ILO Promotes Rights of Domestic Workers at High Level Dialogue on Migration and Development
Representatives of governments, international organizations, employers’ and workers’ organizations to share relevant initiatives and highlight relevance of ILO Convention 189 on Decent Work for Domestic Workers to promote human and labour rights for migrant domestic workers.
3 October 2013
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NEW YORK-The ILO is hosting a side event with OHCHR at the High Level Dialogue for Migration and Development to raise awareness on a historically unrecognized and invisible sector of migrant domestic workers, who despite being important agents of change and development to our societies, have continued to suffer oppressions and been excluded from labour and basic human rights. Additionally, this event celebrates the launch of an important global initiative called the Global Action Project on Migrant Domestic Workers, which will be implemented by the ILO in partnership with the OHCHR and UN Women.
This side event, held on 3 October in New York City and entitled “Migrant Domestic Workers: Ensuring Human Rights and Making Decent Work a Reality” is hosted in partnership with the governments of Italy and Philippines, bringing together multiple actors including representatives of governments, international organizations, employers’ and workers’ organizations to share relevant initiatives and highlight the relevance of the international legal framework of ILO’s Convention 189 on Decent Work for Domestic Workers in promoting human and labour rights for migrant domestic workers.
In its strategy to make decent work a reality for domestic workers, ILO Director General has said: “People somehow think that because domestic workers work in private homes, they’re not part of public policy. We need a mind change, that’s the first step.” The ILO, since the adoption of Convention 189 on Decent Work for Domestic Workers, has made efforts to swift this mind-set of the public on the image of migrant domestic workers and has focused on several key areas to improve the working conditions for domestic workers worldwide through an involvement in various initiatives on both national and global levels.
Through the launch of the Global Action Project on Migrant Domestic Workers, ILO intends to bring together a wide range of actors including other UN agencies, governments, and social partners including domestic worker and employer organizations to foster collaborative efforts on common areas of concern including knowledge sharing on global migration and domestic work, advocacy, and mobilization to raise the voices of migrant domestic workers worldwide.
Despite domestic work being an invisible economic sector comprising of nearly 50 million people, of whom 83% are women, domestic workers globally are mobilizing themselves, even in the midst of difficult circumstances, and finally their voices are being increasingly heard. ILO intends to use the high-level discussion and the upcoming discussion on the post 2015 Development Agenda as a strategic platform to further raise the visibility of domestic workers and continue to address the issues regarding the governance of labour migration, the needs of migrant workers, and the benefits of their migration experiences.
This side event, held on 3 October in New York City and entitled “Migrant Domestic Workers: Ensuring Human Rights and Making Decent Work a Reality” is hosted in partnership with the governments of Italy and Philippines, bringing together multiple actors including representatives of governments, international organizations, employers’ and workers’ organizations to share relevant initiatives and highlight the relevance of the international legal framework of ILO’s Convention 189 on Decent Work for Domestic Workers in promoting human and labour rights for migrant domestic workers.
In its strategy to make decent work a reality for domestic workers, ILO Director General has said: “People somehow think that because domestic workers work in private homes, they’re not part of public policy. We need a mind change, that’s the first step.” The ILO, since the adoption of Convention 189 on Decent Work for Domestic Workers, has made efforts to swift this mind-set of the public on the image of migrant domestic workers and has focused on several key areas to improve the working conditions for domestic workers worldwide through an involvement in various initiatives on both national and global levels.
Through the launch of the Global Action Project on Migrant Domestic Workers, ILO intends to bring together a wide range of actors including other UN agencies, governments, and social partners including domestic worker and employer organizations to foster collaborative efforts on common areas of concern including knowledge sharing on global migration and domestic work, advocacy, and mobilization to raise the voices of migrant domestic workers worldwide.
Despite domestic work being an invisible economic sector comprising of nearly 50 million people, of whom 83% are women, domestic workers globally are mobilizing themselves, even in the midst of difficult circumstances, and finally their voices are being increasingly heard. ILO intends to use the high-level discussion and the upcoming discussion on the post 2015 Development Agenda as a strategic platform to further raise the visibility of domestic workers and continue to address the issues regarding the governance of labour migration, the needs of migrant workers, and the benefits of their migration experiences.