Philippines and Austria Commit to Rights-and Values-Based Approach in MOU on Deployment of Healthcare Professionals

Left to right: DMW Undersecretary Patricia Yvonne M. Caunan, Philippine Ambassador to Austria Evangelina Lourdes A. Bernas, Executive City Councillor Peter Hacker, and Secretary General Karlheinz Kopf signing the MOU on the Recruitment of Filipino Nurses. (Vienna PE photo - WKÖ/Nadine Studeny)

VIENNA 10 July 2023 – After 50 years when the first nurses from the Philippines came to Vienna through a bilateral agreement, the Philippine embassy signed a new agreement with the City of Vienna on 07 July 2023 to bring Filipino nurses to the city under a framework that protects their rights and eases professional and social integration. Philippine Ambassador to Austria Evangelina Lourdes A. Bernas signed on behalf of the Philippines the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the Recruitment of Filipino Nurses between the Republic Philippines and the Federal State of Vienna and the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber. Department of Migrant Workers Undersecretary Patricia Yvonne M. Caunan was a signatory witness to the agreement, which is seen as the culmination of sustained bilateral labor talks between the Philippines and Austria, and a revival of the longstanding cooperation between the two countries in the field of healthcare.  

The MOU outlines an ethical, transparent, and sustainable recruitment framework that will govern the entry, hiring, and integration of Filipino healthcare professionals in Vienna. Identified areas of cooperation include streamlining of Philippine and Austrian deployment and immigration procedures, bilateral exchanges on professional and technical capacity-building initiatives, reintegration programs, and certification and recognition of skills and qualifications, among others. It also provides for the creation of a joint committee, composed of government stakeholders from both sides, to ensure the full and effective implementation of the agreement. 

In her remarks, Ambassador Bernas highlighted the importance of a rights-and values-based approach to the deployment of Filipino workers to Vienna, where both the Philippines and Austria place primordial consideration on the dignity, well-being, and welfare of the worker. The vibrant and well-integrated Filipino community in Austria bears witness to this experience, she said.  

Undersecretary Caunan, during the closing remarks, added that the MOU is “a significant step in cementing our collaboration in creating better opportunities for Filipino nurses as they help address Vienna’s healthcare needs.” 

The MOU comes exactly 50 years after the signing of a similar agreement between the Philippines and the City of Vienna in 1973. This agreement facilitated the “first wave” of approximately 600 Filipino healthcare professionals, who worked in 14 different hospitals in Vienna in the 1970s. END

Secretary General Kopf delivers his Welcome Remarks. (Vienna PE photo - WKÖ/Nadine Studeny)

Foreground, left to right: Undersecretary Caunan, Secretary General Kopf, Philippine Ambassador Bernas, and Executive City Councillor Hacker. Background, left to right: Austrian Economic Chambers Chairman Guenther Wiesinger, Vienna Social Fund CEO Michael Rosenberg, Vienna Healthcare Group Director General Evelyn Kölldorfer-Leitgeb, and Vienna Social Fund CEO Anita Bauer. (Vienna PE photo - WKÖ/Nadine Studeny)

For more information, visit https://www.viennape.dfa.gov.ph, https://www.philippine-embassy.at or https://www.facebook.com/PHinAustria/,  https://www.twitter.com/PHLinAustria or https://www.instagram.com/phinaustria/.