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HomeNet SEA Subregional Assembly 2005

Towards Strengthening Homeworkers' Networks

Homeworker-members from Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia and Lao P.D.R. renewed ties with sister HomeNets at the Southeast Asia Regional Assembly held at the Asia Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand on 22 - 23 October  2005. The approval of Homenet SEA's Constitution and By-Laws, the election  of officers and members of the subregional council, and the joint mapping of future plans and directions for year 2006 at the subregional level were the highlights of the Assembly.

The Constitution and By-Laws of HomeNet SEA will be registered in Manila. As agreed upon during Assembly, the format and other requirements relative to its registration must conform with  Philippine law. Below is an excerpt from HomeNet SEA's Vision - Mission statements:

Vision

The empowered homeworkers realize their economic, political, and social rights through the strengthening of their 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.

For year 2006, the plans and directions of HomeNet SEA were  discussed during the Subregional Assembly, summarized below as:

• Towards the Legal Establishment of HomeNet SEA
  HomeNet SEA will soon acquire a legal personality as its approved Constitution and By-laws will be registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in Manila, Philippines.
  
• Organizing Expansion
  Group formation and strengthening of mass-based groups have been the thrust of PATAMABA (Philippines), HomeNet Indonesia, and HomeNet Thailand in pursuance of expanding the organization of homeworkers' networks. Being eyed for affiliation are groups in Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, (PATAMABA had preliminary talks with some women leaders from Vietnam, and  Homenet Thailand will establish linkages with Cambodian groups, as it has done with Laotian groups).
  
• Capability Building and Strengthening
  HomeNet South Asia will conduct an institutional-building workshop at the national coordinators' level in New Delhi in the first quarter of 2006. Homenet SEA has been invited to send one participant from each country. National Homenets will continue conducting capability building programs as part of strengthening their networks.
  
• Resource Mobilization
  With UNIFEM and Oxfam programs about to end in 2006, alternative sources of funding and possibilities of establishing linkages with NGOs sharing the same vision as HomeNet SEA's must be explored.
  
• Knowledge Sharing
  There will be a subregional workshop on fair trade and marketing in Manila sometime October 2006 to coincide with the annual meeting of the Subregional Council. The Homenet Southeast Asia Newsmagazine will continue to come out twice a year and the website will be updated on a quarterly basis.
  
• Policy Advocacy
  National HomeNets will work jointly on the following issues: Approval of ILO Convention 177 on Homework ; Country Program and the Magna Carta for the Informal Sector (in the case of the Philippines); Labor Protection Laws (advocacy and campaigns for the coverage of informal workers and homebased workers); Ministerial Regulation to Protect Homeworkers (heighten and if possible, dramatize campaigns in order to attract the attention of lawmakers and governments); Statistical Visibility (to push for the inclusion of homeworkers in national statistics); Microfinance (continuous networking with various institutions for provision of microfinance services to homeworkers) ; Child Care (advocacy for longer time of child care so that women can perform homebased work in a safe manner without hazard to the child); Fair Trade for informal workers in the context of the WTO (to prepare a position paper for the WTO ministerial meeting, with the theme "make trade work for people, and not  against the poor").