8th AROSP Biennial Meeting REPORT

AROSP2024- the 8th Biennial Meeting – REPORT

8th AROSP Biennial Meeting REPORT-Final 2 May 2024

By Van Thu Ha (AMRC) with inputs from Ye Yint (AMRC), Le Ut Tinh (CDI), Raquel Castillo (SPELL), Surendra Pratap (CWE), Eri Trinurini Adhi (ASEC), GVD.Tilakasiri (FTUDC) and Sanju Thapa Magar (Ageing Nepal)

The AROSP2024 biennial meeting was successfully organised by the AROSP coordination team plus with HomeNet South East Asia (HNSEA) as the host organiser in Bangkok Thailand during 1-3 April 2024.

There were 85 participants (37 men, 48 women) including 69 physical participants (43 women) and 16 online participants (5 women) from 40 local organisations and networks in 13 Asian countries including Bangladesh, Cambodia, Hong Kong (China), India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam, and 11 regional and international organisations and networks.

The 8th AROSP biennial meeting was held over 2 and a half days, with the following objectives 1) To get to know and better understand each other (between existing and new members); 2) To revisit the AROSP principles; 3) To develop a 4 year objective and revisit and scale up the AROSP Strategic and Financial planning. To discuss the 2 year plan of AROSP (including social protection campaign for Asia); 4) To share advocacy experiences among AROSP members; 5) To elect the AROSP steering committee, sub regional focal points and approval of new membership.

AROSP MEMBERSHIP.

In 2023, the AROSP coordination team decided to document the current AROSP membership and call for new membership applications via google form of confirmation and registration. As a result, we have 51 members and associates from 14 countries with 34 country organisations members, 10 country individuals associates, and 7 regional/ international organisations members and associates.

Among the members, some are NGOs, Trade unions or associations, networks, scholars, and activists. Several of them organise/ support specific workers groups including garment, construction, plantation, street vending, home-based, platform, entertainment and women workers; some focus on health, gender, culture, labour rights but all share a focus of social protection.

This is the first time AROSP existing members and new members meet F2F, therefore, we conducted several activities to create spaces for members to better understand each other. One of those is the Galary Walk in the first April evening, facilitated by Raquel and Om, where organisations displayed and shared their organisations’ products including awareness campaigns, advocacy, training and also livelihood products of informal workers. The other activity was a solidarity dinner on the 3rd April evening, where participants freely expressed their feelings about the Biennial meeting, labour movement songs and traditional songs and dances in their traditional dresses. In addition, the AROSP membership documented by the end of 2023 was introduced together with the introduction session in the first day morning and then was updated after the new AROSP membership applicants were approved in the third day morning, bringing ist membership from 51 by the end of 2023 to 57 members in April 2024, with 40 country organisations, 10 country individuals and 7 regional/ international organisations and individuals. More details on members profiles can be found in the AROSP Membership full April 2024 .

AROSP MEMBERSHIP FEE.

Total amount collected from 41 members by 3 April 2024 is 1,975USD (more details in: AROSP membership fee 2024)

AROSP VOTING TO APPLY FOR MEMBERSHIP OF THE GLOBAL COALITION ON SOCIAL PROTECTION FLOOR (GC-SPF).

Via the google form by 2 April we got 43 out of 51 members voted for AROSP being a member of the GC-SPF and 100% of participants in the AROSP2024 Biennial Meeting agreed with no objection.

AROSP APPROVAL FOR NEW MEMBERSHIP.

All participants accepted the new membership of 6 following applicants:

Homenet Pakistan (HNP).
Social Protection Civil Society Network (SPCSN)- Nepal
Mr (Dr) Jagat Patnaik ( Asia Regional Head of Country Engagement, ActionAid International (AAI)
Coalition of Cambodian Farmers Community- CCFC
PATAMABA Workers in the Informal Sector Enterprise (WISE)
Lakas kababaihan para sa sambayanan

New AROSP Membership applicants profiles

AROSP STEERING COMMITTEE ELECTION.

Facilitated by The Election Committee of AROSP, including Dr. Vijaya Kumar, president, Lanka Estate Workers’ Union (LEWU), Sri Lanka, EC lead; Dr. Eri Trinuriti Adhi, Chair, Asean Solidarity Economy Council (ASEC), Indonesia, EC member; and Dr. Angie Ngoc Tran-CSU Monterey Bay, EC member.

