APWLD Feminist Participatory Action Research (FPAR) on Human Rights of Women Migrants 2022-2024

Building knowledge and movement from the ground up: Women migrants fight for human rights and migration justice

 

Deadline: Sunday, 24 July 2022

 

APWLD invites women migrants, migrants’ groups, organisations and trade unions in Asia and the Pacific to take part in the Migration Feminist Participatory Action Research (FPAR) that aims to strengthen the evidence-based advocacy and orgainsing power of women migrants and their organisations. Through the course of our FPAR journey, APWLD and the partners will investigate and document the situation and the challenges faced by women migrants in the face of the political, economic and health crisis. The FPAR will also facilitate the partners to develop plans to demand system change for human rights of women migrants and migration justice.

 

Background

During the past two years, human mobility and migration patterns have undergone profound changes. There were over three (3) million migrants stranded outside their countries of residence, who wanted to return home but were unable to do so due to extensive COVID-19 pandemic related travel restrictions. On the other hand, we have also witnessed a significant increase in internal displacement around the world as a result of disasters, conflicts and violence around the globe. In 2021 alone, 40.5 million people have been displaced around the world, an increase from 31.5 million. The political, economic, climate and health crisis has created this unprecedented phenomenon in migration.

This paradox reveals the accumulation and exacerbation of inequalities – neoliberalism, fundamentalisms, militarism and patriarchy constructed an entrenched system to benefit the wealthiest and strengthens the oligarchy across the region. Governments across Asia and the Pacific have continuously strengthened their neoliberal agenda by pursuing market liberalisation, deregulation and privatisation in all aspects, to maintain a system that has sacrificed labour rights to attract capital investment, creating large numbers of working poor and marginalised social groups. Some of whom, especially women in poverty have no choice but to seek solutions to their impoverishment through migration.

In fact, women migrants in particular bear the cost of this dominant model of market-driven development. They are usually in low-paid insecure jobs in the informal economy, excluded from the protection of labour laws and unable to realise their fundamental human rights. Women migrant’s pay and status do not reflect the importance of caregiving and the contribution caregivers make to the economy by freeing up other people from their caregiving responsibilities to pursue more lucrative careers away from home. Even worse, women migrants are often subject to various labour rights violations – of the right to living wages and to make a dignified living (salary deduction for accommodation, uniforms, food, leave or work permits or non-payment of wages); of the right to safe and healthy working conditions (violence at the workplace); of the right to rest, leisure and reasonable limitation of working hours (long working hours without overtime payment, no rest days for months or years), and coupled with confiscation of their passports by their employers or agency.

In Asia and the Pacific, the right to freedom of association of migrants and their advocates are not recognised and protected in law and policies. With the rise of state violence and authoritarianism, migrant rights defenders are increasingly at risk. The crack downs on civil society, women human rights defenders and journalists have resulted in the targeting of migrant workers, union activists and NGO workers who speak out about labour rights violations or provide assistance to migrants and the journalists who research and report on these cases. It also has a chilling effect that may prevent migrants organisations and the advocate from continuing their work defending rights of migrants.

In order to challenge the systems that facilitate human rights violations and gendered power inequalities, APWLD and the FPAR partners will identify issues of concern and collect evidence to generate knowledge and inform collective advocacy to work towards structural change that will realise the human rights of migrant women and ensure a gender-just and right-based migration.

 

Please read our Concept Note for background and further details

Join the Migration Feminist Participatory Action Research

 Six to eight partner organisations will be selected to work with APWLD for 15 months (2022 – 2024) to investigate the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on migrant communities, in particular on the right of women migrants and their organisations to organise and form their association, as well as the consequences of COVID-19 on their right to decent work and work conditions in migrant communities.

APWLD will provide the selected organisations with a small grant to employ a young woman researcher and carry out the research including salary and on-costs with the maximum amount of US$ 14,000. Research partners will need to appoint a mentor to assist the young women researcher throughout the FPAR process.

APWLD will also support the young women researchers and their mentors to participate in capacity building workshops and provide advocacy or network opportunities.

 

Selection Criteria of the FPAR Partners:

APWLD will select women migrants organisations who will lead the FPAR on human rights of migrants in Asia and the Pacific. We are seeking non-governmental, non-profit, local or national groups, organisations, and trade unions. APWLD will consider the following when selecting the organisations for this process:

  • Sub-regional representation;
  • Recommendations/ references from APWLD members;
  • Diversity of migrants rights issues, concerns and advocacy priorities of women migrants groups, organisations and trade Unions in Asia and the Pacific.

 

Application

Interested organisations shall submit:

  • Completed Application Form
  • Budget proposal
  • Recommendation / reference letter from at least two other women’s or grassroots organisations (preferably from an APWLD member).

Please send completed forms by 24 July 2022 to kamei@apwld.org and risca@apwld.org or fax to +66(0)53 280 847. Please use the subject line: “Application – Migration FPAR 2022_name of your organisation”.