The Ship to Shore Rights South East Asia programme reached peak implementation during 2023, firmly establishing itself as the flagship United Nations initiative addressing safe migration and decent work in the fishing and seafood processing sectors.
Major regional policy platforms were supported to advance social dialogue and develop declarations and guidelines on protection of migrant fishers in collaboration with ASEAN. New initiatives to establish and strengthen multi-disciplinary approaches to labour inspection were enabled. An array of operational tools were institutionalized to support identification, referral and protection of human trafficking survivors.
In addition, the scope and capacity of migrant worker resource centres managed by governments, trade unions and civil society organizations was scaled up dramatically to expand access to services and empower migrant fishing and seafood processing workers. Large-scale information campaigns were conducted, leveraging the power of social media to reach millions of migrant workers across the South East Asian Region.
Nevertheless, significant new contextual challenges also emerged within the region during the last year, which highlight the need for sustained intervention on labour standards and migration governance. In the coming year, the Ship to Shore Rights South East Asia programme will seek to fully capitalize on the progress achieved to date and galvanize its impact on improving working conditions for migrants in the fishing and seafood processing sectors.
