Media award and campaign

ILO-AJI Jakarta to launch media award for the best reportages on the protection of domestic workers

The International Labour Organization (ILO) in collaboration with the Jakarta’s Independent Journalist Alliance (AJI Jakarta) is launching a Media Award for the Best Reportages on the Protection of Domestic Workers and the Elimination of Child Domestic Labour in Indonesia, today, 14 August 2016, in Jakarta.

Press release | Jakarta, Indonesia | 14 August 2016
JAKARTA (Joint Press Release) - The International Labour Organization (ILO) in collaboration with the Jakarta’s Independent Journalist Alliance (AJI Jakarta) is launching a Media Award for the Best Reportages on the Protection of Domestic Workers and the Elimination of Child Domestic Labour in Indonesia, today, 14 August 2016, in Jakarta. This media award programme, aimed to improve the protection of domestic workers in the country, is opened for Indonesian journalists nation-wide with a total award of Rp. 48 million.

The media award is aimed to honor the efforts of journalists and media organizations in producing outstanding journalism across a range of media that comprehensively depicts issues on domestic workers and child domestic workers. The media award is also part of the ILO’s campaign to highlight national efforts, including mass media, in promoting decent work for domestic workers and the elimination of child domestic labour.

The recognition of domestic workers as workers and the elimination of child domestic labour are in line with the mandate of the ILO’s Convention No. 189 on Decent Work for Domestic Workers. Mass media, therefore, play an important role in advocating and in promoting domestic workers related issues to ensure the achievement of decent work for all, including domestic workers.

Arum Ratnawati, Chief Technical Adviser of the ILO’s Domestic Workers Project
The campaign is conducted by the ILO through its Promoting Decent Work for Domestic Workers to End Child Domestic Work (PROMOTE) Project. Funded by the United States Department of Labour (USDOL), PROMOTE Project aims at reducing child domestic workers significantly by building institutional capacities of partners to promote Decent Work for Domestic Workers effectively. The Project works to increase the knowledge, skills and expertise on reducing child domestic workers and promote decent work for domestic workers.

Arum Ratnawati, Chief Technical Adviser of the ILO’s Domestic Workers Project, stated that despite the valuable contribution given by domestic workers to the society and families, they are not recognized as workers. They still have to face indecent working conditions, such as among others long working hours, insufficient rest period, low wages and high exposure to exploitation and abuse.

“The recognition of domestic workers as workers and the elimination of child domestic labour are in line with the mandate of the ILO’s Convention No. 189 on Decent Work for Domestic Workers. Mass media, therefore, play an important role in advocating and in promoting domestic workers related issues to ensure the achievement of decent work for all, including domestic workers,” said Arum.

The estimated number of domestic workers in Indonesia is equal to half of the total number of civil servants. The data analysis of the National Labour Force Survey and of the National Sosio-Economic Survey conducted by the ILO in 2012 showed that there are around 2.6 million domestic workers in Indonesia. The data also showed that around 110,000 of them are children between the aged of 15-17 years old who were forced to work as domestic workers. The majority of domestic workers are women from poor families.

In addition, the Government of Indonesia has not yet ratified the ILO’s Convention No. 189 on Decent Work for Domestic Workers, which provides decent employment standards for domestic work. To date, domestic work is not covered by the national employment law and the draft of domestic workers law has not yet deliberated by the parliament.

The categories under this media award programme will be divided into four types: Feature article, in-depth reporting, investigative reporting and photo story. Eligible entries for the media awards are media articles or reports published in the period of 1 June 2015 to 30 September 2016, produced by the journalists individually or in a team. The submitted media articles or reports should focus on the protection of domestic workers and issues related to domestic workers and child domestic workers.

Ahmad Nurhasim, Chair of the AJI Jakarta, said that the media award programme is crucial to boost more in-depth media reportages and coverages on domestic workers and to showcase the support of the media to the promotion of decent work for domestic workers and the elimination of children in domestic labour. “The media award will focus on the contents and all types of mass media can participate in this media award programme,” he said.

The categories under this media award programme will be divided into four types: Feature article, in-depth reporting, investigative reporting and photo story. Eligible entries for the media awards are media articles or reports published in the period of 1 June 2015 to 30 September 2016, produced by the journalists individually or in a team. The submitted media articles or reports should focus on the protection of domestic workers and issues related to domestic workers and child domestic workers.

The entries will be selected by a panel of jurors made up of distinguished chief and executive editors: Endy Bayuni, Editor-in-Chief of the Jakarta Post, Burhan Solihin, Executive Editor of Tempo.co and Mohamad Teguh, Editor-in-Chief of SCTV.

The winners of the media award will be announced in October 2016. The article submission can be conducted through email: ajijak@cbn.net.id or through the AJI Jakarta secretariat: Jl. Kalibata Timur IV G No. 10, Kalibata, Jakarta Selatan, Tel./Fax.: +6221 798 4105.

For further information please contact:

Ahmad Nurhasim
Chair of AJI Jakarta
Mobile: +62812 8394 9524

Guruh Dwi Riyanto
Media Award Programme Coordinator of AJI Jakarta
Mobile: +62858 1498 6548

Ferbiansyah Ariefana
Event Coordinator of AJI Jakarta
Mobie: +62856 9736 3765