WOMEN IN DEVELOPMENT (WID) FOUNDATION[1]
POSITION PAPER ON “SUPERMAIDS”
We believe that foreign DOMESTIC WORK is DECENT WORK only under the following basic conditions:
1. That foreign domestic workers enjoy adequate laws in countries of destination that can be enforced to protect them;
2. That appropriate conditions for work and safety are existent;
3. That salaries are pegged at international standards for the same work;
4. That foreign posts have adequate mechanism to monitor their conditions at worksite on a quarterly basis;
5. That bilateral agreements are forged to ensure their safety in times of war and calamity;
6. That government has the social infrastructure to deal with the personal and social cost resulting from the diaspora of women.[2]
While we believe that that they should be equipped with the necessary skills to handle household gadgets and basic language in their destination countries, this is not a remedy to ensure their safety, provide them with dignity and protect them from the abuse of foreign employers and recruitment agencies.
We cannot agree to a “BAND-AID MAID” strategy that the “SUPERMAID” idea is trying to peddle. It should incorporate government effort to first address the basic conditions enumerated for making foreign DOMESTIC WORK truly DECENT WORK.
(Statement issued August 6, 2006)
[1] Women in Development (WID) Foundation, Inc. is a private development organization working towards the economic and political empowerment of women. We can be reached at this address: WID Foundation, 2nd Floor, OFW Telemoney Center, RCBC Savings Bank Building, 527 EDSA, Pasay City, telephone number 8893992 or email http://mail.yahoo.com/config/login?/ym/Compose?To=ofw_remit@yahoo.com
[2] Seventy-four percent (74%) of the total OFW deployment (281,812) for 2004 are women, 72% for 2005 (out of a total of 280,661). In 2004, their major destinations in Asia are Hong Kong where 99.9% are working as domestic workers, in Japan where 99% of them work as overseas performing artists (OPAS) and in Taiwan where 53% of them work as caregivers and caretakers. For the same period (2004), the major destinations in the Middle East include Kuwait, where 89% of them work as domestic workers; Saudi Arabia, where they work as domestic helpers (26%) and nurses (18%); United Arab Emirates, where they work as domestic workers (32%) and 35% are working in other service sectors (such as waiters, launderers cleaners, etc.) making the service workers the largest presence in that country; and in war-torn Lebanon where 100% are domestic workers. In Lebanon, domestic helpers are called "filipinas" even by the Filipino priest who provided them shelter during the outbreak of the 2005 Israeli-Lebanese war, and this reference to them was echoed by a Philippine labor attaché redeployed in Beirut, who commented on TV that most of the employers "took their filipinas with them."
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1. Lebanon has 18 religious communities.
2. It has 40 daily newspapers.
3. It has 42 universities.
4. It has over 100 banks (that is banks and not branches of a bank)
5. 70% of the students are in private schools.
6. 40% of the Lebanese people are Christians (this is the highest percent of all the Arab countries)
7. There's 1 doctor per 10 people in Lebanon (In Europe & America, there's1 doctor per 100 people)
8. The name LEBANON appears 75 times in the Old Testament
9. The name CEDAR (Lebanon's tree) appears 75 times too in the Old
Testament!!
10. Beirut was destroyed and rebuilt 7 times (this is why it's compared to The Phoenix).
11. There are 3.5 million Lebanese in Lebanon
12. There are around 10 million Lebanese outside Lebanon!
OTHER FACTS:
1. Lebanon, the country, was occupied by over 16
countries:Egyptians-Hittites-Assyrians-Babylonians- Persians- Alexander the great Army-
the Roman Empire-Byzantine- the Arabian Peninsula-
The Crusaders- the Ottoman Empire-Britain-France- Israel- Syria.
2. Byblos (city in Lebanon) is the oldest, continuously living city in the world.
3. Lebanon's name has been around for 4,000 yrs non- stop (it's the oldest country/nation's name in the world!)
4. Lebanon is the only Asian/ African country that doesn't have a desert.
5. There are 15 rivers in Lebanon (all of them coming from its own
mountains)
6. Lebanon is one of the most populated countries in its archeological sites, in the world!!
7. The first alphabet was created in Byblos (city in Lebanon)
8. The only remaining temple of Jupiter (the main Roman god) is in Baalbeck, Lebanon (The City of the Sun)
9. The name of BYBLOS comes from the BIBLE!!!
10.Lebanon is the country that has the most books written about it.
11. Lebanon is the only non-dictatorial country in the Arab world (it has a President!)
12. According to Christianity Jesus Christ made his 1st miracle in Lebanon,in Sidon ( The miracle of Turning water into wine).
13. The Phoenicians (Original People of Lebanon) built the 1st boat and they were the first to sail ever!
14. Phoenicians also reached America long before Christopher Columbus did.
15. The 1st law school in the world was built in Lebanon, in Downtown Beirut.
16. People say that the cedars were planted by God's own hands This is why they're called "The Cedars of God", and this is why Lebanon is called "God's Country on Earth." Is it not a real Crime Against Humanity to destroy a country with such history? Let us work for PEACE in Lebanon.
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