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By Bilal Malkawi

In the last year or so many unions in the Arab world have applied for affiliation to the ITF or have shown a very strong interest in doing so. These include unions in Algeria, Tunisia, Lebanon, Jordan, Yemen and Kuwait.

At the moment the North African unions have links to the ITF’s African Regional office in Nairobi and the Francophone Africa office in Ouagadougou. Some unions in the Middle East are in contact with the Asia Pacific office but they are also linked to the European electoral group of the ITF.

This multitude of connections has hampered the development of an approach covering all countries in the Arabic speaking world. I was very happy to help out when the ITF approached me to coordinate more activities in the region. My first priority is to improve communication between the ITF and the unions by providing translations of ITF documents and by starting a newsletter that would be published in English and Arabic.

I know that many unions would like to see some kind of a permanent ITF representation in the region and we are hopeful this will happen in time. But more immediately it is important that we give the unions the chance to participate in ITF activities and international solidarity actions. Over the coming months the needs of the unions and the capacity of the ITF to meet them will need to be assessed and then we can plan the next steps.

Bilal Malkawi is Chairman of the Air Transport and Tourism Union, Jordan, and the ITF General Secretary’s personal representative for the Arab-speaking countries.