Singapore Declaration

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• The “Singapore Declaration”, was recently adopted during the 17th Asia and the Pacific Regional Meeting of the International Labour Organisation (APRM of ILO).

More about the declaration

• Social dialogue:
  • The declaration said social dialogue is key to building trust, and resilient labour market institutions. 
  • It is essential to sustained recovery and inclusive and sustainable growth, and needs to be strengthened in the regions.
• Labour protection:
  • It urged the governments to ensure labour protection for all through the promotion of freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining throughout the regions.
  • It will be including for workers in vulnerable situations and workers in the informal economy, as enabling rights for decent work.
• Closing gender gaps:
  • It called for closing gender gaps in the world of work through measures that increase women’s labour force participation, promote equal pay for work of equal value, balance work, and responsibilities, and promote women’s leadership. 
• Inclusive programs and policies:
  • It suggested that governments must develop and implement inclusive labour market programs and policies that support life transitions and demographic shifts.
• Informal to the formal economy:
  • Pursue collective and determined efforts to promote and accelerate a smooth and sustained transition from the informal to formal economy.
• Labor migration:
  • The declaration also urged the governments to strengthen governance frameworks and respect for freedom of association to protect the rights of migrant workers, including improved accommodation, protection of wages, and extension of social protection and, where appropriate, through enhanced bilateral labor migration agreements between both sending and receiving countries. 
  • Tripartite mechanisms should help promote cooperation between constituents to mitigate negative impacts and harness opportunities that arise from labour migration.
• Protection in situations of crisis:
  • It wanted the governments to facilitate the transition to peace, security and decent work in situations of crisis.

Source:TH