UN General Assembly hall with speaker Mogens Lykketoft, President of the Assembly’s seventieth session. — Photo courtesy of the UN |
HCM CITY — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced at the UN Summit for Refugees and Migrants held on Monday in New York City that Canada would provide CA$5.5 million for a project to protect migrant workers in the ASEAN region.
Canada will work in partnership with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to support ASEAN’s regional efforts to strengthen policies that defend migrant workers, particularly women.
The project will ensure that migrant workers receive equitable economic and social benefits, and help improve job mobility across ASEAN.
ASEAN is a dynamic region with 633 million residents and 300 million workers, and a combined GDP of over US$2.4 trillion.
In 2013, there were an estimated 6.5 million ASEAN nationals who migrated to other ASEAN countries for work, and women accounted for 47.8 per cent of all migrants.
For more than 10 years, Canada has played a leading role in promoting and protecting the human rights of women in ASEAN by supporting regional human rights bodies, women’s participation in civil society and the implementation of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
The ILO has a global mandate and responsibility to set international standards on labour and employment and has been mandated by the UN to protect the rights of all workers.
The ILO has adopted a tripartite structure that develops solutions together with governments, employers and worker organisations. — VNS