Ensuring Decent Work and Reducing Vulnerabilities for Women and Children in the Context of Labour Migration in Southeast Asia Project Launch and Consultation Workshop

The PROTECT project has been officially launched on 25 March 2024 at a one-day consultative dialogue, held in Bangkok as an opportunity to introduce the project to key stakeholders, and to identify the specific areas of focus for the project at the country level to ensure that the project aligns with country priorities and national frameworks.

The PROTECT project will promote decent work, while reducing the vulnerabilities of women and children in the context of labour migration, in particular through preventing and responding to violence against women and children, human trafficking and migrant smuggling. It will do this through addressing legal, policy and institutional gaps and barriers faced by women migrant workers and children in the context of labour migration, including in the protection of fundamental principles and rights at work, as well as enhance their access to safe, orderly, and regular migration by addressing violence, exploitation, forced labour and trafficking. To ensure that laws and policies can be effectively implemented, the project will enhance national and regional capacities and mechanisms for policy implementation, service provision and prevention efforts, while empowering concerned women migrant workers and children to mitigate the risks of abuse and exploitation and access services.

The Overall objective of the PROTECT project is to protect the rights of women migrant workers and migrant children in South-East Asia.

• Specific objective 1: To strengthen national legislation, policies and regional frameworks for the protection of women migrant workers, children and other vulnerable groups in line with international standards;
• Specific objective 2: To improve national and regional prevention and protection mechanisms to reduce rights’ violations against migrant women, children, and other vulnerable groups, including victims of trafficking and smuggled migrants; and
• Specific objective 3: To increase the access of at-risk groups, women migrant workers and children to information, social and legal services, counselling, and association to prevent abuse, exploitation, harassment, violence, and trafficking in human beings.

The Consultative Dialogue aims to share information, identify priority interventions, validate plans, and explore future cooperation among key stakeholders and social partners in Thailand. The consultative dialogue and launch event is being attended by tripartite constituents and social partners in Thailand, including:

• H.E. Mr David Daly, Ambassador of the European Union to Thailand
• Mr Phairoj Chotikasatien, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Labour
• Ms Gita Sabharwal, UN Resident Coordinator
• Ms Xiaoyan Qian, Director, ILO Country office for Thailand, Cambodia, and Lao People’s Democratic Republic
• Ms Sarah Knibbs, Deputy Regional Director, UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
• Ms Kyungsun Kim, UNICEF Representative to Thailand
• Mr Benedikt Hoffman, Deputy Regional Representative, UNODC Regional Office for Southeast Asia and the Pacific