Georgetown: A team from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has hailed the Guyana Government’s anti-child labour programme TACKLE, which it said has had tremendous success in the fight against the scourge.
This was revealed when the high-level team from the ILO and the local Tripartite Committee talks at the Labour Department’s Brickdam Office met last week. The meeting was hosted by Labour Minister, Dr Nanda Gopaul, Human Services Minister Jenifer Webster and members of the Tripartite body which comprises representatives of the trade unions, employers, and other social partners.
Leading the ILO team was Dr Giovanni di Cola, Director, Decent Work Team and Office for the Caribbean. He was accompanied by Rainer Pritzer, Senior Specialist, Social Dialogue and Labour Administration; Reynold Simons, Senior Specialist, Employment and Labour Market Policies; Paula Robinson, Senior Specialist, Workers Activities; and Anne Knowles, Senior Specialist, Employers Activities.
According to the Labour Ministry, Dr di Cola commended Guyana for the successful implementation of the School Retention ILO/TACKLE Project which targeted school children for increased attendance and performance at school, thereby eliminating child labour. “Thanks to Guyana, the project was particularly successful in the Caribbean… the collaboration was even good during the challenges.”
While the ILO funding for the project has come to an end, the project is now being integrated into the national system, through the Education Ministry. Minister Gopaul advised that vehicles have been purchased to continue the transportation component of the project, and the provision of hot meals to students will also continue.
Training programmes
The Minister also told the team of the successful training programmes being executed through the Board of Industrial Training to provide additional opportunities to young people who dropped out of school and, address unemployment, as well as financial support for students in public schools, and the provision of meals, transportation and school uniform for them.
The more than three-hour long meeting saw discussions on social dialogue, workers’ migration and social and health benefits, as well as the work of the Tripartite Committee.
Through the National Tripartite Committee, and the support of the ILO, the Ministry was able to implement and go beyond the parameters of the Decent Work Country Programme; table HIV/AIDS regulations in the National Assembly, and craft regulations to address mining, manufacturing, chemicals, and noise, all of which are being finalised.
Noris Whitter of the Trades Union Congress, commended the Tripartite body for its work, adding that the support of the ILO has been instrumental to its success. Appreciation was also expressed to the ILO by Kenneth Joseph of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana and Dale Beresford of the Guyana Trades Union Congress (TUC). Beresford and Jerry Goolsarran of the Consultative Association of Guyanese Industries also noted the strong leadership provided by Minister Gopaul that has seen successes, such as the implementation of the National Minimum Wage and the 40-hour work week.
Guyana was also praised for being one of 13 countries to sign the ILO Convention Number 189, which offers specific protection to domestic workers. This makes Guyana the only country in the Caribbean to do so and one of few in Latin America according to the ILO. Following the discussions, the grouping agreed that the ILO would support Guyana with technical expertise in various areas discussed to boost local capacity.
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