My name is Saida Zouaoui, I’m 40 years old, I’m from a farming family and farming is my passion. It’s my Berber grandfather, who I respect and who I thank with all my heart, who passed down the tradition of building dams using an ancient technique.

When I was born, my father was already working as a farmer. My older brother helped him a lot and I studied. After my brother died, I stayed with my father. He was deeply shaken by my brother’s death. It was as though his whole life had fallen apart. He stopped everything and didn’t want to work anymore. At first, I didn’t want to leave him alone. Over time, little by little, I started to enjoy farming. I became enthusiastic about it. I invest a lot in my work, it makes me happy. It’s when I’m working that I’m truly happy.

A small dam brings a village back to life in Tunisia

We ran into difficulties. The land had changed over time.  Things were easier when there was a dam, even the traditional one. Then we had problems of erosion – the water started to run off differently. We lost lots of water. The earth became cracked and it became harder and harder to bring back the water, because in the winter it’s absorbed by the earth and in summer the earth cracks. As a result, many farmers – over 40 – gradually moved away. They said, “Our fathers earned nothing, and as for us …”

But our grandparents never left their land, no matter what happened. It was a matter of principle for them, even if they earned nothing.

These problems pushed young people to leave for Tunis to work on construction sites. Some of them studied, others left and abandoned their land. The region became almost deserted.

It became more and more difficult to bring back the water, so many farmers gradually moved away and the young people left for Tunis.

I, on the other hand, inherited the principle of not leaving the land. My father died just three months after my marriage, in a car accident. I came back to the village with my husband’s agreement, because the land was abandoned. There was just my little brother, one of those desperate young people who didn’t want to bother to work. The farm was deserted, with its tractor and even a hunting rifle that the police had seized after my father’s death. I came back. I had to return things to the way they were before, like my father did. I thank God I recovered the rifle and started working again. With five or six farmers who were still here, we’d go out and work on the dam, still the old-fashioned way. We watered the land. Of course we were losing money, since we didn’t have enough water in the summer. Things were better in the spring but we never lost hope.

It was my Berber grandfather who passed down the tradition of building dams using an ancient technique.

I’ll tell you something. Before, I always had something weighing on me. I believed that one day the situation would change, that a miracle would occur or something like that and things would be alright. I believed that. Every time we had a municipal meeting or something like that, whenever I was asked to speak on the radio (there used to be Radio Kef), I would always talk about the dam. I pinned all my hopes on the dam.

Since I’m in the region, I can tell you that I’m popular, almost everyone knows me. I’m the only woman driving a tractor, working the land, the sites, everyone knows it. Everyone’s known for a long time that there was only one thing I wanted to do: make the dam operational and irrigate the entire region, for the farmers to come back and life to resume. Everyone knew that was my dream.

I’ve always been hopeful that we could farm again in my village. 

A special delegation met with Mr Belgacem Klai, who called me to say, “Saida, there’s a chance, don’t get too hopeful, but we’ll try.” We didn’t know why, but the International Labour Organization had come, to talk about erosion and other things. They told me that if I wanted to pass on a message, I could. The meeting took place, the people got together, some spoke about public lighting and other subjects … I talked about the question of water and it worked, thanks be to God, my dream came true.

Why did I want the dam to be fixed and restored above all else? So that we’d have water, so that people would be motivated, so that the young people would no longer leave the land, so that they would stick to the land like the older generation did.

There was only one thing I wanted to do: make the dam operational and irrigate the entire region, for the farmers to come back and life to resume.

They say that every cloud has a silver lining. It’s true that COVID weakened the country and harmed many things, but it also contributed to something truly tangible. The people who left, especially those working in the hotel business, came back and were confined to their homes. The cafés were closed … what were they to do? Sometimes, when you’re bored, you take a pot and you plant something. They started to plant vegetables. From that moment, young people started to take the initiative. They all wanted to recover and work their land. They had understood something. And in fact, it was agriculture that held up the State during the crisis.

The State is represented by institutional bodies, such as the Ministry of Agriculture and the forest service - it’s present, it stands by us and supports us.  It’s understanding, but it lacks resources.

Now that the dam has been repaired and rebuilt, water is once again available for farming.

