ILO declaration urges countries to ensure labour protection

Source: The post is based on the article “ILO declaration urges countries to ensure labour protection” published in The Hindu on 10th December 2022

What is the News?

The 17th Asia and the Pacific Regional Meeting of the International Labour Organisation(APRM of ILO) has adopted the Singapore Declaration.

What is the Singapore Declaration?

The Singapore Declaration was adopted to deal with the issue of dwindling wages of workers, inflation and unemployment.

The declaration accepted that social dialogue is essential to address labour market challenges and finding solutions in crisis situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic, natural disasters and economic uncertainty.

The declaration has given several suggestions such as:

Ensure labour protection for all through the promotion of freedom of association

Recognition of the right to collective bargaining, including for workers in vulnerable situations and workers in the informal economy as enabling rights for decent work

Closing gender gaps, increasing women’s labour force participation, promoting equal pay for work of equal value, balancing work and responsibilities, and promoting women’s leadership.

Develop and implement inclusive labour market programmes and policies that support life transitions and demographic shifts.

Pursue collective and determined efforts to promote and accelerate a smooth and sustained transition from the informal to formal economy

Strengthen governance frameworks and respect for freedom of association to protect the rights of migrant workers. This includes improved accommodation, protection of wages and extension of social protection and enhanced bilateral labour migration agreements between both sending and receiving countries.