Concept Note:

Stakeholders/Civil Society engagements

Introduction

PSI together with Public Sector unions in Uganda is organizing a stakeholders’ engagement meeting on “Ratification of ILO C190 and Recommendation 260 on Elimination of all forms of violence and harassment in the world of work; and the fight against Gender Based Violence”. The meeting is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, 22nd September at Imperial Royale Hotel, in Kampala, Uganda, starting at 8.30AM.

Background

In 2019, Public Services International (PSI), women trade unionists and women’s rights organisations celebrated the adoption of ILO Convention 190 and Recommendation 260 titled ‘Ending Violence and Harassment in the World of Work’. The power of C190 is in its ability to create systemic change in the fight to create safer workplaces, and to end Gender Based Violence.

Like all ILO conventions, it is only effective if countries firstly ratify the convention thereby changing their laws and regulations (and policy) in line with the convention; secondly if the changes are properly implemented and enforced and thirdly if the changes are done with the participation of trade unions, to ensure the maximum benefit to workers.

This new ILO convention provides a pivotal moment in the fight against GBV because it:

1. Establishes a new right: the right to not be violated or harassed in the world of work.

2. Establishes an international definition of violence and harassment integrating them as a single indivisible concept.

3. Acknowledges violence and harassment as cross-cutting phenomena in the world of work.

4. Recognises the importance of freedom of association to guarantee this new right.

5. Recognises the right to equality and non-discrimination for workers in vulnerable situations.

6. Covers all sectors and explicitly states the inclusion of the public sector.

7. Includes Occupational Safety and Health as fundamental elements in the exercise of this right.

Justification

To ensure that the government of Uganda prioritizes the Ratification of C190, engagements between workers’ unions, workers and civil society organizations on the one hand and government on the other must be strengthened and facilitated. This is also because the Ratification of C190 will go a long way in addressing existing policy gaps within Uganda’s labour related legal frameworks, particularly in the area of violence against women in the workplace.

It is against this background therefore that PSI together with Public Sector unions in Uganda is organizing a stakeholders’ engagement meeting. The overall objective of the meeting is to build alliances towards campaign for ratification of convention C190 and fight against Gender-Based Violence.

Specific objectives

1. Provide a platform to engage with key and relevant government officials on the need to consider ratifying ILO C190 on violence and harassment in the world of work, with a particular focus on GBV

2. Educate trade unions and civil society on the content of ILO C190 and why it can bring systemic changes

3. Provide a space for workers’ unions, CSOs, and other key actors currently undertaking advocacy and lobby activities towards the ratification of C190 to harmonize their campaigns and strategies for collective actions

4. Gain insights into ongoing government plans and processes towards Ratification of ILO C190.