Ople to present at UN PH protection of migrant workers
MIGRANT Workers Secretary Susan Ople is set to present the Philippine government’s compliance with the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (CMW) from March 30-31, 2023, at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.
“The Philippine delegation intends to brief the UN about our one-country team approach to migration governance as well as on the creation of the Department of Migrant Workers. We will also be reporting on how various departments have been working together to promote the core principles behind the UN convention,” Ople said.
The co-chairs of the delegation are Philippine Ambassador Evan Garcia, head of the Philippine Mission in Geneva and Undersecretary Severo Catura, Executive Director of the Presidential Human Rights Committee Secretariat.
The Philippine delegation includes senior officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Health (DOH), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) and the Supreme Court’s Office of the Court Administrator as well as the Presidential Human Rights Committee Secretariat.
“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. 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.
Member-states that are signatories to the Convention are asked to appear every five years before the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. The UN body is composed of labor migration experts representing various countries that have been elected to seat in the committee.
Ople said that the last time the Philippines presented its periodic report to the UN on the protection of the rights of migrant workers was in 2014, with a delegation led by Labor Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz of the Department of Labor and Employment.
During that time, the UN committee in its Concluding Observations on the 2nd Periodic Review expressed appreciation for the “expressed high-level political will by the State party to respond to the needs of migrant workers abroad.” The presentation of the 3rd periodic report to the said UN body had been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
