Showing posts with label Chea Sophal. Show all posts

29 December, 2016

Labour Rights and Trade Union

Labour Rights and Trade Union
By Sophal CHEA

ABSTRACT

Cambodian labor movements and labor rights are guaranteed by Cambodian laws. The Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia grants basic labor rights such as the right to choose employment, the right to form and join trade unions and the right to strike and engage in non-violent demonstrations. The Cambodian garment and footwear industry, which represents a large share of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), experienced tremendous growth over the last two decades. The union movement also witnessed a rapid growth, starting with just a few union federations registered with the Ministry of Labor in the late 1990s to a more complex structure of enterprise-level unions, union federations, and union alliances with different affiliations. This chapter aims to provide an analytical introduction to labor rights and trade unions in Cambodia, particularly in the garment and footwear sectors. It will also look into the legal framework of the trade union movement, the draft Trade Union Law, and constitutional framework of labor rights and trade unions. It examines the situation on the respect of labor rights and labor compliance for certain provisions.

The research methodology is based on desk and literature such as the Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Cambodian Labor Law, and ministerial regulations. Providing a review on literature, laws, and regulations, the chapter could potentially contribute to the understanding of basic labor rights and the respect of labor provisions in Cambodia. It will further enhance the knowledge on the differences among labor rights, as for example the right to strike, the right to collective bargaining, the right to choose employment and the right to form and join trade unions. Once the knowledge of relevant stakeholders and the public on these concepts is solid, labor disputes could mitigate and prevent them from turning into violent escalations, such as those that took place in later 2013 and 2014, which led to the death of workers and protesters. Having respect for the concepts and practices of labor rights would enhance the harmonization of industrial relations through social dialogue between trade unions and employers.

To read and download full article in PDF and the book published by KAS:

Cambodian Constitutional Law

29 June, 2013

Democratization through Foreign Aid Donors

20 March 2013

By Chea Sophal[1]

The Paris Peace Accords required international communities to assist Cambodia in reconstructing and restoring the country through the establishment of the International Committee on Reconstruction Cambodia (ICORC), whose mandate is to monitor and coordinate funds provided by international communities.

Cambodia’s donors pledged US$896.04 million in aid for developing the governance and administration sector from 1992 to 2011. From 2002-2011, donors disbursed and committed another US$959.35 million for this sector and they projected commitment for 2012-2014 of another US$212.50 million (CRDB/CDC 2011, p.47). The Human Rights Watch Report revealed that foreign assistance accounts for over 50 percent of Cambodia’s budget, yet donors have said little about Cambodia’s worsening human rights environment as part of the crucial element for democratic development in Cambodia (HRW 2012, p.5).

Academy on Social Security

By Chea Sophal
05 October 2012

Turin, Italy: Eighty-four participants around the globe attended a very comprehensive two-week Academy on Social Security at International Training Centre, Turin, Italy from 24 September -5 October 2012. It is a forum of sharing, exchanging and learning from each other on the experiences schemes put in place in the field of social security as well as social protection. One of the many primary objectives of the academy is to provide participants like social security managers, labour officials, and representatives from international organization with skills and knowledge on social security, social security schemes, social health protection, challenges faced in the social security systems, and the extension of social security to the informal sector from the ILO social security experts and a combination of resources persons from employers' and workers' organizations, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Institute of Development Studies, International Social Security Association, and University Professors.

The Academy ended today with the audience applauding the most-scored participants for each elective course (there are 16 elective courses in total) and those who got the top-five scores and followed by certificates giving ceremony to each delegation of the country. Each participant goes back home with a grand vision of intensively extending the knowledge and skills gained from the Academy with their concerned institution and acts as the ambassor to deliver the messages and to make the voice heard on social security. We hope can build strong connection among the participants from these countries and we know what to look and seek information for. Below are photos on the ceremony of giving certificate to each delegation of each country.

Five participants expressed the impressions of the Academy and highlighted key messages to bring back home.

