‘Climate change is about our survival as a nation and protecting the livelihood of our people,’ says Minister Cosgrow
Seychelles being a small island state, climate change is about our survival as a nation and protecting the livelihood of our people.
The Minister for Employment, Entrepreneurship Development and Business Innovation Wallace Cosgrow said this while addressing the 106th session of the International Labour Conference which is being held in Geneva, Switzerland.
“With great interest I have considered the report of the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) director-general on ‘Work in a changing climate: The Green Initiative’ in which insights are given notably in regards to the emerging challenges of climate change, decent work and the opportunities abound from renewable energy sources,” he said.
“I firmly believe that these insights are valuable and should be taken into account when framing our strategies to develop and implement green policies into national employment projects.”
Minister Cosgrow said this is a cause of concern for all of us, adding that in recent years, the government of Seychelles has actively defended this noble cause amongst the international community and this continued engagement has yielded national institutional reforms which have effectively delivered on initiatives to mitigate and adapt to climate change.
Seychelles is being represented at the conference by a five-member delegation headed by Minister Cosgrow.
The conference which is ILO’s highest decision-making body, started on June 5 and will run until June 16. It meets annually in June, bringing together the tripartite delegations from ILO’s 187 member states.
Other members of the delegation are the principal secretary for employment Jules Baker, the secretary general of the Seychelles Federation of Workers’ Union Antoine Robinson and representative of the Association of Seychelles’ Employers Felix Charles and the employment department’s senior cooperation officer Melissa Duffets.
Minister Cosgrow said as ministries of labour, today’s global environmental challenge presents the necessity to develop renewable energy businesses and create green jobs.
“Our labour force therefore needs to gradually move towards this green initiative. Re-skilling, training and careers guidance in this area are vital as we should be mindful that new jobs will be created through technology advancement or new industries, while other jobs may be substituted or transformed,” he said.
It is my wish that jobseekers, especially our youths will secure more employment opportunities in these emerging industries. This is the way forward in moving towards the future of work – adopting policies that translate into growth, development and decent jobs, he added.
“I therefore urge for all tripartite constituents to renew their commitment in offering decent jobs with safe working conditions and respect of workers’ rights.”
Minister Cosgrow added that the government of Seychelles through the Ministry of Employment, Entrepreneurship Development and Business Innovation reaffirms its commitment to the workers of Seychelles that it will continue to promote employment for the benefit of our present and future generations.
“The Ministry of Employment, Entrepreneurship Development and Business Innovation has undertaken many actions and achieved considerable results under its first generation of the Decent Work Country Programme in partnership with ILO,” Minister Cosgrow said.
Seychelles is currently elaborating the second generation of the Decent Work Country Programme. This second programme reiterates our pledge for decent work to the men and women workers of Seychelles and the willingness to address labour market challenges.
Minister Cosgrow added that the ministry together with ILO is currently developing the first National Labour Migration Policy.
I am confident that together, we will be able to holistically enhance our framework and to effectively manage the employment of foreign workers in tandem with employment of local workers, he added.
The ministry has equally launched a first National Occupational Safety and Health Policy to mobilise constituents in enhancing safety and health systems at work that minimise occupational accidents.
“We are confident of the guidance and support which ILO can offer, in the execution of the responsibilities we have taken upon us as the government of Seychelles, in providing a better standard of living for our society through decent employment for our citizens. Therefore, let us renew our commitment to work together, government, employers and workers to attain the goals of humanity as envisioned by the founders of ILO.
Seychelles became a member of the ILO in 1977 and the Ministry of Employment, Entrepreneurship Development and Business Innovation is the focal point for the organisation locally.
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Employment, Immigration and Civil Status Myriam Telemaque led a delegation on a working visit to the Savoy Resort & Spa yesterday.
The objective of the visit was to interact with staff, get to know their views, challenges as well as benefits being offered in their workplace.
Secondly the visit was aimed at ensuring a better understanding of the on ground operations of the workplaces and to see whether they are abiding by employment regulations.
Speaking of the visit, Employment principal secretary Jules Baker said that Savoy being a new hotel of only four years old faces challenges when it comes to staff and human resources management as staff have indicated some deficiencies in the area of communications and a proper management structure for reporting and feedback.
"Savoy is a very nice hotel and the staff are happy to work here but there are HR issues that need to be dealt with in the immediate, medium and long-term as they feel that decisions are being taken without the staff being informed," Mr Baker said.
He explained that this is a common problem in some of the establishments visited and appealed to all workplaces to establish better communication procedures between management, human resources and staff members.
"This will help establish a structure where the employees will feel comfortable to bring forward their difficulties, views, suggestions and recommendations as we have seen in many instances where employees with a lot of work experience do not have the leeway to contribute towards the development of the organisation," Mr Baker said.
