In May last year, Al-Marri was elected as the Vice-President of the Labour Conference in Geneva.
Qatar’s Labour Minister Ali bin Samikh Al-Marri has been elected as the president of this year’s International Labour Conference by delegates at the International Labour Organization (ILO) on Monday.
“Qatar, represented by His Excellency Dr. Ali bin Samikh Al-Marri, Minister of Labour, assumed the presidency of the 111th session of the International Labour Conference, for the first time since the establishment of the organisation in 1919,” the Ministry of Labour (MOL) said in a statement.
According to the statement, the Qatari official was elected “by the delegates from governments, employers, and workers” at the ILO. The conference is the highest decision-making authority of the United Nations entity, with the upcoming session scheduled to take place between Monday and 16 June.
In a tweet, Al-Marri expressed his gratitude for being elected as the conference’s president and the “unanimous trust” he received.
“I reaffirm my unwavering commitment to ensuring the success of the conference’s activities. My dedication remains steadfast in facilitating decisions that will fortify the consensus among the tripartite labor parties and foster stronger agreement,” the Qatari minister said in a tweet.
In May last year, Al-Marri was elected as the Vice-President of the Labour Conference in Geneva. The ILO said at the time that the move was part of its recognition of Qatar’s progress to develop its labour sector, including the Gulf state’s introduction of historic reforms.
Doha has been working closely with the ILO as well as other international bodies to improve the local work environments since it established an office in Qatar in 2018.
Al Marri was appointed the labour minister following a Cabinet reshuffle in October 2021 by the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, seen as a crucial step in improving the local labour sector.
Al Marri was previously the chairman of Qatar’s National Human Rights Committee (NHRC).
Since he assumed his position, Al Marri has intensified efforts in ensuring the protection of workers.
In November 2021, Al Marri, the local health ministry (MOPH), and the ILO signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to cooperate in data collection to better address work-related injuries and deaths.
The agreement came as a swift response to an Amnesty report titled “Reality Check” and another ILO report, both of which revealed gaps in data collection regarding expatriate workers’ injuries and deaths.
It came following historic reforms that have been introduced by Qatari authorities since the country won the bid to host the 2022 World Cup more than a decade ago.
Among the most major changes was the dismantling of the controversial Kafala system which previously stopped workers from freely switching jobs, as well as the introduction of the region’s first ever non-discriminatory minimum wage law.
Despite this, the FIFA World Cup 2022 hosts were on the receiving end of criticism in the lead up to the tournament last year. At the time, authorities said the barrage of scrutiny failed to account for Qatar’s mass rollout of reforms, accusing critics of racism.
