Baldoz announces PH hosting of Abu Dhabi Dialogue 2

Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz yesterday announced that the Philippines will host the second Abu Dhabi Dialogue, an important dialogue of 11 countries of migrant worker origin which are members of the Colombo Process, namely, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam; and nine (9) countries of migrant worker destination, namely, Bahrain, Kuwait, Malaysia, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.

"I am pleased to announce that the Philippines, through the DOLE, is hosting the 2nd Abu Dhabi Dialogue Ministerial Consultation and High-Level Meeting on 17-19 April 2012 at the Hotel Sofitel in Pasay City," announced Baldoz.

"Abu Dhabi is co-organizing the dialogue, aimed at providing a forum for the discussion of new ideas and concrete activities towards the enhancement of bilateral and regional cooperation and partnerships of eight Asian countries of labor destination and 11 countries of origin.

Baldoz declared that Undersecretary Danilo P. Cruz is the top DOLE official who is overseeing the preparation and conduct of the dialogue.

"The Abu Dhabi Dialogue's choice of the Philippines as host to the 2012 Ministerial Consultation is a recognition of the Philippines's capability to organize and host a very important migration-related event," she said.

The ministerial consultation and the high-level meeting, added Baldoz, is a milestone in regional cooperation on labor migration in Asia.

"The Abu Dhabi Dialogue 2 will bring together the labor ministers of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, all Colombo Process countries, and Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, and Singapore, all migrant worker destination countries and members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, except Singapore. Malaysia, Korea, and Japan will participate as observers," Baldoz said.

The labor and employment chief said that the Abu Dhabi Dialogue 2 will take place after almost four years to review initiatives and partnerships under Abu Dhabi Dialogue 2.

"During the dialogue in Manila, participating countries will take a fresh look at the best practices and recommendations for bilateral, unilateral, and multilateral government action to bring about maximum benefits of labor migration for the peoples of Asia, including Filipinos," said Baldoz.

As the program indicates, the 2nd Ministerial Consultation will take place on 19 April to be preceded by a two-day Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) from 17-18 April. The first SOM was held in Dubai on 25 January this year.

The first dialogue was held in 2008, with the United Arab Emirates government taking the groundbreaking step of hosting the 1st Ministerial Consultation which drew four action-oriented key partnership areas to address issues on, and optimize mutual benefits from, overseas employment and contractual labor.

These four partnership areas on migration are (1) knowledge sharing on market trends, skills profiles, workers and remittances policies and flows, and their relationship to development; (2) building capacity for effective matching of labor supply and demand; (3) preventing illegal recruitment and promoting welfare and protection measures; and (4) developing a framework for a comprehensive approach to managing the entire cycle of temporary contractual work that fosters the mutual interest of countries of origin and destination.

During the first Abu Dhabi Dialogue, France, Germany, Japan, Mauritius, Poland, Korea, and the United States of America were admitted as partner and observer states. The Abu Dhabi Dialogue, through the Abu Dhabi Declaration, launched a collaborative approach to temporary labor mobility in Asia and to maximizing worker migration benefits for development.

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Administrator Cacdac's  7-point Agenda

http://www.poea.gov.ph/about/7pointagenda.htm   1. Streamline OFW documentation and processing systems to provide smoother and more efficient delivery of services to OFWs. We shall regain public confidence in our systems, starting with restoration of the POEA's ISO certification.   2. Strengthen enforcement of anti-illegal recruitment laws and licensed recruitment regulations. We shall implement RA 10022, which heightened the POEA's role in the fight against illegal recruiters. Also, we shall significantly improve the POEA adjudication record in case disposition.   3. Ensure transparency and accountability in the development of policies and regulations. This means institutionalized consultative mechanisms involving stakeholders in the land-based and sea-based sectors.   4. Further protection of certain types of OFWs, such as domestic workers and seafarers. This includes the ratification of the ILO Convention on Decent Work for Domestic Workers and the Maritime Labour Convention.   5. Vigorous pursuit of bilateral agreements with receiving countries, for the better protection and welfare of OFWs.   6. Stronger and more harmonious coordination with government agencies, for the better protection and welfare of OFWs.   7. Ensure measures that implement and promote anti-corruption, anti-fixer, and anti- red tape laws and regulations,  including the operationalization of the POEA Efficiency and Integrity Board.