Events and meetings

June 2012

1. Green Jobs in Asia Regional Conference

   20 - 22 June 2012, Singgasana Hotel Surabaya, Surabaya, Indonesia

   On 20-22 June 2012, a tripartite regional workshop will discuss the Green Jobs in Asia project to highlight successful approaches, areas of improvement and the way forward. Representatives from GJA will include Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nepal, the Philippines and Sri Lanka. They will be joined by additional countries with Green Jobs experience: China, Fiji, India and Thailand.

May 2012

1. Training Programme on Prevention of Trafficking in Persons for Recruitment Agents

   28 May 2012, Colombo, Sri Lanka

   This Programme will be conducted for 75 Recruitment Agents in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE). The rationale for the Programme is that Recruitment Agents are in a position to raise awareness on the legal channels of migrating for foreign employment and thereby minimize the vulnerability to trafficking. The Sessions will include topics such as ‘Introduction to Trafficking in Persons – International & National Standards, Trafficking for Labour Exploitation, Complaints mechanism, Identification of Victims and offenders, Kafala system and the potential for abuse.

2. Training Programme on Trafficking in Persons for Immigration Officers

   22 - 24 May 2012, Colombo, Sri Lanka

   This Programme will be conducted for 100 Immigration Officers based at the Bandaranaike International Airport. Sessions will include, Investigations to identify trafficking offenders & victims, channeling cases to the relevant law enforcement authorities, Foreign Employment and the legal recruitment process, International & National laws on Trafficking in Persons, Identification of forged documentation, Child Trafficking.

3. Training Programme on Prevention of Trafficking in Persons for Airport Taxi Drivers, Cab Drivers, 3 wheeler taxi drivers

   15 - 20 May 2012, Colombo, Sri Lanka

   Three Training Programmes will be conducted for 100 Airport Taxi Drivers, 100 Taxi Cab Drivers, and 100 3 Wheeler drivers. The rationale being that taxi drivers, by virtue of their vocation may come into contact with victims and offenders of human trafficking, and as such are in an ideal position to report such cases to the law enforcement authorities. The Training Programme will include the following sessions; What is Human Trafficking- trafficking for labour exploitation, commercial sexual exploitation etc. , National laws and penalties for the offence of trafficking, Trauma & Psychological impact on victims, Investigation and reporting of cases, Legal Recruitment processes & Foreign Employment.

4. A Regional Consultative Forum on Welfare & Protection of Migrant Workers"

   13 - 15 May 2012, Amman, Jordan

   A Regional Consultation is planned from 13-15th May 2012 in Amman Jordan, to review operational guidelines in Sri Lankan Diplomatic Missions to ensure the protection of migrant workers titled "Consultative Forum on Welfare & Protection of Migrant Workers" organized by Ministry of Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare and Ministry of External Affairs in collaboration with the ILO Office Colombo, as part of ILOs support to the Government to implement the National Labour Migration Policy. Sixty participants are expected including Senior decision makers from both Ministries and the Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau, Ambassadors and labour officers from SL missions in 13 Gulf Corporation Council(GCC) countries as well as the far east together with ILO experts from the region and Geneva. The event will support the finalization of an Operational Manual for Sri Lankan Missions in labour receiving countries.

5. Youth Employment in Asia and the Pacific

   1 May 2012, China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor Leste and Viet Nam

   As a lead-up to the Youth Employment Forum to be held in Geneva, 23-25 May 2012, many activities were held globally to highlight youth employment issues. Thirteen countries in Asia and the Pacific are organizing various activities to raise awareness on the importance of youth employment.

April 2012

1. Training workshop on Work adjustment for recycling and management of waste

   27 April 2012, Colombo, Sri Lanka

2. Workshop to capture “Young Voices from Sri Lanka”

   26 April 2012, Colombo, Sri Lanka

   This workshop is to capture “Young Voices from Sri Lanka” in a participatory and inclusive manner, will take centre-stage on 26th April at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute in Colombo. The Workshop will comprise 60 young persons drawn from the 25 districts of the Island, who will contribute to a Position Paper that will reflect the contemporary concerns of Sri Lankan youth. The Workshop is being convened by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Skills Development, under the auspices of its Minister, the Hon. Dullas Alahapperuma with technical and financial support from the International Labour Organisation in partnership with ILO constituents in Sri Lanka.

