Hi everyone. I’m sorry for the delay in releasing this episode. In a minute, we’ll get to this week’s chat about how female migrant workers are treated after they return to Nepal, but first I want to share some personal news.
My stepfather passed away in December, which changed everything. Like many of us he was a migrant. Born on a farm 90 years ago in northwestern Ontario, the centre of Canada, when he was a young man he moved 2,500 km away to Vancouver on the Pacific Ocean. Soon after he moved even further, across what was then Georgia Strait, now the Salish Sea, to Vancouver Island, where my family lived. After he retired, my wife and I, then living in central Canada, encouraged him to visit his hometown. But insisting that he was afraid to fly, he always said no. He also refused to make the trip by train or car. I think maybe he had just become too much of a homebody at that point, preferring to spend his time caring for his yard and small house in a small city. I dedicate this episode to my stepfather, Joe.
This week we’re talking with Sunita Mainali, Executive Director of WOREC, an NGO that works on a broad range of women’s issues. As I said, we’re talking mainly about what happens to female migrant workers after they return from working abroad. As you’ll hear, I just assumed that the focus would, and should, be on finding work for these women in Nepal. But I learned quickly that without social reintegration there can be no economic reintegration.
One note: Sunita mentions the GCM. That is the Global Coordination Mechanism, an international treaty on migration developed by the United Nations.
Resources
WOREC website
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Thank you to PEI in Bakhundole for the use of their studios.
Nepal Now is produced and hosted by Marty Logan.
