Prabha Pokhrel
BTS: Hello Prabha, thanks for joining us. Can I ask you to begin by telling us about some of the problems that homeworkers face in Nepal?
PP: In Nepal, homeworkers are not formally recognised or covered by employment law. Neither are they measured in national statistics. We assume that there are 2.5 million of them but none of the statistics confirm how many are really out there. So that is one thing. And because homeworkers are not legally recognised, they don’t have safety protections, they don’t have social or economic security, and they don’t have continuous work or minimum wages. Only factory workers are entitled to or can legally battle for minimum wages. Homeworkers don’t have a contract, they don’t have good conditions, they don’t have continuous work and they can’t have higher pay. Their average wages are 30% to 40% of the minimum wage.
