“It is my hope that (…), Decent work, as a concept will become a visible reality” in Liberia and Africa, said Liberian President H.E. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in her keynote address during the two-day workshop organized by the Ministry of Labour of Liberia, in partnership with the international organization “Realising Rights (RR): The Ethical Globalization Initiative” and the International Labour Organization (ILO).

The Monrovia High Level Forum covered a wide range of topics including the ILO Declaration on Social Justice for Fair Globalization, plus renewed efforts toward Decent Work in Africa to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDG).

“Decent work means decent life (…) and the call for action for decent work programmes is a just call”, stated Mr. Kofi Woods, Liberian Minister of Labour in the presence of more than eighty representatives from governments, employers and workers associations, the development partners, the private sector and civil society organizations.

Key issues of concern to African and international stakeholders were raised while consensus and recommendations focussed on practical examples from the region including Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania and Zambia to promote and implement decent work approaches, post-conflict reconstruction and job creation.

“We see Decent work as a core human right and this meeting is part of a wider strategic effort to get more priority for Decent work in the context of discussions in the (63rd session of the) UN General Assembly on the Millennium Development Goals (MDG)” in late September 2008 in New York, underscored Realizing Rights President Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

“There is no lasting peace without jobs”, emphasized Mr. Mpenga Kabundi, ILO Deputy-Regional Director for Africa by drawing the attention to “decent jobs for a just society and a sustainable route out of poverty”.

The Decent Work agenda includes for main topics:

The meeting will bring together government, workers and employers’ delegates from 21 countries in the Asia-Pacific region. The aim of the conference is to identify a set of policy approaches that countries can use to pursue the effective and progressive extension of social security coverage, particularly to workers in the informal economy.

The ILO will be represented by Mr. Assane Diop, Executive Director, Social Protection Sector, Mr. Jose Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, Executive Director, Employment Sector, and Ms. Sachiko Yamamoto, Regional Director, ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, among others.

A number of international agencies closely concerned with social protection issues will be represented (as observers), including the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the International Social Security Association (ISSA). The countries expected to attend include Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, People’s Republic of China, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Phillipines, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vanuatu and Viet Nam.

The specific objectives of the meeting include:

- To share knowledge and experiences regarding strategies and mechanisms for the extension of social security.

- To identify good practices and encourage initiatives and responses to emerging challenges.

- To foster a consensual approach or approaches to issues of extension of coverage.

In addition to a high level round table on the Extension of Social Protection and a panel discussion on Social Security and the Right to Work on 19 May, thematic discussions on 20 May will centre around two topics, namely: Income Security and Strategies for Extension of Coverage Social Health and Protection: Strategies for Extension of Coverage. These panels will be followed by general discussion on the way forward.

More information can be found at: http://www.ilo.org/public/english/region/asro/bangkok/events/sis/index.htm

Background

At the fourteenth Asian Regional Meeting of the ILO in 2006, the tripartite delegates – governments, employers’ and workers’ organizations – committed themselves to an Asian Decent Work Decade (2006- 2015). In doing so they reaffirmed their dedication to the overall goal of full, productive and decent employment for all, and specifically to implementing the priorities laid down in their national Decent Work Country Programmes, and to cooperate on specific regional initiatives where joint action and the sharing of knowledge and expertise would contribute to the realization of decent work. One of these priority areas is “extending the effectiveness and coverage of social protection for all, including workers in the informal economy”.

“The emphasis on job generation can significantly contribute to more human development, especially when associated to other dimensions of decent work such as absence of child or forced labour; decent salaries; social protection; rights at work, including freedom of association and collective bargaining; and equal opportunity access to well-paid, high-quality jobs and occupations”, says the report titled “Employment, Human Development and Decent Work – Brazil’s Recent Experience”.

The report looks at the evolution of 28 indicators associated with the four pillars of the decent work agenda (employment, rights at work, social protection and social dialogue) in Brazil between 1992 and 2006. The result shows a positive evolution in almost all of them, especially formal employment, real minimum wages, eradication of child and forced labour and gender and race inequalities, even though much remains to be done in this field.

