ILO donates digital devices to Trinidad and Tobago’s Ministry of Labour for the modernization of its inspection system
The equipment will advance the digitization of the Government’s labour administration function, which is responsible for the prevention of child labour and the development of a labour market information system.
5 May 2023
Honourable Stephen Mc Clashie, Minister of Labour, Trinidad and Tobago with Mr. Dennis Zulu, Director, ILO Decent Work Team and Office for the Caribbean on 3 May 2023
© Ministry of Labour, Trinidad and Tobago
As part of ongoing technical assistance and support for the Ministry of Labour, Director of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Decent Work Team and Office for the Caribbean, Mr. Dennis Zulu, presented sixteen (16) digital devices to Minister of Labour, the Honourable Stephen Mc Clashie.
The presentation ceremony took place on Wednesday, 3 May 2023 at the Ministry of Labour’s Head Office, Port of Spain. The devices - portable tablets with state-of-the-art accessories for full functionality - will support the modernization of the labour inspection functions of the Ministry which includes the progressive digitization of data collection and management processes.
At the handing over ceremony, the Honourable Stephen Mc Clashie, Minister of Labour, expressed his sincerest gratitude to Mr. Zulu and the ILO Decent Work Team and Office for the Caribbean for providing the Labour Inspectorate Unit with equipment which he stated will make a huge impact on the work of the Inspection Team, enabling them to function more efficiently when carrying out Inspections, and ultimately improving the quality of service to workers and employers.
Minister Mc Clashie noted that the Government continues to put the spotlight on the digital economy and more comprehensive digital transformation, in an effort to integrate the use of technology for improving government service delivery and providing public value for greater citizen satisfaction and operational efficiencies.
In this vein, Minister Mc Clashie noted that the Ministry of Labour has also embarked on a project to digitalise its services. This will also involve the consolidation of the Ministry’s internal processes into one Labour Management System with modules to support each Division/Unit. This project will reduce manual data entry, improve automation and digitise records for easier retrievals, analyses, monitoring and reporting.
Minister Mc Clashie acknowledged the ongoing collaboration and technical support being consistently provided by the ILO in the ambits of labour administration including the fight against Child Labour, which the Ministry values immensely and views as critical to achieving its mandate.
ILO Caribbean Director Dennis Zulu said he was honoured to engage the Ministry of Labour in the donation of these devices and stated that: “the ILO Caribbean is pleased to provide the Ministry of Labour with surface tablets to meet the needs of the Ministry in modernising its labour administration and inspection, which contributes to the elimination of Child Labour. We are committed to providing meaningful, effective and efficient responses that support Trinidad and Tobago’s actions to ensure the Decent Work Agenda is implemented fully at the national level.”
The ILO and the Ministry of Labour in Trinidad and Tobago, have a longstanding partnership, working together in various strategic areas – among them, the modernization of the labour administration function, inclusive of labour inspections, child labour and the development of the Labour Market Information System.
This collaboration has enhanced the capacities of the Labour Inspectorate and the Labour Market Information Units, through the provision of technical assistance, training and the establishment of technical working relationships with ILO specialists from its Latin America, Caribbean, and Geneva offices.
In 2022, representatives from Trinidad and Tobago participated in various knowledge exchanges organised in the South-South Cooperation Project and Statistical Officers from Trinidad and Tobago also participated in the “Observa Censo” seminars and study tour in Brazil in 2022. Further to this, and in the context of the Project “Consolidation of progress of the Regional Initiative Latin America and the Caribbean Free of Child Labour” the ILO held meetings with officials of the Ministry of Labour and Central Statistical Office of Trinidad and Tobago in 2023 to exchange technical knowledge based on Brazil’s experiences in development of a child labour module for inclusion in the “Continuous Population Survey (CSSP)”.
The ILO continues to provide technical support to Trinidad and Tobago’s National Steering Committee for the Prevention and Elimination of Child Labour and will be supporting its work to develop lists of hazardous child labour.
