The event was initiated by the ILO Bureau for Workers’ Activities (ACTRAV) and supported by the ILO Programme “Strengthened capacity of member states to ratify and apply international labour standards and to fulfil their reporting obligations” implemented in Kyrgyzstan.
 
The training brought together representatives of trade unions from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The participants were familiarized with the ILO Regular and Special supervisory mechanisms and discussed the role of trade unions in the ILO supervisory machinery.

“It is particularly important to equip our social partners with the knowledge on international labour standards so that they could help governments to bring national legislations in compliance  with the international labour law”, - said Kamaldin Toktosartov, Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Development of Kyrgyzstan who attended the workshop.

The sessions on regular system for supervising the application of standards, including the right of workers’ and employers’ organizations to provide observations were delivered by Lejo Sibbel, Senior International Labour Standards and Labour Law Specialist, ILO DWT-CO Moscow. The participants scrutinized the reporting cycle for each country for 2019 and agreed on actions to be taken to better use the reporting rights trade unions have under the ILO Constitution.

Oksana Wolfson, Head of the Unit, Freedom of Association Branch, NORMES made detailed presentations on provisions of the ILO Convention No. 87 and No. 89 and the special procedure for complaints regarding freedom of association through the Freedom of Association Committee.

The situation concerning the freedom of association in the countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia was further debated during the session run by ILO Moscow Specialist in Workers’ Activities, Gocha Aleksandria who provided examples of good progress as well as situations of concern in some countries, including Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

The participants have also briefly reviewed the Compilation of decisions of the Committee on Freedom of Associations issued in 2018. The Digest of Decisions of the Committee on Freedom of Associations was presented by Victor Hugo Ricco, ACTRAV Senior Specialist on Workers Activities. His presentation aimed to raise the participants’ awareness and guide reflections for the effective respect for the fundamental principles of freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining.

Laimonas Pivoras, Lithuanian trade union lawyer, shared his experience in strengthening national social dialogue and promoting application of ILS in Lithuania.

The participants drafted country work plans for the strategic use of the ILS System for 2019 in order to reach the reporting submission date of 1 September.

“We expect that the training would help workers organizations to better explore ILO supervisory mechanisms and strengthen national mechanisms to apply international labour standards at the country levels” – said Sergeyus Glovackas, ACTRAV Desk officer  for Europe and Central Asia.