For additional information, please visit the ILO Brasilia website http://www.oitbrasil.org.br/estudo_indicadores2.php

25 March 2008 — Labor problems among the Bangladeshi workers in the Kingdom will top the agenda of the Saudi-Bangladesh Joint Committee scheduled for April 7-8 in Dhaka. Abdulrahman Albawardi, deputy minister for labor affairs, will lead the 16-member Saudi side. Leading the Bangladeshi team will be Mohammed Aminul Islam Bhuyan, secretary for economic relations.

“The forthcoming meeting will resolve several issues pertaining to the Bangladeshi workers in the Kingdom,” said Wahidur Rahman, deputy chief of mission of the Bangladesh Embassy in Riyadh. He said the Bangladeshi team would be seeking permission from the Saudi side to draw up policy guidelines with the Saudi government regarding the recruitment of Bangladeshi manpower.

“We believe in sending men who are skilled and semi skilled in their respective professions and we like our men to be paid a minimum wage of SR600 per month, not including food and accommodation,” Rahman said, pointing out that this would eradicate the free-visa system, which is common among a section of the Bangladeshi workers.

Rahman also said that the participants at the meeting would also identify the problems faced by the Bangladeshi employee and their employers during their period of work contracts.

“Some of the problems are created due to not paying of wages and harassment,” he said, pointing out that they could be resolved in a friendly manner. Admitting that a fraction of the Bangladeshi population has got into some problems in the Kingdom, leading many to identify Bangladeshis as a specific problem, he said that the rest of the workforce has earned a good name for their loyalty and perseverance.

A spokesman from the Labor Ministry said that the ministry would take up the issue of workers who are coming into the Kingdom on free visas, pilgrims who overstay their Haj and Umrah visas, and upgrading the skills of Bangladeshi workers.

Labor Minister Dr. Ghazi Al-Gosaibi on Sunday confirmed a ban on recruitment of some categories of the Bangladeshi workers. He said the Kingdom would continue to recruit Bangladeshi doctors and engineers, as well as cleaning and maintenance staff for government departments. The ban was only limited to certain jobs, such as domestic servants and farm hands, he added.

Gosaibi said the ban was part of a new recruitment policy that aims to strike a balance among the various nationalities working in the Kingdom. “The restriction was imposed in line with the policy of limiting the number of workers hired from a single country,” he said, adding that the ban would be reconsidered in the future.

The minister added that the recruitment ban on some categories of Bangladeshi workers was called for since some of these categories have already reached the set quota.

The minister said the decision excludes cleaning and maintenance companies having government contracts. The ban is not permanent since the ministry periodically revises recruitment decisions. “The ministry might reconsider the status of Bangladeshi workers in the future if a balance is struck between their numbers and that of all foreign workers in the country,” Gosaibi said.

JEDDAH, 6 April 2008 — The Kingdom’s tourism sector will soon become the largest employer of Saudis, said Prince Sultan ibn Salman, secretary-general of the Supreme Commission for Tourism. “The commission plays a big role in transforming this important sector into an organized and productive sector,” said the prince while addressing a graduation ceremony in Riyadh.

“The most important product of this sector is jobs. Today world tourism employs more than 220 million people and it is the largest employer of the world,” the Saudi Press Agency quoted Sultan as saying.

He reiterated SCT’s plan to Saudize 81 percent of jobs in the travel and tourism sector within three years.

The travel and tourism sector will soon be governed by an advanced law, the prince said, adding that the hospitality sector would be reorganized considering its important role in attracting tourists.

The SCT chief was talking in ceremony at the Cultural Palace in Riyadh marking the graduation of the first group of 318 trainees for travel and tourism sector.

“We have been working on to transform the tourism sector into an integrated industry that would create more job opportunities for Saudi citizens,” he said.

He said the commission would continue its training programs for Saudis to meet the requirements of the tourism industry and of investors in the sector.

“We’ll train Saudis to fill at least 4,000 jobs in the hospitality sector,” he said.

Saudis are capable of taking up important responsibilities, he said, adding that Saudi doctors, bankers and pilots have proved their efficiency and excellence in their respective working areas.

Labor Minister Dr. Ghazi Al-Gosaibi has approved the plans for Saudizing jobs in the travel and tourism sector as well as in the hospitality sector.

The SCT — in association with the General Organization for Technical Education and Vocational Training (GOTEVOT), the Manpower Development and other related organizations — has launched a program to Saudize five job categories in the travel and tourism sector: reservation and ticketing; sales and marketing; air cargo; tourism program designing; and customer services.