Photos on Trip to Monaco and Nice

I had an opportunity to visit Monaco (Monte Carlo) and Nice on 30 September 2012 while taking part in the two-week academy on social security organized by the International Training Centre of the International Labour Organization in Turin, Italy. I wish to share some of photos on the view of Monaco, Monte Carlo Casino Square and Nice. This is part of the Excursion to Nice & Monte Carlo to discover the beauties of Monaco and French Riviera. There were about 50 participants who joined this trip and each of us paid 50 Euro for this bus trip.

Monaco is very close to Nice of France and about 16km from Italian border. According to the World Bank data, there are around 35,295 people in this city-state. This is the second smallest independent state in the world after Vatican City and it is only 1.95 square kilometers in area (read more on Monaco on the Encyclopedia of the Nations).

View of Monte Carlo (and Monaco) from the East

Workshop on the Development of ToR for Oversight Board and Workong Group of Sub-Decree No. 133

By Chea Sophal
20 January 2012

Phnom Penh, Ministry of Health (MoH) in collaboration World Health Organization organized half-day workshop to discuss and set up the terms of reference for the Oversight Board and Working Group on the implementation of the sub-decree No. 133 on Marketing of Product for Infant and Young Child Feeding on 20 January 2012 at Phnom Penh Hotel. The proposed working group will be chaired by H.E. Thir Kruy, Secretary of State, MoH, and members from all four line ministries-MoH, Ministry of Industry Mines and Energy (MIME), Ministry of Information (MoI), Ministry of Commerce (MoC), Council for Agricultural Rural Development, Drugs and Food Department, National Maternal and Child Health Centre, National Nutrition Program, WHO, Department of Hospital Services, UNICEF, and NGOS.

The Joint Prakas on Implementation of Sub-Decree on Marketing of Products for Infant and Young Child Feeding (MoH, MoC, MIME, and MoI) outlines the tasks for the Oversight Board as follows: - The Board shall meet quarterly; - To receive and consider reports on the implementation of the sub-decree from MoC, MoH, MIME, describing how they have fulfilled their obligations and responsibilities in terms of Articles 2 to 6 of this Joint Prakas;

- To receive reports from IOs, NGOs, health workers, and the general public regarding the processing of complaints of violations of the Sub-decree;

- To compile and disseminate, nationally and internationally, bi-annual reports on violations and actions taken to remedy them;

- To review annual progress achieved and constraints faced by department/program/centers within the MoC, MoH, MIME, and MoH in enforcing the Sub-decree and provide recommendations on how to improve them; and

- Request the Government, partners and donors organizations for seeking resources and funding to support the implementation.

Ms. Monique Mosolf pointed out that last year workshop was important to review the implementation of sun-decree 133, which restricts aggressive commercial marketing of infant formula and encourages companies that produce and sell infant products to provide timely and accurate information. The Government efforts to enforce the sub-decree helped contribute directly to improving early initiation of breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding rates, as evident by the results of the recent Cambodia Demographic Health Survey (CDHS) 2010. Improved breastfeeding, resulting from improved policies, contributes to the significant reduction of infant and child mortality we have witnessed in Cambodia in recent years.

Review Workshop of the Implementation and Enforcement of Sub-decree No. 133

By Chea Sophal
23 August 2011

Phnom Penh, Ministry of Health (MoH) in collaboration World Health Organization organized one day workshop to review the implementation and enforcement of the sub-decree No. 133 on Marketing of Product for Infant and Young Child Feeding on 23 August 2011 at Phnom Penh Hotel.

The workshop aims at:

- reviewing the implementation and enforcement of the Sub-Decree and Joint Prakas of all four line ministries-MoH, Ministry of Industry Mines and Energy (MIME), Ministry of Information (MoI), and Ministry of Commerce (MoC);

- identifying achievements, strengths and weaknesses and ways to improve the implementation and enforcement of the Sub-Decree and the Joint Prakas; and

- agreeing on recommendations and way forward for the improvement of the implementation and enforcement by the four line ministries and development partners.

