Geneva (VNA) – The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has recently released a report indicating that while many member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have expanded maternity protection in recent years, significant gaps remain in coverage and adequacy, particularly for women in informal employment and migrant workers.
Titled “Maternity benefits in the ASEAN: Progress and opportunities for integrated approaches across social protection and health systems”, the report examines the scope, level and effectiveness of social protection schemes that support income security and provide financial protection against healthcare costs during maternity across ASEAN member states.
It identifies opportunities to strengthen coordination between social health protection and maternity cash benefit schemes, highlighting that integrated approaches can help reduce financial hardship associated with pregnancy and childbirth while improving access to quality care.
Produced by the ILO-Luxembourg Support to the Extension of Social Health Protection in Asia project, the report calls for extending maternity protection to all women, including workers in the informal economy; strengthening financing mechanisms to ensure sustainability and adequacy of benefits; and aligning maternity protection policies with broader social protection, health and care policies.
The publication also underscores the importance of international social security standards in guiding reforms towards comprehensive, universal and adequate maternity social protection during maternity across ASEAN member states. Its findings contribute to informing dialogue on social protection while providing practical policy entry points for countries seeking to strengthen inclusive and gender-responsive maternity benefits.
Ensuring income security and effective access to health care without financial hardship during maternity are essential for improving maternal and child health outcomes, preventing poverty and vulnerability, supporting women’s labour force participation, and advancing gender equality, said Nathalie Both, Project Manager at the ILO, one of the co-authors of the report.
According to the official, the right to universal social protection during maternity needs to be upheld and its profile raised as an essential public investment in the future and a core component of countries’ economic, health and care policies./.