I’ve always had great confidence in the organizations, especially the International Labour Organization. At first, I thought it was politics, that they would sell us a dream and go away and leave us. But I’ve read a lot about the ILO’s work, I’ve seen what they’ve done in Algeria. I’ve seen the results. Before, the farmers were hesitant. I was the first farmer to follow the ILO, since it had been preceded by its reputation, in Rwanda as well. Thank God I wasn’t disappointed. The people whose hearts were heavy, now they’ve seen the results, they’ve become more optimistic and motivated. Now, everyone wants to work.

The thing that makes me really happy is that the region’s young people who are still studying want to specialize in agronomics. I’m self-taught. But they want to master the techniques and work with a good method.

Rural women make up a quarter of the world's population and work as farmers, entrepreneurs, and agricultural workers. 

The new local government code in Tunisia (2018) has informed the work of the ILO and its IPDLI project, which works with rural local authorities to prioritise infrastructure development such as the El Galâa dam near Saida's village.

The IPDLI project (Pilot Initiative for Integrated Local Development) is funded by the European Union. Its objective is to support a decentralisation process and to create a local economic dynamic that generates decent jobs in twelve municipalities in Tunisia.


Pilot Initiative for Integrated Local Development (in French)

ILO Office for Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania and Tunisia (in French)

Global Call to Action for a human-centred recovery

Saida Zouaoui, who lives in Tunisia, was sad to see people leaving the countryside. She has always wanted to carry on her father's legacy, building dams in the Berber tradition. With courage and determination, she convinced the local authorities to support her idea. Today, the municipality of Galâa-Maaden-Forgsan has a dam that benefits both farmers and the local community.

A small dam brings a village back to life

I work as a freelancer on a digital platform. Like millions of other young people around the world, I find odd jobs on the web. So far, nothing special, except that when I log on to the internet to surf the ads, I do it from Kakuma, one of Kenya's largest refugee camps.

I arrived in Kakuma twenty years ago with my uncle, fleeing the situation in South Sudan. We came with nothing.  But I love to study and thanks to the education opportunities I found in the camp, I managed to complete high school and got a social work degree and a diploma in primary education. Now I am a primary school teacher and a social worker.

I have lived in Kakuma camp in Kenya for the past twenty years.

At the end of 2020, I participated in a course organized by the Refugee Employment and Skills Initiative (RESI) of the International Trade Center (ITC), and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), in partnership with Upwork, a global freelancing platform. 

I already had a diploma in computer applications that helped, and I learned enough to be able to manage on digital platforms. For several months now, I have been finding jobs on the web, mainly as a translator of Dinka and Juba Arabic - languages mainly spoken in South Sudan - as well as Swahili.

The only place where I can work online in the refugee camp is at the internet centre.

This work provides me with much-needed extra money, but it’s not enough to make a living and it's not always easy: the connection is not always good, and you can't work from home. You need to go to the internet centre, which is only open at certain times of the day. 

The chances of a refugee landing a job on a digital platform are actually very small. Sometimes there are not enough jobs for everyone. There is always a lot of competition. And it is not easy to find a job that pays well. When there is an advert there will be a hundred applications, that’s the main challenge. Of the hundred or so students who attended the course, barely a dozen have found work.  

If we want to make working on digital platforms a reality for refugees, we need a lot more help.

If we want to make working on digital platforms a reality for refugees we need a lot more help: new computers, better connectivity, more opportunities. Otherwise, it will remain something we do from time to time. 

And it's not just technical problems. As refugees we do not have permanent identification. We have an alien card that expires every five years. This makes it much more difficult for us to get hired and paid, although the good thing about working as a freelancer is that you are not required to have a work permit. 

When I am not on the web, I like to come back to see my students from the chess club. I teach them new moves and how to improve their critical thinking, so they become better players in chess, and in life.

Kakuma refugee camp is home to 160,000 refugees from South Sudan, Sudan, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Ethiopia, and Uganda. It is one of the largest refugee camps in the world.

Sixty-eight per cent of Kakuma refugees live below the poverty line of $1.90 per day.

According to an ILO report on refugees and digital labour platforms, refugees must overcome many obstacles to work on digital platforms including low internet access, educational levels and IT skills; a lack of suitable payment systems; and a lack of labour regulation of platform work.

