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From Manila to Bangkok to Sydney

New Homenet SEA Book on Social Protection Comes Out ... and Travels

A 320-page Homenet Southeast Asia publication entitled Social Protection for Homebased Workers in Thailand and the Philippines came out just in time for a soft launching at the workshop on “Social Protection in Asia” jointly organized by the Ford Foundation and the Thai Development Research Institute (TDRI) in Bangkok, Thailand 14-17 May.

Authored by Donna L. Doane, Rosalinda Pineda Ofreneo, Benja Jirapatpimol and the research teams of PATAMABA and Homenet Thailand, the book was based on the results of a three-year research involving large surveys, case studies, life stories and interviews of homebased workers in the two countries involved.

The intent of the study was to analyze the circumstances of homebased workers in Thailand and the Philippines, and explore how individuals and organizations of informal homebased workers have responded to problems of growing insecurity, risk and vulnerability. A number of promising social protection schemes – on the community, local and national levels – are examined to see what appears to be “working,” what is apparently not working, and why this is so. The study also indicates what the homebased workers interviewed see as steps that can be taken in the future to deal with these substantial problems.

This research was undertaken based on HomeNet South East Asia’s and HomeNet South Asia’s perception that the circumstances and views of homebased workers – and poor homebased women workers in particular – are not well recognized or understood, especially with regard to the growing sense of vulnerability and insecurity that they face. This vulnerability is particularly intense in times of economic downturns or economic turmoil, but for the poor, economic and social turmoil has now become a regular part of their existence, particularly with globalization and the rapid economic “booms” and “busts” of recent years.

In the Bangkok workshop facilitated by Naila Kabeer and Sarah Cook, researchers from Thailand, Philippines, China, India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, South Africa, and the UK presented their insights on the following themes: vulnerability, poverty, and social protection; health provision and financing for the poor; targeting of social protection, demographic and family issues in social protection, social security for the chronic and ultra poor, expanding and coordinating social protection programs by governments in the region, future challenges and possible next steps.

Homenet Southeast Asia was represented in the workshop by Donna Doane, Rosalinda Pineda Ofreneo, Boonsom Namsomboon, and Daonoi Srikajon.

Homenet SEA joins IAFFE Conference

In the Annual Conference of the International Association for Feminist Economics (IAFFE) held in Sydney, Australia 7-9 July, Homenet Southeast Asia Regional Coordinator Rosalinda Pineda Ofreneo again presented the network’s newly published book in a panel on social protection.

The conference was attended by academics and advocates from Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Latin America, East and Southeast and South Asia.

Homenet Southeast Asia took the initiative to organize a panel on social protection to present the results of country studies in the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, and India. Shraya Bhattacharya from the Institute of Social Studies and Trust in India represented Homenet South Asia.

ILAPI Colloquium

Back in Manila, results of the Philippine study on community-based initiative featured in the new book were again presented by Dr. Ofreneo in a colloquium on "Workers Portection in the Informal Economy Through Occupational Safety and Health, Social Health Insurance Coverage and Self-Help Schemes in Social Protection" sponsored by the ILO Association of the Philippines at the ILO Conference Room 3 July 2006.

Other speakers included representatives of PhilHealth, Dept. of Labor and Employment, Occupational Safety and Health Center and ILO-SEARCO.