The Context

Despite the fact that in the last 10 years Thailand has achieved significant success in controlling the spread of HIV and AIDS, an estimated 20,000 children are still affected by it.

As a result of poverty and few opportunities, children and young people are migrating from rural areas to Bangkok in search of a better life. Once there the majority of them end up working in the tourism/service industry or in small factories. The lack of access to education and reproductive health information means that Children and young employees (CYEs) are vulnerable to infection by engaging in risky sexual behaviour. Many informal employers are compounding the problem as they are ill informed about HIV and AIDS, and as a result they often discriminate against HIV positive employees. This ultimately serves to create a climate of secrecy around the issue, for fear of dismissal.

The Project

ChildHope and the Foundation for Rural Youth (FRY) – are in the final year of a 3 year project working to reduce discrimination within the workplace, and decrease the risk of HIV transmission for Children and young employees (CYEs) the majority of which are migrants from rural Thailand. The project is working in the industrialised Bang Bon and Bang Khunthien Districts, of Bangkok. To achieve this, the project has:

• Trained 57 children and young people to become peer educators in a Young Employees’ Advocacy Movement (YEAM). They are operating in 47 different workplaces. YEAM members are vital in delivering information, and activities on the issues of sexual health, safe sex, gender inequality and rights, and helping to change attitudes.
• Run workshops with employees and employers on issues such as: health, rights, gender equity, discrimination in the workplace etc.
• Put up information boards in workplaces about the risks of unprotected sex and other health and rights issues.
• Developed and implemented a voluntary Code of Employment Conduct (CODE), which acknowledges the commitment made by employers in addressing HIV and AIDS issues in their workplace.
• Been networking and building relationships within the community and with other NGOs.
• Established links with the Thai government, notably the Bureau of AIDS and the Ministry of Public Health, as well as local district governors, informal employers and their young employees. To raise awareness on the issues, and secure commitments from the relevant authorities.

Challenges and lessons learnt

• Targeting the most at risk is still a challenge. Workplaces with the worst labour conditions are less likely to take part in a voluntary scheme of this sort. In particular, foreign (Burmese, Cambodian and Laotian) migrant workers are often particularly at risk of labour exploitation as well as exposure to HIV and AIDS, and are hard to reach.
• Originally FRY introduced an existing Code of Conduct but found that it was too complex and not context specific enough for local employers. As a result in collaboration with employers they drafted the “AIDS Practice in Small Enterprises” Voluntary code, which has been much more successful in getting employers on board.
• YEAMs have reported that even when changing jobs, if new colleagues know they are YEAMs they are freely coming to them for asking for advice and information.