Almost 13 million informal workers work in sectors facing the largest economic shock caused by COVID-19. The social distancing measures of the COVID-19 response have severely reduced income options for individuals near the poverty line, such as waste recyclers, street vendors and domestic workers, of which nearly 95% are women. The impact of COVID-19 pushed women, especially garment workers from formal occupations into informal insecure forms of employment (e.g. own small business). Those already working in the informal sector, e.g. street vendors, experienced a decreased demand for their services through changing consumer behavior caused by social distancing and a shift from shopping in the streets to online shopping.

In the Women on the Digital Move (WODIMO) project, CVN will recruit 1,475 women migrant workers in the informal sector (675 from their existing support groups and 800 others via online platforms). The project focuses on creating opportunities for these women to increase their income and enhance their access to social welfare through online trading platforms. The project has two main outcomes:

Outcome 1: Informal women migrant workers have increased digital income generation opportunities

Outcome 2: Improved social protection regulations for informal workers

The baseline and gender study was conducted in June, July, and August 2023 to collect evidence of the current situation amongst the target and impact groups, against the indicators in the project logframe. Specifically, this study assessed: (i) the challenges faced by women migrant workers in informal sectors, who are running their businesses online (in short, online vendors), and (ii) the necessary tools and knowledge required for them to ensure dignified work and grow their businesses. The challenges include economic, environmental and social aspects, with a focus on gender issues (e.g. GBV and existing gender norms). COVID-19 impacts would be drawn attention to in these findings also.

The study’s purposes:

(1) To provide the baseline information by measuring the value for each indicator of the logframe as well as recommendations for any changes in the logframe where relevant;

(2) To identify challenges and opportunities for potential project beneficiaries to run and scale up small online businesses;

(3) To assess relevant policies/ regulations affecting informal migrant workers in accessing social protection services, and in running their online businesses;

(4) To provide recommendations for any advocacy opportunity for WODIMO.

Reference link:

https://www.care.org.vn/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/TOR-Baseline-WODIMO.pdf