Doha, 06 April 2023

The Employment Standards Office (ESO) of theQatar Financial Centre (QFC), a leading onshore financial and business centre in the region, partnered with the International Labour Organization (ILO) Project Office in Qatar to organise a roundtable on promoting decent labour standards in the supply chain through prudent procurement practices.

The roundtable featured speakers from the ILO and QFC who discussed various aspects of the procurement process and highlighted the importance of implementing standard checklists to verify supplier alignment with required labour standards. It also featured representatives from QFC firms who shared their best practices and valuable insight on how they foster a good and fair working environment in their supply chain.

Speaking about the event, Luigia Ingianni, Commissioner - Employment Standards Office, QFC, said: "Promoting decent work for all is one of the core values of the QFC.By sharing success stories of how the QFC has mainstreamed decent labour standards in the supply chain, we provide tangible examples that other companies from different industries can emulate. The feedback of the roundtable participants emphasises the need to establish a common set of standards for due diligence in procurement processes.”

The ILO-QatarProject Office is cooperating with the Ministry of Labour and other partners in the State of Qatarto enhance the implementation of the Labour Law across industries in the country. This roundtable exemplifies ESO and the QFC's support for this shared undertakingand commitment to the promotion of the UN SDGs and ESG principles and the realisation of the Qatar National Vision 2030.

Max Tunon, Head of the ILO-Qatar Project Office, said: “It is encouraging that the QFC and several QFC companies recognize the importance of conducting due diligence in their procurement processes. By valuing decent working conditions in the award of contracts to suppliers, and monitoring these conditions, companies can help to raise standards among workers who may be more susceptible to labour rights abuses, including security guards, cleaners and others. We believe that this is an important complimentary function to the Government’s responsibility in enforcing labour laws.”

Nefissa Lakhoua, Technical Officer for Operations at the ILO-Qatar Project Office, added "As more and more businesses rely on sub-contractors, conducting due diligence in the procurement process is a shared responsibility that not only promotes the respect of the Labour Law, but also helps promote a level playing field for sustainable businesses in Qatar. The ILO has tools and stands ready to assist enterprises in this process.

Since its establishment in 2015, the Employment Standards Office of the QFC has been committed to promoting international labour standards across the QFC community through a variety of initiatives aimed to raise awareness on, and foster healthy, safe, sound and balanced working conditions for a competitive and human-centred labour market.