Decent Work for Migrants from South Asia

A big majority of the migrants from South Asia find work in the Gulf states, Lebanon and Jordan, and in Malaysia. Remittances have had a positive impact on poverty reduction, particularly at the household level. Governments of both the countries of origin and destination are aware of the importance of migration for their development and of the many challenges linked to it. Different regional consultative processes are addressing the issue of labour migration in Asia, but cooperation both on the policy and the technical level still needs to be imporved in order to achieve decent working conditions for migrants and to enhance their contribution to development.

To better protect migrant workers from (South) Asia, irrespective of their status, as well as the members of their families, to reduce their vulnerability and to increase their contribution to development.

The ultimate beneficiaries will be migrants and their families who benefit through the improved migration governance framework at the regional and national levels, and through the increased quality of services provided by CSOs.

Key government stakeholders in South Asia and, possibly, other countries in Asia and regional CSO networks and their members in Asia will benefit through capacity building.

Development partners in the region will benefit through sharing and exchange of knowledge and experience gained through the programme.

Outcome 1: Government stakeholders in (South) Asian countries of origin collaborate increasingly in regional and global forums on labour migration issues.

Outcome 2: South Asian governments exchange, acquire and implement new technical skills to strengthen their labour migration frameworks.

Outcome 3: Civil Society Organizations are effective in their advocacy with governments and their support to migrants at the national, regional and international level.

Resultados de las fases anteriores:  

• Technical cooperation among sending countries led to the sharing of practices and the replication of good practices.

• Sending countries in the region are competing with each other for the labour markets in the same destination countries. Therefore, establishing cooperation among sending countries is challenging, because of their conflicting interests.

• Civil society organizations (CSOs) are quite visible and effective advocates at international forums, but they lack the capacity to effectively influence policy at the national level.

Fase 1 01.11.2013 - 30.06.2019   (Completed)