Empowerment of Women Migrant Workers in South Asia through Implementation of Standard Terms of Employment (STOE)

(May 2015- Dec 2018)

Puspa Kumari Gurung, running a home stay in Lwang Gaon, Nepal, serves dinner to the guests- a traditional Nepali thali that includes a chicken curry, spinach, lentils, potatoes, rice and chutney. Photo: Vidura Jang Bahadur

UN Women, with support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, is working in partnership with regional and national governments, private sector agencies, civil society actors and other UN agencies to promote and implement a standard terms of employment in order to prevent the exploitation of women migrant workers (particularly domestic workers) and to safeguard their rights.

The project aims to achieve the following results:

1. Increase the number of national governments engaged in discussing standard terms of employment for women migrant domestic workers;
2. Increase governments' awareness of policy frameworks on the role of recruitment/employment agencies to facilitate the implementation of standard terms of employment for women migrant domestic workers; and
3. Follow-up on global-level outcomes at the regional and national levels and ensure linkages at all levels.

The project focuses on improving working conditions for women migrant workers, especially in the informal sector. Furthermore, the project aims to formalize the conditions within and around domestic work in order to safeguard women's rights.