ILO Regional Director for Arab States conducts official visit to UAE and Kuwait
ILO Regional Director for Arab States Ruba Jaradat conducts official visit to the UAE and Kuwait, to promote cooperation between the Organization and the two GCC countries.
11 March 2016
Content also available in:
العربية
BEIRUT ( ILO News) - ILO Regional Director for Arab States Ruba Jaradat met with ministers and other senior officials in the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, as part of ILO efforts to increase cooperation with its tripartite partners - governments, workers and employers - in the GCC region, and better provide them with technical support.
During the first leg of the 15-21 February visit, Jaradat met in Abu Dhabi with UAE Minister of Human Resources and Emiratisation Saqr bin Ghobash Saeed Ghobash, to discuss the further development of bilateral technical co-operation in a number of areas including labour inspection and labour market information.
Jaradat also attended the opening of a Ministry information booth at Dubai National Airport, which provides arriving migrant workers with information and booklets in a number of languages on UAE laws concerning labour rights and contractual obligations for the workers and their employers. The Ministry said it would disseminate the printed information in a number of languages to migrant worker housing camps.
Speaking to national media, Jaradat said that much remains to be done in the GCC region regarding living and working conditions for migrant workers and the visa sponsorship system, but that the UAE has undertaken a number of reforms in the right direction.
Jaradat’s visit came as the ILO and the UAE embarked on a two-year joint capacity-building project that aims to promote labour market governance and contribute to the country’s 2021 Vision agenda. The new UAE-funded project focuses on three key technical areas: improving Labour Market Information Systems at federal and sub national levels; developing an assistance programme to enhance labour inspection, as well as addressing forced labour and occupational safety and health; and developing dispute prevention and resolution along with improved access to justice for migrant workers.
In Kuwait on the second leg of her visit to the Gulf region, Jaradat met with Minister of Social Affairs and Labour and Minister of State for Planning and Development Affairs, Hind Subaih Barrak Al-Subaih, and other high level officials and public figures to scale up cooperation between the ILO and its tripartite partners in the country.
The ILO supports the Government, workers and employers in Kuwait in various areas including labour inspection, labour law, migrant and forced labour, and domestic workers’ rights.
It is working with the Government and line ministries to agree on a common understanding of the foundations of a national migration policy for Kuwait, which is characterized by high dependence on foreign labour. In addition the ILO aims at providing inputs into the new National Development Plan, integrating the different concerns of a national migration policy- including the nationalization of the labour force - into development policies.
The ILO has enhanced its technical assistance on actuarial valuations with the Kuwait Public Institution for Social Security in recent years. It has also begun implementation of a programme, funded by the Kuwaiti Government, to assist the country in realizing International Labour Standards and improving labour governance with a focus on labour inspection.
Since 2009, the Government of Kuwait, through its Representation in Geneva, has provided financial contributions on a regular basis to support the ILO’s programme in the Arab States and particularly in the occupied Palestinian territory.
During the first leg of the 15-21 February visit, Jaradat met in Abu Dhabi with UAE Minister of Human Resources and Emiratisation Saqr bin Ghobash Saeed Ghobash, to discuss the further development of bilateral technical co-operation in a number of areas including labour inspection and labour market information.
Jaradat also attended the opening of a Ministry information booth at Dubai National Airport, which provides arriving migrant workers with information and booklets in a number of languages on UAE laws concerning labour rights and contractual obligations for the workers and their employers. The Ministry said it would disseminate the printed information in a number of languages to migrant worker housing camps.
Speaking to national media, Jaradat said that much remains to be done in the GCC region regarding living and working conditions for migrant workers and the visa sponsorship system, but that the UAE has undertaken a number of reforms in the right direction.
Jaradat’s visit came as the ILO and the UAE embarked on a two-year joint capacity-building project that aims to promote labour market governance and contribute to the country’s 2021 Vision agenda. The new UAE-funded project focuses on three key technical areas: improving Labour Market Information Systems at federal and sub national levels; developing an assistance programme to enhance labour inspection, as well as addressing forced labour and occupational safety and health; and developing dispute prevention and resolution along with improved access to justice for migrant workers.
In Kuwait on the second leg of her visit to the Gulf region, Jaradat met with Minister of Social Affairs and Labour and Minister of State for Planning and Development Affairs, Hind Subaih Barrak Al-Subaih, and other high level officials and public figures to scale up cooperation between the ILO and its tripartite partners in the country.
The ILO supports the Government, workers and employers in Kuwait in various areas including labour inspection, labour law, migrant and forced labour, and domestic workers’ rights.
It is working with the Government and line ministries to agree on a common understanding of the foundations of a national migration policy for Kuwait, which is characterized by high dependence on foreign labour. In addition the ILO aims at providing inputs into the new National Development Plan, integrating the different concerns of a national migration policy- including the nationalization of the labour force - into development policies.
The ILO has enhanced its technical assistance on actuarial valuations with the Kuwait Public Institution for Social Security in recent years. It has also begun implementation of a programme, funded by the Kuwaiti Government, to assist the country in realizing International Labour Standards and improving labour governance with a focus on labour inspection.
Since 2009, the Government of Kuwait, through its Representation in Geneva, has provided financial contributions on a regular basis to support the ILO’s programme in the Arab States and particularly in the occupied Palestinian territory.