Dr. Prak Sophonneary, Deputy Director of National Maternal and Child Health Centre (NMCHN), MoH, presented about the Nutrition Situation of Children in Cambodia focusing on undernourished children 0-59 months, key success factors for reducing child mortality from 2000 to 2010 due to immunization, vitamin A supplementation, breastfeeding, and improved socio-economic conditions.

Dr. Prak pointed out the successes in implementation of sub-decree via infant and young child feeding (IYCF) including the facility-based interventions on the establishments of Baby Friendly Hospital (BFH) Initiative (13 public hospitals out of 78 certified as BFH and Infant and Young Child Feeding integrated with HIV counseling) and Baby Friendly Community Initiative (more than 4,421 villages joined this initiative as of December 2010, out of more than 13,000 villages in Cambodia).

The challenges in the implementation and enforcement of the Sub-Decree include limited monitoring and enforcement of the violation of the Sub-Decree in all places; limited of the violation of the Sub-Decree in private and public health facilities; no widely received information related to violation of Sub-Decree from implementers and other development partners; and violation of Sub-Decree lead to misleading information that prevent good practice of IYCF.

Mr. Pich Chan, Deputy Director of Technical Affairs and Public Relation Department, Directorate-General of Camcontrol, MoC, expressed their roles and responsibilities, legislative support for law enforcement of Camcontrol, the import permit from MoH, Procedures of import goods, market surveillance on food safety and implementation of sub-decree No. 133, obstacles of implementation and enforcement of sub-decree no. 133, and proposed action plan to implement sub-decree no. 133.

The legal instruments for law enforcement of Camcontrol consist of Law on Management of Quality and Safety of Products and Services dated 21 June 2000, Law on Standard of Cambodia dated 24 June 2007, Sub-decree No. 21 Facilitating Trade Through Risk Management System dated 1 March 2006, Sub-decree No. 209 December 2007 promulgated the list of prohibited and restricted goods that are subject to border control, Sub-decree No. 47 on Food Hygiene for Human, Sub-decree No.133 on Marketing of Products for Infant and Young Child Feeding, Inter-Ministerial Prakas No. 61 on Implementation of Sub-decree No.133, and Inter-Ministerial Prakas No. 868 on Implementing and Coordination of Food Safety System from Farm to Table dated 22 October 2010.

Dr. Ou Kevanna, Manager of National Nutrition Programme, NMCHC, showed about the existing violations of the sub-decree no. 133 which include fake promotional messages, images, billboards, announcements, brand names for instance, "Frisolac-unique and complete balance of nutrients" , "Dumex- Bringing up brighter champions", "Raising an intelligent child is no longer a dream- Use Nan", "Lactogen.... good for brain, bones, and body", and "Meiji - Almost a Brest Milk...". However, the positive marketing practices following the Sub-decree 133 include promotion of breastfeeding is the best from birth to 2 years in local language, producing labels in Khmer, withdraw pictures of baby or attractive logos, and promotion of cup feeding instead of bottle feedings.

22 December, 2011

Links to the ILO Materials in Relations to MDG-F Joint Programme on Food Security and Nutrition in Cambodia

By Chea Sophal
22 December 2011

Links to the ILO Materials in Relations to MDG-F Joint Programme on Food Security and Nutrition in Cambodia

1. Researches and Studies

1.1 Informative Research on Women working in factories and maternal health-focus on the nutrition component (December 2010)

URL:http://www.betterfactories.org/content/documents/1/Women%20working%20in%20factories%20and%20manternal%20health-focus%20on%20the%20nutrition%20component.pdf

1.2 Study on the Perceptions of Garment Factory Owners on Nutrition and the Feasibility for Pursuing Canteen Service in the garment Sector in Cambodia (June 2012)

URL:http://www.betterfactories.org/content/documents/1/Cambodia%20Nutrition%20Canteen%20Survey%20(Eng).pdf

1.3 Practical challenges for maternity protection in the Cambodian garment industry (31 January 2013)

This report presents the results of research by the ILO on the practical challenges involved in ensuring maternity protection in the Cambodian garment industry. It is based on focus group interviews with workers employed in six garment factories and two footwear factories, and on one-on-one interviews with union representatives, factory managers and labour officials inspectors as well as a review of 49 relevant awards of Cambodia's Arbitration Council between 2003 and 2011.

