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Jordanian youth join the My Fair Home youth advocacy network for domestic worker rights
Contributors: ILO News
The ILO FAIRWAY project is supporting youth in the Arab States to become change makers for migrant domestic workers’ rights in their communities.
Details
A group of Jordanian youth have met to take part in an intensive training workshop on campaigning for attitude and behaviour change towards migrant domestic workers, as part of the global My Fair Home campaign.
The training programme equipped the youth advocates with the necessary knowledge and practical skills to implement a series of social media and community outreach activities within their communities in different regions of Jordan.
“Alongside promoting policy reform and improving implementation of regulations, addressing public perceptions of migrant domestic workers is crucial for securing ground up support for their labour rights”, said Eliza Marks, ILO Technical Officer. “Youth – as the next generation of employers of domestic workers – have the power to support a transformation in attitudes and behaviours towards migrant workers.”
Over a two-day period, the youth group took part in sessions providing a global and national overview of domestic workers’ rights, an introduction to the principles and messages of the My Fair Home campaign, and heard experiences on advocacy campaigning from representatives from Ensaniyat Project (Kuwait), and KAFA (Lebanon).
In order to ensure that the voices of migrant domestic workers were represented, the youth participated in an exchange session with domestic worker community leaders from the Solidarity Centre – who shared their stories and experiences of life as a domestic worker in Jordan. Role play “in her shoes” exercises, allowed the youth to see the situation from the perspective of the recruitment agency, government minister, youth advocate, worker and employer/household.
On the second day, the youth were led through sessions on social media techniques and gender-sensitive and rights-based communication on migration – including terminology and imagery. Divided into groups, the youth planned out their key messages, strategy and work plan for the campaign, which will run until Domestic Workers Day on 16 June 2018.
“Migrant domestic workers’ voices are commonly unheard – through hearing their experiences first hand, the youth group are empowered with the knowledge and empathy to drive this social movement for change in Jordan” says Mariela Acuña, MENA Regional Coordinator for the International Domestic Workers Federation (IDWF).
The global My Fair Home (MFH) campaign – an initiative of the ILO and International Domestic Workers Federation (IDWF) – aims to educate employers of domestic workers on their rights and responsibilities and to change negative attitudes and behaviours among employers to ensure decent work. The central element of the campaign is encouraging employers to take a pledge to respect domestic workers’ rights in their homes. The ILO Regional Fair Migration Project in the Middle East (FAIRWAY) is implementing activities under the My Fair Home campaign in the region. The FAIRWAY project is supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).