The ILO is a partner in the PROSPECTS programme, funded by the Government of the Netherlands, which seeks to improve access to employment, education and protection for refugees and host communities.

Under PROSPECTS , the ILO is looking at unlocking some of the challenges faced by digital workers like Thon, including partnering with online platforms that have regular work from international firms. 

Report: Towards decent work for young refugees and host communities in the digital platform economy in Africa: Kenya, Uganda, Egypt

Digital labour platforms offer young refugees a possible route to decent work

Partnership for improving prospects for forcibly displaced persons and host communities (PROSPECTS)

Global Call to Action for a Human-Centred Recovery 

The UN Global Initiative on Decent Jobs for Youth

For Thon Mabior Jok, a young refugee from Kakuma camp in Kenya, working on a digital platform has meant some extra income but there are many challenges.

From refugee to digital worker

My name is Linda Sarmento Manjazi, my mother's second daughter. I was born in the village of the 7th district of Chokwe in Mozambique. When I was two years old, I got sick. They suspect that it may have been polio. 

My parents took me to a hospital in Xai-xai, in Chicumabane, but they couldn't solve the situation. At the time this vaccination thing was rare. It's not like now, where a child is vaccinated at birth, then, as time goes by, when it's his turn to be vaccinated, it comes in doses. At the time, there was no such thing. So it seems that's what made me like this. The main difficulty was that I wanted to study, but I couldn’t walk.

COVID 19 and my disability won’t stop my search for work

It wasn't until I was thirteen that my parents put me in school. I started a little late because my parents didn't think I would make it to school as I walked on my knees.  But I walked. My sister would lift me up, take me to school, and we would come back together.

It was difficult to move on to secondary school because it was a bit far. I had to interrupt my studies for almost five years but I did grade 11, and the following year grade 12. 

In 2003, I started knocking on doors, thinking I was going to get a job, but I didn't.

I worked as a literacy tutor and taught at Chauleca school in 2016 and some white women volunteers too. I forget the name of the organisation they were in. But I taught them Changana (native language of Mozambique), to earn a little money.

Last year I did a small job with my sisters, but when the pandemic started, that ended. I got really upset, I even lost my strength. That's why everything is disorganised in my home. Because even to get up today, it wasn't easy. As soon as I got the news that the job was over, it wasn't easy for me.

As I'm not working, it's not so easy to take care of the house, because I have to ask someone to help me, and you have to pay them the little you have.

My daughters like to study.  The first one told me that at school she is the best of all. She usually gets the highest marks. Even today, she told me "mama I got 18 in mathematics". I cry sometimes when they ask me to buy something and I can't give it to them. It’s difficult because I am their father and their mother at the same time.

I started receiving benefits in the 2000s. It makes a difference compared to how it was before. Because before I had to depend on my father, but my mother was my father’s fourth wife. We were many in the family. There were about 22 children from the same father.

This money from INAS (National Institute of Social Action) helps, because even though it’s very little I can still buy some things I need, for example food, or even to pay for water and electricity. It helps.

The INAS benefit is 540 meticais (8.50USD) per month. It’s gone up in addition to the amount we used to get.

You can't say that "it's not much". Because the person who has given it has opened their heart and thought that this had to be given to me.

It's worth taking the amount, and then to sit down and think, “What can I buy? What is missing here at home?” Even if I can't cover everything. But I really try to buy the main things I need.

I am used to repairing punctures on my wheelchair.

Sometimes I buy a tyre to fix my wheelchair, sometimes charcoal, or firewood, food, or I ask someone to help me tidy my house.  I also use it to help my daughters at school, to pay for their school registration, buy notebooks...

Even if it is little... A thing that is given to you can never be little. 

But it could be more too. It's just that, saying "ahh this amount is not enough" doesn't look good.

Maybe I could explain to them that that the value is little, that it should be increased because things are expensive to buy. It is very difficult. Imagine buying a little bag of flour for 350 meticais (5.50USD). There's nothing left after you do that.

To buy oil, or even cabbage, you will only be able to buy for maybe two or three days with what is left, because times are also different now. With this pandemic problem, things are very expensive and many people cannot work. So they want to earn something as well.

I use my benefits money to buy food, but things are more expensive now because of the pandemic.

