Human-Centered Design for Migrant Rights

Human-Centered Design for Migrant Rights

Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) have played a crucial role in the Philippines economy since the 1970s, accounting for 8.5% of the nation's GDP in 2023 [1], yet they are subject to a number of challenges, including social stigma, worker rights abuses, and exploitation at various stages of their migration journey [2, 3, 4, 5]. Of the estimated 2.16 million OFWs deployed in 2023, 1.20 million are female, with approximately 64.1% of female OFWs working in "elementary" occupations, such as cleaners or domestic workers [6]. As a result, the Philippines is among the world's leading contributors to the global care economy [7].

Further, excessive working hours, late payment, and denial of days off are common complaints among migrant workers deployed to countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) [8]. OFWs deployed to countries in the GCC are especially prone to exploitation due to the kafala system, which ties workers' residency to their employers [6, 9]. This history aligns with the case findings by the Center for Migrant Advocacy (CMA), an independent, Philippines-based migrant rights NGO and member of the Migrant Forum in Asia and Migrant Women Forum, with over twenty years of experience advocating for the rights of OFWs and their families. CMA's Direct Assistance Program, which offers one-on-one support and guidance for OFWs seeking legal and contract assistance, reports that the majority of intake complaints originate from female domestic workers working in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a member of the GCC and top destination country for OFWs. In these cases, OFWs seek support in retrieving unpaid wages, salary delays, and illegal deductions, also known as “wage theft.”

While intergovernmental and governmental efforts have been underway to protect migrant workers' rights, limited and disparate information on-the-ground makes it challenging for OFWs and their families to navigate the bureaucratic processes to address wage theft effectively. Using a human-centered and participatory approach, I worked directly with the CMA Direct Assistance Program to understand if emerging technologies like generative AI could be used to consolidate, translate, and summarize pertinent information and embolden OFWs to take action in case of contract violation and abuse from recruitment agencies and foreign employers.

Our team then applied the design thinking framework, popularized by the Stanford d.school, to co-design a proof of concept to be vetted and critiqued by members of the Kalinga, Kaagapay, Kabisig OFW Organization (KKK), one of the several community-based OFW resource groups formed by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) (known locally as OFW Family Circles). This blog outlines our learnings uncovered throughout the design thinking framework, outlined in Figure 1, for other mission-driven organizations to leverage when pursuing similar projects.

Figure 1. Outline of Design Thinking Steps

Steps 1 & 2: Empathize and Define

The process began with a series of interviews conducted with Executive Director Ellene Sana, Case Manager Anna Navarro, and Caseworker Shē Gonzales to understand the case team's on-the-ground experience providing resource and contract support for distressed OFWs seeking assistance in KSA. As a result, there were four critical gaps identified in the OFW deployment lifecycle:

1. Limited legal and contract information: Mandated worker orientations for OFWs like the Pre-Employment Orientation Seminar (PEOS) and Pre-Departure Orientation Seminar (PDOS) often lack comprehensive legal content crucial for OFWs.

2. Limited access to legal counsel during disputes: Currently, OFWs filing money claims against their employer, in their destination countries, enter a conciliation process called the Single Entry Approach (SEnA), where they often lack the legal and contract literacy to self-litigate and have limited access to legal counsel or assistance. As a result, litigation cases against exploitative KSA employers are closed for pennies on the dollar. [10]

3. Limited awareness and understanding of the Joint and Several Liability (JSL): The JSL of Republic Act No. 8042, otherwise known as the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995, ensures the joint and several liability of the local recruiter and the foreign employer. OFWs may file administrative cases with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) and money claims with the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) against their recruitment agency in the Philippines. [11]

4. App fatigue: There have been several disparate efforts to streamline bureaucratic processes and empower this population through digital tools and services, thus creating a sense of app fatigue in this problem space for advocates on-the-ground.

Following these conversations, the team defined the vision and limitations of the proposed tool. First, the tool would focus on contract and wage-related questions only. Second, the tool would not yet be reliable enough to provide legal advice to OFWs, but could potentially summarize policy content and point users to additional resources. The team foresaw the following benefits of the proposed innovation:

1. Improved legal and contract literacy: Through personalized interactions and information dissemination, the tool would empower OFWs to better understand their rights and contractual obligations.

