Doha, February 02 (QNA) - The Social and Economic Survey Research Institute (SESRI) at Qatar University has started work on the first expatriate worker welfare index that includes key professional working and social conditions.

The 'Guest Worker Welfare Index' is the outcome of a closed expert workshop convened last week at SESRI, the institute said Tuesday.

Local and international scholars, stakeholders, and policymakers including and Qatar University president Dr Hassan Rashid Al-Derham mulled various topics on labour issues.

A SESRI paper, jointly written by Michael Ewers, Abdoulaye Diop, and Darwish Al-Emadi, explains why Qatar needs a worker welfare index.

The welfare index will be based on the results of a semi-annual or annual survey conducted with more than 1,000 blue-collar guest workers in Qatar as well as official statistics, the paper says.

The survey includes topics listed by participants at the workshop. It will cover health and safety, working and living conditions, housing, social life, and overall worker satisfaction. Survey responses will be included in the welfare index, the paper says.

Using data from the survey, SESRI will create an objective and reliable welfare index that will reflect the actual conditions and experiences of labourers in Qatar and can also track changes in welfare over time.

Explaining reasons why Qatar needs a worker welfare index, authors of the paper say, "Fierce international scrutiny and criticism of Qatar's Kafala system (foreign labour sponsorship), health and safety of workers building football World Cup stadiums, and conditions of labour camps were based on anecdotal interviews with a small sample of individual workers." Such accusations can flourish when accurate and reliable measures of worker welfare are lacking, the authors say. "In providing a source of unbiased data, SESRI aims to help avoid the generation and spread of erroneous information based on personal impressions and unrepresentative cases.

"Qatar continues to develop and implement policies designed to improve the conditions of low-wage guest workers. Most recently, for instance, the state has amended the sponsorship system by issuing Law No. 21 of 2015 regulating guest workers’ entry, exit and residency, which is expected to make workers less dependent on their sponsor." A consistent and scientific measurement of worker welfare is imperative for Qatar to demonstrate this success to itself and the world. A comprehensive picture of workers lives will give decision-makers the information needed to understand the impacts of their policies, and to identify areas of progress as well as those in need of further improvement, the paper concludes.

Replying to a QNA query why the welfare index uses the phrase 'Guest Worker' instead of 'Professional, Contracted or Expatriate worker, SESRI's Communications Unit Head said, 'We are following the official Arabic term for this specific category of workers and translated from Qatar's Labour Law." (QNA)