Title: Women Workers Leadership Training Programme
Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Description: Women Workers Leadership Training Programme is organised by Committee for Asian Women aiming to build a second echelon of women worker leaders, activists and organisers who are empowered, and are aware of and can identify with struggles at a national, regional and international level.
Start Date: 2009-10-28
End Date: 2009-11-03

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Concept Note

Women Workers Leadership Training Progamme

Committee for Asian Women

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

28th October 2009 – 3rd December 2009

Introduction

In November 2006 thirty-nine member organisations of the Committee for Asian Women (CAW) gathered in Kuala Lumpur for a general consultation to help CAW develop its next three-year program and strategic plans. The consultation resulted in recommendations proposed by the member organizations that served as a valuable input towards CAW’s development of programs and strategic plans.

At the general consultation in 2006, one of the key concerns raised, was that member organizations needed to develop a second echelon of leaders to be able to continue the work done at organizational level and also to become vocal voices at the national and international arena.

The CAW secretariat has subsequently through its discussions and planning, proposed to address this concern by conducting a “Women Workers Leadership Training Program.”  This Training Program is a pilot program for CAW, aimed at creating a second echelon of leadership, among its member organizations, equipped with knowledge and skills and with the ability to translate them into necessary actions.

CAW’s Vision and Mission

The proposal to carry out a “Women Workers Leadership Training Program” is in line with CAW’s vision of a world where all people are free to develop their potential without any form of domination and exploitation. CAW facilitates exchange workshops, training and education, advocacy, campaign and research and provides a platform for solidarity linkages at the international level.

CAW’s mission to support the self-empowerment of Asian Women Workers and the formation of their movements and to provide a platform for Asian women workers to claim their space, time and voice, to struggle against global capitalism and patriarchy to advance their rights, is  complimented  with the carrying out of such a training program

Economic, Political and Cultural Challenges facing women today

In Asia the restructuring of the global production chain under neo-liberal globalization has led to many changes in economic production in the formal and informal economy. There is a growing informalization and feminization of labor as predominantly women are employed at the lower income levels.

Although in the last two decades, Asia has seen the highest number of women in the labor market, yet this has not led to more empowerment for women at work or at home. Women workers take up the lowest jobs, receive wages below the minimum wage and have no security or legal protection at work. Women workers experience increasing unemployment, informalization of work, and erosion of existing labor standards, union busting and bias against women’s right to work.

Several Asian countries are also facing autocratic leadership crisis that has lead to serious political conflict and civil wars. Together with the vast changes in the labor market women have to bear the brunt of increasing violence either due to war, political crisis or rise in militant fundamentalism.

In areas of war, conflict and political suppression, women’s right to work and women’s rights at work are affected. Violence against women during conflict and the resulting health and socio-economic consequences for communities, remain one of the most persistent obstacles to women’s full and equal participation in post-conflict peace building and reconciliation processes.

Women are also affected by the lack of information and the ability to communicate, lobby or use the media effectively. Restructuring the global labor market had thrown challenges to the labor movement on the effectiveness of using traditional approaches in addressing workers issues. The women workers movement is challenged to use modern tools and technology in their campaigns and strategies.

Women workers are further curtailed in organizing by the lack of solidarity movement building. The nature of employment through outsourcing and contractual work has taken away from workers the capacity to organize and to mobilize for their rights. The voice of workers is not heard through the trade union movement. More and more workers are joining the unorganized sector and their voices and struggles are not heard at the regional or international level.

In light of the developing scenarios where women worker leaders, organizers and activists are challenged by the economic, political and cultural developments, it is imperative for them to be prepared and armed with the requisite knowledge, skills and tools to face and address the challenges affecting them;

CAW’s proposed “Women Workers Leadership Training Program” can be regarded as one such program to help equip potential leaders with the proper knowledge, skills and tools to assist them in dealing with and addressing the challenges faced by them and the organizations and communities they live and work in.

Objectives of the “Women Workers Leadership Training Program”

The main objective of the training program would be to build a second echelon of women worker leaders, activists and organizers who are empowered, and are aware of and can identify with struggles at a national, regional and international level. There is a need to empower women workers to raise their voices at national forums and international platforms and to areas where decisions are made that have direct or indirect impact on them.

The goal of the training is to empower women to actively participate as effective leaders and advocates in the decision-making processes that affect their personal, family, community and national condition and to develop their facilitation skills in training grassroots women to be leaders working towards rights for all citizens,

There is a need for organizational capacity building particularly in the area of media and communication and lobbying skills. Leaders need to communicate a cohesive and compelling message and initiate forums for young women to meet and build alliances for individual and solidarity support.

CAW’s Vision of the “Women Workers Leadership Training Program”

CAW’s vision of the training program for women workers leaders, organizers and activists is toconduct a pilot program for a small number of participants from its member organizations. The training is to be targeted at second echelon leaders who are in need of knowledge, skills and tools to help them become confident and principled leaders.

The participants will be guided to understand, evaluate and analyze problems and challenges from a local, national, regional and international perspective. Such an understanding will assist them to be articulate and inclusive when making their demands and proposals. It will also aid them in networking and building solidarity ties with other organizations and nations, which is a crucial strategy to address the current problems of the world.

CAW also sees the training program as a continuous networking and support system for the attending potential leaders. These potential leaders will be encouraged to work together as a team, sustaining and enriching each other in their work and uniting to speak with one voice at national and international forums.

As a part of its long term goals CAW hopes this training program and perhaps other training programs will grow into a school for potential leaders and activists with a curriculum and syllabus and with training modules and a wealth of trainers.  The expectation from CAW is also that potential leaders being trained will themselves return as trainers and organizers of future training programs