Equitas’ Migrant Workers Program addresses the specific needs of both government officials and non-governmental organizations to understand and be able to apply international human rights standards to promote and protect the rights of migrant workers, particularly women. While activities have focused in the Asia-Pacific region, Equitas has also worked on migration issues in Canada and in other regions. The program began with a workshop for organizations concerned about migrant workers in the Asia-Pacific in 1997 that resulted in recommendations that Equitas pay particular attention to the rights of women migrants and also explore opportunities to build the capacity of government service providers to protect migrant workers.

Some Results

• Equitas trained approximately 29 trainers from 26 organizations in 12 countries in the Asia-Pacific region to raise awareness of the rights of women migrant workers

• Equitas and its partners developed specialized education materials, such as The UN Road Map, to enable civil society organizations and government officials to better understand and make use of the international framework to protect women migrant workers

• Equitas provided training for 126 government officials (labour attachés, etc) and fostered closer cooperation between government and civil society

Current Activities

Every year a number of organizations working on migration issues from around the world attend Equitas’ annual International Human Rights Training Program. Equitas continues to stay in touch with these alumni and its partners to explore how its expertise can help make their work more effective.