CHR, Qatar committees sign pact for migrant workers' protection


By JOSEPH TRISTAN ROXAS, GMA News
The Philippine Commission on Human Rights and the National Human Rights Committee of Qatar signed Wednesday a cooperation agreement that aims to protect the rights of overseas Filipino workers and their families.
CHR chairperson Jose Luis Gascon and NHRC president Dr. Ali Al Marri led the ceremony for the pact that will ensure bilateral action for the welfare of OFWs, especially on work-related complaints.
"This agreement is a significant milestone in the effort towards human rights protection. We might be able to explore ways of cooperation so that both committees will be able to advance our respective mandates," Gascon said.
Under the agreement, the two panels have laid out 10 areas of cooperation on the improvement of public awareness on human rights principles both for Filipinos and Qataris.
Both institutions also agreed to conduct trainings, studies and research, exchange of information and experiences, and the monitoring of cases affecting Filipino workers.
The agreement covers an initial term of three years and entails the creation of a joint committee.
Gascon said the more than 250,000 OFWs in the Gulf state can now raise their concerns to NHRC aside from reaching out to the Philippine embassy in Doha.
Al Marri said OFWs can proceed to the NHRC, where they have their own legal department, and connect them to other government agencies in Qatar.
"Migrant workers can directly come to us. When we receive complaints, we directly contact the company or with the ministry... then we take action to support or help them solve the problem," Al Marri said.
Commissioner Gwendolyn Pimentel-Gana, for her part, said this initiative means the concerns of OFWs in Qatar can be addressed.
"If you have a state institution in that part of the country advocating for the rights of your workers, then you can be assured that it is going to be addressed," Gana said. —LBG, GMA News

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

POPCOM, gagamit ng ‘digital platforms’ para pagtibayin ang mga ugnayang pampamilya

Mas pinalalawig ng Komisyon sa Populasyon at Pagpapaunlad (POPCOM) ang adhikain nitong pagpapalaganap at pagpapabuti ng pakikipag-ugnayan ng mga nakakatandang Pilipino sa kanilang mga anak na nagdadalaga at nagbibinata. Nitong Setyembre 21, ang POPCOM ay nagsagawa ng isang “parent-teen talk webinar” gamit ang Zoom, kung saan ang isang “interactive program” ang nagbigay ng naaayon na kaalaman at kasanayan sa mga magulang, habang tumulong ito sa mga anak na teenager na maabot ang kanilang buong potensyal. Hinikayat din nito ang mga nanay at tatay na sumali sa malayang usapan, lalo na sa mga usapin ukol sa sex at sekswalidad, na nakikitang makakatulong upang bumaba ang mga bilang ng mga pagbubuntis sa hanay ng mga kabataan. Maaaring mapanood ang webinar sa https://youtu.be/lZ9jrJCjYas. Ayon kay Ikalawang Kalihim (Undersecretary) Juan Antonio A. Perez III, MD, MPH, “ang webinar ay naging isang tagapag-simula at ‘padaluyan’ ng pag-uu
Read more

UP Diliman Professors Share Scientists’ Procurement Struggles at Senate Hearing

By Harvey Sapigao Senate hearing of the revised procurement law (Photo credit: Senate of the Philippines) College of Science (CS) Dean Giovanni Tapang held up a little white device as he finished his presentation. “This is a ₱150,000 component,” he described. “Isa lang gumagawa nito sa buong mundo, pero ang hirap pilitin sila na magregister sa PhilGEPS,” he continued, referring to the requirement that foreign companies must first register to the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) before they can sell products to local scientists. Marine Science Institute (MSI) Deputy Director Dr. Irene Rodriguez explained that the small device is a resin that filters metals in water. “May budget tayo,” she said, “pero ang problema ko ay ‘yung resin na ito.” This and other bottlenecks brought about by the procurement law, or the Government Procurement Reform Act (RA 9184), slow down research and development in the country. UPD leaders were invited to the Senate he
Read more

Biden said set to make push for demilitarized Palestinian state as part of new doctrine ---By LAZAR BERMAN

New York Times’ Thomas Friedman, who’s close to the US administration, says emerging doctrine would include Saudi-Israeli normalization, 2-state solution, and campaign against Iran US President Joe Biden’s administration is homing in on a new doctrine involving an unprecedented push to immediately advance the creation of a demilitarized but viable Palestinian state, The New York Times’ Thomas Friedman reported on Thursday. The plan, Friedman wrote, “would involve some form of US recognition of a demilitarized Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip that would come into being only once Palestinians had developed a set of defined, credible institutions and security capabilities to ensure that this state was viable and that it could never threaten Israel.” White House officials “have been consulting experts inside and outside the US government about different forms this recognition of Palestinian statehood might take,” revealed Friedman. What he termed the new “Biden Doctrin
Read more