The Minister with responsibility for Labour on Montserrat, Dr. The Hon. Samuel Joseph along with Labour Inspector Dulcie Bramble, represented Montserrat in Guyana at the 12th ILO Caribbean Labour Ministers’ Meeting from 23 – 25 May 2023. Ministers of Labour from thirteen ILO member States and nine non-metropolitan territories of the English and Dutch-speaking Caribbean. The last meeting was held in Barbados four years ago.
The International Labour Organization (ILO), through its Decent Work Team and Office for the Caribbean, in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour in Guyana, are hosting the 12th Subregional ILO Meeting of Caribbean.
The theme for this year’s meeting is ‘Social justice – the foundation for sustainable Caribbean transformation‘.
The Meeting aims to address global, regional, and national actions required to accelerate the mainstreaming of social justice for transformative socio-economic development in the current multi-crisis context.
The objectives of this year’s Meeting are outlined below:
- To provide a forum for Caribbean Labour Ministers and social Partners to exchange perspectives on the global, regional, and national actions required to accelerate the mainstreaming of social justice for transformative socio-economic development in the current multi-crisis context.
- To address labour migration as a potential enabler of decent work and acceleration factor in Caribbean development, including the importance of systemic, rights-based, inclusive approaches, to addressing governance challenges in a hyper-mobile region.
- To examine Caribbean progress on Just Transition policy and institutional mechanisms and determine priorities for action and ILO technical assistance for the 2024-25 biennium.
There were three main thematic clusters that drove the Meeting:
- Social Justice – the bedrock for a human-centred recovery and Caribbean socio-economic transformation
- Labour migration and mobility in the Caribbean
- Strategic considerations and technical actions to accelerate a Just Transition in the Caribbean, including national action on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work
Finally, the Meeting will take stock of developments since the last Ministerial Meeting 4 years ago and considered a brief report on the support provided by the ILO to the Constituents during the pandemic and in the current context of recovery.
Commenting at the end of the meetings the Minister with responsibility for Labour said:
“Dealing with global turmoil it was useful to interface with other labour ministers to share strategies on how to navigate issues of migration, social justice and just transition.”
Hon. Dr. Samuel Joseph