When my girls are older I would like them to get a job. Maybe they would support me. Because as I'm getting older, in a short time, I won't be able to do much. Because even to walk like that on my knees, it's a serious problem.

When I get old, I'll still want to eat, and if I'm like this, where will food fall from? No, it never falls from the sky. It only rains so that we can weed.

My dream for the future is to get an odd job and work, or if I could save a little money, make a few rooms to rent, to earn a little money.  If I got a little more money, I would buy some products and sell them. That's what I was thinking of doing.

Even if a person is disabled it does not imply that the person has to stand by, arms crossed, no. You have to get up, go in search of a thing. Because it's not the thing that will come looking for you, no.  

To stand still is to die. It's worth one's while to move in order to have something. Because actually standing still is dying, yes. 

I am brave. I am courageous. I am patient. Courageous, patient, and social... yeah!  I will get up, go in search of what I need to do, so that I can get more strength to work, to support my two daughters.

I can say that even if a person is disabled it does not imply that the person has to stand by, arms crossed, no. You have to get up, go in search of a thing. Because the thing  will come looking for you, no. What you want in life is to have hope, because nothing comes at once, no. Each thing has its own time.

COVID-19 has hit hardest the poorest and most vulnerable people in Mozambique, who account for over 46 per cent of the population.

To address this, Mozambique’s government put together a COVID-19 Social Protection Response Plan with support from the ILO, UNICEF, WFP, World Bank, FCDO and the Swedish government. 

The Social Protection Response Plan is one of the most ambitious in Africa - it includes informal economy workers and uses new technology for enrolling and delivering cash transfers to over 1.5 million beneficiaries.

As of 2020, only 46.9 per cent of the global population were effectively covered by at least one social protection benefit.The ILO calls for universal social protection to tackle current and future challenges in an inclusive and sustainable way.

Reaching the most vulnerable in the social protection response to the COVID-19 crises in Mozambique: Opportunities and Challenges

ILO Country Office for Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique

When Linda Sarmento Manjazi fell ill as a small child, it impaired her ability to walk. Undeterred, Linda was determined to go to school and as an adult, she found work where she could. The COVID-19 pandemic however has made a difficult situation much harder. The social protection benefit she receives from the Mozambique government has ensured that she can meet her basic needs and help her daughters attend school.

COVID-19 and my disability won’t stop my search for work

I always knew that through music it was possible to raise awareness and address very serious issues. 

When COVID-19 started to hit Mauritania and affect its people, we knew we had to do something. So we thought of an idea and I proposed it to the project manager I work with as a communication assistant.  That’s how it came about that together with a few friends we wrote a rap and raised awareness among young Mauritanians and refugees in the Mbera camp about the dangers of COVID-19 and the need to respect hygiene measures. 

COVID-19 has had a negative impact on the country's economy in general, particularly on the world of work and on vulnerable people. Unfortunately, certain practices favour the spread of the virus, notably the failure to wear masks in the workplace or in crowds. Several measures have been put in place by the Mauritanian authorities to effectively contain the spread of the virus. This has led to an economic slowdown and a drop in purchasing power. In my opinion, it is very important that the population understands the importance of respecting these measures in order to contain this disease and resume economic activities.

An awareness-raising rap from Mauritania on COVID-19

Rap citoyen en Mauritanie de sensibilisation face au COVID-19

Composed by two Mauritanian rappers known as "Le Baron" and "Charke" as well as myself, this song is mainly aimed at Mauritanian youth and the refugees in the Mbera camp. It calls on everyone to respect the hygiene measures put in place by the Mauritanian authorities to protect themselves and others from this virus. It also stresses the importance of maintaining safe and healthy working conditions for workers.

The Mauritanian rapper "Le Baron": "I felt almost obliged to participate in this project given my position as an artist, knowing the ongoing situation of COVID in the country and its negative effects on people and the world of work. This obligation was accompanied by a great pleasure - yes I did this song with pleasure and duty - hoping that it can change the habits of young refugees and young Mauritanians and alert them to the dangers of this disease.”

The launch of the song was accompanied by other awareness-raising activities in the field and the distribution of personal protective equipment including 11,000 masks. 

The distribution of the masks in Mbera camp. The masks were made by small sewing workshops in the region, supported by the ILO/UNHCR Teampreneurship project.

