Social and Economic Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Vulnerable Groups (Tuk-Tuk Drivers, Street Vendors and Domestic Workers) in Phnom Penh City, Cambodia
By Independent Democracy of Informal Economy Association
The Recommendation 202 on social protection floors (SPF), promoted by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and adopted in 2012, is intended to ensure essential health care and basic income security worldwide for children, people of working age who are unable to earn a sufficient income and the elderly. The SPF requires country members to develop a comprehensive social protection system including social security guarantees for the whole life cycle of citizens. However, social protection is very new to many grassroots organizations and proves to be complex in many levels.
The Asian Roundtable on Social Protection (AROSP) is a network of grassroots workers’ organisations, trade unions, NGOs, and scholars in Asia that work on the issues of formal and informal workers. AROSP serves as a platform to provide mutual help, facilitate information sharing, and help organisations build their understanding on social protection. As a regional network, it aims to support and consolidate the regional struggle for social protection for the poor across various sectors in Asia.
This education module on capital mobility explains the capitalist crisis, and assesses the impact of capital mobility on workers and trade unions. The module also provides stories of workers in the global supply chains and their struggles.
On 10th July this year, the Cambodian parliament will pass laws which will grossly stifle the rights of ngos and trade unions.As attached are the critical analysis of both the laws;
1. Law on Associations and Non-governmental Organizations (to be passed on 10 July 2015)
2. Trade Union Law (the final draft has not been revealed since last year)
Southeast Asian economies show notable performance in the recent years. In 2013, for instance, the growth rate of the region’s gross domestic product (GDP) is 4.9 per cent compared to the entire world’s GDP growth rate of 3.0 per cent. However, despite this significant GDP growth rate, employment in Southeast Asia did not rise in the same rate as the GDP has risen. It has grown only by 1.5 per cent. Moreover, poverty remains prevalent and income gaps become wider. In other words, the economic growth in numbers does not translate to the improvement of the quality of lives of the people at the grassroots level.
The two-day meeting focused on understanding and mapping the landscape of labour resistance in Asia in the past decade or so, with a special focus on identifying, in each country, (1) emerging forms of labour resistance, (2) emerging actors and players in new labour movements, and (3) trends in emerging alliance building and collaborative initiatives.