URL (Eng): http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---asia/---ro-bangkok/---sro-bangkok/documents/publication/wcms_203802.pdf

URL (Kh): http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---asia/---ro-bangkok/---sro-bangkok/documents/publication/wcms_203799.pdf

2. ILO and the MDG-F Joint Programme

2.1 ILO and the MDG-F Joint Programme on Children, Food Security and Nutrition (Eng)

URL: http://www.betterfactories.org/content/documents/ILO%20BFC%20and%20MDG-F%20%28en%29.pdf

2.2 ILO and the MDG-F Joint Programme on Children, Food Security and Nutrition (Kh)

URL: http://www.betterfactories.org/content/documents/ILO%20BFC%20and%20MDG-F%20%28kh%29.pdf

3. Setting up Action Plan on Maternity Protection

3.1 Enterprises in Kampong Speu Setting up Action Plan on Maternity Protection at the Workplace (August 2010)

URL:http://www.betterfactories.org/content/documents/Events/consultative%20meeting%20on%20maternity%20protection.pdf

3.2 Enterprises in Svay Rieng Setting up Action Plan on Maternity Protection (September 2010)

URL:http://www.betterfactories.org/content/documents/events/Consultative%20Meeting%20in%20Svay%20Rieng%20Province.pdf

4. Maternal Health of Working Mothers in the Garment Sector

4.1 Launching the report on maternal health with the focus on nutrition (January 25, 2011)

URL:http://www.betterfactories.org/content/documents/events/Launching%20the%20report%20on%20maternal%20health%20with%20the%20focus%20on%20nutrition.pdf

5. Photo Collection and MDG-F Joint Programme

5.1 Photo Catalog (MDG-F)

URL: http://www.betterfactories.org/content/documents/MDG-F%20Photos%20Highlight.pdf

6. Newsletters Articles

6.1 Enterprise Representatives Set up Action Plan on Maternity Protection at the Workplace (BFC, Newsletter No.16, September 2010

URL:http://www.betterfactories.org/content/documents/1/Newsletter%20No_16_Eng.pdf

6.2 Women working in factories and maternal health-focus on the nutrition component (BFC, Newsletter No.17, March 2011)

URL:http://www.betterfactories.org/content/documents/1/Newslatter%20No.17%20%28Eng%29.pdf

6.3 Workshop on Occupational and Health for Provincial Labour Officials (BFC, Newsletter No.17, March 2011)

URL:http://www.betterfactories.org/content/documents/1/Newslatter%20No.17%20%28Eng%29.pdf

6.4 Breast milk expression helps working mother (page 3,Quarterly e-Newsletter of ILO Cambodia No.5, April-June 2012)

URL: http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---asia/---ro-bangkok/---sro-bangkok/documents/publication/wcms_185161.pdf

5.5 An Investment in Nutrition for Workers (page 8, BFC Newsletter No.20, September 2012)

URL: http://www.betterfactories.org/content/documents/1/ILO-BFC%20Newsletter%20N20%20%28Eng%29.pdf

7. MDG Joint Programme in Cambodia Materials

MDG Joint Programme for Children, Food Security and Nutrition in Cambodia

The Joint Programme will contribute to the attainment of the Cambodian Millennium Development Goals 1, 4 and 5 by improving the nutritional status of children aged 0‐24 months and pregnant and lactating women. In partnership with relevant government ministries, it will build capacity to implement nationwide behaviour change communication programmes to promote early and exclusive breastfeeding, adequate complementary feeding and improved maternal nutrition. In addition, it will implement a comprehensive integrated package of nutrition and food security interventions to reduce undernutrition and improve food security among a high risk population. The Joint Programme will further strengthen nutrition, food security and agriculture policies and develop innovative implementation strategies for improving nutrition at population level. It will strengthen existing monitoring systems, assess the impact of implemented interventions and provide guidance for scaling up the comprehensive package.