Training Workshop on ASEAN Guideline on Gender Mainstreaming into Labour and Employment Policies Towards Decent Work For All

HANOI/ONLINE 4-6 May 2021 – The Ministry of Labour, Invalid and Social Affairs (MOLISA) of Viet Nam hosted the “Training Workshop on ASEAN Guideline on Gender Mainstreaming into Labour and Employment Policies Towards Decent Work For All” on 4-6 May 2021.

ASEAN Guideline on Gender Mainstreaming Into Labour and Employment Policies Towards Decent Work For All was jointly developed by the ASEAN Senior Labour Officials and ASEAN Committee on Women with the support of the ASEAN Secretariat and ASEAN-ROK Cooperation Fund (AKCF). Furthermore, the Guideline was adopted by the 26th ASEAN Labour Ministers Meeting in October 2020, and then recognised by 37th ASEAN Summit in November 2020.

With an aim to mainstream gender equality into labour and employment policies and practices in ASEAN Member States in accordance with the international standards, the Guideline elaborates relevant international standards and frameworks on gender equality and decent work, shares promising practices from within and outside of the region, as well as provides checklists on employment promotion, decent working conditions, social protection and international labour migration.

Attended by representatives from ten AMS and Korea, ASEAN Secretariat, International Organisations including ILO and UN WOMEN Asia Pacific Region, relevant Ministries and institutions, the three-days workshop served as an opportunity for international and national consultants to discuss the Guideline and its pilot implementation and application at the national level. 

General Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Kung Phoak highlighted the timely cooperation among the relevant Ministries and stakeholders in order to facilitate effective gender mainstreaming in labour and employment area through the implementation of the Guideline.

Ambassador of Permanent Mission of ROK to ASEAN H.E Lim Sung Nam emphasised that gender mainstreaming is an important step towards achieving gender equality and decent work. “Guideline would contribute to promoting gender equality, in the labour sector at the national and ASEAN regional level,” he further added.

Vice Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, Viet Nam H.E. Nguyen Thi Ha highly appreciated the technical and financial support from the ASEAN-ROK Cooperation Fund, ILO, and UN WOMEN, and furthermore, stressed that the Guideline shows ASEAN's commitment to place gender equality at the centre of labour migration and decent work in the region.

During the workshop, officials of ministries responsible for labour and employment and national women’s entities, employers’ and workers’ organisations, women’s organisations, lawmakers and other relevant stakeholders were trained to implement the Guidelines for mainstreaming gender in the national labour and employment policy.