PORT OF SPAIN (ILO News) – The Director, Claudia Coenjaerts, and several members of the International Labour Organization’s Office for the Caribbean will be in Georgetown, Guyana, from 19 to 23 September to support the advancement of the Decent Work Agenda in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The Team will first participate in regional tripartite consultations on Social Protection, Social Dialogue and Formalization, hosted by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) 19-20 September 2016.

In the discussions on a Regional Social Protection Floor, the ILO aims to raise awareness about comprehensive and coherent social protection systems and the role in social protection floors in the development agenda. It will promote good practice in governance mechanisms and make the link with cross-cutting issues like Gender, Occupational Safety and Health and a Human Rights based approach. Participants should take away ideas for priorities in both the regional and national social agendas.

The establishment of a regional social dialogue mechanism forms part of the implementation of the EU-CARIFORUM Economic Partnership Agreement, furthering regional integration and good governance. The ILO will share both the work supported so far in the Caribbean as well as good practice from other regions. Participants would appreciate the importance of practice and success of social dialogue at the national level for social dialogue at the regional level. Areas for social dialogue in CARICOM and priorities will be identified. It will inform the discussion on integrating social dialogue into existing structures of CARICOM versus setting up a standalone tripartite structure, or possibly a mix.

Discussions on the second day will focus on the transition from the informal to the formal economy for more prosperous and inclusive economies through the implementation of the ILO Recommendation 204, endorsed by the member States’ Government, Employer and Worker representatives last year. Best practice in facilitating compliance, formalization of economic units/enterprises and social protection will inform national and regional implementation strategies and the way forward.

At the heart of these two days stands Sustainable Development Goal 8 on Decent Work and Economic Growth but also Goal 1 on No Poverty; Goal 5 on Gender Equality; Goal 10 on Reduced Inequality; and Goal 16 on Strong Institutions though Social Dialogue. Decent work is both a means and an end to sustainable development and all SDGs are mutually supportive and inter-dependent. Hence the United Nations, of which the ILO forms part, works together with the Caribbean for the realization of the 2030 Agenda.