NHRC Chairperson Affirms Robust Relationships with Counterparts in Asia

Doha: HE Chairperson of Qatar National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) Maryam bint Abdullah Al Attiyah asserted that NHRC shares robust relationships with its counterparts in the labor-exporting countries, including the Philippines, Nepal, and Bangladesh. Speaking to Qatar News Agency , Her Excellency added that such relationships would promote confidence in the Qatari labor market, given the integrated system for protecting workers' rights, as these relationships are based on international cooperation for respecting human rights standards, relevant international human rights conventions, as well as International Labour Organization's standards and national legislations. The independence of the national human rights institutions (NHRIs) from governments creates another factor in fostering the strong labor market, as such institutions are entities that monitor the states' obligations to respect and protect human rights, Her Excellency highlighted. HE Chairperson of NHRC pointed out that there must be an integ rated system in all labor markets to access justice and the State of Qatar possesses administrations and commissions that essentially enhance this system, such as business relationship management, along with their role in settling labor disputes, in addition to the dispute resolution committee and competent judicial bodies. The NHRC is one of the national critical mechanisms that help workers access equity and justice since it receives appeals and complaints and works to address them in collaboration with the competent authorities. This mission helps promote confidence in the labor market with the presence of an independent entity that scrutinizes any potential challenges that might encounter the expatriate workers coming from these countries and strives to address them accordingly, Her Excellency underlined. Since its inception, NHRC has been striving to extend bridges of communication with the foreign communities in the State of Qatar through holding panel discussions and engaging the representatives of t hose communities in training sessions to provide legal information to workers, HE Al Attiyah highlighted, emphasizing that relationships with the worker communities have been culminated in opening permanent offices for the community coordinators at NHRC's premises based on volunteerism to protect and promote workers' rights. Her Excellency added that the recent visits NHRC paid to the labor-exporting countries were intended to engage with similar national institutions, civil society institutions and labor unions in those countries to further discuss issues of shared concern, assuring that NHRC's have signed memoranda of understanding with them, stipulating the numerous cooperation activities, such as sharing information, expertise and collaborating on cases, in addition to raising the awareness on the rights the State of Qatar affords to workers which definitely protected the workers' rights. Source: Qatar News Agency