Uganda-Somalia agreement protects workers in Somalia
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on The Independent
Uganda and Somalia have signed an agreement regulating the employment of more than 20,000 Ugandan workers in Somalia, with written contracts, wages paid into their accounts and employer-funded insurance. The text also provides for visas and travel to be covered, according to The Independent.
Uganda and Somalia signed an agreement in Mogadishu on Thursday 22 October to regulate the employment of Ugandan workers in Somalia. It provides for written contracts, wages paid into workers’ own bank accounts and insurance funded by employers, according to The Independent.
Contracts must be signed before departure and then registered with Somalia’s Ministry of Labour on arrival. Employers must also pay for visas and work-related travel, fund a return trip home every two years, provide payslips and cover the risks of death and disability. Conditions may only be changed in the workers’ favour.
The agreement prohibits forced labour and the confiscation of passports. It protects employees’ right to contact their families and embassy, and allows them to change employers if the promised work is not provided. The remains of workers who die abroad may be repatriated at their families’ request.
Uganda says more than 20,000 of its citizens work in Somalia, particularly in education, health, logistics and private security. In return, Kampala has pledged to verify that workers have no criminal record, are medically fit and are not charged excessive fees by recruitment agencies.
The agreement was signed by Henry Tumukunde, Uganda’s Minister of Gender, Labour and Social Development, and Salim Alio Ibro, Somalia’s Minister of Labour and Social Affairs. Uganda’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs describes it as a framework to regulate employment, recruitment and the protection of workers’ rights.
Summary produced with the help of artificial intelligence tools, under AFREEQUE’s editorial responsibility.
