By Elishya Perera
SINGAPORE (CWBN)_ The International Labour Organization (ILO) and Singapore have extended an agreement to promote decent work in South-east Asia, a joint statement issued on Tuesday (Dec 29) said.
According to the statement, under the agreement, the ILO will collaborate with the Singapore Ministry of Manpower (MOM) in three key areas, namely, “occupational safety and health; fostering social dialogue and cooperation between governments, employers, and workers; as well as other labour and workplace practices”.
The agreement, which was first inked in June 2011, was due to expire at the end of this year. However, the extension signed by ILO Assistant Director-General and Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, Chihoko Asada-Miyakawa and Permanent Secretary of the Singapore MOM, Aubeck Kam, will extend the partnership until the end of 2021.
Miyakawa said that the ILO welcomes the commitment of Singapore’s MOM in order to share its expertise on work related issues throughout ASEAN. The Assistant Director-General further noted that this work would play a significant role in the post-pandemic recovery, in order to “build back better”.
The statement pointed out that events carried out under the agreement include the 21st World Congress on Safety and Health in 2017, Sub-Regional Workshops on the implementation of the Maritime Labour Convention in 2006, as well as the Singapore-ILO Conference on the Future of Work in 2019.
Moreover, development of an occupational safety and health profile in Brunei, risk assessment in the Philippines, employment disputes in ASEAN, as well as training provided for labour inspectors in Vietnam, were among the activities carried out by the partnership, and according to Kam, the Regional Centre for the Future of Work, recently launched by Singapore, is expected to complement these activities.
“Singapore is pleased with the extension of the Partnership Agreement with the ILO. It reflects Singapore’s continued commitment to working with the ILO to share experiences and best practices to promote decent work for workers, especially in these uncertain times,” he said.
“Activities under the Partnership Agreement will be complemented by the work of the Regional Centre for the Future of Work, recently launched by Singapore to raise regional capabilities and foster regional conversations related to work issues,” the Permanent Secretary of the MOM added.