2. Timely assistance: Offering 24/7 accessibility, the tool would guide OFWs through legal procedures and connect them with appropriate resources, mitigating the limitations of current bureaucratic processes.

3. Informed policy advocacy: Collecting data from OFWs could provide crucial insights that inform evidence-based policy advocacy efforts, enhancing their protection abroad.

4. Promote self-determination: Ultimately, this tool would empower OFWs by providing them with the knowledge and tools necessary to navigate their overseas employment journey confidently.

Shē Gonzales shared "[Our proposed solution] serves as a powerful instrument for policy advocacy. By collecting data and feedback from users, it helps identify emerging issues and policy gaps in both the country of destination and the Philippines. As migration policies evolve, the lived realities of migrant workers are continuously changing. [This proposed solution] allows us to track these shifts in real-time, strengthening our efforts to push for policy reforms that are more responsive to the needs of OFWs."

Step 3: Ideate

Figure 2. Overseas Filipino Worker Personas

CMA and I then co-designed two OFW "personas," or fictional characters, with challenges at different stages of their migration journey to help ground the ideation process in a reality that reflected the needs of migrant workers on-the-ground, shown in Figure 2. "The personas were very helpful to easily distinguish the [range of] possible questions asked by users," shared Anna Navarro. As a result, there were several high-priority features and approaches identified below.

• Language Ability: The large language model (LLM) had to translate and summarize content in Tagalog accurately, consistently, and in an approachable tone.

• Accuracy: The LLM had to provide consistent and accurate information. To mitigate the risk of model hallucinations, the team used a retrieval-augmented-generation technique (RAG) to enhance user questions with additional contextual information, improving the quality of the LLM response. 

• Accessibility: The tool had to provide support services through a secure messaging platform, such as Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp, as these are the two most popular communication channels within the OFW population.  

• Contract Literacy: The tool had to provide information about KSA standard work contracts.

• User Behavior: Because OFWs tend to provide long, trailing questions with many parts, the tool had to be able to accurately parse the question. 

• Server Landscape: The tool had to be operational in KSA. Because Facebook Messenger was the intended platform, and Facebook is operational in KSA, we posited the tool would also be operational in the given landscape. Using the end-to-end encryption feature within Facebook Messenger would also help prevent the issue of transmitting user-identifiable information over the internet.

• Feedback Mechanism: Feedback had to be requested from users to identify improvement opportunities and ensure the service provided was meeting their expectations. 

• Data Privacy: Utmost consideration for user information, data storage, and access had to be considered.

Step 4: Proof of Concept

[Watch video here]

Video 1. Proof of concept accessed on a mobile phone

The technical components outlined in Table 1 were used to build the proof of concept. Further technical details can be found on the project's GitHub repository

Table 1. Key technical components to build proof of concept

Step 5: Test, Feedback, and Learnings

Figure 3. Pictured left: Shē Gonzales and Anna Navarro assist gender-based violence survivor and OFW volunteer Ate Carina. Middle: OFW Family Circle leaders use the tool and provide their feedback. Right: Shē Gonzales facilitates the feedback session with OFW Family Circle participants. 

GOJust Project Manager Rowena Ocado organized the arrival of seven members of the Kalinga, Kaagapay, Kabisig OFW Organization for the pilot test. Overall, feedback was generally positive with many respondents rating their overall experience as “Magaling” (Excellent) in the follow-up survey. One participant noted, "Overall, the CMA app is a significant help for OFWs abroad. This app will undoubtedly be 100% useful, providing quick assistance to fellow OFWs who need immediate guidance, especially when they are confused or unaware of the correct process." Others highlighted the friendly and conversational tone of the tool, a feature especially useful among a user base that often feels isolated and unheard.

Several areas of improvement were also captured, including better support for lower internet bandwidth environments and more comprehensive information on wage disputes and contract termination. Others included the expansion of current functionality, to include a voice-accessible feature and a pop-up map indicating the OFW's current location relative to the Philippines embassy or nearest Migrant Workers Office.

Beyond the design thinking approach, the team explored additional pertinent topics including impact measurement, financial sustainability, promotion strategies, and data ethics to create a holistic product and implementation strategy.

