Promotion of human rights by providing equal employment opportunities for the disadvantaged workers in ASEAN

Abstract

The promotion and protection of human rights is a key political principle of ASEAN and the
ASEAN member states have made efforts to safeguard human rights and freedom of all
ASEAN citizens, including the disadvantaged workers. This paper examines the ASEAN
countries’ commitment and labour policy to promote equal employment opportunities for
women, the elderly and persons with disabilities. The findings of this study would provide
better insights to the issues of human rights in the labour market among ASEAN countries. It
can serve as a resource for researchers, practitioners and policymakers for policymaking in
ensuring that disadvantaged workers are not excluded from being able to fully enjoy their right
to work as their participation in the labour market could in turn be one of the solutions to reduce
high unemployment rate suffered in some ASEAN countries.