Presentation on Domestic Workers Convention

On June 18, 2024, Jonathan Presley presented a poster entitled “ILO C189 ratification process in Kenya: a domestic worker labour exporter perspective” at the Making Rights Reality: The Human Rights of Undocumented Migrant Workers Conference. This conference was hosted by the Amsterdam Center for Migration and Refugee Law at Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam.

The presentation showcased results from recent fieldwork carried out in Kenya by Jonathan Presley. It explored the complex ongoing ratification process of ILO C189 which was triggered more than a year ago by a promise from Kenyan President Ruto. This promise came in the context of continued rights abuses of Kenyan domestic workers in the GCC and Ruto’s increased policy focus on exporting Kenyan workers. However, despite high level political promises, the convention remains far from ratification. The case shows how conflicting domestic and foreign priorities have led to divergent discourses from stakeholders as to the rationale and necessity of ratification.