GENEVA (ILO News) - The ILO and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) signed a letter of intent to launch a project to empower the UAE’s Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MoHRE) by developing its institutional capacities to effectively monitor working conditions and create and maintain safe and healthy working environments for workers in all sectors of the economy.

The new development cooperation project, titled “Training of trainers in the field of labour inspection and OSH for labour inspectors of the MoHRE of the United Arab Emirates,” will run from June 2023 to January 2024.

The letter of intent was signed on the sidelines of the 111th International Labour Conference in Geneva in the presence of ILO Director-General Gilbert F. Houngbo and UAE Minister of Human Resources and Emiratisation H.E. Abdulrahman Al Awar.

ILO Regional Director for Arab States Ruba Jaradat, who signed the letter of intent on behalf of the ILO, noted that last year, at the 110th session of the International Labour Conference, the ILO adopted a decision to include “the right to a safe and healthy working environment” in the ILO’s framework of fundamental principles and rights at work.

“One year on from the adoption of this historic decision, we and the MoHRE have pledged to launch a joint project that constitutes an important step towards ensuring that more people in the UAE can work in a healthy and safe environment,” Jaradat said.

“The ILO is pleased to resume its development cooperation activities in the UAE, and will continue to offer all necessary support to the country to facilitate the access of all workers to decent working conditions, which is a mutual interest for both parties,” Jaradat added.

The project will see the ILO providing technical support, including practical training, to build the capacity of the MoHRE labour inspectorate and other staff, providing them with the necessary skills that will enable them to perform effective inspections, detect non-compliance and effectively manage non-compliance cases.

The training of trainers programme, which will be implemented in collaboration with the ILO International Training Centre in Turin, will cover a wide range of labour inspection and occupational safety and health topics, and other related issues, including risk assessment and using state-of-the-art OSH equipment.