The song, produced with the support of the US State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (BPRM) in partnership with UNHCR, has been widely promoted in Bassikounou, Fassala and Mbera through local radio stations and WhatsApp groups that are very active in the region where the refugees live.

Through this song, I hope to make young people really aware of the dangers of COVID-19.

Communication Officer for the ILO in Mauritania

ILO projects in Mauritania are already working on information packs and radio spots aimed at refugee populations and host communities on topics as varied as health and safety at work, the promotion of vocational training and respect for hygiene measures, which will also be communicated through social networks.

Seyidina Alioune Diallo : "Pride is what I feel, pride in being part of this great family that is the ILO and pride in being able to participate in such noble projects as the protection of people. Surrounded by a team and a supervisor who understand the stakes, the importance and the impact of communication, it is a real pleasure to participate at my level in national efforts to raise awareness against the spread of COVID-19."

Through this song, I hope to make young people really aware of the dangers of COVID-19, as well as support the efforts of the projects I’m involved in to continue to train trainees, while protecting them from this health crisis.

Support for sustainable local economic development in Bassikounou, Mauritania, is essential for social cohesion given the growing number of Malian refugees in the region.      

The Mbera camp in Bassikounou hosts more than 50,000 Malian refugees. Despite the conclusion of a peace agreement in Mali in June 2015, a massive return of refugees is not expected due to widespread insecurity in northern and central Mali.

The International Labour Organization (ILO), in collaboration with local authorities, helped to build ten local infrastructures in support of livelihoods and decent work for Malian refugees and the host population in the region.  The project also provided skills training to over 1200 young refugees and Mauritanians involved in the construction work.  

To combat the spread of the COVID-19 virus, the project distributed more than 50,000 masks and 1,000 sets of protective clothing to local communities and Malian refugees.

Promotion of a sustainable livelihoods and social cohesion model in Bassikounou, Mauritania, funded by the US State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (BPRM) (in French)

At Mbera refugee camp, in Mauritania, the ILO is training young people in building trades

A win-win for young refugees and local farmers

ILO Office for Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania and Tunisia - Project implementation Country Office (in French)

Find out about a music initiative to raise awareness among young Mauritanians and refugees on the dangers of COVID-19 and its impact on the world of work.

A rap to raise awareness of the dangers of COVID-19

My name is Mariam Kobalia. I’m from Georgia and I am 25 years old.  I always wanted to have something of my own, to create something by myself. 

Recently I opened a flower shop, “Mari’s Flowers”.  I also have two greenhouses where I grow flowers and I’m taking online university courses in public administration.  

My new flower shop, "Mari's Flowers", is in the centre of the village.  

I was 22 when I started all this. I was married with a small child. We lived at my parent’s house. I had an ordinary life. 

Then, quite by chance a friend of mine told me about a training course for women in Anaklia. This is how I ended up at the training organized by USAID, the Women’s Empowerment Foundation and the TASO Foundation. 

We were asked to come up with projects in agriculture. I opted for flowers because I was young and I thought I could make something out of it. When you write a project proposal you have to calculate everything and really think everything through. I already had a metal structure for a greenhouse at home, which would mean I would need less money to make it operational, and this worked to my advantage.  With this first project proposal I received a small grant and bought the plastic sheeting to cover the greenhouse. 

I cut the roses in the greenhouse first thing in the morning.  My four-year-old daughter likes to come with me. 

After the first training I wanted to participate in others. I got into a school for young entrepreneurs and got some more funding which helped me to buy seedlings, a drip irrigation system and other supplies. That was in 2019.

I remember I planted my first flowers at the end of March and already I had roses in July.

At first it was very difficult and troublesome because I didn’t have any experience working in such a big greenhouse and caring for roses, which have a lot of diseases that need to be treated. Also I didn’t know how to price them.  Gradually I met people who had greenhouses.  Then I started going to flower shops and gained some knowledge through practice. 

I started selling roses from home and supplying the market and shops in Zugdidi, a nearby town.

Being goal-oriented was the key, and the trainings helped me to build contacts with people.

At the same time I attended trainings organized by different organizations and developed my entrepreneurial skills. Being goal-oriented was the key, and it helped me to build contacts with people.

