PRESS RELEASE

The Embassy of Nepal, Muscat organized an Ambassador Level Luncheon meeting of the “Colombo Process Member Countries” and “Abu Dhabi Dialogue Member countries” Ambassadors based in Muscat with coordination of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Manpower of the Sultanate of Oman at Sheraton Hotel, Muscat on 09 January 2018.

The meeting commenced with the speech of Her Excellency Ambassador Sarmila Parajuli Dhakal. H.E. Dhakal briefed about the Colombo Process and informed the invitees about Nepal’s current chairmanship of the process with the theme “Safe, regular and managed migration: win-win for all”. H.E. shared about five thematic areas of action of the process namely skills and qualification recognition process; fostering ethical recruitment; effective predeparture orientation and empowerment; remittances; and labour market analysis along with addition of 4 other thematic areas of action have provided important platforms for the CP countries to cooperate within the region and beyond, widely and deeply. H.E. stressed that all such consultative mechanisms should be made more collective, meaningful, productive and should be properly implemented in order to make the migration safe, secured and equitably beneficial for countries of origin and destination.

Ms. Aisha Sahar Wahid Al-Kharusi from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from the Sultanate of Oman delivered a speech to elaborate on the work the National Committee for Combatting Human Trafficking (NCCHT) is doing to expand the protections for vulnerable parties as well as for combatting Human trafficking in collaboration with the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC), INTERPOL and the International Labor Organization (ILO). She briefed about Oman’s Royal Decree on Anti-Trafficking Law, 2008 and 3Ps of Combatting Human Trafficking – Prevention, Protection and Prosecution, and the 4th lesser known P– Partnership. She highlighted the importance of the cooperation and

facilitation of all the countries and thanked Embassy of Nepal for such initiation.

H.E. Mohammaed bin Ahmad Al-Rawahi, Legal Advisor to the Minister for Manpower explained about various activities of the Ministry of Manpower for the welfare and rights of the labour force as well as its role in developing programs and systems to assure the best interests of both the employers and employees by inspecting work facilities, safety, professional health and social protection for workers. H.E. Al-Rawahi informed about the regular awareness campaign; publication and distribution of guidelines for migrants welfare in 14 languages etc.

Lastly, Mr. Younis Al Harrasi from the Bayan Tebyan Comapany made a brief presentation over the NCCHT’s nationwide campaign “EHSAN” activities designed to help people understand what is human trafficking; how to identify, report and prevent it.

The meeting ended with the luncheon adding special Nepali cuisine “Momo”. At the end, all the participants including H.E. Ambassadors, Heads of Mission of Colombo Process member countries and Abu Dhabi Dialogue member countries, guests from Ministry of Manpower and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Sultanate of Oman appreciated the Nepal Embassy’s and Sultanate’s effort for welfare of migrant workers and for combating human trafficking and thanked H.E. Sarmila Parajuli Dhakal for hosting this meeting and creating a platform to speak about migrant issues.

The guests from the Ministry of Manpower were H.E. Mohammaed bin Ahmad Al- Rawahi, Legal Advisor to the Minister of Manpower, Mr. Salim Al-Badi, General Director of Labour Welfare, Mr. Abdullah Al-Malahi, Director of the International Organizations whereas Ms. Aisha Sahar Wahid Al-Kharusi, Mr. Younis Al-Harrasi, Mr. Donald Buechner were from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

09 January 2018

Embassy of Nepal

Muscat, Sultanate of Oman