Yesterday, June 16, 2025, was the UN's Day of the Householders, the United Nations, which was acknowledged the important contributions of household workers to families, communities, nations and the world's economy, and observed worldwide.
International Household Workers Day will be observed on June 16th. This commemorates the 2011 adoption of the International Labour Organization's (ILO) domestic work treaty No. 189.
The conference defines it as a worker held at home or at home, or as a domestic worker in which the domestic worker engages in domestic chores within the employment relationship.
Domestic workers do tasks such as cleaning, cooking, laundry and providing personal care, the latter helping maintain individual independence and dignity.
The treaty was adopted within the framework of the ILO's commitment to promoting decent work for all, recognizing that domestic work is undervalued and invisible and is primarily done by women and girls.
But despite the important role this labour worker executive brings in the daily life of almost every household in society, the most decent title that members of staff in this category can get from the person they serve is “Auntie”, if the host is kind enough.
Even as Kenyans complain about the abuse of fellow compatriots who work as immigrant domestic workers in Gulf Cooperation Councils (GCC) countries such as Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, they are biased against local domestic workers.
They are considered to be low in Kenyan society, so many are cheated on social gossip companions, in some circumstances, even men and women who are joking asses, who have close relationships with people who work as domestic workers.
The 2024 study aimed to shape positive narratives and remove barriers to labor mobility.
Labour migrants from Africa to GCC countries were traditionally ruled by neighbours in Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Chad, Somalia, and gradually Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, and Kenya.
Pull factors include an expansion of the region's economy, an exponential increase in the number of double-wage expatriates with child care needs, an increase in life expectancy, an increase in chronic disease, and an increase in the number of families extended from the extended nuclear family structure.
Economic opportunities, immediate financial needs, parent/child support, and human trafficking are among the push factors.
The findings of this study paint a gloomy picture for domestic workers both locally and internationally. Kenya lacks a comprehensive policy framework for labor migrants for local domestic workers and those seeking opportunities abroad, and lacks the capacity to negotiate better employment terms overseas and manage migrant revenue and reintegration.
The author is executive director of the Kenya National Civic Association Centre and chair of the Horn of the African Civil Society Forum.
