Women at Work conference 2022

Photo series: The NHRF hosted its first Women at Work conference in Kathmandu, Nepal as part of the Women at Work (WaW) program that started in 2019. Scroll down for highlights and for more information about the conference and the WaW program.
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NHRF’s first Woman at Work conference

The NHRF hosted a 3-day conference from 30 August to 1 September in Kathmandu, Nepal. The conference brought together a diverse group of actors from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bangladesh, from international organizations, and Norwegian trade unions to share, brainstorm, problematize, and ideate together on how we can strengthen our work, advocacy, and connections. It was a wonderful opportunity for lively, respectful, and learning-driven engagement between strong, committed actors in the field who work at various levels but who are united through this thematic area and the shared goal of ending discrimination and violence against women and LGBTIQ persons in the workplace and society.

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We held the conference at the beautiful Tewa Centre – a women-led organization that works to advance and empower women by fostering a culture of self-reliance through community philanthropy and grantmaking to organized groups of women throughout Nepal.
We are very grateful for their hospitality and expert event coordination that helped make our conference a heartwarming, safe, and exceptional experience.
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We planned many sessions together with our grantee partner participants from Pakistan and India and international partners.
Co-developed sessions led by our grantee partners were on the themes of labor rights and reforms for women and LGBTIQ workers; sexual and gender-based violence and harassment in the workplace and the ILO Convention 190; caste-based discrimination in the workplace, and climate change and the future of work.

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We had a session with the UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, Tomoya Obokata.
And a session with Vrinda Grover on legal interventions and the situation for women human rights defenders (WHRDs) and human rights defenders (HRDs) in India.

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We’re grateful to Fagforbundet, Norway’s largest trade union, for their support to the WaW program and conference.
Fagforbundet Ung’s current leader Victoria de Oliveira held a presentation on the women’s front for labor rights reform and the creation of the strong union that Fagforbundet is today. She also shared about Fagforbundet’s political advocacy to bring stronger workers’ protections and healthcare to Norwegian workers. The presentation was an insightful addition to the program.

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During the session on climate change and the future of work and labor rights we heard from organizations working in Bangladesh, Nepal, and India on how climate change is currently and will continue to impact women workers and the critical need for more and better policy and planning.

We heard from Dr. Amina Maharjan who works as a Senior Livelihood and Migration Specialist at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and Saki Rezwana, Chairperson at the Occupational Safety, Health and Environment Foundation.

They shared detailed accounts of the effects of climate change on women workers in Bangladesh, migration for work, their local environments, and other critical areas for a solemn and urgent conversation.

We encouraged open, candid, and constructive discussions with lengthy breakout groups and interactive agendas for most of the sessions.
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So much was shared and learned from the participants, which created a rich and invaluable experience of exchange across borders, genders, fields of expertise, and many other areas.

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We are grateful for the participation of fellow Norwegian organizations and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with representation from the Royal Norwegian Embassies in Nepal and India, the Confederation of Trade Unions, and Fagforbundet. We were also delighted for the opportunity to have two of the NHRF’s local consultants present and participating at the conference – Anita Cheri from India and Zulfiqar Shah from Pakistan.

From left: NHRF Program and MEL Officer – Sarah McMains, Confederation of Trade Unions – Magnus Holtfod, Fagforbundet - Victoria de Oliveira, NHRF Executive Director – Ingeborg Moa, Fagforbundet - Hans Kristian Stenest, NHRF Project and Organizational Coordinator - Maya Singh, NHRF local consultants – Anita Cheria, India and Zulfiqar Shah, Pakistan

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Royal Norwegian Embassy in Nepal – Andrea Silkoset and Magnus Holtfodt from the Confederation of Trade Unions
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Royal Norwegian Embassy in India – Johan Thomas Bjerkem

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The conference centered mindfulness and self – and community – care for participants
We encouraged all to enjoy the beautiful and peaceful grounds at the Tewa Centre and yoga was available for all participants every morning
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We also made time for fun and to get to know each other outside of work-related activities and discussions
The group visited Patan Durbar Square and enjoyed a relaxing evening of music and good food at Café Cheeno
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Lasting connections and friendships were made!
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We are grateful to Jamarko Paper in Kathmandu, Nepal for making our beautiful tote bags and notebooks for the conference
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We are so grateful for all those who joined us in Nepal for our first ever Women at Work conference and helped make this such an extraordinary experience during this critical time for women and LGBTIQ workers’ rights.

We’re all connected through our work, our ambitions, what drives us to work for human rights, and by the same goal of eliminating gender-based discrimination and violence in the workplace and society - to help build a more equal and just future for all workers.

About the Women at Work program

The NHRF has supported marginalized workers and their fight for their rights for more than three decades. In 2019, the NHRF began developing a targeted Women at Work (WaW) program in the South Asia region. Under this program, the NHRF has been supporting several organizations, with the majority being women-led organizations. Through the WaW program, the NHRF has been able to give direct support and funds to organizations that are rooted in communities that are severely marginalized and discriminated against and in the volatile sectors of informal and formal work.

In Asia, the hundreds of millions-strong workforce has been struggling with the extreme consequences of the sudden halt and disruptions to work and negligent government responses related to the global pandemic. Thus, the timing of this growing partnership and program has been critical as women workers in all sectors, particularly in the manufacturing and informal sectors, have been and continue losing their jobs and livelihoods. And the organizations in this program have focused their efforts on addressing the immediate needs that come from such losses, continuing their work rooted in sustaining long-term change, addressing the risks involved with working and organizing for labor rights, and addressing issues of sustainability through assertion and exploring alternative forms of livelihood support and creation.

Photos by: Nabin Baral/ NHRF / Jamarko

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