Minister of Labour H E Dr. Ali bin Smaikh Al Marri during a panel discussion in Geneva.
The Ministry of Labour organised a panel discussion entitled, “Qatar’s Labour Reforms: Tripartite Cooperation Towards a Common Vision”, in Geneva, on the sidelines of the 110th session of the International Labour Conference 2022.
The panel discussion comes within the framework of highlighting labour legislative reforms and their implementation mechanisms that have been carried out over the past years to improve the work environment in the State of Qatar, in addition to strengthening cooperation with ILO, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the International Organisation of Employers (IOE).
The panel discussion, which was held under the patronage of Minister of Labour H E Dr. Ali bin Smaikh Al Marri, was attended by ILO’s Deputy Director-General for Field Operations & Partnerships H E Moussa Oumarou, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) H E Sharan Burrow, and Secretary-General of the International Organisation of Employers (IOE) H E Roberto Suárez Santos.
It was moderated by Mr. Max Tuñón, the head of the ILO Office in Doha, and was attended by European and African labour ministers, ambassadors and representatives of employers, in addition to workers’ representatives.
The participants in the panel discussion recognised the reforms implemented by the State of Qatar in the labour sector during the past years, underlining that these core reforms refute all the allegations against Qatar through a suspicious campaign against those reforms.
Dr. Ali bin Samikh Al Marri stressed that the State of Qatar has adopted a sustainable approach towards developing and modernising legislation and laws to improve the work environment, that come in alignment with Qatar Vision 2030, while the hosting of the FIFA World Cup was a principal factor in triggering further developing and promoting of labour legislation.
He expounded that the distinguished partnership with the ILO and many international organisations during the past years contributed to the improvement of the work environment in the State of Qatar, pointing out that Qatar and ILO teamed up by concluding a technical cooperation agreement in 2017, which constituted a major motive in strengthening such partnership.
He noted that the State of Qatar has hosted, over the past years, hundreds of delegations from international labour organizations to witness the reality of the work environment in the State of Qatar, lauding the role played by these delegations in conveying the truth to world public opinion.
Dr. Ali bin Samikh Al Marri indicated that despite the improvements and reforms in Qatar’s labour sector, unfortunately, we have seen some ill-willed campaigns to garble the truth and downplay the importance of the reform steps accomplished in Qatar.
He stressed that the State of Qatar, represented by the Ministry of Labour, is open to any dialogue or constructive discussion to develop the work environment in the state, indicating that all doors are open to all labour organizations and unions to submit suggestions and consult on labour issues.
At the conclusion of his speech, he underlined that the State of Qatar continues to adopt a sustainable approach in improving and modernizing work environment legislation in the coming years, explaining that it is futile for some to attempt to link labour reforms with the end of the World Cup, because ameliorating the work environment is a long-term strategy.
In his turn, Moussa Oumarou, ILO’s Deputy Director-General for Field Operations & Partnerships, stressed that the State of Qatar has enforced an array of fundamental reforms in the labour sector, which are considered to be the broadest in the past years, noting that the laws and legislation that have been modified have contributed to improving the work ambience in the State of Qatar.
In addition, Sharan Burrow, Secretary-General of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), pointed out that the labour reforms in Qatar over the past decade are a remarkable success story and in support of the strategy of labour sector reforms globally, explaining the need for all of us to generalize Qatar’s pioneering experience in other countries in the region.
She reiterated that there are many fundamental reforms that have taken place in the State of Qatar over the past years, including setting a minimum wage, “There is a minimum wage, and we need to acknowledge that this remarkable”, she added.
Also, she pointed out that ultimately it can be said: “Kafala system is dead in Qatar. It’s dead, I’m telling you. There’s no discrimination in Qatar against workers.”
“It took a year to build a labour court in Qatar. In other countries it takes ages to have a labour court. This is absolutely remarkable”, she said, commending this progress in settling labour disputes in Qatar.
Roberto Suárez Santos, Secretary-General of the International Organisation of Employers (IOE) said: “I have known Sharan for many years, and I have not seen her talking positively about such thing. Because she can be very tough,” noting that the State of Qatar has worked during the past years to open more horizons of dialogue with international organizations and international partners, which helped enhance mutual trust, as we witnessed various meetings to put forward all ideas with the aim of improving the work environment in the State of Qatar, and this is what eventually happened.