The Election Committee’s responsibilities include: 1) sending out instructions for AROSP members to nominate candidates for focal persons of each sub-region and sub-group. The EC will provide the list of eligible candidates for all voters including a list of AROSP SEA sub-region; AROSP SA sub-region; AROSP-EA sub-region; and AROSP sub group of international/regional members: 1st week of Mar; 2) collecting online nominees from AROSP members: before 1st April 2024; 3) making a list of nominees ready for election; and 4) facilitating the election process within 2 hours on the 3rd April AM (more details in ToR for the Election Team)

The Steering Committee was successfully elected with following members:

South Asian Sub-Region:

Surendra Pratap (CWE, India)
Om Thapaliya, (HNN, Nepal)
Saki Rezwana (OSHE, Bangladesh)

South East Asian Sub-Region:

Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions (CATU, Cambodia)
Anwar Sastro Maruf (KPRI, Indonesia)
Rochelle Porras (EILER, Philippines)

East Asian Sub-Region:

HongKong Social Security Society (HKSSS, Hong Kong)

International Sub-Group:

Asia Monitor Resource Centre
Homenet South East Asia
Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO): on hold: need to get approval from WIEGO

The Steering Committee will select the AROSP Coordinator among them and will inform the AROSP members later.

(more details in the link below)

INFORMATION AND KNOWLEDGE SHARING.

AROSP members share social protection related information via different channels including research, newsletter, webinar, workshop. There always has a session on context update and discussion in any AROSP meetings. In the last few years, we monitored the countries’ COVID-19 impact on workers livelihood and COVID-19 responsive grassroots modalities, social protection systems and update at country level, reflection on digital technology and the understanding of social and solidarity economy, deepening our understanding on social-protection-related issues in the Agri-food sector in Asia especially the labour rights issues along the supply chains, the agro-industrial production model and global systemic food crisis, and maternity protection. In this AROSP meeting, we continued to richen our understanding on concerned issues raised by the members.

Five thematic topics were discussed in the 1st April PM, including:

Just Transition, climate emergency

Objective: understanding on just transition, to create and push forward our agenda on social protection in the process of transition.

Resource person:

Ahmad Ashove Birry – Trend Asia (Indonesia): Climate Change-Climate Crisis-Climate Emergency

Prof. Rene Ofreneo Phil: Just Transition in Asia

Complementor: Saki Rezwana (OSHE Bangladesh)

Moderator: Anwar Sastro Maruf

Digitalization and Social Assistance

Objective: awareness raising and building our position on the issue.

Resource person: Mr. Wilfred Silava: Digitalization and Social Assistance

Moderator- Dr.GVD.Tilakasiri (FTUDC, Sri Lanka), Riski estrada (AFWA, Indonesia) and Sanju Thapa Magar (Ageing Nepal)

From the topic of Digitalization and Social Assistance, the discussion provided some good conclusions including:

Negative effects

Internet services and gadgets are expensive and not affordable to all in developing countries. So it can exclude certain people.
It cannot be utilised by illiterate people whereas the majority of older people are basic utility programs also difficult in developing countries.
Doubt in data protection and it violates human rights.
No mechanism of monitoring and evaluation so there is a monopoly is maintained by the private companies

Digitalisation voluntarily exploits users through the different apps and online programme

Positive effects

Useful to provide the fastest service delivery in remote areas
Corruption can be traced by the accountability and transparency rules.
Digitalisation can initiate standard processes which can be also replicable in different countries
It helps to provide medical assistance for the betterment of public health
Digitalisation can promote social inclusiveness and take many advantages without any discrimination.
Improvement of low-cost production and supply chain benefits can be mobilised for social protection.
It could promote personalised skills which help to improve the quality and effectiveness of intervention.

(more details in the Thematic discussion on Digitalisation report )

Extension of social Protection to informal economy workers, migrant workers and informalized formal sector workers –

Objective: 1) Provide an overview of the situation and social protection needs of informal workers; 2) Discuss the gaps and challenges in expanding social protection for IE Workers the region; and 3) Identify solutions and discuss how AROSP members can work together.

