By Kebba AF Touray and Mariama Touray
The Gambia National Assembly on Tuesday, 24 September 2024, ratified the Manpower Agreement between The Republic of the Gambia and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The domestic workers and skilled workers agreements aim to recruit domestic workers and other skilled workers from the Gambia to be legally working in the Kingdom.
It also seeks to ensure a mutually acceptable recruitment, deployment, and repatriation system for Gambian workers for employment in the Kingdom.
Tabling the motion for ratification, the Gambia’s Trade Minister, Baboucarr Joof, explained that Gambia, like many other low and middle-income countries, faces developmental challenges including a high unemployment rate, especially among young people and women of working age.
“According to findings of the Gambia Labor Force Survey 2022-2023 unemployment rate aggregate labor underutilization in the country stands at 41.5 percent, with a youth unemployment rate of 48.6 percent. This means 4 out of every 10 persons of working age, and nearly half of the young people of the working age, are not in any gainful employment,” he said.
These numbers were certainly worsened by the COVID 19 pandemic, which led to a significant loss of jobs due to containment measures that the government introduced to lessen the spread of the virus.
He said: “However, the statistics are quite staggering and worrying about the unemployment situation in the country. Being the Ministry with the employment mandate, MOTIE formulated a National Employment Policy and Action Plan for 2022-2026”.
This policy, he said, aims to improve employment opportunities for the youth and women in the labor market, and to alleviate poverty eventually.
He added that the policy also seeks to address the unemployment situation in the country and to facilitate the creation of 150,000 jobs by the end of the policy period of 2026.
He said that since the launch of the policy and the action plan, the Ministry has established a National Employment Technical Committee, to coordinate the implementation of the policy and to advise the government on initiatives to achieve the policy target.
“The Ministry has also redoubled the efforts, by working with the private sector, development partners, and other stakeholders to facilitate the creation of more job opportunities for our people, to reduce the burden of unemployment and improve the wellbeing of the citizenry,” he said.
To complement this effort, he said MOTIE continues to explore possibilities of getting Gambians to legally work in countries that need skilled and unskilled labor through bilateral labor agreements.
Dilating on the agreement, he said on 9th November 2023, during the economic forum, before the Saudi Africa Summit in Riyadh, “the Vice Minister of Human Resources and Social Development of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and I signed two agreements on labor recruitment between the two countries”.
He told the assembly: “The agreements aim to recruit domestic workers and other skilled workers from the Gambia to legally work in the Kingdom, ensure proper working conditions for the workers, protect the rights of both the workers and the employers, and regulate the contractual regulation between them”.
Under the agreement, he said interested Gambians with skills shall be recruited from the Gambia through the Public Employment Service of the Department of Labor, as well as registered and license private recruitment employment agencies, and supply to employers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
This he said will be done under the watchful eyes of the Department of Labor, as the regulating public institution.
Minister Joof told parliament: “The agreement will ensure mutually acceptable recruitment, deployment, and repatriation system for Gambian workers, for employment in the Kingdom. It will also ensure recruitment of workers through recruitment offices, companies, and agencies that practice ethical recruitment and are licensed by their respective governments”.
“The employers in Saudi Arabia shall not charge or deduct the salaries of workers ay cost attendant to their recruitment and deployment and impose any kind of unauthorized salary deduction or payment delays,” he said.
The agreement, he continued grants to the contractual parties the right of recourse to competent authorities in case of contractual disputes, under applicable laws, rules, and regulations.
The agreement, as indicated by the Minister also provides for legal measures to be taken against recruitment offices agencies, and companies for any violation of any applicable laws, rules, and regulations, and to resolve any issue arising from the implementation and enforcement of any provision of the agreement.
Minister Joof said: “The scope of the agreement is comprehensive and defines the roles and responsibilities of each of the parties, as well as settlement of disputes should they arise. Responsibilities of the parties are designed purposely to protect the rights and welfare of the workers recruited through this agreement”.
He said, “Both agreements seek to enhance the cooperation between the two countries on the recruitment of domestic and skilled workers, in a manner that guarantees the interest of both countries, maintains their sovereignty and secures the rights of employers and employees”.
He added: “Honorable Members of the National Assembly, it is my pleasure to present to this august Assembly, agreements between The Gambia and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the recruitment of skilled and domestic workers for its consideration and ratification. I beg to move”.