I did an ILO training, “Start and Improve Your Business”. Before these trainings I had no knowledge at all about the marketing side of business. It was the most important thing for me to learn. They taught us the basics of marketing and advertising. They also trained us on accounting and pricing, how to manage our finances and how to produce.

I arrive at the shop at 9:30am and start to prepare orders.

I was always alert and tried to keep an eye on grant announcements. The last project grant I received was the result of exceptionally hard work. I went through a lot of stages. It was also very difficult to come up with project proposals and, most importantly, there was so much competition. 

The project was about a Gypsophila greenhouse. It was supposed to be innovative – the Gypsophila flower is really rare in Georgia, it is imported from Turkey and the Netherlands, and I wrote in the project that I would make a Gypsophila greenhouse. Everything had to be calculated, how much profit it would generate, what kind of care it would need, etc.

And when there were only four projects selected out of 27 very strong participants, and I found myself among those four, it was a great feeling.  I will never forget this day.

My customer-base is expanding and now they are coming from nearby villages.

Having two greenhouses created many more opportunities. I could see that it was becoming profitable. But then the COVID-19 pandemic hit us. The market was closed and it was very hard for us.

As there were no shops people came to my house to buy flowers. They needed flowers for funerals, you see, or for birthdays. I had to learn how to wrap a flower bouquet.  I asked a woman who has a flower shop in Zugdidi for some hands-on experience.  When I started wrapping I started thinking about having my own shop.

When I decided to open the flower shop a big challenge I had to overcome was the fear of failure. 

When I decided to open the flower shop a big challenge I had to overcome was the fear of failure. I didn’t have a bank loan and I did everything with the funding I had left, but it still made me nervous. You worry about making it a success. First of all, you don’t want to let yourself down, and then you want to live up to the expectations of your family and other people who have supported you.

It has been a family business so far. Mostly, it is my father who helps me. In the morning I cut the flowers in the greenhouse and when I’m in the shop my father looks after the greenhouses. My mother also helps us with the cutting and my husband helps with deliveries.

During my free time I enjoy spending time with my daughter and my husband.

Any free time I have, I spend with my child who is now four years old. Now, for example, in the summer, my husband and I take our daughter to the sea after 8pm and watch the sunset together.

On a good day our sales revenue is USD 160 to 200.  I’m selling my roses as well as flowers from other local greenhouses. I have many online orders. Now, for example, I have to get 300 roses ready for an engagement party. 

I want “Mari’s Flowers” to become a famous brand!

It is very difficult for a woman to start a business in Georgia. I never expected to have my own shop and two greenhouses at the age of 25, but I managed with hard work, purposefulness and family support. My family were encouraging me: – "You failed? Don’t give up, be patient". 

Now that I have my own business, I am the boss of myself. Yes, there is more work but I enjoy it.  My business generates a good income, my family can see this and they are happy.

I’m thinking of setting up two more greenhouses in the near future.  In five years time I want to employ a salesperson in the shop and have some other shops in Zugdidi.  And I want to have branded shops. I want “Mari’s Flowers” to become a famous brand!

The part I enjoy the most?  Cutting the roses when they are in bloom!

The ILO’s project “Inclusive labour markets for job creation in Georgia”, funded by Denmark’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, aims to provide technical support to employers’ organizations and government bodies in Georgia to put in place interventions to promote youth entrepreneurship and improve the business climate for the establishment of new businesses by young people.

336 potential young Georgian entrepreneurs were trained in the “Start and Improve Your Business” (SIYB) programme during 2020, as part of the ILO project.

The Georgian SIYB beneficiaries gained practical knowledge on how to generate business ideas and prioritize them, how to evaluate their success, how to do market research, define target groups, sales strategy, and in general said they came away with a fresh perspective on the meaning of business and business processes.

According to a recent ILO report, “Research on youth entrepreneurship stimulation in Georgia: understanding the barriers and recommending reform interventions”, government policy and a supportive business development infrastructure contribute to a favourable environment for entrepreneurship and start-up development.

The report also highlights the need to address particular challenges related to cultural attitudes, underdeveloped alternative financing, and a lack of entrepreneurial skills in Georgia.

