New Project – “The impacts of Covid-19 on trafficking and child labour in Myanmar, Cambodia, and Vietnam.”

Humanity Research Consultancy will be working along with the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) on the project titled, “The impacts of Covid-19 on trafficking and child labour in Myanmar, Cambodia, and Vietnam.” The research will look deeper into how the Covid-19 pandemic, in the current policy environment, has impacted marginalised groups – namely survivors of trafficking and children in the worst forms of child labour in Myanmar, Cambodia, and Vietnam.

The project is part of the COVID Collective. The Covid Collective research platform offers rapid social science research to inform decision-making on some of the most pressing development challenges related to Covid-19.

The work in Cambodia and Vietnam, along with one strand of work in Myanmar, will be led by Humanity Research Consultancy and Eric Kasper (IDS). The other strand of work in Myanmar will be led by Terre des hommes (Tdh) with oversight by Danny Burns (IDS).

Anecdotal evidence suggests that Covid-19 and responses to it have exacerbated conditions that were already leading to people getting trapped in exploitative conditions such as worst forms of child labour and human trafficking. This project will substantiate the picture of how the pandemic is driving vulnerability and will help illuminate points where interventions and policy changes can be leveraged.

The project will focus on three key thematic areas of borderlands – that are unique locations that often depend on legal ambiguity and informality for survival and livelihoods; at sea – exploring how vulnerable workers at sea have experienced policy responses to Covid-19; and in cities – where informality and vulnerability can be driven by spatial, social, and political forces.

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