Good Practice

Promoting freedom of association and social dialogue in Myanmar - Final Evaluation

Good Practice Description

This example of good practice is linked to Objective 1: national labour institutes are in a better position to recognise, implement and enforce fundamental rights at work, related to improving the capacity of ILO constituents in Myanmar to effectively realise, in law and practice, the fundamental rights of FOA and CB. The emerging good practice is identified in Finding 6 and illustrates a flexible approach to an identified challenge. In this project the officers from Conciliation Bodies did not have the relevant knowledge to participate in the planned TOT activity. The target group was changed to conciliators appointed by employers and unions from the industrial zones who were experiencing heavy work loads and training was done jointly. A multi-purpose type approach was adopted consisting of 4-5 x day field visits, the first visit acting as a pilot. The visits were organised by the FOA project, with the participation of FMCS. The visits consisted of: 1) meetings with Conciliation Body members in the Industrial Zones; 2) a workshop with employers and worker representative from selected workplaces to identify problems and find solutions followed by; 3) a 2-day training course for Conciliators. A participatory approach was adopted that included discussions and role plays using real issues.

The cooperation was linked to Objective 1 (national institutions are in a better position to recognise, implement and enforce fundamental rights at work) and the goal of the project (Promoting the effective recognition and implementation of fundamental rights at work and sound industrial relations for the fair and productive development of Myanmar). The good practice relates to identified problems in Finding 11: Efficiency of Resource Use and Main Conclusion 11: constituent's misconceptions about target groups for the FOA project. The objective of the SP project was to develop policy on social protection & security through national tripartite dialogue. There was obvious synergy with the FOA project, social dialogue was not practiced at this stage in Myanmar, the project did not have sufficient funding for activities and the Social Protection Officer had no access to the trade unions.

The Purpose to improve the capacity of ILO constituents in Myanmar to effectively realise, in law and practice, the fundamental rights of FOA and CB. The emergence of good practice is illustrated in Main Conclusion 5: it is not associated directly with a problem but supports an approach for effective capacity building. TOT was designed into the project in the original application to build a multiplier effect, with sustainability, by ensuring that national trainers can replicate the training and reduce the need to rely on international trainers. A consultant was engaged, with expertise in training educators at all levels, who prepared a 4-day programme with an accompanying manual. The target group were leaders, those who participated in the basic level bipartite workshops and project staff. The course used and taught participatory methodology that included discussion, exercises and role play with opportunities to practice during the course, using issues from the basic level bi-partite courses. The course was conducted 3 times with approximately 20 participants per course and materials were translated into Burmese. Selected participants from the 1st course assisted as trainers on the remaining 2 courses. The TOTs were conducted in English but some participants were then able to conduct basic bipartite level courses in Burmese. The participants who demonstrated interest and were supported by their organisation went on to gain further practice by working with the project training staff and are now able to conduct courses for their own organisations, usually as volunteers.