Study Visit to Migrant Resource Centres – Cambodia

The three-day study visit will be hosted by the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training of the Kingdom of Cambodia and co-organized by the ILO ASEAN and GMS TRIANGLE Projects. It will allow participants to see the operation and management of Migrant Resource Centers (MRCs) in Cambodia, interspersed with a series of workshops to share experiences among representatives from five participating sending countries. The study visit will also show the different modalities of operating the MRC – through government institutions, civil society and trade unions, which can lead to improvements in service delivery of existing and future MRCs.

The establishment of Migrant Workers Resource Centers (MRCs) has benefited many migrant workers. MRCs are now found in many sending and receiving countries, and they take various forms - sometimes supported by governments, CSOs, employers, trade unions or even migrants themselves. MRCs can play an important role in ensuring migrants’ access to information, legal services and skills training, and can also serve as a means to promote greater social inclusion and interaction.

In countries of origin and destination, the GMS TRIANGLE project has partnered with local government, trade unions and civil society organizations to provide support services to women and men migrants and potential migrants. GMS TRIANGLE supports the operation of 19 MRCs in Cambodia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Thailand and Viet Nam, run by government, trade unions and non-government organisations (NGOs). Additional MRCs will be set up in Myanmar in 2013.
In an effort to identify, document and share good practices in the delivery of support services through MRCs, the ASEAN TRIANGLE Project will organize a study tour to see the operation and management of MRCs in Cambodia, followed by a workshop to allow sharing of experiences amongst the 5 participating sending countries.

Specifically, the objectives of the study tour are to:
  1. Share and document good practices in the delivery of support through the use of MRCs;
  2. Understand the actual operations and management of MRCs in Cambodia; and
  3. Compare the different modalities of operating and MRC – through the government institutions, civil society and trade unions.
The three-day study visit will be organized from 18 to 20 September 2013 and will consist of three visits to MRCs in Phnom Penh, Kampong Cham and Prey Veng, and three half-day workshops for reflection and sharing of good practices.