JILAF | Japan International Labour Foundation

JILAF visited Phnom Penh in Cambodia from January 19 (Sunday) to 22 (Wednesday) for the SGRA project (Supporting Grass-Roots Activities through the International Employers’ and Workers’ Network), which JILAF is implementing with grants from the Japanese government (Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare). During this period, the third meeting of the Dissemination Advisory Committee and second Training of Trainers seminar were held, as well as a mutual-aid seminar for informal-sector workers in Phnom Penh.

At the third meeting of the Dissemination Advisory Committee, held on January 20, participants looked back on the fiscal 2019 pilot project and discussed future project policy. The main achievements reported in this meeting included (1) establishment of the central Dissemination Advisory Committee and Dissemination Working Committee consisting of government, labour, and management representatives and (2) the organization of and implementation of activities for 46 informal-sector workers, including tuk-tuk and motodop drivers (motorbike taxis), construction workers, and street vendors. As future policy, the participants also confirmed that the project would be developed targeting informal-sector workers leading really destitute lives in Phnom Penh (both the city itself and suburbs).

The second Training of Trainers seminar was held on the same day, with speakers invited from Japan’s Zenrosai Kyokai (National Association of Workers’ Welfare and Cooperative Insurance). Mr. Shigeki Yakushijin, assistant director of Zenrosai Kyokai’s insurance department, and Mr. Naohiro Tsukamoto, section chief in the survey and research department, talked about livelihood risks and mutual aid (livelihood-threatening risks and preparation for risks through savings and mutual aid) and the characteristics of a mutual-aid organization (funded by members themselves, supplying mutual-aid schemes for members only, and involving only members in decision making). The participants learned the importance of transparency in organization management and of reliability and trust with members.

On the following day, January 21, a mutual-aid seminar was held for network members organized in the current fiscal year, led mainly by the Dissemination Working Committee. In this seminar, attended by 46 people, speakers from Zenrosai Kyokai again gave two-way lectures on the importance of mutual aid.