ILO to help review our labour policy |08 August 2012

They include ILO’s chief of country employment policy unit Iyanatul Islam and senior employment specialist Naoko Otobe.

Ms Alexander said in an interview that the policy was last reviewed 13 years ago yet major changes have taken place globally and in Seychelles since then.

She gave the example of the global financial crisis which affected Seychelles’ economic reforms we launched in 2008 and which “had an impact on the labour market”.

There has been an increase in the number of young people who are able to work but fail to do so, instead relying on social assistance and also a rise in the number of youths abusing drugs which cut their productivity, she said, adding the number of expatriate workers has also grown.

Ms Alexander said the Employment Act is being reviewed and the areas she mentioned have been identified as among those that need to be addressed.

“We should also have our employment policy reviewed to support the strategies we are putting in place. So we have to review and update our policy to make it modern and comprehensive,” she said.

The delegation, who is here on an appraisal mission, will consult government ministries and stakeholders so as to help prepare for the review and formulation of a national employment policy for Seychelles.

They are here at the request of Seychelles following talks with the ILO at this year’s International Labour Conference in Geneva.

Mr Islam said the mission will assess the need for further analyses on various socio-economic policies and key employment challenges, help compile research documents related to the economy, employment and human resource development and make recommendations on the way forward for the development of the national employment policy.