PHM-Exch> [PHM NEWS]Joint Statement for World Day for Safety and Health at Work 2019

[Claudio Schuftan]

From: Pei Ching Chuah <peiching.chuah at waba.org.my>

*Joint Statement for World Day for Safety and Health at Work*
28 April 2019

*Advancing Support for Women to Combine their Productive and Reproductive
Roles Including Breastfeeding in the Informal Economy
<http://waba.org.my/advancing-support-for-women-to-combine-their-productive-and-reproductive-roles-including-breastfeeding-in-the-informal-economy/>*



The *World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action*
<https://waba.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9c4737de875c6fa12b87991e8&id=4d1ff767b3&e=858833e631>
(WABA)
and *People’s Health Movement *
<https://waba.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9c4737de875c6fa12b87991e8&id=ef8fef9d66&e=858833e631>(PHM)
call for the safety and health of women in the informal economy. The World
Day for Safety and Health at Work this year attempts to take stock of 100
years of work in improving occupational safety and health and looks to the
future for continuing and enhancing these efforts. Worldwide, legislation
concerning maternity protection at work usually only benefits women workers
belonging to the formal economy. Although the *International Labour
Organization’s (ILO) Maternity Protection Convention*
<https://waba.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9c4737de875c6fa12b87991e8&id=76f12e2e82&e=858833e631>,
2000 (No. 183) applies to all employed women, including those in atypical
forms of dependent work, the scope may not cover all categories of workers.
Women working in the informal economy may be one such category of workers.



It is important to focus attention on the informal economy, because it
occupies workers worldwide both in rural and urban areas of both developing
and industrialised countries, in a wide variety of work settings e.g.
retail, mining, clothing, agriculture and manufacturing. More than half [1]
of the global workforce make a living in the informal economy and are not
covered by formal social protection policies. Informal employment can be
found everywhere, but is much more common in low- and middle-income
countries, and particularly among women.



Only one in four employed women around the globe and one in ten employed
women in Africa and Asia receive paid maternity leave. Workers in the
informal economy face many barriers to breastfeeding such as living far
from work, long working hours without breaks, and dangerous work
environments. Breastfeeding provides the best nutrition and care for babies
everywhere. For all families, especially in situations characterised by
poverty, lack of adequate clean water, and poor sanitation, exclusive
breastfeeding for the first six months with continued breastfeeding along
with appropriate complementary foods up to two years of age or beyond, help
to ensure the safety and health of children. Scaling up optimal
breastfeeding, according to the universal recommendations, could prevent
more than 823 000 child and 20 000 maternal deaths each year.  Not
breastfeeding is also associated with lower intelligence and results in
economic losses of about $302 billion annually worldwide.[2]



Ensuring effective universal maternity coverage should be a priority,
especially in countries where the informal economy accounts for a large
proportion of the workforce. Development is also needed at the national
level to ensure a suitable infrastructure of support for accessing health
care and to identify mechanisms for funding maternity leave by social
insurance or public funds. Informal economy employers tend to have limited
awareness about safety and protection issues of pregnant workers and
breastfeeding mothers. Showcasing of successful policy models, best
practices, and coping strategies can help employers and policy-makers to
identify suitable solutions that can be adjusted to the relevant context.

On this day, we make an urgent call to all policy-makers, employers, trade
unions, civil society organisations, and communities to collectively
advance support for women to combine their productive and reproductive
roles in the informal economy by:

· Reviewing national laws and ensuring that workers in the informal economy
are recognised and protected as workers.

· Identifying solutions for workplace maternity support that includes
breastfeeding support for all women.

· Raising awareness amongst women on maternity protection and facilitating
peer-to-peer support.


*Example from Ghana*
A study [3] on maternity protection at work in Ghana included the case of
an informal market in Accra, that had a crèche and a pre-school on site.
This crèche/school was used by the market traders and catered for children
aged 1.5 to 5 years. It was provided by the association of market traders
and funded through the market association (membership fees, fines, etc.).
The crèche allowed women to continue their work when their children had
reached an age where they were more likely to run around and the market had
become unsafe for them. Mothers carried their younger children in a cloth
on their backs and thereby combined work and care, including breastfeeding.
Another case was a weaving business where both the employer and her
apprentices brought their babies to work and breastfed when necessary.
Older children were attending school nearby and would come after school to
help look after their younger siblings.



*Example from India*

The Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), a trade union for low-income
working women founded in India in 1972, now has two million members and
worldwide influence. The Union’s main goals involved organising workers
once deemed “impossible to organise” and fighting for better working
conditions. Just by collectivising and organising, workers have been able
to get higher than the government-regulated minimum wage. One of the main
achievements of SEWA over the past forty years has also been the creation
of a network of crèches providing childcare for its members. This
grassroots initiative is affordable and flexible, community led, and
controlled by its members. It also offers skills training and other
opportunities, and insists on decent wages and protections for full-time
employees.



#WABA  #breastfeeding # #ILOFutureofWork #MaternityProtection
#EmpoweringParentsCampaign #WBW2019 #PeoplesHealthMovement #informaleconomy
#WorldDayforSafetyandHealthatwork



For more information, contact:
Revathi Ramachandran (WABA) : *revathi at waba.org.my* <revathi at waba.org.my>
Claudio Schuftan on behalf of the People’s Health Movement (PHM):
*schuftan at gmail.com* <schuftan at gmail.com>
Bianca Stumbitz, Technical Advisor, Middlesex University:
*B.Stumbitz at mdx.ac.uk* <B.Stumbitz at mdx.ac.uk>



*References:*


*[1]*
<https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#m_-8742876700280808991_m_2760832491910981744__ftnref1>
ILO
(2018a). Women and Men in the Informal Economy. A Statistical Picture, 3rd ed.
Geneva: International Labour Office. Available at:
*https://www.ilo.org/global/publications/books/WCMS_626831/lang--en/index.htm*
<https://waba.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9c4737de875c6fa12b87991e8&id=f2b9b86f97&e=858833e631>
*[2]*
<https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#m_-8742876700280808991_m_2760832491910981744__ftnref2>
Rollins,
N. C., Bhandari, N., Hajeebhoy, N., Horton, S., Lutter, C. K., Martines, J.
C., Piwoz, E. G., Richter, L. M., Victora, C. G. (2016). Why invest, and
what it will take to improve breastfeeding practices? The Lancet,
387(10017), 491-504
*[3]*
<https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#m_-8742876700280808991_m_2760832491910981744__ftnref1>
Stumbitz,
B., Kyei, A, Lewis, S. and Lyon, F. (2017). The Legal, Policy and
Regulatory Environment Governing Maternity Protection and Workers with
Family Responsibilities in the Formal and Informal Economy of Ghana.
Geneva: ILO. ISBN: 978-92-2-131356-4. Available at:
*http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---gender/documents/publication/wcms_601900.pdf*
<https://waba.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9c4737de875c6fa12b87991e8&id=21921c1f31&e=858833e631>




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