27 July 2015 – The Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI), in cooperation with the Philippine Embassy in Doha, conducted a Paralegal Seminar and Workshop at the Millenium Hotel on 24 July 2015. The clinic was attended by selected OFWs from the construction sector, Filipino community leaders, National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) Filipino Help Desk volunteers, and Embassy and Philippine Overseas Labor Office representatives.

The training was conducted to equip participants with basic legal understanding on labor and other concerns faced by OFWs in Qatar. “I welcome the participants and organizers of the seminar and as this is an important training program for the knowledge and guidance of Filipino community leaders in Qatar,” Ambassador Santos said in his opening remarks.

Among the topics covered during the seminar were Philippine regulatory framework and operating guidelines in deployment of OFWs, backgrounder on ATN services of the Embassy, Qatar Labor Law, Qatar’s redress mechanisms on labor and social affairs, and an overview of the NHRC Filipino Help Desk.

The National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) of Qatar recently opened a Filipino help desk which is headed by Social Welfare Attaché, Ms. Judith Y. Bacwaden. As Filcom representative, Ms. Bacwaden is assisted by a team of Filipino volunteers in manning the help desk of NHRC that will receive requests for assistance from Filipinos in Qatar.

The Building and Wood Workers' International (BWI) is a global union federation of democratic and free trade unions in the building, building materials, wood, forestry and allied industries. It regularly conducts regular seminars and trainings for Filipino migrant workers in Qatar particularly in the construction sector. END