ILO report: Research on youth entrepreneurship stimulation in Georgia: understanding the barriers and recommending reform interventions 

ILO project: “Inclusive labour markets for job creation in Georgia” 

ILO Start and Improve Your Business Programme 

Global Call to Action for a human-centred COVID-19 recovery 

Taking every business training opportunity she could find, 25-year-old Mariam Kobalia has developed a thriving business in Georgia running a flower shop and growing roses in her own greenhouses.

A blooming business for a young entrepreneur

My name is Ann. I am from the Philippines. I arrived here in Kuwait in the year 2000.  

I worked as a domestic worker for four years, but I wasn’t treated right, I was being abused and maltreated.  Afterwards, I started working in sales. 

Then, in 2008, some of us decided to form a group of domestic workers to spend leisure time together, cooking and playing games. At the time, that was the only purpose of the group, but as time went on, workers were coming to us to tell us their story. They wanted help. 

That is when we started to study the issue and we created some focus group discussions with workers, especially domestic workers. 

How domestic workers got organized in Kuwait

In 2010, we founded Sandigan Kuwait, a more serious group that advocates for the protection and welfare of domestic workers.

Sandigan Kuwait is a volunteering group. We gather volunteers depending on the activities that we have. In the beginning, we studied the processes of our embassy and of the government, and we started looking at the more serious problems domestic workers face. It's not only here in Kuwait. These problems also occur in the countries of origin. 

Domestic workers in Kuwait learn how to sew on sewing machines at a livelihood training organised by Sandigan Kuwait.

The workers' organization is very important, especially the domestic workers' sector of the organization. 

It's very important that domestic workers can air their problems. They will be the ones to tell the government, "Hey, this is the experience that I have. You need to do something about this." 

Because of what we are doing, organizing the workers, we are able to create a better recommendation to our government and monitor the workers and monitor the  policies that we have in order to ensure that the workers are being protected.

The Sandigan Kuwait Domestic Workers Association and Sandigan Kuwait mobilized 400 workers and domestic workers for an International Domestic Workers Day celebration entitled “Domestic Workers: Partners for Change”. The celebration took place 28 June 2019 in Kuwait, and domestic workers from the Philippines and Sri Lanka were given awards, along with their employers.

As an organization, Sandigan Kuwait and Sandigan Kuwait Domestic Workers Association, we assist and assess workers’ cases from different nationalities, from different work sectors. We have a repatriation programme, we offer legal aid, we also have psychosocial activities. We have the livelihood programme for domestic workers, every Friday.  At the moment we are running a sewing class for them.  We have already finished our first session. Now we have our second session for the Ethiopian domestic workers. They really enjoy learning new talents and new skills from this training.

It's a safe place for domestic workers, especially on their days off, where they can learn a lot of things. Aside from going out on their day off, at least here they will learn something new.

Domestic workers show off the trousers they have made at the sewing livelihood training run by Sandigan.

Every year we have an award programme for domestic workers and their employers. Many of them stay together for 30 years. When you hear their stories, I think the basic factor that helps to make the relationship good is respect. Respect each other regardless of the nationality, regardless of the work. They should respect also the law, the rights, the culture, and tradition of each other because they decided to be together. They could easily say "Khallas, I'm finished," but they choose to be together.

I think the basic factor that helps to make the relationship between domestic workers and their employers good is respect.

Founding Chairperson of Sandigan Kuwait and Sandigan Kuwait Domestic Workers Association

The most important convention that helped us when we started our advocacy, is the ILO’s Domestic Workers Convention, Convention 189, because that was the basis in 2013 for when we started lobbying for the Domestic Workers Law here in Kuwait.

And then in 2018-2019 Sandigan oversaw the creation of the Sandigan Kuwait Domestic Workers Association, a domestic workers organization.

There have been a lot of changes over the past 13 years!

On Friday November 8, 2019, Sandigan Kuwait Domestic Workers Association elected its leadership during its first congress attended by Ann Abunda and 50 domestic workers.

Still there are a lot of challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic has had an especially big impact on domestic workers. Most of them have been working 24/7 because the employers have stayed home. One of the challenges I can say is that domestic workers are not a priority when it comes to health care, especially when a domestic worker has COVID - even if she has COVID, she is sometimes expected to work.

Before, nobody talked about domestic workers. We are making sure that they are visible, that people are talking about them, about the issue.

