(MENAFN- Jordan News Agency)
Amman, June 17 (Petra) -- By Safa Khasawneh -- Jordan, on Sunday, joined domestic workers, stakeholders and their supporters, in different parts of the world, in celebrating the 8th anniversary of the "international Domestic Workers Day (IDWD)" with a pledge to continue efforts to achieve more rights for guest workers in the Kingdom.
The celebration, at the Rainbow Theatre in Amman, was held in cooperation with the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Swiss Agency for Development.
Celebrated worldwide every year on June 16," the International Domestic Workers' Day" commemorates the passing of the landmark treaty, the ILO's Convention on Decent Work for Domestic Workers in 2011.
In his opening remarks, representative of the ILO office in Amman Mr. Patrick Daru, said that eight years after the birth of the ILO convention (No. 189), concerning decent work for domestic workers, some 29 countries around the world had ratified this important charter which represents the foundations to improve the situations of domestic helpers around the world.
"Unfortunately no Arab country so far, including Jordan, has yet ratified the convention ," he stressed, adding that the ILO will continue working with all governments to find practical solutions and achieve more rights for domestic helpers .
In her welcome speech, Director of the Global Programme on Migration and Development Ms. Simone Giger expressed hope that the young generation in Jordan and Lebanon and even in the entire Middle East the Arab region will have positive contributions to attitudes and relations towards migrant domestic workers.
The ILO convention sets recommendations to improve working conditions for domestic workers worldwide. It also requires countries to guarantee guest workers the same rights as other workers regarding daily and weekly rest periods, working hours, overtime compensation, and paid annual leave as well as adequate protection against violence.
Celebrating this day around the world represents the ongoing fight to ensure that standards adopted 8 years ago become a reality for domestic helpers all over the world and to remind governments about their unfinished business to "introduce policies that translate into real change on the ground".
The event featured a documentary called "Thank You Somma" , which tells the story of a Sri Lankan worker who spent around 30 years with a family in Lebanon, help raising their children and became a part of the family. The documentary highlights the relationship between guest workers and Arab youths and addresses common perceptions about domestic helpers in the Middle East.
The 55-minute documentary was followed by a constructive panel discussion, which included representatives of the Ministry of Labor Dr. Hayel Zaben, "My Fair Home" Hadeel Moghrabi, and a Pilipino Domestic worker in Amman.
The discussion tackled challenges facing domestic workers, strategies and solutions that must be adopted to create more safe and decent environment for the domestic helpers.
Ministry of Labour Director of the Domestic Workers Directorate, Hayel al-Zaben, said the number of domestic workers who entered Jordan from 1/4/2004 to 31/12/2018 reached 206,000, the largest number of which were from the Philippines (72,776), followed by Indonesia (68,048) and then Sri Lanka (41,641).
Al Zaben told Petra that a total of 46,223 domestic guest workers now reside in Jordan with valid work permits.
The main challenges facing the Ministry of Labor on domestic workers are the runaways, and the unlicensed recruitment offices, Al Zaben said, stressing that the ministry is reviewing Regulation No. 12 of 2015 on the organization of Private offices Recruiting Non-Jordanian Domestic Workers.
The unlicensed offices lure domestic helpers to refuse to work and run away, deceiving them of achieving more financial benefits by taking them to work elsewhere, he told Petra.
"Since 2016, the ministry withdrew licenses and shut down 26 domestic migrant workers recruitment offices out of 191 offices working in the country, for violating regulations and instructions" the MOL official said.
"On average, the ministry's inspection department receives 1,000 complaints from migrant workers each year Dr. Al Zaben said.
"My Fair Home" is a joint initiative of the ILO and the International Domestic Workers Federation which aims to bring about new attitudes and behavioral change among employers of domestic helpers.
The campaign encourages employers to sign on six principles to ensure that domestic helpers enjoy decent living conditions including fair wages, reasonable working hours, time to rest and access to decent health care.
Based on on-going and constructive cooperation between the ILO and the Ministry of Labour, three guidance manuals will be released next July, Dr. Hayel Al Zaben revealed.
The first manual organizes the relation between guest workers and their employers, the second clarifies procedures of filing complaints, while the third explains required documents and procedures for issuance of work permits and visas to domestic workers.
To strengthen the protection of migrant workers in the country, ongoing cooperation between the ILO and the Ministry of Labor resulted in amending Regulation No. 90/2009 of domestic workers, cooks, gardeners, and other workers who fall within that sector on September 13th, 2011, Head of ILO office in Amman, Ibrahim Aqel told Petra .
The Ministry replaced a provision requiring the domestic worker to obtain approval from the employer before leaving the house with a provision requiring the worker to inform the employer before leaving the house, he added.
ILO representative Kagan told Petra that cooperation with Jordan focuses mainly on promoting policy reform in the context of domestic work regulations.
"We have provided technical support to the Ministry of Labour committee on domestic work regulations, establishing or strengthening institutional mechanisms to implement and monitor governance frameworks on labor migration," she said.
"Such support included technical support to the MOL Domestic Workers' Department to improve and standardize their dispute-resolution mechanisms, " the ILO official explained.
ILO provides evidence-based policy advice and research; capacity building and training; engagement of social partners, monitoring of impact, and promotion of good practices, she added.
Since joining the ILO in 1956, Jordan has ratified 24 conventions including seven out of eight fundamental conventions.
Ongoing cooperation resulted in reaching an agreement between the ILO and the Ministry of Labour in 2011 to provide technical advisory support on the implementation of the "National Employment Strategy" .
According to the agreement, the ILO has prepared the "Operational Manual for the implementation Unit of the National Employment Strategy" and continues to evaluate the active labour market programs. In 2013, the National Employment Campaign, "We are all partners" , was launched with the aim to provide 18,000 job opportunities for Jordanians.
S Kh
17/06/2019 12:58:20
MENAFN1706201901170000ID1098647082
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.