Myanmar - Promoting Rights at Work in Myanmar

Donor – US Department of State The recently initiated political reform process in Myanmar has opened a window of opportunity for the international community to support the country’s peaceful transition towards democracy after years of military rule and international sanctions. Since 1999, Myanmar has not received technical cooperation from the ILO except for the purpose of combating forced labour. In its 101st session in 2012, the International Labour Conference decided to lift the restrictions and requested that urgent attention be given to technical cooperation priorities such as the effective and full realization of the right to freedom of association, as well as the elimination of forced labour. Today, it is of vital importance to support national constituents in their efforts to make freedom of association a reality – in law and in practice.

The project on “Promoting Rights at Work in Myanmar” started in 2012 with funds from the US Department of State. Its overall objective is to promote the effective recognition and realization of the fundamental workers’ rights and social dialogue in Myanmar to support the country’s peaceful transition to democracy. The project’s strategy is structured around four immediate objectives:

• Increased knowledge of national labour laws, international labour standards and the roles of the tripartite constituents in labour relations by the Government, the employers, the workers and the general public.
• Establish a well-functioning, understood and efficient registration process for workers’ and employers’ organizations.
• Providing unions with the technical and institutional capacity to better represent their members and reach out to potential new members in the core and periphery areas of the country and in a variety of economic sectors.
• Institutionalizing meaningful and effective social dialogue among the Government, the employers’ and the workers’ organizations.