ŞANLIURFA/DİYARBAKIR (ILO News) – The International Labour Organization (ILO) delivered training for agricultural labour intermediaries in Şanlıurfa and Diyarbakır.

The Training for Agricultural Intermediaries was organized on 31 January and 1 February 2023 in Şanlıurfa under the project “Elimination of Worst Forms of Child Labour in Seasonal Agriculture in Hazelnut Harvesting in Türkiye” funded by FERRERO, and implemented jointly by ILO and the General Directorate of Labour (GDL) of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security (MoLSS) with Pikolo Association as the implementing partner. The training was attended by labour intermediaries from Şanlıurfa and Adıyaman.

The same training was organized on 1 February 2023 in Şanlıurfa and on 2 February 2023 under the “Comprehensive Model Project for Eliminating Worst Forms of Child Labour in Seasonal Hazelnut Agriculture” funded by the Association of Chocolate, Biscuit and Confectionery Industries of Europe (CAOBISCO), and implemented jointly by ILO and MoLSS-GDL with Pikolo Association as the implementing partner.

The training sessions featured Prof. Dr. Murat Gürkan Gülcan on “Child Labour and Education”, OSH Expert Ertan Uzunçakmak on “Occupational Safety and Health in Agriculture, and Job and Vocational Counsellor Cengiz Buzkuş “Legal Responsibilities of Agricultural Labour Intermediaries.”

The training sessions were attended by a total of 114 agricultural labour intermediaries from Şanlıurfa, Adıyaman and Diyarbakır, who were all awarded certificates by Şanlıurfa Provincial Directorate of İŞKUR.

Providing information on the training programme, ILO Senior Project Coordinator Koray Abacı said: “We as the ILO Office for Türkiye are implementing projects to eliminate child labour in seasonal agriculture. Agricultural workers devote their labour to products from fields to tables and to national exports. Agricultural labour intermediaries play a significant role in engaging seasonal agricultural workers, who constitute a significant portion of labour in the agriculture sector, in the labour force. They also assume a key role in combating child labour. Therefore, informing agricultural labour intermediaries is critical both in raising their awareness on combating child labour as well as operating formally as prescribed in the “Regulation on Labour Intermediation in Agriculture”. Through such training, we aim to inform agricultural labour intermediaries and see the results in the harvest season.”