Meeting on future collaboration between the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation and the ILO Regional Office for Arab States

© MoHRE, Dubai

© MoHRE, Dubai

The main objective of the event was to explore future collaboration between the ILO and the UAE MoHRE in the following areas:

Social security for workers in the platform economy

The MoHRE is undertaking research on the platform economy to understand challenges such as quality of work, working conditions, dispute settlement mechanisms, with a particular focus on social security arrangements for platform workers.
The ILO presented the key areas of focus for the extension of social security to workers on platforms including a series of good global practices that are deemed relevant to the UAE. Based on this, the ILO proposes further technical assistance in developing policy solutions relevant to the UAE context.

Capacity building on Labour Inspection and Occupational Safety and Health

The partners reviewed the progress and achievements of the ongoing project for capacity building and training of trainers of labour inspectors of the MoHRE. The evaluation and lessons learned will feed into exploring further joint work. ILO could provide support to further hands-on practical application as well as advanced training on strategic compliance, alongside support for the new Trainers to organise their own trainings across the country. Updating the national OSH profile and strategy could also be considered.

International Labour Standards and UAE labour legislation

Reporting on International Labour Standards was discussed, ILO stands ready to provide support for instance when it comes to promoting equality and non-discrimination in employment and occupation in the UAE. This could include studies, legal reviews and policy development. The partners could also collaborate on measuring gender pay gaps. Minimum wage policies are also useful tools to promote decent pay and prevent discrimination.

Collaboration around the Abu Dhabi Dialogue

The ILO is an observer in the Abu Dhabi Dialogue (ADD) and provides technical papers and other substantive contributions to the discussions. It was agreed that ILO will prepare a short discussion note on climate change, labour mobility and just transition in the ADD corridor for an upcoming meeting of the ADD Advisory Committee.
ILO will also provide MoHRE a list of countries that have joined the Global Coalition for Social Justice (GCSJ) with a view to organizing a possible information session on the GCSJ for the ADD.

Foreign worker governance

Building on earlier technical exchanges between ILO STAT and MoHRE about the measurement of worker-paid recruitment costs under SDG indicator 10.7.1, the partners explored further steps in this area.

© MoHRE, Dubai

© MoHRE, Dubai

While MoHRE and the ILO have an ongoing dialogue, this was the first extended formal consultation in recent years. It provided a good basis to review the different areas in which collaboration is already taking place and new areas to be considered. As ILO increasingly engages with the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, it is encouraging to also see this increased level of discussions between MoHRE and the ILO.