Resource person: Suntaree SAeng-ging (HNSEA): Barriers-Challenges in Extending Social Security for Workers in the Informal Economy

Moderator: Aura Sevilla

Youth Unemployment and Labor Mobility.

Objective: 1) To dissect the multifaceted dimensions of youth unemployment and labor mobility within the regional context; and 2) Participants will comprehensively explore the current landscape, policies, barriers, and innovative solutions related to youth employment.

Resource person: Mr. Stefan Kuehn, Labor Economist, ILO Regional Office for Asia: Youth Unemployment and Labour Mobility-Key Trends in Asia and the Pacific

Moderators: Ye Yint (AMRC, Myanmar) and Le Ut Tinh (CDI, Vietnam)

From the topic of Youth Unemployment, the discussion provided some good conclusions including:

The session provided valuable insights into the challenges and potential solutions regarding youth unemployment in the Asia Pacific region and proved that people with a higher stake in the topic tend to participate more than those for whom the topic is irrelevant to their day-to-day lives.
As we move forward, it’s crucial to involve more young people in AROSP meetings to ensure that their interests are represented. It’s evident that different age groups have unique perspectives when it comes to addressing the challenges related to youth unemployment. By implementing a clear approach that encourages youth participation and representation, we can achieve a better understanding of the issues at hand and work towards finding effective solutions that take into account different generational perspectives.
Collaborative efforts involving governments, educational institutions, private sectors, and civil society must be carried out to implement effective strategies for youth employment and inclusive labour markets

(more details in the Thematic discussion on Youth Unemployment report )

social protection financing for universal Social Protection

Objectives: 1) To understand the state of play in Asia’s financing for universal social protection, and the biggest challenges that have emerged that impact on the resources being made available for it; 2) To learn about tools that can help CSOs and social movements to measure the financing gaps.

Resource person: Sayuri Okada UN ESCAP: Regional Perspectives on Financing Social Protection-Asia Pacific Overview

Complementors: Surendra Pratap, Rene Ofreneo

Moderator: Raquel Castillo (SPELL, Philippines)

ADVOCACY FOR UNIVERSAL SOCIAL PROTECTION-EXPERIENCE SHARING.

The Asian Roundtable on Social Protection (AROSP) was established nearly 15 years ago. Transformative Social Protection is the fundamental principle of AROSP, with “transformative” defined as the process of working to change structural poverty by addressing fiscal policies and power imbalances.

For the past several years, AROSP members have contributed to many achievements on the way toward transformative social protection. The first collection of grassroots modalities stories focusing on the success that organisations have had in advocating for social protection policy in Asia. Each story tells how the grassroots activists and their organisations succeed in advocacy campaigns seeking transformative social protection, and how workers were able to gain access to social protection. In this sharing session, we heard more stories from the ground. The sharing was the first step for us to document and prepare for the second collection of grassroots modalities stories that we expect to produce next year in 2025.

The Advocacy for Universal Social Protection Experience Sharing Session was moderated by Surendra Pratap and Eri Trinurini Adhi on 2nd April 2024 AM. There were 8 speakers shared in 2 Rounds (more details in the link below).

The session started with a sharing by Om Thapaliya (HNN) on An Experience of 16th Episode of WSF2024Nepal, where AROSP together with other 14 organisations organised four workshops on the thematic issue of Towards Universal Social Protection and declared a Joint Statement, following by country case studies sharing divided in to 2 rounds of presentations and plenary discussions.

Round 1 speakers::

Mr. Om Thapaliya (HNN, Nepal): A Case of Nepal – Role of CSO network toward Enactment of Social Security Law for Informal Sector Workers
Ms. Saki Rezwana (OSHE, Bangladesh): Social Pension Scheme in Bangladesh
Social Protection-A case study by HomeNet Pakistan, shared by Ms. Ume Laila Azhar (HNP, Pakistan): Social Protection Case Study of Homebased Workers in Pakistan
Gujarat Construction Workers Social Protection Case study, shared by Mr. Vipul Pandya (BMS, India): Gujarat Construction Workers Social Protection Case Study

Round 2 speakers:

