Collaborative mindset is necessary for home-based workers to pool their resources and approach issues, says Homenet an association of Home-based workers in South Asia. To guide and address the various issues of home based workers, Homenet is going to organize an international conference at Ahmedabad on March 20.
”In an increasingly networked world, we need to pool our resources and approach issues with a collaborative rather than a competitive mindset," said Renana Jhabvala, president of Homenet South Asia (HNSA).
According to HNSA, there are around 100 million home-based workers around the world, with about 50 million of these living in South Asia. Home-based workers are among the most vulnerable of all informal workers and work within or near their homes as own account (self-employed) or subcontracted workers.
Firoza Mehrotra, strategy advisor of HNSA said: "They generally remain invisible to the public and to policy makers. It is therefore important for low-income home-based workers to join organizations and networks that can help increase their visibility and voice, and provide skills, employment opportunities, information and other benefits so that they can contribute to the skilled work force of the economy".
Home-based work provides a key source of employment, for women and contributes to the household, national, and global economies. In many parts of the world, the social requirements placed on women often result in their having to work from home in order to meet gender-assigned responsibilities.
Homenet South Asia has planned to offer a platform to home-based workers to enable sustainable dignified livelihoods and as part of it, the association is going to organize international conference titled “Celebrating Home-based Workers: Twenty Years and Time for Action” at the Ahmedabad in Gujarat.
Jhabvala said, “It is precisely with this thought in mind that HNSA has invited member organizations from across Asia to present pool and share their experiences. It is here that the global expertise and knowledge distilled from decades of work will stand us in good stead. It will help us gain insights and address the issues of home-based workers better and faster."