The ILO, through the Safe and Fair programme under the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative, reaches out to women migrant workers and their families in construction camps in Thailand, ensuring their rights and entitlements are protected and respected.

PATHUM THANI, Thailand – ILO Chief, International Labour Migration Branch, Michelle Leighton visited one of the construction sites where a training session on violence and harassment in the workplace, and labour rights was conducted with support of the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative Safe and Fair Programme on 6 February 2023.

Despite the significant contributions of migrant workers to their countries of origin and destination, many migrant workers, especially women, face lack of social protection and security. In Thailand, 2.3 million migrant workers were recorded, a million of whom are women, according to the Department of Employment in 2022.

Among those 2.3 million migrant workers, 600,000 are working in the construction sector, with 36 per cent comprises women. For women migrant workers, the construction sector is often an insecure working environment as they are not always paid or treated the same as their male counterparts or Thai nationals.

It is in this premise that Reaching Women Migrant Workers and Their Families in Construction Camps (REACH) was launched by World Vision Foundation of Thailand (WVFT) in April 2022, in partnership with Sansiri Public Company Limited, with the support of Safe and Fair programme.

REACH aims to improve the women migrant workers’ knowledge and understanding of their labour rights protection as prescribed by the Thai law. It also aims to raise their awareness on safe recruitment processes and existing support services such as health services and grievance and remediation mechanisms from government and non-government agencies.

“Before coming to Thailand, all I knew was I can earn more if I migrate—nothing more,” shares a woman migrant worker from Myanmar.
 

“With trainings like this, I now know my rights and entitlements. This will help me become more aware of my working conditions and prevent myself from being exploited." 

A woman migrant construction worker from Myanmar

The project is supporting women migrant workers and their families living in 11 construction camps in Bangkok, Samut Prakan, Nonthaburi and Pathum Thani provinces under Sansiri Public Company Limited, the private sector partner of WVFT for REACH.

To ensure sustainability, women and men migrant worker volunteers were directly recruited and trained to conduct trainings for other migrant workers as well as conduct outreach to women migrant workers within the selected sites. REACH intends to benefit 600 women and 400 men migrant construction workers, 200 migrant children living in construction camps, and 125 contractors active in Sansiri’s construction camps.

“So many [women migrant workers] don’t have access to social protection, but it’s been very good to see that the people training them are actually migrant workers who volunteer, and the passion I saw was really inspiring,” says Michelle Leighton.
 

Since its inception, more than 950 women migrant workers in the construction sector have been trained by REACH on diverse topics such as labour rights and entitlements, reproductive health and family planning, women’s and children’s rights, and skills development, among others.

To sustain the efforts in ensuring that migrant women and their children can access education and health services, REACH also aims to develop a model of partnership among private sector, civil society organization, and the government. The project will also be promoted for replication across Sansiri’s business model, as well as to other property developers and construction companies.

The Safe and Fair programme is part of the Spotlight Initiative to eliminate violence against women and girls, funded by the European Union. The programme is implemented through a partnership between the ILO and UN Women, in collaboration with UNODC, with the overriding objective of ensuring that labour migration is safe and fair for all women in the ASEAN region.

More information, please contact

Pichit Phromkade
Communications Officer, Safe and Fair programme
Email: phromkade@ilo.org