Philippines to report to UN panel on migrant workers
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines will be presenting updates of the government’s efforts and the situation of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) before a United Nations committee dedicated to the protection of migrant workers this week.
A Philippine delegation led by the Department of Migrant Workers will be presenting the government’s efforts to comply with the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (CMW) at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland on March 30 to 31.
“We welcome this opportunity for the Philippine government to present its record of compliance in the protection of the rights and welfare of our overseas Filipino workers before the international community,” Migrant Workers Secretary Susan “Toots” Ople said in a statement on Monday.
The CMW opened its 36th session on Monday. The UN said it will be reviewing country reports from Nigeria, Morocco, the Philippines, and El Salvador.
After a country presents its report, the committee will be adopting non-binding concluding observations that may include recommendations.
The last time the Philippines presented its periodic report before the committee was in 2014. Follow-up reiterations of the committee meeting were hampered by the pandemic.
First for DMW
This is the first time the DMW will be leading the Philippine delegation to a session under the UN Committee. The DMW was established just last year to consolidate seven government offices that catered to OFWs.
This included the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs of the Department of Foreign Affairs, the International Labor Affairs Bureau, the National Reintegration Center for OFWs, the National Maritime Polytechnic, and the Office of the Social Welfare Attaché of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Overseas Labor Offices have since been turned into Migrant Workers Offices.
The Philippine delegation include senior officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Justice, the Department of Health, the Department of Social Welfare and Development, the Philippine Statistics Authority, and the Supreme Court’s Office of the Court Administrator. The DMW did not give number of officials part of the trip.
Aside from Ople, Head of the Philippine Mission in Geneva, Philippine Ambassador Evan Garcia, and Executive Director of the Presidential Human Rights Committee Undersecretary Severo Catura will be co-chairing the Philippine delegation.
“Different agencies, not just the DMW, will also be presenting their programs and services for our migrant workers and members of their families,” Ople said.
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