Saudi Arabia

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 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.

Established in 2015, Saudi Arabiaís Musaned is the online digital recruitment platform for domestic workers in Saudi Arabia. Overseen by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (MoHRSD), Musaned has provided the MoHRSD with a wide range of data and tools to enhance their monitoring capabilities over the employment of migrant domestic workers.

Musaned was established, in part, to address issues faced by migrant domestic workers, including unethical or illegal recruitment and employment practices in Saudi Arabia

The Comprehensive Information and Orientation Programme (CIOP) implemented currently in the context of the Abu Dhabi Dialogue (ADD) helps operationalize a coordinated management system for the provision of tailored pre-employment, pre-departure and postarrival orientation (PEO, PDO and PAO) services for temporary contractual workers (TCWs) in the GCC states. With technical support from IOM, the governments work towards developing a CIOP regional guide and a corresponding management system, which will then be tailored to operations in the specific country contexts of ADD Member States.

The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (“SAMA”) initiated the “Remittance Centers Project” at the end of 2016. The Project’s objective is to review the remittances environment and identify areas of improvement, with a particular focus on the centers’ working hours, pricing and service quality, as well as the technology utilization and electronic channels. The project will be completed by the end of 2017. 

The MOU signed by the two parties in 2013 aims to enhance cooperation on domestic worker recruitment in a way which realizes the interests of both countries and securies the rights of both workers and employers.

Under this MOU th charging or deducting from salary any cost attendant to recruitment and deployment from workers’ salaries is prohibited.

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.

A Middle East regional program to provide necessary technical support to national constituents to improve the governance and protection mechanisms afforded to low-skilled women and men migrant workers in different sectors (construction, manufacturing, health, retail, hospitality, tourism, and domestic help). The program's focus is regional data management, research and policy reform; service delivery to migrant workers; and capacity training programmes for key stakeholders.

The agreement, assures benefits to female migrant domestic workers (inclulding a day-off per week) and sasfeguarding them from abuse (e.g. deduction of hiring fees from salary payments).