Before, nobody talked about domestic workers. They were there, but nobody could see them. But over the past 13 years, there have been a lot of changes. Sandigan has added value to the dignity of domestic workers. We are making sure that they are visible, that people are talking about them, about the issue. And I think being part of the creation of the Domestic Workers Law here in Kuwait was a big achievement. We are part of the long journey for domestic workers. 

Migrant domestic workers face multiple issues through the migration journey, including incurring high recruitment costs, contract substitution, non-payment of wages, lack of decent living conditions, trafficking and forced labour, and discrimination in employment and occupation.

In 2015, the Kuwaiti government passed a law governing the basic rights of domestic workers in the country. Sandigan was part of the consultation process to formulate the law.

According to Kuwait’s Public Authority of Civil Information, there are around 732,000 domestic workers in the country comprising a quarter of the total workforce in the country (December 2000).

This is the second highest percentage of domestic workers in a labour market after Saudi Arabia.

With the ILO’s support, the Sandigan Kuwait Domestic Workers Association, in 2020, became the first affiliate of the International Domestic Workers’ Federation in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Members of Sandigan have travelled to other countries to meet and learn from other domestic worker organizations.  The ILO also supports training activities of domestic workers in Kuwait.

These activities are part of the ILO’s FAIRWAY Programme, which seeks to address the interlinked structural, behavioural, and practical barriers to improved labour migration for migrant workers in vulnerable situations, including domestic workers.

June 16, 2021 marks the 10th anniversary of the adoption of the ILO Convention on Domestic Workers, Convention 189.  Its objective is to improve living and working conditions for the millions of domestic workers throughout the world, guaranteeing them a decent job that provides them with protections equivalent to those enjoyed by other workers.

International Domestic Workers Federation

10 years on, domestic workers still fight for equality and decent work

Ann Abunda arrived in Kuwait 21 years ago to work as a domestic worker.  After living through her own challenging experiences with employers, she helped found a thriving organization that advocates for the rights of domestic workers in the country.

I’ve been a professional flamenco dancer for over 20 years. The pandemic was really hard on me and all artists. It cut us off from the public and really reduced our incomes. The help I received saw me through the lockdown, but if there’s one thing we’ve learned from the crisis, it’s that we need measures that take into   account the specific nature of our occupations. 

I live in Lausanne. I’m 46 years old, I was born in Switzerland, and I’m the son of Spanish immigrants from Malaga. I’m very lucky because they always supported my desire to dance. I’ve always wanted to dance, but also to teach. For a long time, I 've also run a flamenco school in Geneva, in the Eaux-Vives area.

Flamenco en compañía: Sevillanas

When the COVID-19  pandemic struck, the authorities introduced support measures fairly quickly. As a self-employed worker, I’ve been receiving loss-of-earnings benefits from the Compensation Fund of the Canton of Vaud since March 2020. It's allowed me to survive but it doesn't even represent half of my usual income. 

And then there’s all the administrative stuff. Before taking up dance full time, I went to business school, so I’m used to paperwork. But sometimes I felt like I had hit a wall, the red tape was so complicated. I don’t even want to think about what it was like for artists who aren’t used to that kind of thing! 

We need support that is more adapted to our needs. I think that we should be considered essential workers because what we do is essential for life.

France has a social protection system for intermittent workers in the performing arts. It’s a specific system that takes into account the particular nature of theatre, cinema and audiovisual occupations. We need support that is more adapted to our needs. I consider that we’re entitled to this. I think that we should be considered essential workers because what we do is essential for life. 

A lot has been said about the role of culture during the pandemic. During the first lockdown, I really mobilized for my students. With my sister Sylvia, who’s also a flamenco instructor, we gave courses on all kinds of online platforms. On Fridays we even gave a cooking class. We felt that people really needed this. That was our role: to give them moral support.

But all this has taken an emotional and economic toll. Now that things are returning to normal, I’m far from having recovered the number of students I had a year ago. I hope that the social benefit support will last until at least into the autumn and the start of the school year. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has been particularly hard on performing artists, who feel that they haven’t received adequate support.  Antonio Perujo, a flamenco dancer from Geneva, Switzerland tells how he’s coped over the past year while unable to work.

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