Speaking at the ceremony, Dr. Ali Al-Ghafees, governor of GOTEVOT, highlighted the importance of the tourism sector as it offers more investment and job opportunities and supports the country’s diversification drive. “The graduation of these young Saudis is the result of cooperation between the Manpower Development Fund and SCT,” said Ahmed Al-Zamil, director general of the fund.

“The tourism sector will continue to receive our full support as we know that it has the potential to absorb the largest number of Saudi job seekers,” he added.

The 318 graduates began attending their training courses two years ago and they received intensive coaching in English language and learned various aspects of the profession.

Many of these graduates have already received job offers from travel and tourism companies, with Al-Tayyar, Al-Fursan and Kanoo taking the lead. Al-Sarh, Al-Ameeqan and International Tourism were among the largest companies in Riyadh to welcome the newly trained Saudis.

JEDDAH, 27 March 2008 — The Labor Ministry is currently studying a proposal that calls for dropping work experience requirement for Saudi job seekers, an official said.

Muhammad Al-Dowaish, adviser to Labor Minister Dr. Ghazi Al-Gosaibi, said the proposal was made as part of efforts to create job opportunities for the increasing number of unemployed Saudis. He said the work experience requirement contradicted the Labor Law, which directs employers to hire Saudis and provide them with on-the-job training.

Al-Dowaish said the requirement was one major problem preventing employment of Saudis, adding that some organizations demanded experience of more than five years for certain jobs.

Khaled Al-Sajjan, an expert in personnel affairs, said there were many jobs that did not require years of experience.

Al-Sajjan, however, said he was not in favor of totally dropping the requirement as some sensitive jobs do require long experience.

Minister of Labor Ghazi Al-Gosaibi recently clarified his stance on a ban on Bangladeshi workers. He said that the ban was only limited to certain jobs, such as employing them as domestic servants and farm laborers. He also said that the restriction was imposed in line with the policy of limiting the maximum number of workers hired from a single country.

However, the media has considered this change of thought as a triumph. Why? Media outlets believe that the pressure they have created by writing reports on Bangladeshis and the crimes that some of them have committed has helped change the minister’s decision and that the minister’s statement has come as a response to media pressure.

Newspapers celebrated the decision and reports were published on the front page of different local newspapers. They thought of it as a triumph and that they have the right to be happy. However, newspapers only did what they are obliged to do. When someone does a job, he should not brag about it or praise himself so that he gets distracted and forgets his main job.

Personally, I see this as a triumph for the labor minister and not the media. I do not really like tension between the media and officials from government ministries. I do not like the idea of two groups competing on the battlefield until one of them wins.

I do not want the media and government officials to exist as two opposites who never come together unless there is a battle.

For journalists to adopt such behavior is totally unacceptable. Journalism is supposed to be a discipline concerned with collecting, analyzing, verifying and presenting information regarding events, trends, issues and people.

The decision of the labor minister regarding the Bangladeshi workers is a triumph because it proves the importance of public interest. It also proves the ability of government officials to take decisions even if they are tough and challenging. Therefore, I applaud the minister, although it is not my habit to present written compliments or praises.

RIYADH — Minister of Labor Ghazi Al-Gosaibi has taken a decision to reduce Saudization quotas for certain industries, including downstream projects, from 30 to 20 percent, it was announced yesterday.

According to the Labor Ministry, the decision, which was taken on Feb. 11, will cover industries for foodstuffs, beverages, textiles, readymade garments, shoes, furniture and paper. The new rule also says the quota of Saudis working in these factories should never fall below 15 percent in the first two years of operation, or three years from the date of licencing.

Deputy Minister of Labor Abdulwahed Al-Humaid said the decision to reduce the number of Saudis expected to work at these factories was necessary to fulfill labor market demands.

R.H., a factory manager, said he has never been able to surpass 24 percent Saudization. “Saudization is a national demand, I agree, but dealing with unqualified Saudi labor in a downstream industrial project can be costly,” said R.H. “Furthermore, the Saudi worker refuses to work inconvenient shifts.”

R.H. said Saudis they have trained in the past have quit after months of training to take government jobs that offer lucrative salaries as well as two-day weekends.