The Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) has appointed Impactt Ltd as an independent third party external monitor to bolster the auditing and inspections process of the SC Workers’ Welfare Standards (WW Standards), a set of enforceable principles and regulations which are incorporated into all contracts for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
The second edition of the WW Standards was published on March 1 and sets out the SC’s requirements regarding the recruitment, employment, living and working conditions of everyone engaged on an SC project.
Developed by the SC’s Workers’ Welfare Unit (WWU) in close consultation with stakeholders including contractors, FIFA and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the new requirements update the original workers’ welfare standards, which were published in February 2014.
These revised standards are now in the process of being further embedded throughout the supply chain in a series of workshops with contractors and sub-contractors.
In addition to numerous visits by NGOs to SC projects, the WWU and senior SC management conducted a two-day trip to London in January this year to brief Amnesty International, Engineers Against Poverty, Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI), Humanity United and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on the updated standards, progress to date, and to get feedback from these organisations.
Commenting on the independent third party external monitor coming on board to enhance monitoring of the updated workers’ welfare standards, SC secretary general Hassan al-Thawadi described the appointment of an independent third party external monitor as “an important step for us in line with our continued commitment to making tangible progress on workers’ welfare”.
He said: “We will keep improving on every step of our journey as we make sure our approach to workers’ welfare progress is transparent and our updated standards are effectively and stringently enforced throughout the entire supply chain and life cycle of our projects.”
As part of its holistic approach to workers’ welfare, the SC’s WWU has been working closely with NGOs from around the world to accelerate positive initiatives already underway in Qatar with the help of additional expertise.
One of these NGOs was the internationally recognised organisation Verité, which have worked with the SC since early this year to help appoint the external monitor.
