Meeting reviews labour 
skill certification project

Preparatory meeting for 3rd edition of Abu Dhabi Dialogue ends in Kuwait

The officials who attended the preparatory meeting of Abu Dhabi Dialogue in Kuwait.— Supplied photo

The preparatory meeting of the third session of Abu Dhabi Dialogue, concerning labour issues, held in Kuwait on Thursday reviewed the proposed project of a mechanism to certify and recognise the workers’ skills.

Dialogue recap The Abu Dhabi Dialogue was launched by the UAE in 2008 with the participation of 18 countries — seven Asian labour-receiving countries of Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Malaysia and Kuwait and 11 Asian labour-sending countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. The dialogue also enjoys the participation of high-end observing countries such as Japan, Singapore and South Korea.

In his opening speech to the meeting, Humaid bin Deemas Al Suwaidi, Assistant Undersecretary for Labour Affairs, said the pilot project of issuing the ‘Labourers skills and recognition certificates” based on the National Occupation Skill Standards (NOSS), which is being implemented in cooperation by labour-sending countries represented by the Philippines, India and Pakistan and the receiving countries represented by Kuwait and the UAE, would improve recruitment and job-matching practices.

Bin Deemas said the Abu Dhabi Dialogue, launched six years ago, confirms the UAE’s keenness to establish a link between labour-sending and receiving countries and develop further partnerships.

He also stressed the UAE’s commitment to continue supporting the dialogue, noting that the Labour Ministry has launched a number of initiatives, which has transformed into important international achievements, most notably the Wage Protection System and labour transfer flexibility to ensure the worker has the right to move from one facility to another with ease in accordance with the rules and regulations.

“We’ve reviewed during the meeting, a draft relating to the pilot project, which aims at documenting labourers skills through a recognition process by handing out certificates that states their experience levels. This will also allow employers to obtain the required labourers who fit to the nature of the existing profession and give them an estimate of the wages they deserve, while keeping in mind the advantages workers get by obtaining a professional certificate regarding their careers once they return to their homeland,” said Bin Deemas.

The second initiative is piloted by the Philippines, as it is formulating training manual models for educational and awareness purposes to provide accurate and updated information to workers about the nature of life, culture and laws of hosting countries in the GCC to help them cope with the conditions of life in these countries and increasing the level of awareness about their rights.

Bin Deemas explained that the meeting also aimed at exchanging experiences and knowledge about best practices between participating countries, including the contractual wage protection systems, settlement issues, and other mechanisms.

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