Building ‘resilience” in SMEs will help to promote Decent Work

Through investment in resilience measures, enterprises, in particular small ones, their workers and families and communities can be better equipped to face and manage the increasing threats from both natural disasters and conflict

Press release | 13 May 2018
COLOMBO (ILO News): The development challenges we face today are extraordinary in nature. Despite large strides in poverty reduction, roughly half the world’s population still lives on the equivalent of about US$2 a day. Climate change is producing more natural disasters, with crippling effects for societies. While conflict between nations are less frequent than they were, conflict within states is increasing.

The world is a more violent place than ever before.

The figures speak for themselves. Sri Lanka, as an example, was hit by the tsunami in 2004, its three decade conflict ended in 2009, and there were major floods and landslides in 2010, 2012, 2016 and 2017. These disasters caused loss of lives, damages to infrastructure, businesses, employment and livelihoods. In 2016 alone, about 64,500 employed people were impacted with the loss of about 1.5 million working days, the total loss to employment and livelihoods is estimated at LKR 6.78 billion with a loss of formal employment at LKR 1.72 billion and other livelihoods losses for the informal sector at LKR 5.06 billion.

From left to right: Mr Paolo Salvai, Mr Ravindra Peiris, Ms Simrin Singh, Ms Sanchir Tugschimeg, Mr Kanishka Weerasinghe
While thankfully the conflict that Sri Lanka experienced for decades is now behind it – it’s crucial that efforts are ongoing to maintain the peace and to build on it. The workplace is the front line in these efforts. It’s the one place that is neutral, where everyone, regardless of their background or ethnicity or religion meets. That means creating an environment that is resilient to outside forces that can impact on the business environment, be they political; ethnic; or religious. It entails creating a safe and inclusive environment that is accepting of all and free of discrimination. These are also critical components of a “resilient enterprise.”

The new global framework for development, the “Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)” has responded to these challenges in four new ways.

First, the importance of decent work as a means of supporting families and communities is explicitly highlighted (SDG 8). Second, building and promoting positive peace is a central objective, rather than just containing conflict and its consequences (SDG 16). Third, preventing crises along with building resilience to face them, are guiding implementation principles. Finally, the role of the private sector in making these objectives a reality is newly emphasised.

These four issues are connected in complex ways.

Conflict, disasters and other crises aggravate poverty, unemployment and informality, creating a vicious cycle leading to even greater fragility. In fragile and conflict-affected states poverty rates are generally 21 percentage points higher than in other states.

In this context, an emphasis on preventing crises along with building resilience to face them is an important new departure.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) has long promoted the concept of “Sustainable Enterprises” which is related to the general approach to sustainable development. This is an approach based on the fact that all enterprises are part of society; they shape and are shaped by the communities in which they operate.

But it’s no longer enough.

In Sri Lanka, floods, landslides, cyclones, droughts, storms, tsunami, and rising sea levels are the main natural disasters that the country experiences. Floods are the most common form of natural disaster. Climate experts warn that many cities in Sri Lanka, including the capital, Colombo — which faces changes to its annual monsoon and more extreme rainfall associated with climate change — need to adapt to changing rainfall patterns.

Currently the ILO in Sri Lanka’s 2018-2022 Decent Work Country Programme, under its Jobs for Peace and Resilience portfolio, is strengthening the resilience of rural communities and micro and small enterprises in the North and South West of Sri Lanka to natural disasters, aiming to contribute to actualising the National Policy on building resilience and disaster mitigation measures.

The ILO is working with the Employers’ Federation of Ceylon (EFC) to support SMEs in building resilience measures through the support tools from its Sustainable and Resilient Enterprises (SRE) Platform. The SRE Platform has been designed as a space to bring together multiple partners to promote decent work and sustainable and resilient enterprises and is built around the twin concepts of ‘resilience’ and ‘sustainability’. Between 14-18 May 2018, ILO Country Office together with the ILOs' Bureau for Employers' Activities (ACTEMP), hosted a regional workshop in Colombo for employers and business organisations. 

Through investment in resilience measures, enterprises, in particular small ones, their workers and families and communities can be better equipped to face and manage the increasing threats from both natural disasters and conflict. That’s a message we can all support.