3. Improving recruitment practices of employment agencies recruiting migrant workers

   9 April 2012, Colombo, Sri Lanka

   The objective of the workshop is to share the findings of the review of the migrant worker recruitment industry in Sri Lanka title “Recruitment Practices of Employment Agencies Recruiting Migrant Workers - A Review aimed at improving recruitment regulations and drafting Recruitment Guidelines” and to obtain stakeholder views and comments on the findings, conclusions and recommendation in the report.

4. Public validation workshop on the National Human Resources and Employment Policy

   5 April 2012, Colombo, Sri Lanka

   The Public Validation Workshop on the Sri Lanka's National Human Resources and Employment Policy will be held on 5th April 2012 at the Taj Samudra Hotel. The final draft of the NHREP will be validated with the participation of representatives of government, employers, trade unions and academic institutions. The comments emanating from the workshop will be used to finalize the document and launch it in May 2012. The Senior Ministers Secretariat of the Government is leading the process of formulating the policy with technical assistance from the ILO."

March 2012

1. Working with men to address gender-based violence in the workplace

   19 - 20 March 2012, Colombo, Sri Lanka

   This training programme is an attempt to address the issue by taking men on a self-reflective journey of understanding their actions, behavior patterns and motivations through a gender lens and thereby moving towards becoming active in not only preventing gender-based violence in the work place but also thinking and acting in more gender equal ways in the domestic sphere.

2. Meeting of Stakeholders to develop the Municipal Solid Waste Management sector in the Western Province of Sri Lanka.

   15 March 2012, Colombo, Sri Lanka

   Key stakeholders of the Municipal Solid Waste Management sector in Sri Lanka joined together in the first steering group meeting on implementation of value chain development proposals in the Municipal Solid Waste Management sector on 15th March 2012 at the WMA Conference Room, Colombo. This meeting was organized by the Waste Management Authority (WMA) of Western Province together with ILO Green Jobs project, and was attended by fifteen key stakeholders from following organizations. Key amongst the proposals adopted for future work were the development of a database on employees in the SWM sector; work on systematizing the recruitment of workers for the sector; development of a database on government and private sector entities involved in composting sector; assistance to the WMA to register plastic recycling businesses and developing a database; and organizing of a study tour for WMA zonal managers to learn best practices for zonal managers and technical officers in waste management.

3. Training Programme for conciliators of the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment for effective prevention and settlement of disputes pertaining to migrant workers

   8 - 10 March 2012, Colombo, Sri Lanka

   Grievances of the migrant workers are mainly handled in Sri Lanka by the Conciliation Division of the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment which has 16 conciliation officers located in the SLBFE and in regional centers island-wide. In addition several other government and non-governmental organizations including recruitment agencies are involved in receiving complaints from the migrant workers in Sri Lanka, which channel the complaints to the Conciliation division of the SLBFE. Key issues concerning grievance handling mechanisms include delays, lack of access despite the availability of officers, lack of knowledge among migrant workers and their families on available mechanisms and duplication of services due to the lack of coordination between the institutions involved in handling grievances. ILO undertook as a part of the project, to map out the available grievance mechanisms with the objective of creating a centralized national grievance handling mechanism to ensure the protection and empowerment of migrant workers and their families. The report has highlighted a number of institutional problems. Whilst focusing on creating a centralized grievance handling mechanism, it is paramount that the Conciliation division of the SLBFE which is mandated to handle migrant worker’s grievances in Sri Lanka in strengthened. In this background, in close consultation with the SLBFE and the Ministry, the ILO seeks to support the design and implementation of a long term capacity building programme for Conciliation officers of the SLBFE. The first phase of the training of the training will take place from 8-10th March 2012 in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

