Evaluation Learnings Search

Learning Description

Community-based fisher centers in Indonesia as an accessible focal point for labor grievance reporting and advocacy. The model has been well developed in Indonesia, especially in Bitung in North Sulawesi, and has the potential for replication elsewhere in the country. Fisher centers may be relevant in the Philippines or other countries with adaptation, taking into consideration the intended functions of the center, physical location and operational issues.

Learning Description

Long term interventions are required to support policy and regulatory change in the sector. In both the Philippines and Indonesia, progress has been made towards policy change (for example regarding multi-disciplinary labor inspection) that is fully endorsed at national or province level as applicable, but at national level in particular, the consultation processes involved in policy review are lengthy, even when the government institutions are committed to the review process and the issues addressed.

Learning Description

Support to inter-agency forums on fishers’ protection. The project’s support to inter-agency fora to address fishers’ labor concerns, whether at national or subnational level, represents a valuable practice that evolved in different ways in the Philippines and Indonesia. In both countries the creation or strengthening of such taskforces enabled better collaboration between the key actors and a basis for national action planning to address the issues.

Learning Description

Monitoring and evaluation capacity needs to be highly developed for a project of this complexity, with policy and advocacy outcomes. SAFE Seas staff were challenged to come up with sensitive indicators of advocacy results, and to consistently explain the results reported in the data reporting forms.

Learning Description

Extensive use of public media and sophisticated behavior change communications is required for advocacy-focused projects. The development of a comprehensive communications strategy was pursued in both countries, and social media use was most vigorous in the Philippines. The communications strategy could have been advanced earlier and more comprehensively project wide. Associated with advocacy interventions, the measurement of change in behavior and attitudes needs to be further developed.

Learning Description

The complexity of governance of the fishing sector needs to be taken into account in design of both prevention and enforcement strategies. The fishing sector is highly varied, including vessel size, local or foreign flag, and the attendant risks of labor abuse. It is necessary to develop targeted strategies to address the labor conditions of fishers in different sectors of the industry.

Learning Description

The scope of the project was ambitious, both geographically and thematically. SAFE Seas addressed all levels of intervention, national, subnational, and community, as well as all types of fishing found in Indonesia and the Philippines. The design may have benefited from a narrower focus on commercial fishing, or on a particular level of intervention.

Learning Description

Improving compliance with labor legislation in Colombia requires long-term transformative processes and the participation of many actors. Short-term projects that intend to improve compliance with labor laws and relevant standards by focusing only on strengthening workers’ capacities are not likely to generate a significant systemic impact, since an improved compliance requires long-term processes as well as the joint participation of workers, employers, and the Ministry of Labor. Ensuring full compliance in the five priority sectors would reasonably require more time than the limited project lifespan. It would also require systemic transformations at all levels in/related to each of the prioritized sectors, and, crucially, further engagement by, and increased capacity of, the Ministry of Labor and relevant institutions to create an enabling environment that is conducive to the labor law, regulations and their respective enforcement. In addition, it would require promoting and strengthening constructive tripartite social dialogue and eventually collective bargaining processes at the local, regional, and national levels. This, in turn, requires the participation of strong unions and employers’ organizations that are open to such dialogue, where serious challenges exist. Increased success in government-led dialogue would also be required. These factors should have been given greater weight in the project’s design phase.

Learning Description

Untapped potential for social dialogue/dispute resolution at the local levels. Although the project’s theory of change largely focuses on the demand side for more/better labor law enforcement, at the local level there may be significant untapped potential for bipartite/tripartite social dialogue and eventually, collective labor agreements (at enterprise level). This may be achieved by the project through reinforcing collaboration with the Ministry of Labor as well as by engaging with employers who may be potentially interested in improving labor law compliance. Future projects could/should be designed to better address/encourage social dialogue as it is essential to achieving the systemic change in enforcement and compliance. Further, sector- or company-specific social dialogue processes could include specific regulations for dispute resolution processes in the event that a work-related conflict or disagreement would occur.

Learning Description

Identifying, understanding, and socializing patterns of labor law violations. From the review and interviews with stakeholders it is clear that labor rights violations are part of patterns that extend beyond individual cases. Identifying, understanding, socializing, and discussing such patterns (e.g., through the systematization of emblematic cases carried out by the project) would help highlight the vast body of knowledge that has been constructed and further expanded throughout the project implementation. In turn, such improved knowledge could be used to inform and further improve U.S. Department of Labor/Escuela Nacional Sindical (National Trade Union School) project collaboration and used for better advocacy and improve results for workers in the priority sectors, using the data and evidence which the project will continue to generate during the remainder of implementation.