Safe and Fair Factsheet

Safe and Fair: Realizing women migrant workers’ rights and opportunities in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region is part of the Spotlight Initiative to eliminate violence against women and girls, a global, multi-year initiative between the European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN). Safe and Fair is implemented through a partnership between the ILO and UN Women (in collaboration with UNODC) with the overriding objective of ensuring that labour migration is safe and fair for all women in the ASEAN region.

Migration can be beneficial for all actors involved. Migrant women are able to access higher paid jobs, whilst increasing their agency and improving their position in the family and community. It is estimated that 63.9 Billion US Dollar were received in remittances in Southeast Asia in 2016. It is estimated that women’s remittances can make up half of this. The programme aims to strengthen labour migration governance and address risks inherent in migration systems that can result in violence and trafficking, strengthen rights-based and gender-responsive approaches to violence against women and labour migration governance and support access to essential services.