GFMD workshop recommends stronger protection for migrant health workers

SOME 60 participants from 19 countries have recommended to strengthen the protection of the rights of migrant domestic care workers and empowering them as development actors at the conclusion of the Global Forum for Migration and Development (GFMD) Preparatory Workshop at the Hyatt Hotel last week.

According to the Department of Foreign Affairs, this recommendations will be presented in Roundtable 3.3 on “Protecting Migrant Domestic Workers: Enhancing their Development Potential” of the GFMD Summit in Port Louis,
Mauritius.

The two-day workshop was hosted by the Philippine bovernment with the support of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and the Mauritian Chair of the GFMD.

Foreign Undersecretary for Special and Ocean Concerns, Jose S. Brillantes said in his keynote address that the workshop came at an “auspicious time” following the recent ratification by the Philippines of the International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention 189 concerning Decent Work for Domestic Workers (ILO 189) and the passage on third reading of the Kasambahay bill in the Philippine Congress.

ILO 189 is the first international instrument on domestic workers that now forms part of a growing framework of human-rights instruments and international labor standards for migrant domestic care workers.

This framework includes the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, its General Comment 1 on Migrant Domestic Workers, the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and its General Recommendation 26 on Women Migrant Workers.

The delegates agreed to use this framework in identifying gaps in existing government policies, programs and structures to improve the protection of domestic workers.

Several delegates also shared their countries’ good practices in implementing this framework.

The ILO estimates that there are 53 million to 100 million domestic workers worldwide, 83 percent of whom are women.

The Philippines Overseas Employment Administration says there are over 3.4 million Filipino domestic workers here and abroad.

All the participants acknowledged the financial contributions of domestic workers and the multiplier effect these remittances could have when spent on education, health and entrepreneurial activities.

Beyond financial remittances, however, the delegates recognized the social contributions of migrant domestic workers through skills and knowledge transfer, greater confidence and empowerment.

United Nations Women Regional Director Roberta Clarke said this is also known as the “empowerment effect.”

“If we amplify the empowerment effect of increased skills, confidence, technology and training, migrant domestic care workers will be enabled to claim their rights, celebrate their contributions, and influence the laws and policies that impact their lives,” Clarke said.

The GFMD is the world’s pre-eminent dialogue on international migration. It is a concrete outcome of the 2006 High-level Dialogue on International Migration and Development where member-states endorsed the proposal of the secretary-general to create a forum to continue the global dialogue on international migration and development.

The first session of the GFMD was hosted by Belgium in 2007, followed by the Philippines in 2008, Greece in 2009, Mexico in 2010, Switzerland in 2011 and Mauritius in 2012. –Recto Mercene / Reporter, Businessmirror