in Bangkok PSI Advocates for Health Workers' Rights at UN Asia & Pacific SDG Review
Community Health Workers in NepalGovernments from the Asia & Pacific region came together at the UN in Bangkok for a ministerial meeting to review a decade of progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals. PSI and ITUC-AP worked together with labour rights groups to ensure workers demands were heard.
Kate Lappin
The ten year review conducted by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific is damning. None of the goals are on track to be achieved and some of the targets have not only failed to progress, they have regressed. One clear example is that the target to improve labour rights has regressed, another devastating failure is the climate goal with carbon emissions rapidly going in the wrong direction.
PSI was selected to speak in the first panel of the intergovernmental meeting (click here to watch the video) on the theme of promoting productive employment, gender equality and health in the workforce.
PSI’s Regional Secretary Kate Lappin spoke about the significant benefits that unionizing health workers deliver to workers, public health, gender equality and the reduction of inequalities. We highlighted the important achievements of affiliates in Pakistan, Nepal, Australia and the Philippines in unionizing women health and care workers, gaining recognition and wages, closing the gender pay gap and securing migrant workers rights.
The ILO, ITUC and PSI organized a side event on Decent Work as a Pathway to Development Justice and presented the Community Health Workers video from Nepal.
Video
CHWs, more commonly known as Female Community Health Volunteers (FCHVs) in Nepal, is a workforce that comprises solely of women who are frontline health workers. They play a crucial role in providing essential healthcare services to underserved communities and serve as the link between the community and government health services.
Struggle and Triumph of Nepal's Community Health Workers
We also took the opportunity to meet the newly appointed Regional Director of the ILO Regional Office, Kaori Nakamura-Osaka, to share the challenges of affiliates and establish ongoing dialogue with Global Unions in the region.
We spoke at the joint UN Environment Programme event on Gender Just Energy Policies, emphasizing the gendered risks of privatisation and the role public energy systems play in advancing gender equality. We also spoke at the People’s Forum that preceded the meeting and helped draft the joint statement of the Forum presented to governments.