, though policies governing migration flows are restricted to highly skilled workers only at this point and do not provide a viable and sustainable governing mechanisms for the movement of low and medium skilled workers (ASEAN Cooperation, Economic Integration and Mobility). The ASEAN TRIANGLE Project Phase II (ATP II) will address these problems by building on the ASEAN’s political commitment to improve migration policies on protection, development and mobility processes for its workers, in particular men and women migrant workers. The Project will contribute to realizing the goals of the ASEAN Community Vision 2025, by strategically aligning with the priorities of the new ASEAN Labour Ministers (ALM) Work Plan (2016-2020) and the accompanying new work plans of the ASEAN Senior Labour Officials Meeting Working Group (SLOM-WG) and the ASEAN Committee on the Implementation of the Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers (ACMW). The regional tripartite partners, which consist of the ASEAN Trade Union Council (ATUC), the ASEAN Confederation of Employers (ACE) and the Taskforce on ASEAN Migrant Workers (TFAMW) have had considerable input to the Projects strategies and outputs selected. The Project will be a direct realization of the Canadian Government’s commitment to protect and promote the rights of migrant workers in ASEAN, as outlined in section 3.5 of the Plan of Action to Implement the Joint Declaration on the ASEAN-Canada Enhanced Partnership (2016-2020). The Project will also align with two thematic priorities for Canada’s international assistance: “Advancing Democracy” (promoting and protecting human rights), and “Sustainable Economic Growth” (building economic foundations, such as by improving legal/regulatory frameworks). The expected impact of ATP II is that women and men migrant workers are better protected and the development benefits of migration are increased for migrant workers, family members and economies as a result of regional frameworks and initiatives. The Project strategy and the selection of outcomes and outputs are based on the evidence that increased labour rights protection, inclusive economic growth and development, and regional cooperation and labour mobility systems that are efficient and gender responsive will lead to the better protection of migrant workers while enhancing the contribution of labour migration to equitable, inclusive and stable growth within the ASEAN. Ultimately, this is the goal of ATP II.

Project symbol

RAS/16/01/CAN

Admin unit

RO-Asia and the Pacific

Start date

08/12/2016

End date

30/09/2024

Total allocation

7238718

Total expenditure

Status

Closed

7238718

Development Partners

Canada, Global Affairs Canada

Country/Countries

Asia and the Pacific - regional

Outcomes

Outcome 6: Protection at work for all