A Seminar on Promoting Decent Work in the Care Economy in Thailand will be held by the International Labor Organization at the Amari Watergate, Bangkok on May 18, 2023. Dr.Sopon Pornchokchai, President, Agency for Real Estate Affairs and an executive director of the Employers’ Confederation of Thailand is invited to join.

 

There is a strong investment case to fill the care policy gaps through transformative care policy packages that are adapted to the specific needs and context of Thailand and that align with the ILO 5R Framework for Decent Care Work, so everyone would gain. Investing in care policies and services could generate approximately 300 million new jobs globally by 2035 (ILO,2022).

 

Care economy has an important role to play both in delivering on gender equality in the world of work, by investing in care policies and services to support workers to manage their work responsibilities alongside their care duties, and by generating more and better jobs to meet care demands. COVID-19 highlighted the importance of care – both paid and unpaid – and it also rendered visible the uneven share of unpaid care duties of women in particular, and pointed to the need for improved working conditions for paid care workers. 

 

The ILO’s Strengthening Capacity to Promote Gender-Responsive Investments in the Provision of Decent Care Services in Thailand Project works in collaboration with ILO constituents and other development partners with an integrated approach to investments in the care economy (childcare and long-term care), by addressing both the supply and demand sides, organizing policy dialogues on the gaps and opportunities in policies, investments, service provision, skills, and decent work. The project promotes the strategic need for investments in accessible, professional, affordable public care options and family-friendly workplace policies, while also promoting decent jobs in the care sector, with decent working conditions and social protection coverage for vulnerable care workers.

 

The objectives of the Project’s final workshop are as follows:

1. Share the project’s key outputs and knowledge products

2. Gather lessons learned, good practices and

3. Identify draft recommendations and next steps for promoting decent work in the care economy in Thailand

 

Participants

Representatives of key ministries, workers’ and employers’ organizations, multi-lateral organizations, and development partners are invited to this workshop to share their experiences and provide inputs.

 

Agenda

08.30 - 09.00 Registration

09.00 - 09.20 Opening remarks and welcome

09:20 - 10:00 Overview of the care project

10:00 - 10:30 Group Photo and Coffee/Tea

10:30 - 12:00 Key lessons and recommendations for next steps among different groups:

                 1. Skills for care workers

                 2. Policy recommendations and strategy on care (childcare or long-term care)

                 3. Care workers organizing and representing

                 4. Employers and work-family balance measures

                 5. Social protection for care workers

12:00 - 13:00 Lunch

13:00 - 14:30 Policy Panel with Ministries

14:30 - 15:30 Refinement of draft recommendations by stakeholders

15:30 - 16:00 Coffee break

16:00 - 16:45 Comments on draft recommendations by Tripartite stakeholders

16:45 - 17:00 Next steps and closing and End of workshop