The Qatari government has resolved to conduct a pilot implementation of its labour system for domestic workers.
The piloting follows the signing of the new bilateral labour agreement with Uganda.
The agreement aims to enhance the strategy of the Ministry of Labour in attracting skilled and qualified labour, bolstering their presence in the local market, and improving the productivity of the private sector, as well as upgrading the work environment.
Under the agreement, the two parties will facilitate the procedures for recruiting skilled labour from Uganda and supply the local market with the required competencies, qualifications, experiences, and specialisations.
This also includes reviewing job opportunities available in Qatar, the skills and experiences required, and the extent to which they are available in Uganda to benefit from them.
According to the Uganda Association of External Recruitment Agencies (UAERA), the Qatari government notified the Government of Uganda that it will start this pilot phase with only 20 licensed labour export companies.
UAERA resolved that only fully paid-up member companies would be considered for this pilot scheme. The UAERA Board further resolved to use a cluster system where each of the selected companies will be twinned with three to five companies for every job order the selected company receives so that a considerable number of members benefit from the initial limited pilot phase of labour externalisation of domestic workers in Qatar.
“At the end of the pilot phase, the Qatari government will roll out an expanded system that will allow all licensed companies to externalise labour into the country,” UAERA said in a communication to recruitment companies.
Some of the cleared firms include BM Forex Ltd., Ham Property Services Ltd., Security Link Ltd., Atlas Impex Ltd., ABBA Placement Ltd., Optimal Manpower Placement Ltd., and Ebbo Tigers Ltd.
Others are Shukran Habib Consultants Ltd., KHM International Consultants Ltd., Jag Security Services Ltd., Six Stars International Ltd., and Labour World Connect.
As of June, last year, there were 235 licensed private recruitment companies. Every two years, each company pays Shs2 million in license fees. Annually, the government collects $1.3 billion globally from labour export businesses; the Middle East alone sends in $700 million.
Last year, the Minister of Finance, Matia Kasaija, said that during the #Covid-19 pandemic, the country was surviving on remittances. The contribution of remittances amounted to $1.3 billion in 2022, compared to $1.1 billion the previous year.
The government collects $30 (Shs110,000) in job order fees for each eternalized worker. That money is wired directly to the Uganda Revenue Authority accounts. From August 2021 to August 2022, the government collected over Shs12 billion from job orders.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs says they process 10,000 passports every month, and the biggest percentage goes to individuals seeking to work in the Middle East.
According to the Ministry of Gender, Labour, and Social Development, there are over 150,000 Ugandan migrant workers in Saudi Arabia. Most Ugandans are employed in the informal sector as housemaids, gardeners, cargo handlers, and other jobs.
In 2021, Uganda externalised 89000 Ugandans, of whom 79000 went to Saudi Arabia. Of the 79000, 75000 were female. By June 2022, Uganda had externalised 50,000 nationals, and a high percentage went to Saudi Arabia.