Yesterday was Minister Telemaque's third visit for this year which forms part of a series of visits which she started last year after being appointed as minister.
The visits are aimed at establishing better contact between the employment department and the working establishments.
Last year, Minister Telemaque carried out twelve visits to various workplaces across Mahé, Praslin, La Digue and Félicité island such as Casino Liberte, Global Supplies Centre, Seychelles Ports Authority (SPA), Air Seychelles, Ile du Port Handling Services (IPHS), Constance Ephelia Hotel and Resort, Le Domaine de L'Orangeraie and Six Senses-Zil Pasyon Resort Ltd.
Mr Baker added that following such visits, there are follow up visits done by an employment technical team to physically assess what the minister and her delegation have seen and heard and then a written recommendation and deadline to rectify the problems is sent to the organisation.
"The dozen of visits we've undertaken have been very fruitful as we had a structured work plan and a set of recommendations for organisations to follow. So far some have given very good feedback on the recommendations put forward by the department while others are in the process or restructuring. I am 85% happy with the ministerial visits," Mr Baker said.
Members of the ministerial delegation on the visit to Savoy Resort and Spa also included special advisor Veronique Bresson, technical advisor Susan Morel, director general for labour relations Steve Monnaie, director for special employment programme Letimy Dookley and other senior employment officers.
Recommendations from a two -day workshop will be proposed to the employment department to contribute towards the implementation of a national framework to help improve decent work and economic growth in Seychelles.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 8 national indicators framework workshop being held at the International Conference Centre was opened yesterday and is being hosted by the Ministry of Employment, Immigration and Civil Status (MEICS) and the International Labour Organization (ILO).
Dr Coffi Agossou, a senior ILO labour statistics specialist is the facilitator of the workshop, the objective of which is to assess the availability and reliability of data related to the SDGs labour market indicators under ILO standards.
Dr Agossou has been providing his technical expertise as part of the review of the labour market to the employment department and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) since 2014.
The workshop was officially opened yesterday by the technical advisor of the employment department, Susan Morel who said the recommendations will address the data gaps between the requirement of SDG Goal 8 and statistics being collected by the national statistical information systems.
"The SDG Goal 8 hence presents an opportunity for us as a member state to assess progress made on the labour market and to assist policy makers in introducing the necessary measures to address development challenges, through the use of evidence-based data," Miss Morel said.
She said it will also guide the Employment Department to better align its data collection tools of its labour force surveys and employment statistics with international standards.
"Through the effectiveness of labour market policies, the success of Goal 8 will help to contribute towards the achievement of objectives in other SDG goals such as poverty reduction, gender equality among others," she said.
Dr Agossou said that during the two-day workshop, the stakeholders will be sensitised on SDG 8 national framework indicators and how to report and strengthen the technical capacity of the staff of the NBS, MEICS and other stakeholders who will be involved in this year's quarterly labour force survey (QLFS) data collection and SDG 8 report writing.
Representatives from the Ministry of Health, Seychelles Revenue Commission (SRC), Ministry of Finance, Trade and Economic Planning (MFTEP), Central Bank of Seychelles and trade unions are attending the workshop.
The Minister of Employment Mrs. Myriam Telemaque reviews the state of affairs of the L'Union Estate on La Digue for a more cooperative and structured working environment.
The estate falls under the country's agricultural industry and it produces a wide range of plants from vegetables to spices as well as livestock. Situated on La Digue, it also presents a tourist attraction for the spacious environment and farm land. The estate employs a number of 82 workers of which 67 are local and 15 are non-Seychellois.
Previously visited on the 2nd of March 2017, the estate had some issues identified prior to that visit of which some were addressed.
The Minister during this visit was accompanied by a delegation on a tour of the estate observing the plant and livestock areas. She discussed with the workers at their work station and visited others at different stations encouraging them to work together and asking pertinent questions in regards to their challenges and opinion of their work. Generally the workers uttered satisfactory comments about the estate and how they enjoyed their jobs though there were crucial concerns raised on a number of topics such as inadequate level of support by management coupled with inequity in treatment of staff and insufficient staff welfare.
The estate employs an encouraging number of long service staff; having worked with the farm for an impressive number of years are that the ministry has pressed should be consolidated.
After the tour of the premises, the Minister held a meeting with the CEO of the estate and the Human Resource Manager during which the concerns raised were discussed emphasising the need for collaborative effort from both the workers and the management. The Human Resource Manager proposed a number of programmes she intends to consider which included a salary structure, team building activities, in-house training and a better staff welfare. This will create provision for a more structured operation, presenting a clearer pathway in the administration, fairness in treatment and a general improvement in job satisfaction.