Social protection network success in expanding the NSSF to the Cambodian informal workers, shared by Ms. Sophal Ken, IDEA, Cambodia: Expanding the NSSF to the Cambodian Informal Workers
Ms. Tsz Yan Leung (HKWWA, Hong Kong): Policy for Carer of the Family in Hong Kong-more than 10 years experience of HKWWA struggle
Mr. Leong Pou Lam (HKSSS, Hong Kong): Advocacy and Networking in China-Advocacy and Networking in China-Lessons
Mr. Li, Hong Kong: Actions of Migrant Workers Pension Rights

All presenters have shared the progress and success story of the advocacy related to social protection in their country and the process of their organisation to contribute to its success.
It is really not an easy advocacy, particularly for East Asia, where the form of democracy in China is quite restricted. However, we can learn the strategy of advocacy of each country to promote and contribute the solution for their beneficiaries.
Some Key takeaways from Case Study: (1) We need strong commitment to labour justice, (2) Overcoming fragmentation of informal workers. (3) Strategies and Tactics, (4) How to deal with government

THE AROSP STRATEGY UPDATE 2024-2026.

In the AROSP Planning Session led by Aura and Rizki, the participants reviewed the AROSP strategy plan developed in the last AROSP2022 Biennial Meeting, and brainstormed to build up a plan for the period of 2024-2026, then went through the AROSP planning results consolidated by Aura with following objective and outcomes and possible activities:

Objective: AROSP is recognized as a strong and effective network representing the voice of working people in Asia

Outcomes:

AROSP effectively engage with UN and intergovernmental bodies and national authorities;
AROSP has the capacity and is taking action to engage and influence policymakers at the national, regional, and global level;
Research is used to inform and influence the debate on Social Protection for Working People in Asia;
AROSP undertake joint regional advocacy and campaign on key Social Protection issues for working people;
AROSP membership are strengthened and allies are increased

The outcomes were developed following the five core strategic areas that AROSP has developed since 2022, including 1) Research Development & Knowledge Management; 2) Capacity Building; 3) Advocacy and Campaigns; 4) Change Practices; and 5) Networking, Partnership and Collaboration.

Activities:

Outcome	Activities to achieve the outcome
Outcome 1: AROSP effectively engage with UN and intergovernmental bodies and national authorities;	Registration/ Accreditation at UN bodies and regional intergovernmental bodies such as ASEAN Organize a regional forum on Social Protection for Workers in the Informal Economy Dialogue with Social Security and Labour Ministries at country level and ASEAN SLOM/SOMSWD/ASSA Participation and representation at related UN and intergovernmental events (e.g APFSD, Committee on Social Development)
Outcome 2: AROSP has the capacity and is taking action to engage and influence policymakers at the national, regional, and global level;	Negotiation Training for Workers in the Informal Economy Workshop on Social Solidarity Economy Practices Training of Trainers on Social Protection for Working Age Online Learning Session on Thematic Areas: Youth, Workers in the Informal Economy, Digitalization, Climate Change and Just Transition, and Financing Social Protection
Outcome 3: Research is used to inform and influence the debate on Social Protection for Working People in Asia;	Develop and finalize the research agenda on proposed topics: Inclusive and Effective Social Protection for Workers in the Informal Economy (best practices and cross-country comparison) Problem of social protection in adverse condition Budgetary analysis to create strong argument for SP Reviewing the Social Security for informal workers from the worker’s perspective Improving the evidence on the access to Social Protection (both SI and SA) for informal workers Develop policy briefs and organize research forums
Outcome 4: AROSP undertake joint regional advocacy and campaign on key Social Protection issues for working people;	Develop advocacy and campaign materials on Social Protection, particularly on the following: Maternity Protection (South Asia) Ratifications of related ILO Conventions Promoting the transparency on SP Financing Wealth tax for Financing for SP Comprehensive minimum wage and living wage Submit shadow or alternative reports on the status of SP for workers at different engagement spaces (e.g UN, CEDAW, APFSD, ASEAN/APF) Join or organize side events (e.g WSF) Regular publication of AROSP Newsletter and enhance reach
Outcome 5: AROSP membership are strengthened and allies are increased	Continued engagement at ASEAN People’s Forum (Southeast Asia) Enhance coordination at country level among AROSP Members Closer working relationship with trade unions Link activities and campaigns with global networks (e.g Global Social Protection Floors) Recruitment (?) Regular meetings of sub-regional committee (?)