Lebanon Minister of Labour meets with ILO Regional Director to discuss draft plan for national Decent Work Country Programme
Minister Sejaan Azzi meets with ILO Regional Director for Arab States Ruba Jaradat and members of the ILO regional team to discuss implementation of a comprehensive national programme to deliver ILO support to Lebanon.
8 March 2016
BEIRUT (ILO News) - Lebanon’s Minister of Labour Sejaan Azzi met with ILO Regional Director for Arab States Ruba Jaradat and a number of ILO officials at the Organization’s regional headquarters in Beirut on 7 March.
At the meeting, participants discussed the draft of a national Decent Work Country Programme (DWCP,) the main vehicle for delivery of ILO support to countries.
Jaradat welcomed the Minister and expressed her confidence that the Lebanon DWCP would be finalised and implemented in the near future, in order to promote Decent Work as a key component of national development strategies, and to organise ILO knowledge, instruments, advocacy and cooperation at the service of tripartite constituents to advance the Decent Work Agenda in Lebanon.
Azzi praised the relationship between the Ministry of Labour and the ILO, and said that Lebanon is a country of inclusiveness and is open to benefiting from the experiences and skills of all nations and peoples on the basis of national interest.
He said Lebanon’s economy, labour market and infrastructure had suffered additional pressure since 2011 due the recent influx of hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing the conflict in neighbouring Syria, and now accounting for over a quarter of the country’s population.
Lebanon currently hosts large Syrian and Palestinian refugee populations, and the recent influx of Syrian refugees has caused a large increase in labour supply and continues to have substantial effects on labour market dynamics. According to World Bank estimates, unemployment among Lebanese citizens could double from an official pre-crisis estimate of 10 per cent as a result of the Syrian refugee influx.
The Minister and ILO officials also discussed how to work together to address problems facing migrant workers in Lebanon concerning their working and living conditions and the realisation of their rights.
DWCPs are the distinct ILO contribution to UN country programmes and constitute a main instrument to better integrate regular budget and extra-budgetary technical cooperation to realise Decent Work.
Decent Work involves opportunities for work that is productive and delivers a fair income, security in the workplace and social protection for families, better prospects for personal development and social integration, freedom for people to express their concerns, organize and participate in the decisions that affect their lives, and equality of opportunity and treatment for all women and men.
Lebanon has been an ILO member state since 1948, five years after the country declared independence, and has ratified 50 ILO Conventions, including seven of eight core Conventions. The ILO’s current strategy in the country is based on three pillars which aims to establish a sound legislative environment, improve governance and social dialogue, and improve livelihoods and income generation at the community level. It focuses on responding to the challenges of the Syria refugee crisis, and addresses child labour, skills and employability, labour inspection and administration, social protection, migrant domestic work, and support for Palestine refugees.
At the meeting, participants discussed the draft of a national Decent Work Country Programme (DWCP,) the main vehicle for delivery of ILO support to countries.
Jaradat welcomed the Minister and expressed her confidence that the Lebanon DWCP would be finalised and implemented in the near future, in order to promote Decent Work as a key component of national development strategies, and to organise ILO knowledge, instruments, advocacy and cooperation at the service of tripartite constituents to advance the Decent Work Agenda in Lebanon.
Azzi praised the relationship between the Ministry of Labour and the ILO, and said that Lebanon is a country of inclusiveness and is open to benefiting from the experiences and skills of all nations and peoples on the basis of national interest.
He said Lebanon’s economy, labour market and infrastructure had suffered additional pressure since 2011 due the recent influx of hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing the conflict in neighbouring Syria, and now accounting for over a quarter of the country’s population.
Lebanon currently hosts large Syrian and Palestinian refugee populations, and the recent influx of Syrian refugees has caused a large increase in labour supply and continues to have substantial effects on labour market dynamics. According to World Bank estimates, unemployment among Lebanese citizens could double from an official pre-crisis estimate of 10 per cent as a result of the Syrian refugee influx.
The Minister and ILO officials also discussed how to work together to address problems facing migrant workers in Lebanon concerning their working and living conditions and the realisation of their rights.
DWCPs are the distinct ILO contribution to UN country programmes and constitute a main instrument to better integrate regular budget and extra-budgetary technical cooperation to realise Decent Work.
Decent Work involves opportunities for work that is productive and delivers a fair income, security in the workplace and social protection for families, better prospects for personal development and social integration, freedom for people to express their concerns, organize and participate in the decisions that affect their lives, and equality of opportunity and treatment for all women and men.
Lebanon has been an ILO member state since 1948, five years after the country declared independence, and has ratified 50 ILO Conventions, including seven of eight core Conventions. The ILO’s current strategy in the country is based on three pillars which aims to establish a sound legislative environment, improve governance and social dialogue, and improve livelihoods and income generation at the community level. It focuses on responding to the challenges of the Syria refugee crisis, and addresses child labour, skills and employability, labour inspection and administration, social protection, migrant domestic work, and support for Palestine refugees.