Conclusion and Next Steps

Figure 4. The Center for Migrant Advocacy staff and interns pose at the main office in Quezon City, Philippines.

In this discovery project and proof of concept, the team validated the potential of generative AI in providing streamlined support for OFWs in each phase of the deployment lifecycle. Through additional iterations of the design thinking approach, improvements can be made to enhance the user's experience and improve accessibility. If scaled, this tool has the potential to reduce response times, enhance users' legal and contract literacy, empower OFWs to navigate labor disputes more effectively, and support policy reform. "The effort to design this tool comes from our heart," shared GOJust Project Manager Rowena Ocano, who was herself an OFW seeking legal support from CMA before joining the team in 2021, "we hope all migrant workers who use this tool will feel our care and love."

References

1. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. (2023, October 20). BSP maintains policy interest rates [Online]. Available:https://www.bsp.gov.ph/SitePages/MediaAndResearch/MediaDisp.aspx?ItemId=7005

2. Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines. (1988, April 17). Address of President Corazon Aquino to the Filipinas working in Hong Kong [Online]. Available:https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1988/04/17/address-of-president-corazon-aquino-to-the-filipinas-working-in-hong-kong/

3. L. J. Eugenio. (2023, August 11). Overseas Filipino workers: The modern-day heroes of the Philippines. Harvard International Review [Online]. Available:https://hir.harvard.edu/overseas-filipino-workers-the-modern-day-heroes-of-the-philippines/

4. Human Rights Watch. (2018, February 21). Kuwait/Philippines: Protect Filipino migrant workers [Online]. Available:https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/02/21/kuwait/philippines-protect-filipino-migrant-workers

5. Human Rights Watch. (2014, October 22). ‘I Already Bought You’: Abuse and exploitation of female migrant domestic workers [Online]. Available:https://www.hrw.org/report/2014/10/22/i-already-bought-you/abuse-and-exploitation-female-migrant-domestic-workers

6. Philippine Statistics Authority. (2024, September 13). Survey on overseas Filipinos [Online]. Available:https://psa.gov.ph/statistics/survey/labor-and-employment/survey-overseas-filipinos

7. International Organization for Migration. (2024). World Migration Report 2024, Chapter 6: The Current Context of the Feminization of Migration and the Growing Global Gender Gap in Migration [Online]. Available:https://worldmigrationreport.iom.int/what-we-do/world-migration-report-2024-chapter-6/current-context-feminization-migration-growing-global-gender-gap-migration

8. R. Beyer. (2023, January 23). Highlighting the experience of migrant domestic workers in the Arab Gulf region. King Center on Global Development [Online]. Available:https://kingcenter.stanford.edu/news/highlighting-experience-migrant-domestic-workers-arab-gulf-region

9. Human Rights Watch. (2024, June 26). Saudi Arabia falls short in respecting migrants' rights [Online]. Available:https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/06/26/saudi-arabia-falls-short-respecting-migrants-rights

10. Commission on Human Rights. (2021, July 5). Gaps in access to justice: The overseas Filipino workers' experience, an initial analysis of Philippine jurisprudence on labor migration [Online]. Available:https://chr-observatories.uwazi.io/en/entity/qvgmz80lr4g

11. Department of Migrant Workers. (n.d.). Migrant Workers Act of 1995 (RA 8042) [Online]. Available: https://dmw.gov.ph/archives/laws&rules/files/Migrant%20Workers%20Act%20of%201995%20(RA%208042).html

Acknowledgments

Maraming salamat po to the following teams and individuals for your critical insight on this interdisciplinary project:

• Center for Migrant Advocacy: Executive Director Ellene Sana, Direct Assistance Team Leader Anna Navarro, GOJust Project Manager Rowena Ocado, Operations Manager Hazel Divinagracia, Caseworker Shē Gonzales, and Researcher Ma. Vhiktoria Siva

• Mark Butler, Natural Language Processing and Generative AI Lecturer, UC Berkeley School of Information

• Jared Francis Maslin, Data Privacy and Ethics Lecturer, UC Berkeley School of Information

• Abel Sabu, EY Americas Client Technology Innovation Lead