In this February 2024 Edition of the AROSP Newsletter, we delve into the multifaceted challenges shaping our world, from the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic to the urgent need for socio-economic justice amidst global crises. We explore the intricate interplay between social protection, gender dynamics, and the informal economy, particularly focusing on the agrifood sector across South and Southeast Asia.
This research highlights the challenging conditions of maternity protection in the South Asian agrifood sector. Despite existing laws, both formal and informal sector workers face widespread denial of standard maternity benefits such as paid leave and health protections. Informality is rampant even in ostensibly formal sectors, leading to violations of labor laws and further exacerbating the problem.
This research investigates the status of social protection, particularly maternity protection, among agrifood sector workers in Southeast Asia. The agrifood sector encompasses the entire value chain from farm to table, playing a vital role in the region's economies, contributing significantly to GDP and employment. Despite its importance, women in the agrifood sector face various challenges, including lower wages, limited access to resources, and a higher likelihood of informal and precarious employment.
The 2023 ACSC/APF with the theme of ‘Reclaiming safe space, restoring democracy in Southeast Asia” was successfully held in Jakarta, Indonesia from 1-3 September. The convergence space on “Integrated Approaches to Socio-Economic Justice” is among 6 thematic convergence spaces of the event, which was collectively organised by 21 networks and organisations from global, regional and country levels.
This toolkit focuses on best practices for social protection advocacy. Its fundamental starting point is the assertion that social protection is a human right. Social protection is defined as a set of policies to help women, men and children reach or maintain an adequate standard of living and good health. Building social protection systems (including social protection floors) is at the forefront of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, because these systems reduce and prevent poverty while also levelling out inequalities.
In this 2022 Edition of our Newsletter, you will find several products of AROSP. We are honoured to introduce to you 2 new e-publications, including the ‘Grassroots modalities collection #1 - Toward Transformative Social Protection’ and the ‘SOCIAL PROTECTION TOOLKIT’, which will hopefully encourage civil society to raise its voice and take stronger action for more comprehensive, inclusive and just social protection.
The Asian Roundtable on Social Protection (AROSP) was established more than 10 years ago. For the past several years, AROSP members have contributed to many achievements on the way toward transformative social protection to change structural poverty by addressing fiscal policies and power imbalances. This grassroots modalities collection is drawn from their stories, focusing on the success that organizations have had in advocating for social protection policy in Asia.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been occurring worldwide, and become more serious, with additional waves of the virus being experienced globally, reaching more than 151 million positive cases and over 3 million deaths, of which more than 39 million cases and over 500,000 deaths by 28th April 2021 (worldometers.info). According to the International Labour Organization, working-hour losses in 2020 were 8.8% or 255 million full time jobs, approximately four times greater than during the global financial crisis in 2009.
In this Special Issue of Asian Labour Update entitled ‘Pandemic, Crisis, and the Working Class on the Continent of Labour’ we present a collection of writings from around the Asia region that document how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted workers during the outset in 2020. The writings contained in this issue come from a variety of industries, including healthcare, platform economy, domestic work, garment, forest produce collectors, and more.
After an unprecedented yearlong pandemic spread over the world claiming almost 3 million lives and destroying the livelihoods of millions more, the rollout of vaccines has provided some hope of resuming economic activities. Yet, the impact of COVID-19 continues to magnify inequality and expose the long existing systemic problems faced by marginalised workers all over the world.
Global call for action to scientists, doctors, researchers and groups affected by asbestos
An influential group of scientists and researchers today launched a global campaign to counter the misinformation from the asbestos industry, particularly in Asia, about the cancer causing product.
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.