(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat will participate in an International Labour Organisation (ILO) Tripartite Conference on the social and labour dimensions of the global financial crisis. The conference will be held in Kingston, Jamaica, on Wednesday, 1 April 2009.
The Forum, expected to be opened by Hon. Bruce Golding, Prime Minister of Jamaica, will be held under the theme `Promoting Human Prosperity beyond the Global Financial Crisis: Seeking Sustainable Solutions though Social Dialogue’.
The Conference is being hosted by the ILO Subregional Office for the Caribbean, in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour and Social Security of Jamaica, the Caribbean Congress of Labour and the Caribbean Employers’ Confederation. It aims to provide a forum for the exchange of views and information and to explore practical measures for overcoming the social and labour consequences of the global financial crisis, through tripartite consultations and negotiations.
Dr. Maurice Odle, Economic Adviser to the CARICOM Secretary-General will make a presentation at the Forum that will also see participation from Steven McAndrew, Specialist, Movement of Skills, Labour, CARICOM Single Market and Economy Unit, Barbados.
The Forum is being held as the Community continues to seek ways to mitigate the effects of the crisis.
The ILO has noted that already the effects of the global financial crisis are evident in the Caribbean Region. Economic activity has slowed down, and not only in the finance sector. The loss of revenues due to a decline in demand for tourism and related services, falling demand for core export products, and lack of access to credit, has already led to closing or reduction of operations in many workplaces, leading to job losses and reduced family income.
The Tripartite Conference marks an attempt by the ILO to urge Governments to join forces with employers’ and workers’ organizations in promoting tripartism and social dialogue for dealing with the crisis. Improved communication between government and the social partners is crucial for adopting reforms that can work, especially reforms of social protection or labour market policies, privatization, or the adoption of investment incentives. In the Caribbean there are countries and territories that are already strengthening social dialogue with a view to countering the effects and eventually resolving the ongoing crisis.
