ILO Subregional Workshop on Gender Equality at Work

Workshop for judges, senior officers of the court and high-level officials dealing with labour and employment issues as it relates to gender equality.

News | 06 September 2013
PORT OF SPAIN (ILO News) - Judges and senior officials from the Caribbean Courts with jurisdiction on labour and employment issues, from 13 ILO Caribbean member States and non-metropolitan territories will attend a five-day Subregional Workshop on Gender Equality at Work, which will convene at the Hilton Hotel Bridgetown, Barbados from 9-13 September 2013.

The Workshop is being organized by the ILO’s Decent Work Team and Office for the Caribbean (DWT/O-POS) based in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, in collaboration with the ILO Gender Equality and Diversity Branch, Geneva, Switzerland.

The Workshop is one in a series that the ILO constituents requested following the discussion on gender equality and decent work at the 98th Session of the International Labour Conference, 2009 in Geneva.

Senator Dr. the Honourable Esther Byer-Suckoo, Minister of Labour, Social Security and Human Development, Barbados, will address the Opening Ceremony along with the President, of the Caribbean Court of Justice, His Honour Sir Dennis Byron; the Director, of the ILO Gender Equality and Diversity Branch, Ms. Jane Hodges; and the Director, DWT/O-POS, Dr. Giovanni di Cola.

The Workshop will provide a forum for judges, senior officers of the court and high-level officials dealing with labour and employment issues to:
  • have a greater appreciation for the ILO standard-setting function and supervisory machinery as it relates to national law on gender equality;
  • build on their knowledge of a set of International Labour Standards related to gender equality; and
  • strengthen judicial capacity to apply International Labour Law in resolving national gender inequality labour disputes.
Presentations will focus on the International Labour Standards System and gender equality, the role of workers’ and employers’ organizations in fighting workplace discrimination, HIV and AIDS and the world of work, and Convention No. 189 on Decent Work for Domestic Workers. There will also be a panel discussion on “Gender-based violence and sexual harassment at work.”

“The ILO promotes its agenda of decent work for women and men primarily through its International Labour Standards. These Conventions and Recommendations are aligned and implemented in national law and formed the bedrock of efforts to promote full and productive employment with rights at work, social protection and the promotion of social dialogue,” says Ms. Jane Hodges, Director of the ILO Gender Equality and Diversity Branch, adding that “the promotion of gender equality and the fight against discrimination is a central aspect of the Decent Work Agenda”.

“Two of ILO core Conventions are particularly relevant to this five-day Workshop and they are: Conventions No. 100 on Equal Remuneration for Men and Women Workers for Work of Equal Value, 1951, and No. 111 on Discrimination in Respect of Employment and Occupation, 1958" says Dr. Giovanni di Cola, Director, DWT/O-POS.

At the conclusion of the Workshop participants will be able to better use and apply international labour law to enhance gender equality when delivering labour justice at the national level.

The ILO is a specialized agency within the United Nations system committed to advancing opportunities for women and men to obtain decent and productive work in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity.

 

Note for the Media:

For further information, please contact:
Ms. Patricia Hackett or Ms. Averlon Toussaint
Email: ilocarib@ilocarib.org.tt
Phone: (868)-625-0524, 623-7178, 623-7704
Fax : (868)-627-8978