On May 9, the Vietnam Women's Union (VWU) and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) in Vietnam organized a workshop on Overseas Labor Migration - Opportunities and Challenges for Vietnamese Women.
The workshop is part of the project activities "Enhancing safe migration for Vietnamese women working abroad".
In her opening speech, Vice President of the Vietnam Women's Union Nguyen Thi Minh Huong said that Vietnamese workers are present in more than 40 countries and territories around the world, contributing to job creation, income increase, hunger eradication, poverty reduction, and when they return, they also contribute to improving the quality of the workforce.
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| Vice President of Vietnam Women's Union Nguyen Thi Minh Huong delivered the opening speech. (Photo: Le An) |
After the Covid-19 pandemic is under control, the demand for human resources in labor-receiving countries is on the rise.
According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Minh Huong, when participating in the foreign labor market, female migrant workers face more challenges and barriers than men, especially before, during and after returning home, specifically:
Before going to work abroad, female workers tend to have less access to recruitment information, limited training in safety, efficiency and legal migration. Training content before going abroad does not pay attention to the specific gender roles of women.
During the process of working abroad, the results of some studies show that female workers have difficult working conditions, difficult living conditions, and are at risk of being abused, exploited, and sexually assaulted. Meanwhile, they may have difficulty finding legal support, and may feel lonely and afraid.
After returning to work and reintegrating into the community, female workers have difficulty finding job opportunities and finding it difficult to develop their skills.
It is quite common that migrant workers more or less learn professional skills while working abroad (70%) but are rarely able to apply them in their home country when they return (3%)...
Upon repatriation, female migrant workers may also face marital and family breakdown, and even domestic violence.
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| Delegates discuss at the event. (Photo: Le An) |
The Vice President of the Vietnam Women's Union affirmed that in recent years, the Union has carried out many propaganda activities on preventing and combating human trafficking, preventing and combating illegal migration, promulgating, guiding and disseminating information on laws and policies to promote safe labor migration.
At the same time, the Association also builds models to support repatriated migrant women and victims of human trafficking, and coordinates with relevant agencies to provide comments and social criticism on policies and laws related to sending workers to work abroad, and coordinates to protect the rights and legitimate interests of female workers working abroad.
The workshop took place with two discussion sessions, focusing on the content "Vietnamese workers working abroad - Issues raised from a gender perspective" and "Solutions to promote safe migration for women".
| According to the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, in the first 3 months of 2023, the total number of workers working abroad was nearly 38,000 people (of which women accounted for about 21%), an increase of nearly 9 times over the same period in 2022. |
Here, delegates from ministries, sectors and localities shared experiences and solutions to have a comprehensive perspective on Vietnamese workers working abroad, promoting the rights of female migrant workers, so that they can have a safe life in the digital age.
In particular, delegates also shared and discussed to clarify the role and responsibility of the Vietnam Women's Union at all levels in propaganda work, supporting women to work abroad, participating in building policies and laws to supervise the implementation of sending workers to work abroad.
At the workshop, Ms. Vu Hong Minh, Deputy Director of the Overseas Employment Support Fund, said that in 2022, the whole country will have nearly 143,000 workers going abroad (of which 34% are female workers) to work abroad.
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| Conference scene. (Photo: Le An) |
Ms. Vu Hong Minh said that in the coming time, it is necessary to strengthen coordination between ministries, branches and associations such as the Vietnam Women's Union, the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union and organizations and units to implement and supervise the implementation of laws related to migrant workers; promote information and propaganda so that workers clearly understand their rights along with their responsibilities and obligations; share good examples and experiences in supporting and protecting citizens among labor-sending countries.
According to the International Labor Organization (ILO) report, female workers working abroad under contracts account for only over 30% but contribute up to 50% of remittances. |
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