Africa-Press – Mauritius. Mauritius has marked a milestone in its history with the ratification of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Violence and Harassment Convention No190 and its accompanying Violence and Harassment Recommendation No206.
To this effect, a Virtual Deposit of the Instrument of Ratification of the Violence and Harassment Convention, 2019 (No. 190) to the ILO was held, this afternoon, in Port-Louis by the Minister of Labour, Human Resource Development and Training, Minister of Commerce and Consumer Protection, Mr. Soodesh Callichurn in the presence of representatives of Trade Unions and high officials from the parent Ministry.
With the ratification of the Convention, Mauritius became the first country in the Indian Ocean and the third on the African continent to ratify the labour standard developed by the ILO on violence and harassment in the world of work which was adopted at the 108th session of the International Labour Conference in June 2019.
The Convention No190, will only cover workers but also others actors in the work environment like interns, apprentices, laid-off workers, and volunteers.
In his address, the Minister Soodesh Callichurn, expressed his satisfaction as to the ratification of the Convention, which he said has come at an opportune time in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Industrial 4.0 era with its load of disruptions.
Thus, he pointed out that this newly adopted Violence and Harassment Convention will act as a protective shield for workers against a multitude of violence which were once undefined or not properly defined.
The Minister reiterated Mauritius’ pledge to comply with all provisions of the Convention by means of national laws and regulations, including by extending or adapting existing occupational safety and health measures so as to cover violence and harassment and developing specific measures where necessary.
He recalled that this landmark achievement had been laid as far back as in October 2003, when one of the Government officials participated in a meeting of experts at the behest of the ILO Governing Body with a view to drafting a “Code of practice on violence and stress in service sectors”.
Back then, he added, Mauritius took the bold decision to commit itself that none of its workers should be subjected to any forms of violence at their workplace.
According to the Minister, the country’s decision to be among the first few countries to ratify the present Convention is further entrenched in the boldness of its decision to impose fines and terms of imprisonment four times harsher than for any other offences or infringements of labour legislation against perpetrators of any forms of violence against workers in the course of their work.
He further highlighted that Mauritius has through this action showed the way to other countries that no worker should be deprived of his dignity in the true sense of the words and the present ILO Convention provides ample mechanism, measures and remedies to achieve this millennium goal.
Furthermore, and as stipulated in Article 4 of the Convention, he underlined that governments will work in close collaboration with social partners so as to have an inclusive, integrated and gender-responsive approach to combat violence and harassment at work.
He also recalled that Mauritius has, during the 41st Session of the Human Rights Council held in 2019 in Geneva (Switzerland), co-sponsored the resolution presented by Canada on “accelerating efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls”.
For his part, the Director General of the ILO, Mr. Guy Ryder, who proceeded with the signature of Certificate of Deposit of the said Convention No190, stressed on the relevance of the Convention in the face of the current COVID-19 situation prevailing across the world.
He dwelt on the importance of the Convention which he said with its implementation will bring about the world of work that one want to see. The representative of the Confédération des Travailleurs du secteur privé (CTSP) Mrs.
Jane Ragoo, for her part rejoiced of the ratification of this long awaited Labour Convention, which she said was long overdue. For her, it is a victory in the fight for workers’ rights especially women and girls.
With the Convention, she added that it will help empower workers by giving them the right to come forward and report any case of harassment or violence at work with the support of Government and Trade Unions and other stakeholders.
