Ugandans seeking to work in Qatar can finally smile, because the Government of Uganda is to sign a Bilateral Labour Agreement with the State of Qatar, as disclosed by President’s Office for Diaspora Affairs.

The Bilateral Labour Agreement (BLA) with the State of Qatar, will be signed during the Doha Dialogue Conference, which will be held later this year. This, will be key in labour migration governance, to ensure safe, orderly & regular labour migration, cooperation on the protection & promotion of rights and welfare of Ugandans working in Qatar.

The BLA is to ease way for the employment of skilled and unskilled workers from Uganda, with an aim of ensuring continued labour cooperation, promoting rights and welfare of Ugandan migrant workers, labour exporters, and regulating contractual relationship.

Annually, Government of Uganda collects about $1.3 billion globally from labour export business, with $700 million from the Gulf Region, alone.

Notably, the President of the Republic of Uganda, H.E. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, is interested in bolstering inter-State cooperation through arrangements and more formal-binding agreements, which will pursue mutual interests in seizing opportunities and addressing challenges facing his ‘Bazzukulu’, in foreign countries.

In this sense, the BLA will usher in more job opportunities for Ugandan youth in the formal and informal sectors, including medical practitioners, engineers, drivers, housemaids, gardeners, cargo handlers, among others.

Government is pursuing other efforts for the protection of rights and dignity of Ugandan migrant workers. In the due course is the establishment of a robust monitoring unit, to follow up on the rights and welfare of Ugandan labourers abroad, support Embassy offices, take action on complaints raised , and disputes that emerge.

The President’s Office for Diaspora Affairs is grateful to all stakeholders, including the Head Mission in Qatar, Foreign Affairs Ministry, Gender & Labour Ministry, Internal Affairs Ministry, Uganda Revenue Authority, among others.