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<h1 class="gmail-title" id="gmail-page-title">ILO Decent Work Agenda obligatory</h1>
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<div class="gmail-month">Oct</div>
<div class="gmail-day">01</div>
<div class="gmail-year">2016</div>
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<div class="gmail-field gmail-field-name-field-section gmail-field-type-taxonomy-term-reference gmail-field-label-hidden"><div class="gmail-field-items"><div class="gmail-field-item even"><a href="http://www.dailynews.lk/?q=category/features">Features</a></div></div></div><div class="gmail-field gmail-field-name-field-image gmail-field-type-image gmail-field-label-hidden"><div class="gmail-field-items"><div class="gmail-field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso"><a href="http://www.dailynews.lk/sites/default/files/news/2016/09/30/z_p07-ilo.jpg" title="ILO Decent Work Agenda obligatory" class="gmail-colorbox gmail-init-colorbox-processed gmail-cboxElement"><img class="gmail-img-responsive gmail-img-responsive" src="http://www.dailynews.lk/sites/default/files/news/2016/09/30/z_p07-ilo.jpg" alt="" title="" width="650" height="511"></a></div></div></div><div class="gmail-field gmail-field-name-field-articletags gmail-field-type-taxonomy-term-reference gmail-field-label-above"><div class="gmail-field-label">Tags: </div><div class="gmail-field-items"><div class="gmail-field-item even"><a href="http://www.dailynews.lk/?q=tags/platform">Platform</a></div></div></div><div class="gmail-field gmail-field-name-body gmail-field-type-text-with-summary gmail-field-label-hidden"><div class="gmail-field-items"><div class="gmail-field-item even"> <p><span style="line-height:1.538em">The
Tamil ‘uprising’ shows that we have come out of political repression,
though not written into the constitution yet. Not only in the south but
also in the north people are free to come out and express their views
without the threat of repression including that of white vans. Tamil
national liberation war that raged for 26 years in Lanka was always
about political grievances. However Tamil liberation struggle was rooted
in political, economic and social disenfranchisement of the Tamil
minority by the Sinhala majoritist political state.</span></p>
<p><img alt="" src="http://www.dailynews.lk/sites/default/files/news/2016/09/30/cdn-2015-tag-wickramabahu-karunaratne.jpg" style="width: 200px; height: 94px; margin: 3px; float: right;" width="200" height="94">The
defeat of parity of languages proposal made by the Sama Samajists and
government policy adopted declaring Sinhala to be the country’s only
official language started the fire; but the real issue was
marginalization in all sectors of politics and the economy that fueled
Tamil grievances and a quest for a separate state. With the end of the
war in 2009, it was obvious that the war was over but the conflict was
not. Still the situation is much the same as shown by the Tamil uprising
of September 24. Rebuilding Lanka’s economy, based on national
integration is paramount for the country, not only to thrive politically
but also economically.</p>
<p><strong>Economic and political discrimination</strong></p>
<p>The language policy that was removed by thirteenth amendment
institutionalized both economic and political discrimination in the
past. A healthy, more equitable economy is the key to any society
emerging from a war as bitter as Lanka experienced, and is crucial to
mitigating future conflict. The constitutional assembly is preparing to
change the constitution to give equality and self autonomy to the Tamil
people. That is essential.</p>
<p>A critical element to address in this context is equal treatment
under the law. Yet there is rising concern that, across a broad range of
issues, this equality has yet to be realized. The Report of the
Committee on a new chapter on Fundamental rights in the Constitution has
started a vibrant discussion on this subject. It has been pointed out
that the Equality of Women in any society is intrinsic to a vibrant
economy and important issue in post-conflict transitions. For Lanka,
gender equality will be fundamental to a stable, peaceful and equitable
future.</p>
<p>The report points out not only to providing opportunities to grow the
economy but also to promoting the basic labour rights that are
essential to a well-functioning industrial relations atmosphere and a
sense of equitable development. Not surprisingly, widespread wage
discrimination is disadvantaging women in the SAARC region. It has been
pointed out that the region’s female workforce experiences
gender-specific consequences born of poor working conditions, weak
enforcement of legal provisions and non-conformity with international
labour standards.</p>
<p><strong>Poverty alleviation</strong></p>
<p>Lanka is one of the rare developing countries in the region that has
had in place, by law, a pension and social safety net for workers; the
Employee Provident Fund (EPF) and the Employee Trust Fund (ETF).
Employers are statutorily obligated to contribute to both. However often
employers are simply not paying into the funds. This set of conditions
in Tamil homeland area, creates an incredibly precarious situation for
workers who are hoping to earn a livelihood that can sustain them and
support their future.</p>
<p>It also points to the distinction between enforcement and equal
treatment under the law for the Tamil homeland and other parts of the
country. While implementation of the labour code is problematic
countrywide, unions outside of the Tamil homeland have a tradition of
challenging employers in court to ensure the law is fairly applied and
provides some measure of remedy. This anomaly has to be removed
immediately. The Sri Lankan government should fully adopt and promulgate
the International Labour Organisation's (ILO) Decent Work Agenda to
promote inclusive growth, poverty alleviation, shared prosperity and
basic minimum standards of living. The Decent Work Agenda is obligatory
for ILO member countries such as Lanka. </p>
</div></div></div> <a href="http://www.dailynews.lk/?q=2016/10/01/features/94594">http://www.dailynews.lk/?q=2016/10/01/features/94594</a><br></div><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">**************************************<br>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its members<br>and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write directly to the original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this may be forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<br><br>For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to <a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/" target="_blank">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>*******************************************</div>
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