Decent Work for Migrants from South Asia

Project completed

Labour migration is highly significant for the development of countries of origin in South Asia, but migrants are often not sufficiently protected by legal frameworks and therefore vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. This programme supports governments and the civil society to create and implement policies for improved protection of migrants and to enhance their contribution to the development of their country of origin. Concrete lessons learnt from this programme at the national level will be fed into regional and global dialogues.

Country/region Topic Period Budget
SouthAsiaregional
Employment & economic development
Migration
Labour migration
Migration generally (development aspects and partnerships)
01.11.2013 - 30.06.2019
CHF  8’230’000
Background

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.

Objectives

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.

Target groups

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.

Medium-term outcomes

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.

Results

Results from previous phases:  

  • 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.


Directorate/federal office responsible SDC
Credit area Development cooperation
Project partners Contract partner
Foreign academic and research organisation
International or foreign NGO
Other International Organization
United Nations Organization (UNO)
  • Association of Southeast Asian Nations ASEAN
  • International Labor Organization
  • International Organisation for Migration
  • Other OI
  • Research Organisation of South East
  • SDC Field Office
  • United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women


Budget Current phase Swiss budget CHF    8’230’000 Swiss disbursement to date CHF    7’087’096 Total project since first phase Budget inclusive project partner CHF   13’000’000
Project phases Phase 2 01.08.2019 - 31.01.2024   (Completed)

Phase 1 01.11.2013 - 30.06.2019   (Completed)