This online dialogue is the launch event of the ‘ILO Action Week on Convention No. 190’ and will feature key tripartite leaders of the world of work. The event will mark the momentous entering into force of Convention No. 190 and elicit a call for a renewed commitment and ambitious actions to accelerating progress to free the world of work from violence and harassment.

The event will be an opportunity for governments, workers’ and employers’ representatives to share visions and lessons learnt on how to tackle violence and harassment in the world of work in line with ILO international labour standards, including the challenges of COVID-19 outbreak. It will also discuss how to prioritize and mainstream effective responses to this phenomenon into global initiatives, as well as national, sectoral, workplace and other policies and practices.

Speakers:

• Mr. Guy Ryder, ILO Director-General
• H. E. Gisèle Ranampy, Minister of Labour, Employment, Public Services and Social Laws, Madagascar
• H.E. Claudio Moroni, Minister of Labour, Employment and Social Security, Argentina
• Mr. Roberto Suárez Santos, Secretary-General, International Organisation of Employers (IOE)
• Ms Marie Clarke Walker, Secretary-Treasurer, Canadian Labour Congress (CLC)
• Ms Helena Dalli, Commissioner for Equality, European Commission
• Ms. Susan Kihika, Senator in the Kenyan Parliament and Member of the Bureau of Women Parliamentarians of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU)
• Ms. Sharanjit Leyl, moderator

Background

Violence and harassment is unacceptable anywhere and at any time, whether in times of prosperity or of crisis. Violence and harassment remains a global pandemic and deeply affects the world of work. The elimination of violence and harassment, including against women, in the world of work, remains critical for a sustainable recovery, achieving everyone’s full and effective participation in the labour force and promoting productive and sustainable enterprises. The world of work and its actors play a key role in shaping laws, policy responses and recovery plans that guarantee the right of every individual to a world of work free from violence and harassment.

The ILO Violence and Harassment Convention, 2019 (No. 190) will enter into force on 25 June, 2021. The Convention and its supplementing Recommendation (No. 206) along with the ILO Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work (2019) are essential ingredients of the ILO’s ‘human-centred and gender-transformative agenda’ to build forward better.