Present at this handing over ceremony were Ms. Kevar Williams, Permanent Secretary (Ag.) who is also the Chair of the Ministry’s National Steering Committee for the Prevention and Elimination of Child Labour, Ms. Savitri Balkaran, Deputy Permanent Secretary (Ag.) Mr. Farouk Mohammed, Chief Labour Inspector Specialist, Ms. Resel Melville, ILO National Project Coordinator, Inspectors Mary-Lyn Lewis- James, Indira Dookiesingh and Taramatie Rampersad, Ms. Rosa-Mae Whitter, Director International Affairs Unit and Mr. Aldwin Webb, Manager, Information Technology Unit.
The presentation ceremony took place on Wednesday, 3 May 2023 at the Ministry of Labour’s Head Office, Port of Spain. The devices - portable tablets with state-of-the-art accessories for full functionality - will support the modernization of the labour inspection functions of the Ministry which includes the progressive digitization of data collection and management processes.
At the handing over ceremony, the Honourable Stephen Mc Clashie, Minister of Labour, expressed his sincerest gratitude to Mr. Zulu and the ILO Decent Work Team and Office for the Caribbean for providing the Labour Inspectorate Unit with equipment which he stated will make a huge impact on the work of the Inspection Team, enabling them to function more efficiently when carrying out Inspections, and ultimately improving the quality of service to workers and employers.
Minister Mc Clashie noted that the Government continues to put the spotlight on the digital economy and more comprehensive digital transformation, in an effort to integrate the use of technology for improving government service delivery and providing public value for greater citizen satisfaction and operational efficiencies.
In this vein, Minister Mc Clashie noted that the Ministry of Labour has also embarked on a project to digitalise its services. This will also involve the consolidation of the Ministry’s internal processes into one Labour Management System with modules to support each Division/Unit. This project will reduce manual data entry, improve automation and digitise records for easier retrievals, analyses, monitoring and reporting.
Minister Mc Clashie acknowledged the ongoing collaboration and technical support being consistently provided by the ILO in the ambits of labour administration including the fight against Child Labour, which the Ministry values immensely and views as critical to achieving its mandate.
ILO Caribbean Director Dennis Zulu said he was honoured to engage the Ministry of Labour in the donation of these devices and stated that: “the ILO Caribbean is pleased to provide the Ministry of Labour with surface tablets to meet the needs of the Ministry in modernising its labour administration and inspection, which contributes to the elimination of Child Labour. We are committed to providing meaningful, effective and efficient responses that support Trinidad and Tobago’s actions to ensure the Decent Work Agenda is implemented fully at the national level.”
The ILO and the Ministry of Labour in Trinidad and Tobago, have a longstanding partnership, working together in various strategic areas – among them, the modernization of the labour administration function, inclusive of labour inspections, child labour and the development of the Labour Market Information System.
This collaboration has enhanced the capacities of the Labour Inspectorate and the Labour Market Information Units, through the provision of technical assistance, training and the establishment of technical working relationships with ILO specialists from its Latin America, Caribbean, and Geneva offices.
In 2022, representatives from Trinidad and Tobago participated in various knowledge exchanges organised in the South-South Cooperation Project and Statistical Officers from Trinidad and Tobago also participated in the “Observa Censo” seminars and study tour in Brazil in 2022. Further to this, and in the context of the Project “Consolidation of progress of the Regional Initiative Latin America and the Caribbean Free of Child Labour” the ILO held meetings with officials of the Ministry of Labour and Central Statistical Office of Trinidad and Tobago in 2023 to exchange technical knowledge based on Brazil’s experiences in development of a child labour module for inclusion in the “Continuous Population Survey (CSSP)”.
The ILO continues to provide technical support to Trinidad and Tobago’s National Steering Committee for the Prevention and Elimination of Child Labour and will be supporting its work to develop lists of hazardous child labour.
Present at this handing over ceremony were Ms. Kevar Williams, Permanent Secretary (Ag.) who is also the Chair of the Ministry’s National Steering Committee for the Prevention and Elimination of Child Labour, Ms. Savitri Balkaran, Deputy Permanent Secretary (Ag.) Mr. Farouk Mohammed, Chief Labour Inspector Specialist, Ms. Resel Melville, ILO National Project Coordinator, Inspectors Mary-Lyn Lewis- James, Indira Dookiesingh and Taramatie Rampersad, Ms. Rosa-Mae Whitter, Director International Affairs Unit and Mr. Aldwin Webb, Manager, Information Technology Unit.