Improving the Governance and protection mechanisms for labour migration in the Gulf States

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has developed a regional programme in four Gulf countries in order to provide the necessary technical support to national constituents to improve the governance and protection mechanisms afforded to low-skilled migrant workers. The proposal has three major outcomes, which focus on regional data management, research and policy reform; service delivery to migrant workers; and capacity training programmes for key stakeholders. This regional project is the first of its kind in the Arab States, and underscores the ILO’s commitment to technical cooperation in the field of labour migration. It has been developed in conjunction with another regional project promoting decent work for domestic workers. The ultimate objective of this project is to ensure decent work opportunities for men and women migrant workers, in order to allow them in turn to contribute to the development of their respective countries of origin and destination. ILO has aligned the proposed intervention with current technical cooperation projects underway in Lebanon and Jordan, as well as ILO’s global project on combating forced labour and trafficking, funded by Irish Aid, which has planned several activities in the Middle East region. This proposal has also been drafted in conjunction with another regional advocacy project focusing specifically on decent work for domestic workers. This project has a regional focus, and includes targeted interventions in the following four GCC countries: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Saudi Arabia. These countries have been selected based on a number of criteria including the number of migrant domestic workers living and working in these countries; the existing ILO projects underway in the region; the current volatile security situation (which prevents work currently in Iraq, Syria and Yemen); and the existence of social partners in the region. The ILO has chosen these countries while recognising the need and importance of discussing the proposed project with its constituents. ILO will organise a project inception workshop once the Programme Coordinator has been recruited, in order to present this regional project to the national constituents in the four GCC countries and discuss any required changes in approach and strategy.

Project symbol

RAB/12/05/SDC

Admin unit

RO-Arab States/DWT-Beirut

Start date

01/09/2012

End date

15/05/2015

Total allocation

2613000

Total expenditure

Status

Closed

2538469

Development Partners

Switzerland, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation

Country/Countries

Arab States - regional

Outcomes

Promoting fair and effective labour migration policies
Forced Labour