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17/12/2018

The rapid process of industrialisation and global market integration is having direct and sometimes adverse impact on the environment and workers’ working and living conditions in Vietnam. On the other hand, the country’s negotiation of and commitments in new-generation free trade agreements including the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) have brought about a window of opportunity to strengthen environmental protection and labour rights. This was exemplified by the initiation of the labour law reform process to be in line with international labour standards (ILS). In addition, the EVFTA’s Trade and Sustainable Development Chapter (TSDC) provides mechanisms for the participation of civil society and social partners in the implementation and monitoring of trade related environmental and social commitments.

Having been working to improve the conditions of workers in global supply chains in Vietnam since many years, the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) together with the Centre for Development and Integration (CDI) jointly developed the project “Business and Human Rights in Trade Relations and Global Supply Chains in Vietnam” to carry on this effort.

The project is funded by the European Union. It strives to:

  • Raise awareness and promote the implementation of the United Nations’ Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGP) as a tool to ensure compliance with labour and human rights standards in global supply chains of export industries in Vietnam;
  • Support the labour law revision to be in line with international standards and ensure access to remedy for victims of cooperate abuses;
  • Promote the engagement of social partners and civil society in the implementation and monitoring of the EVFTA Trade and Sustainable Development Chapter (TSDC).

PROJECT PARTNERS

Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) was established in 1925 and is the oldest political foundation in Germany. FES opened its Vietnam Office in Hanoi in 1990. It was one of the first international non-profit organisations to work in Vietnam. As a political foundation, FES’ work is based on the principles of promoting social justice and political participation.

Centre for Development and Integration (CDI) established since 2005, is a Vietnamese non-governmental organisation working for the rights of disadvantaged groups to build a society of equity, solidarity and sustainable development.

EU projects in Vietnam cover areas such as governance and education, water and energy, human rights and security. The EU supports local government and civil society organisation partners in Vietnam through its thematic instruments in fields as diverse as women and children’s rights, trade unions, climate change, sustainable energy, governance and rule of law, nuclear safety… to promote interventions at local level, local authorities and local civil society capacity building, technology transfer, exchange of knowledge. More than 30 projects are supported throughout the country.

 

 

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