Mr. President,
Director General of the ILO,
Trade Union and Employer Representatives,
Excellencies,
Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen.
It is a great pleasure and a privilege to address this August assembly on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka. I want to thank the ILO Director General for his timely report on the "Social Contract," which addresses the injustices, inequalities, and insecurities we face today, while reaffirming our commitment to social justice.
'Sustained, inclusive and sustainable growth' could hardly be realized without properly addressing the inequalities in the world of work', stated the Minister of Labour and Trade Union Relations Hon. Ravindra Samaraweera, today, 4th June 2018, speaking at the Plenary Meeting of the 107th Session of the International Labour Conference (ILC) being held in Geneva from 28 May - 9 June 2018.
Highlighting some of the significant achievements made by Sri Lanka in the field of labour, Minister Samaraweera observed that being the first country in the world to implement a National Decent Work Plan on par with ILO principles, Sri Lanka has also given priority to 'labour rights', through its inclusion in the National Human Rights Action Plan 2017-2021. He added further that Sri Lanka is in the process of introducing a 'single employment law', consolidating disparate laws that currently exist, and giving effect to the principle of non-discrimination. Sri Lanka, the Minister stressed, has also made strides in progress toward eliminating child labour, and promoting the rights of the child, offering to share its expertise in this area to support the endeavours of the ILO.
UN Agencies working together on cross-cutting issues such as labour and migration is vital to ensuring that benefits of such collaborative enterprises percolate to the countries in need, stated Ambassador A.L.A. Azeez, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to United Nations in Geneva, during a meeting he had with Mr. Guy Rider, Director-General of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). He expressed the view that in each area where there is expertise available in one or more Agencies, it was important to develop ‘networking’ with the facilitation of a convener, to enable cross-fertilisation of ideas, and to improve internal cohesion across the UN system.
Acknowledging the need to break silos, DG Rider stated that the UN has undertaken a system-wide strategic plan to reform the UN Development Pillar and that it would be aligned in support of the 2030 Agenda and SDGs.
Ambassador Azeez, recalling Sri Lanka’s active engagement in enhancing and promoting the rights and welfare of the labour migrants in the Asia – GCC Corridor as the current Chair of the Abu-Dhabi Dialogue (ADD), stated that Sri Lanka would be hosting an intersessional meeting in Colombo in May 2018, where the issues being discussed would be in line with the ILO’s Decent Work Framework.
Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Employment Mr. G.S. Withanage and Dr. Götz Schmidt-Bremme, Ambassador for the 2017-2018 GFMD Co-Chairmanship of Germany today (27th June), signed a Joint Declaration of Intent on principles of fair recruitment of personnel for training as geriatric nurses in the Federal Republic of Germany. The signing ceremony took place at the German Federal Foreign Ministry in Berlin, during Secretary Mr. Withange’s visit to Berlin leading the Government of Sri Lanka delegation to the 10th Meeting of the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) hosted by the Government of Germany.
Minister of Labour, Trade Union Relations and Sabaragamu Development W.D.J. Seneviratne said that ‘Sri Lanka will make every endeavor to be an active partner of the ILO in achieving the anticipated goals of the green initiative”. The Minister encouraged the ILO to provide a platform for effective global dialogue, to facilitate technology transfer from developed to developing countries, to convert their production technologies in to green technologies, and thereby facilitate prevention and mitigation of the impact of climate change, while supporting to create significant additional green jobs. Minister Seneviratne made these observations when he addressed the 106th Session of the International Labour Conference (ILC) in Geneva on 12th June 2017, in the context of the report of the Director General of ILO on ‘Work in a changing climate: the Green Initiative”.
GENEVA (ILO News) – On 12 January 2016, the Government of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka deposited with the International Labour Office the instrument of ratification of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC, 2006). Sri Lanka is the 81st ILO member State and the 16th Asian State to have ratified the Convention.
Addressing the 105th Session of the International Labour Conference (ILC) in Geneva on 09th June 2016, Minister of Labour and Trade Union Relations W.D.J. Seneviratne has elaborated on the initiatives made by Sri Lanka on the ‘Decent Work Programme’, including the “historical initiative of ‘National Minimum Wages Act No. 3 of 2016’ by which for the first time in the country a mandatory national monthly minimum wage was fixed payable to all workers by all employers in the country”.