To meet emerging challenges in development:

ILO helps modernize labour administration

Ramani Kanaraarachchi

Sri Lanka has taken measures to modernize labour administration with technical assistance from the International Labour Organization (ILO). The new changes will ensure participation, credibility, transparency and responsibility, the principal elements in good governance essential for effective and efficient functioning of the labour administration, said Secretary, Ministry of Labour Relations and Manpower Mahinda Madihahewa.

He was speaking at a media workshop on “Social Dialogue on Decent Work For Fair Globalization” at the Hotel Galadari yesterday. It coincided with the ninetieth anniversary of ILO and the twenty-fifth anniversary of setting up the ILO Colombo office.

Madihahewa said that the ILO Decent Work country program is the vehicle to provide technical assistance to Sri Lanka which is aligned with other development assistance framework documents.

He said that the objective of the modernization program is to gear the financial, human and other material resources to meet the emerging challenges in the process of development. The process has brought in new elements into the organizational structure of the operational procedures of the Labour Ministry, he said.

The ILO generates knowledge through studies, surveys and various other means on a wide range of issues, relating to the world of work and disseminates it among the stakeholders and its knowledge base, has been the basis for activities of stakeholders. Sri Lanka gets assistance from the ILO, in the capacity building of personnel, as well as institutions.

Sri Lanka in line with the Decent Work agenda of the ILO, formulated the National Policy and the National Plan of Action for Decent Work. The National Policy identifies the weaknesses in the focus areas of decent work and sets out policies designed to overcome them. The national Action Plan has been developed with tri-partite participation to Convert Policy into action, he said. Together, these two documents set out the direction that Sri Lanka will need to take in implementing economic and social development.

The Government has recognized the decent work policy as the policy for social development and allocates funds annually from the national budget for its implementation.

Madihahewa said that Sri Lanka has ratified 40 ILO Conventions out of the 187 Conventions adopted by the ILO. The 40 Conventions include eight out of eight core Conventions relating to basic human rights of workers, and three out of four priority Conventions.