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ILO MAMPU Project - Access to Employment & Decent

Work for Women

Overview of Phase 2

January 2013 Miranda Fajerman

Chief Technical Adviser

ILO - MAMPU

Objective

To improve access and livelihoods for poor women in Indonesia

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Component 1

Reduce barriers to women’s access to formal employment

Component 2

Address discrimination in employment

AusAID – MAMPU Program

Program provinces - North Sumatra & East Java

Target group - poor, vulnerable & marginalized women (home-based workers)

ILO

Project strategy Strengthen and support -

• organisational capacity and representation of targeted women workers;

• Institution building of civil society organisations to provide services and facilities to targeted women to reduce barriers to decent work;

• women’s transition from informal to formal employment;

• private sector through implementation of better working conditions and innovative employment responses for women;

• national and local policies, programs and laws reform to strengthen vulnerable women’s economic & social empowerment and equality in terms of labour market outcomes 3

Project pilots

1. Business growth for home based women-run MSEs to access better working conditions and social protection

2. Women homeworkers (putting-out system) strengthen their organisation, leadership, representation and access to services, better working conditions and social protection

3. Private sector program to support decent work for women and substantive equality in terms of labour market outcomes

4. Community childcare services to enable poor women to remain in employment or return to employment after childbirth

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1. Home-based women-run MSEs

Barriers to growth include-

• intra-firm factors

• external factors

• inter-firm factors

Being home-based also limits expansion, interaction with other enterprises and therefore, increased transaction costs & limited access to markets & marketing information

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1. Project approach

• Influence gradual process of business growth and transition to greater degrees of formality – with a focus on, where desirable, business registration (access to resources, greater legal security over contracts, access broader markets, access GoI grants and programs, small business mediation), and providing minimum conditions of work and social protection to workers.

– Support business development of women-run MSEs, through access to business development services, financial services, marketing, technical training, coaching and mentoring and access to business incubators;

– Strengthen business association formation among women-run MSEs;

– Strengthen incentives to formalisation through support to Government to provide financial and non-financial incentives to MSEs; and

– Strengthen MSE’s awareness of formalisation –costs and benefits and support gradual transitions to formalisation

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Involves - Practical programs that replicate GoI (PNPM) funding modalities and community empowerment mechanisms with linkages to and capacity building of business development service providers (BDSPs)

Two programs-

1) East Java – (where local BDS capacity is strong) direct interventions by established local business development service provider

2) North Sumatra – (where local BDS capacity is weak) capacity building of local business development service providers, followed by direct interventions

Pilots to focus on urban & peri-urban areas initially. Potential to pilot in rural areas

North Sumatra - Kota Medan, Deli Serdang and Serdang Bedagai.

East Java - Malang, Sidoarjo, Surabaya and Kota Malang. 7

1. Project approach (cont)

2. Homeworkers • Poor working conditions (exploitative employment

relations) involving OHS risks, child labour, bonded labour, long working hours and substandard wages

• Lack of awareness of rights and legal

protection and support programs

• No social protection

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Relative isolation, invisibility & widespread poverty makes it difficult to organise, bargain or advocate for better conditions and protection

2. Project approach Strengthen working conditions and social protection through –

• Capacity building support to MWPRI and women’s organisations to organise and better represent and promote rights of homeworkers (including transition from NGO-type support to membership based organisation)

• Supporting organisation, leadership and establishment of sustainable practical solutions (establishment of coops to provide social, financial and other services; alternative income generation support and increasing employment opportunities; legal literacy; leadership)

• Strengthen capacity of trade unions to represent homeworkers and linkages with informal workers; strengthen representation and leadership of women in unions

• National level support 9

3. Private sector Challenges to achieving women’s equality persist -

• Business case for gender equality is not readily understood or known

• Practice of outsourcing work to homeworkers promotes a ‘race to the bottom’ among employers

• Practice or putting-out with poor and unmonitored working conditions for homeworkers presents challenges for international brands and companies seeking to invest in Indonesia

• Violations of the Manpower Act in relation to maternity protection and sexual harassment, pay equity are common

• Costs of hiring women are higher vis-à-vis men – can present disincentives to hire women, particularly at night

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3. Project approach • Partner with Apindo & international buyers to improve working

conditions of homeworkers in the putting-out system (Guidelines; finding win/win situations; policy discussions with GoI)

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•Partnership with Apindo will also -

• Support research on the effects of costs of hiring women on employers’ employment decisions

•Raise awareness on gender equality in employment

•Promote development of innovative services and facilities for women workers (for greater productivity, lower turnover and worker satisfaction)

4. Childcare facilities

• Women take on the bulk of family responsibilities – In areas where women cannot rely on family or friends to take care of

children, their employment opportunities are mostly limited to informal employment

• Lack of childcare services identified as barrier to women’s participation in formal employment – particularly North Sumatra

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Establishing standard employment conditions for childcare workers will challenge the undervaluation of ‘typical’ women’s work and professionalize the industry

4. Project approach

• Support women’s groups (cooperatives or other social economy organisations) to establish childcare facilities and services through a sustainable user-pays business model

• Replicate GoI (PNPM) funding modalities and community engagement processes to develop services

Focus - developing a business model that will enable poor families in the community to access facilities.

North Sumatra – demand for childcare services was most evident in feasibility study (Kota Medan, Deli Serdang and Serdang Bedagai)

Greater exploration of demand is needed in East Java and other provinces

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5. National level • Support for strengthened policy and programs for-

– Homeworkers

• Data collection and research

• Legal status and law enforcement

– Home-based women-run MSEs

• Incentives for formalisation

• Programs to support business growth

– Non-discrimination in formal employment

• Legal review; awareness raising; advocacy

• Information sharing from pilot programs

• Tripartite plus dialogue on gender issues in employment

• Media training

• Supporting legal aid providers in representing discrimination cases

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