International labour standards are legal instruments agreed to by the ILO’s tripartite constituents of government, employer and worker representatives. These standards set out principles, rights and minimum standards related to work and workplaces.
With the exception of some of the ILO’s new Pacific member States, there has been broad ratification across the Pacific of the ILO’s eight core Conventions. These are regarded as fundamental and cover core aspects of work-related rights including freedom of association, collective bargaining, child labour, forced labour and discrimination.
In accordance with Decent Work Country Programmes and the Pacific Action Plan for Decent Work, the ILO Country Office for South Pacific Island Countries works to build the capacity of Pacific constituents to ratify and apply core, governance and maritime conventions within their countries. In Fiji and Papua New Guinea, IPEC’s TACKLE Project promotes the full implementation in law and practice of the two core child labour Conventions.
In Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Vanuatu, the Pacific Global Jobs Pact Project for Labour Governance and Migration promotes the ratification and implementation of the governance conventions on tripartite consultation, labour inspection and employment policy. The ILO Country Office for South Pacific Island Countries has also worked with constituents to build the capacity of States to ratify and apply the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006. This assistance on the governance and maritime conventions is provided through the preparation of gap analyses, the delivery of workshops and the provision of advice on law reform.
Once a country has ratified an ILO Convention it is obliged to report regularly on progress to implement the related standards incorporated in it. The ILO Country Office for South Pacific Island Countries provides training and advice to governments on complying with their reporting obligations and to workers and employers on contributing effectively to the reporting process. Building the capacity of tripartite constituents to report comprehensively and regularly on ratified conventions is a key priority of Pacific Decent Work Country Programmes.