Director-General of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Gilbert Houngbo has praised Qatar for putting its labour reforms into effect. In remarks to Qatar News Agency (QNA), Houngbo noted the co-operation between Qatar and the ILO, pointing out that it contributed to achieving gradual improvements.
In a related context, he revealed the completion of the second phase of co-operation between Qatar and the ILO, indicating that discussions had taken place with the Qatari side to begin the third phase in the past few months.
He said that the first and second phases of co-operation witnessed significant reforms by Qatar's government. He noted that the first part of the third phase will ensure the implementation of all reforms, while there will be another phase of this co-operation related to diversifying its fields, specifically, considering the strategic dimension of the future of the workforce in Qatar.
The ILO Director-General noted the major reform implemented by Qatar to improve the work environment, noting that it has focused a lot on occupational safety and health, especially concerning heat stress, which is part of the reform currently being implemented.
In addition, Houngbo pointed to the global challenges affecting the labour market, including the impact of artificial intelligence and digital transformation, pointing out that this is essential for Qatar.
He emphasised the importance of occupational safety and health, which the ILO added two years ago to its list of basic conventions, stressing the need to make every effort to ratify those conventions and press toward their implementation in all parts of the world.
The Director-General of the ILO said that the Global South today has a lot of available unemployed skills, while the Global North suffers from a skills shortage. He indicated that this type of labour migration is a global issue, and also applies to the Middle East, as well as to the State of Qatar, this experience and how to manage it can be shared between different countries.
Houngbo noted the co-operation between Qatar and the ILO, pointing out that it contributed to achieving gradual improvements.
