Kuwait

The overall objective of the project is to promote the extension of social protection for migrants in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in accordance with international social security standards, by promoting research, informing social dialogue and supporting reform efforts.

The project operates along three main axes:

The General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT) has been reaching out to trade unions in destination countries to ensure the protection of Nepalese migrant workers. They have moreover signed agreements and MoUs with trade unions in Lebanon, Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain, Hong Kong, and the Republic of Korea to enhance Nepalese workers' rights in these countries.

The FAIRWAY programme addresses underlying causes of decent work deficits at their source through national-level interventions in selected countries of origin in East, West and North Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, and Morocco). In the Arab States, the programme provides continuity to interventions in countries of destination across the region by building on the work of the Fairway Middle East project (2016-2019), which target low-skilled migrant workers from all regions.

Although domestic workers are explicitly excluded from protections under the Labour Law in GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries, in June 2015 a separate law regulating the domestic work sector was adopted by Kuwait’s national assembly, providing some labour rights to this vulnerable group of workers – including a minimum wage. The lack of a credible mechanism to enforce this law remains a shortcoming however.

The regional advocacy initiative aims to determine ways in which national laws could be adapted to conform with the new international legal standards, as well as to examine the possibility of Arab States ratifying the Domestic Workers Convention. The program will focus on Bahrain, Jordan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Oman over a period of two years.