February 2012

1. National consultation on reviews of mechanisms that address migrant worker grievances in Sri Lanka and in Labour Receiving Countries

   13 February 2012, Colombo, Sri Lanka

   In 2011,the ILO country office commissioned two studies to review grievance redress mechanism available to Sri Lankan migrant workers within Sri Lanka and countries of employment. The aim of commissioning these reviews were to support the improvement of the current systems of migrant worker grievance handling mechanisms. The objective of the National consultation is to share the findings of both reviews and to obtain stakeholder views and comments on the findings, conclusions and recommendations in each report.This forum will be the foundation for the next phase of this initiative which includes a meeting of the diplomatic missions in the Labour receiving countries and the formulation of a new operational framework for diplomatic missions in addressing migrant worker issues.

December 2011

1. Action Against Gender-Based Violence at Work - A workshop for employers

   7 December 2011, Colombo, Sri Lanka

   The International Labour Organization (ILO), in partnership with the Employers’ Federation of Ceylon (EFC) is organizing the above workshop under the Joint United Nations Programme on Prevention of and Response to Gender-Based Violence in Sri Lanka. Participants of this workshop will be exposed to an overview on gender, prevention of gender-based violence and sexual harassment at work and the corresponding legal framework in Sri Lanka. The workshop will also provide a platform to share experiences, best practices and information with individuals and/or organizations with interests in action against GBV and identify appropriate strategies for collaboration. Speakers and participants for the workshop will be drawn from the private sector, employers' organizations and international agencies, all working on this important agenda.

November 2011

1. A WARMer and Greener initiative for decent work

   23 November - 29 December 2011, Colombo, Sri Lanka

   This training is funded under the ILO – Australian Partnership Agreement (2010 – 2015) being implemented in Sri Lanka from October 2010 – June 2012.

October 2011

1. ILO Capacity Building Programme: Working with UN. Workers and Employers contribution to Achieving Decent Work in a changing regional environment

   20 - 21 October 2011, Colombo, Sri Lanka

   The Regional Unit for Partnerships is supporting Geneva colleagues (EXREL, PARDEV and INTEGRATION) to respond effectively to the requests of the Governing Body (TC committee) to assist workers and employers organisations to increase institutional capacity to mainstream decent work into UN processes, with a special focus on social partners participation into DWCPs and UNDAFs. This workshop is part of a series of bi-partite training for social partners - similar workshops took place in the Africa and the Americas region in 2010, and the Arab region in 2011

2. Subregional Seminar on "Strengthening the Labour Movement to Achieve Decent Work"

   18 - 19 October 2011, Colombo, Sri Lanka

3. Foundation Training workshop on Green Jobs for ILO constituents and partners

   13 - 14 October 2011, Colombo, Sri Lanka

   The two day programme will cover issues relating to Green Jobs such as the key concepts of Green Jobs; the importance of Green Jobs within the lexicon of Sustainable Businesses; regional perspectives and initiatives; the national legal regime for creating Green Jobs and the role of social partners in promoting Green Jobs for a just transition to a green development paradigm. The workshop will be structured around presentations; working group sessions and the analysis of local case studies for improvement and/or replication. This activity is funded by the Australia Government – ILO Partnership Agreement 2010-2015.

4. Foundation Training workshop on Green Jobs for ILO constituents and partners

   13 - 14 October 2011, Colombo, Sri Lanka

   The two programme will cover issues relating to Green Jobs such as the key concepts of Green Jobs; the importance of Green Jobs within the lexicon of Sustainable Businesses; regional perspectives and initiatives; the national legal regime for creating Green Jobs and the role of social partners in promoting Green Jobs for a just transition to a green development paradigm. The workshop will be structured around presentations; working group sessions and the analysis of local case studies for improvement and/or replication. This activity is funded by the Australia Government – ILO Partnership Agreement 2010-2015.