Seychelles launched the second generation of the Decent Work Country Programme (DWCP) and the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Policy successfully

News | 31 July 2017
An important double event related to the official launching of the second generation of the Decent Work Country Programme for Seychelles and the launching of Occupational Safety and Health Policy was held in the Ministry of Employment, Entrepreneurship Development and Business Innovation on 26 April 2017 in Mahé, Seychelles. The Minister of Employment, Entrepreneurship Development and Business Innovation, Wallace Cosgrow, the Minister of Health, Jean Paul Adam and the ILO Director for Madagascar, Comoros, Mauritius and Seychelles, Christian Ntsay honoured this ceremony through their presence.

The Seychelles is the second country to move into its second generation in the Indian Ocean Sub-Region due to the commitment of tripartite constituents and all stakeholders who are the joint owners of this strategic programme. Indeed, tremendous achievements registered under the first generation, among others the development of national frameworks such as the National Employment Policy, the Occupational Safety and Health Policy and Decree, the Policy on HIV/AIDS at workplace, the labour law, the profile of Small and Medium Enterprises, the bipartite Memorandum of Understanding between FEAS and SFWU, the capacity building of constituents in different areas of International Labour Standards, Labour Market Information System, OSH, SMEs, social dialogue. Many other actions are still ongoing, such as supports to youth entrepreneurship, Labour migration Policy, reinforcement of the social dialogue.

A drafting Committee is set-up to manage and monitor this process and it is intended to have the programme adopted before the end of the year 2016.

The Occupational Safety and Health Policy was also launched.

Seychelles has demonstrated political will and strong leadership for sustainable development and in particular, applauds the ratification and implementation of key ILO OSH Conventions. Further, Seychelles was one of the first countries to sign the three Rio global environmental Conventions as part of the implementation of Agenda 21. These conventions are supportive of each other improving the quality of both OSH and the Environment, all of which are a key principle of Convention 155 concerning OSH and environment that Seychelles ratified in 2005 and to which this policy is anchored. We then congratulate Seychelles for these and related initiatives.

This launch comes at a time when we mark the World Day for Safety and Health at Work whose theme is "Optimize the collection and use of OSH data". The ILO notes the critical need for countries to improve their capacity to collect and use reliable OSH data. The effective collection of OSH data provides both the capacity for setting priorities as well as for measuring OSH progress. It is also indispensable for the detection of new hazards and emerging risks, monitoring of worker exposures to hazards, the development of preventive measures, as well as the implementation of OSH policies, systems and programmes based on an integrated approach. This integrated approach is critical in ensuring the provision of comprehensive OSH services at national level particularly the collaboration within government departments and institutions, employers, workers and international agencies.
"Investing in OSH is worthwhile". This is now the most urgent issue on the OSH agenda and includes investing to militate against and monitoring on the rates of workplace injuries and deaths. The safety and health of workers must be at the forefront on the road to economic prosperity and needs, must be an integral player of the national economic strategy.

Seychelles and ILO had excellent collaboration through years and intend to continue and make it better under the second generation of DWCP.