News

Social protection in the Gulf countries: What rights can migrant workers access?

ILO, ODI, GCC, IOM, SDC, Government of Oman.

Tuesday 28 November 2023
13:00 – 14:15 (GMT); 14:00 – 15:15 (CET); 17:00 – 18:15 (GST) 
Online event

Social protection in the Gulf countries is launching a first-of-kind coprehensive ILO report migrant workers' access to social protection across the GCC countries. 

The event is organised in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Regional Office for Arab States, it will share new findings of a first-of-its-kind comprehensive report on migrant workers’ access to social protection across the GCC countries - Social protection for migrant workers in countries of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC): A regional mapping of provisions on paper and in practice - prepared by ILO, ODI, and IOM.

In addition, the event will share the findings of a 2023 survey (by ILO, ODI and NISER) with 1,000 Nepali migrant worker returnees from the GCC, which offers in-depth insights on each aspect of social protection and the factors enabling and hindering access to rights in practice.

This event will convene a high-level panel of actors and experts working on migrant rights in the GCC to share knowledge on – and inform – policy reforms and advocacy in this space. It aims to share new evidence and insights with the wide-ranging actors involved in supporting the rights of migrant workers.

This event will be hosted by ODI in collaboration with the ILO, and with support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).

Speakers (alphabetical order):

Christy Lowe (Chair) Research Associate specialising in Social Protection, ODI
Jessica Hagen-Zanker Senior Research Fellow (Migration), ODI 
Lea Bou Khater Social Protection Technical Officer, ILO 
Luca Pellerano Senior Social Protection Specialist, ILO 
Patricia Barandun Head of Section Migration and Forced Displacement, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation
Shabib Abdullah Al-Busaidi Social Protection Advisor, Government of Oman 
Shahra Razavi Director of the Social Protection Department, ILO
Steffen Hertog Associate Professor in Comparative Politics, Department of Government, LSE
Tanja Dedovic Regional Thematic Specialist on Labor Mobility and Human Development, IOM
Vani Saraswathi Editor-at-Large and Director of Projects at Migrants' Rights Network
Zahra Babar Associate Director for Research at CIRS at Georgetown University in Qatar.