Strengthening Workers' Organizations in the Arab Countries Through Social, Economic and Legal Literacy

At a time when the trade union movement was largely sidelined in most Arab countries, the prominent role of the workers’ movement as a catalyst for the winds of democratic change has brought a new perspective and priority to the issues of trade unionism. In responding to these emerging realities and given the potential of workers’ movements, the ILO aims through this project to develop the capacity of workers’ organizations in the Arab region to participate effectively in policy debates, influence public decisions, and defend workers’ rights and interests, with a focus on Bahrain, Oman and Yemen. It will also cover Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates. The project aims at strengthening the institutional capacity of workers’ organizations (immediate objective 1) and their technical capacity (immediate objective 2). It will train and assist workers’ organizations to undertake needs assessments in each target country (activity 1.1), on the basis of which context-specific strategies and action plans will be developed targeting increased internal democracy, independence and degree of representation of workers’ organizations (activity 1.2). Accordingly, it will implement a comprehensive capacity development program including technical support for the trade union leadership (activity 2.1), training on organizational, socioeconomic and legal issues for organized and unorganized workers (activity 2.2), and the establishment of a Labor Education and Research Network for the Arab Region (activity 2.3). Early lessons learned and experience to date has shown that support to workers’ organizations that are not willing to embrace internal democracy, nurturing the size and diversity of their membership, could be self-defeating. Accordingly, the project will adopt a holistic approach to assist existing workers’ organizations in improving their structures, while in parallel supporting workers to establish alternative organizations when and where existing ones are compromised. Particular attention will be given to the self-organizing of young workers and women workers, rather than only promoting the creation of committees for women and youth as has been the case earlier. Workers in the informal economy, doubly marginalized, will also be targeted. Moreover, the project will promote networking between trade unionists, civil society activists, labor educators, labor researchers, as well as the media – as an alliance of like-minded advocates for social and economic transformation. Within a unified approach targeting leadership and cadres of workers’ organizations as well as workers at the grassroots level, the project will be flexible in determining the nature and sequencing of its interventions according to the context of each situation. The comprehensive capacity development program will contribute to the project’s national ownership and sustainability. The project will enhance the contribution of workers and their organizations to national policy processes, including through promoting workers’ rights in Decent Work Country Programs. The project will largely rely on national resource persons, and enable knowledge sharing at all levels. Its outcome-driven approach will ensure the visibility of its impact on workers’ organizations whether in new or changed structures, membership, enhanced policy and legal contributions, reporting, or research and training capacity.

Project symbol

RAB/11/02/USA

Admin unit

RO-Arab States/DWT-Beirut

Start date

13/09/2011

End date

31/07/2015

Total allocation

2475248

Total expenditure

Status

Closed

2469705

Development Partners

USA, Department of State

Country/Countries

Arab States - regional

Outcomes

Workers' Organizations