Freedom of association training programme kicks off in the Philippines

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) commenced the pilot implementation of the Freedom of Association (FOA) Training Programme aimed at strengthening labour education in the Philippines. The FOA Training of Trainers (TOT) builds on the consolidated FOA training modules crafted with the government and social partners from the trade unions, employers’ organization and labour-focused civil society organizations.

Objectives:

• explain and contextualize the fundamental principles of human rights, international labour standards, and FOA, including its role in democracy and decent work;
• demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the scope, applicability, rights, prohibitions, and responsibilities outlined in the 2024 Omnibus Guidelines on FOA and Civil Liberties, along with available remedies and accountability mechanisms;
• apply laws, policies, and supervisory mechanisms through the assessment of case scenarios, providing context-appropriate recommendations consistent with FOA principles and labour rights standards; and
• develop contextualized action and training plans to cascade FOA modules and integrate them into their agencies, institutions, or sectors.

Partners

Resource persons from the DOLE, ILO, Commission on Human Rights (CHR), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), Federation of Free Workers (FFW), Employers’ Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) and University of the Philippines Law Center – Workers and Employees Program (UP Law – WEP) will deliver the sessions.

The FOA training programme is also integrated into the DOLE E-campus, offering the participants an enhanced learning experience with self-paced navigation, access to the modules and supplementary references, and participation in online discussion forums.

Technical assistance was provided by the ILO in this initiative through the “Strengthening freedom of association and action against child labour in the Philippines” project funded by the Government of Canada and the “Trade for Decent Work” project funded by the European Union.