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Church unveils App to help Ugandan workers abroad
Work safety. The ‘Just good work App’ was launched on Tuesday at Namirembe Anglican Provincial office. The App provides information to help Ugandan workers abroad. Photo by Isaac Ssejjombwe
What you need to know:
- Several people have since filed complaints accusing labour firms of violating the law while recruiting their relatives to work in the Middle East.
Arrangements have been finalised to help migrant workers get information about the countries they intend to work in as a measure to curb the rampant cases of exploitation of Ugandan migrant workers.
The Anglican Church in Uganda, together with its partners across the world, initiated the ‘Just good work App’, a free interactive mobile application that seeks to promote safe migration.
The Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, Stanley Ntagali, says the application seeks to provide critical information to both job seekers and workers abroad in simple, jargon-free home language. He says the move is to prevent human trafficking and exploitation of migrant workers in labour supply chains by providing information about safe, transparent pathways to work.
The app was launched on Tuesday at Namirembe Anglican Provincial offices in Kampala.
Purpose
“It provides information and advice on your rights and responsibilities during the recruitment process and at work in your destination country. The App gives workers abroad guidance on accessing help and advice at every stage of their employment including returning home,” says Archbishop Ntagali.
The mobile application comes months after the return of seven bodies of Ugandan migrant workers who died in the Middle East countries, sparking off investigations by both the State House Anticorruption Unit, and Police into the cause of death.
Safety. Stanley Ntagali Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, launches the ‘Just good work App’, at Namirembe Anglican provincial offices on Tuesday. Photo by Ephraim Kasozi
Several people have since filed complaints accusing labour firms of violating the law while recruiting their relatives to work in the Middle East.
Archbishop Ntagali explains that the ‘Just good work’ app seeks to help Ugandans have access to safe and decent work that enhances the quality of their lives and protects them from exploitation.
Information
He says through the application, people intending and those already working abroad will have the information they need to make safe decisions about signing up for work abroad.
“Above all, the app seeks to be a means of informing the population about labour migration issues. This is a tool the church will use for discipleship and pastoral care of migrants in their countries of destination,” the Archbishop says.
Findings
Archbishop Ntagali says, the app is a result of research by the church and its partners, which revealed deplorable conditions Ugandans are subjected to working abroad.
