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Senior government officials from Southeast Asian
countries pledge to use international treaty to assist women migrant
workers
PRESS RELEASE
United Nations, Bangkok, 7 November
2006 – Senior government officials from eight Southeast Asian
countries pledged to use the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms
of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) to better protect women migrant
workers in the region.
Participants issued a joint statement
concluding the forum on 6-7 November entitled “High Level Government
Meeting of Countries of Origin and Employment on Using CEDAW to Address
Women Migrant Workers’ Concerns”, organized by the United Nations
Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), which aims to enhance governments’
understanding of the use of CEDAW to address the concerns of women
migrants.
Participating countries include Brunei
Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Singapore and Thailand, all of which have signed and ratified CEDAW.
According to the joint statement,
participants pledged to include the concerns of women migrant workers
throughout migration process and planned protection measures in their
national reports to the CEDAW Committee. They also agreed to identify
specific forms of discrimination against women migrant workers, collect
data on women migrant workers particularly those working in the informal
sector such as domestic work and pursue implementation of CEDAW
Committee’s Concluding Comments through increased cooperation among
relevant government agencies.
“The CEDAW Convention with all its 16
substantive Articles and the CEDAW Committee’s general recommendations
can be used to address women migrants’ concerns. Data collection,
reporting by governments and NGOs, and implementing the CEDAW
Committee’s comments on women migrants are central to the effective use
of CEDAW,” says Dr. Jean D’Cunha, Regional Program Director, UNIFEM East
and Southeast Asia Regional Office, adding that CEDAW is the only
international legal instrument designed to promote and protect women
against virtually any situation of discrimination.
Participants also pledged to strengthen
national inter-ministerial committees and involve all relevant
ministries to facilitate women migrant workers, promote the involvement
of non-governmental organizations and trade unions in the preparation of
national reports to the CEDAW Committee. In addition, they also agreed
to use CEDAW as a framework for dialogue and for forging common
understanding among countries of origin and employment.
During the meeting, participants also
shared good practice and measures to protect women migrant workers that
have been implemented in their countries. For example, Brunei Darussalam
organized orientation programs for new employers to brief them on law
and regulations and the penalties for breaching those laws. The Brunei
government also provided a briefing session for foreign domestic workers
on their rights and obligation and provided a Labor Hotline Number in
case of any abuses and complaints during the contract signing process.
Moreover, Singapore has a legislation under which employers could be
prosecuted for failure to provide a safe working environment for women
migrant workers
CEDAW was adopted by the UN General
Assembly in 1979 and today 184 States Parties have ratified the
Convention. CEDAW ranks second only to the Convention on the Rights of
the Child in terms of the number of ratifications.
UNIFEM is the United Nations Development
Fund for Women. It provides financial and technical assistance to
innovative programmes and strategies that promote women’s human rights,
political participation and economic security. Within the UN system,
UNIFEM promotes gender equality and links women’s issues and concerns to
national, regional, and global agendas by fostering collaboration and
providing technical expertise on gender mainstreaming and women’s
empowerment strategies. For further information, please visit
www.unifem.org or
www.unifem-eseasia.org
LINKS:
Bangkok Post Monday November 06, 2006
Updated:
09 November 2006 09:22 +0700
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