NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Bahamas is set to ratify later this week two International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions concerning the elimination of violence and harassment in the workplace and specialised training for the disabled.
Labour Director Robert Farquharson in an Eyewitness News interview described the move as a “major accomplishment” by the government.
“The National Tripartite Council in conjunction with the Ministry of Labour will ratify two ILO conventions at a symposium on December 1 at the National Training Agency,” said Farquharson.
“We are going to be ratifying ILO convention 159 which deals with the training of disabled persons and ILO convention 190 and recommendation 206 which deals with harassment in the workplace. These are major accomplishments by the government.”
ILO Convention 190 and recommendation 206 are the first international labour standards to provide a common framework to prevent, remedy as well as eliminate violence and harassment in the world of work, including gender-based violence and harassment. The Convention includes the specific recognition, in international law, of the right of everyone to a world of work free from violence and harassment, and sets out the obligation to respect, promote and realize this right.
ILO Convention 159 provides for vocational rehabilitation measures for all categories of disabled persons and for the promotion of employment opportunities and equal treatment of disabled men and women.
Farquharson said: “Once the government ratifies a convention it means that it must ensure that the principles of that convention are enshrined in the statute laws of The Bahamas. If the government ratifies a convention it means that it agrees with the convention and will take steps to ensure that the tenants of that convention are enshrined in the statute laws.”
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