In Southeast Asia, there are national homebased workers' networks - HomeNets - in Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines. They emerged as part of a major subregional project undertaken from 1988 to 1996 by the International Labor Organization (ILO) and funded by DANIDA.

HomeNet Thailand now serves 6,637 homebased producers and homeworkers (5, 031 females and 1,606 males) , as well as concerned NGOs in four regional networks located in the Northeast, the North, the South and Central Bangkok. In the Philippines, the National Network of Informal Workers (PATAMABA), has a membership of more than 16,128 (15,805 women and 323 men) in 12 regions and 30 provinces in its formal registry. . In addition, the PATAMABA youth sector has been actively recruiting from among their ranks, and has reported a membership of at least 2,000. In Indonesia, MWPRI (or the National Network of Friends of Women Homeworkers) now has 25 collaborating NGOs. They are serving 19,248 homeworkers (12,609 of whom are subcontracted and 6,639 are self-employed) in six provinces. The MWPRI has been instrumental in the formation of HWPRI as an independent association of Indonesian women homeworkers.

A subregional network of the South East Asian groups grew out of the ILO-DANIDA initiative and was formalized in June 1997. HomeNet Southeast Asia, based in Manila, enables the three countries to coordinate their activities particularly in the area of advocacy work at subregional level. It is also exploring expansion to Indochina.

Vision

The empowered homeworkers realize their economic, political, and social rights through the strengthening of own organizations and networks, the improvement of their working and living conditions, the enjoyment of income and employment security, including social protection, and participation in governance related to homeworkers’ concerns.

Mission

To enable organized homeworkers to democratically run and manage institutionalized and self-sustaining organizations and networks at the sub-regional and national levels that will allow them to enjoy better working conditions and standards of living, attain higher income, steadier employment, and access to social protection; and to ensure that their issues and concerns are better addressed in the policies and programs of governments, international agencies, and civil society organizations, and that their representatives gain greater visibility and participation in various levels of governance, than when they were unorganized.