113th session of International Labour Conference in Geneva, Switzerland |14 June 2025
The Seychelles delegation: (l to r, front row) Mr Monnaie. Mr Robinson, PS Bresson and Minister Francourt. Ms Nanon and Ms Morel are respectively first and second from right in the second row
Minister Francourt leads tripartite delegation
The Minister for Employment and Social Affairs, Patricia Francourt, led a tripartite delegation at the 113th session of the International Labour Conference in Geneva, Switzerland from June 2 to 13, 2025.
Minister Francourt delivered her address to the plenary sitting of the Conference on June 10, where she emphasised that jobs must be decent, productive and free from exploitation.
The minister thanked the director general of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) for highlighting the importance of inclusive labour market policies in his report for this year’s Conference entitled ‘Jobs, rights and growth: Reinforcing the connection’.
The minister commended the ILO for updating its international labour standards on biological hazards in the workplace, as it will protect workers and ensure business continuity. The protection of workers engaged in digital platform economy is also a topic profoundly relevant with the National Development Strategy as digitalisation is driving transformative changes in the world of work.
Minister Francourt added that “the government acknowledges the role of a skilled and resilient workforce, that remains an indispensable foundation for the labour market needs of today and the future”.The minister made reference to recent efforts by the government, such as increase in the national minimum wage and public service salary, pilot of flexible working hours in the public service and the new joint economic forum.
Moreover, the Seychelles delegation attended the Annual forum on the ‘Global Coalition for Social Justice’ on June 12, where a high level address was made by the President of the Dominican Republic, Luis Rodolfo Abinader Corona. The forum included panel discussions on topics namely living wages, artificial intelligence, business for inclusive societies.
During the conference, Minister Francourt met with the Minister for Labour of Sri Lanka, Anthonige Anil Jayantha Fernando, for a short dialogue to update on developments of Seychelles labour market in view of the close relations between the two countries, noting there are around 2138 Sri Lankan nationals working in Seychelles.
The other members of the Seychelles delegation were principal secretary for Employment, Veronique Bresson; executive director Audrey Nanon; chief policy analyst, Susan Morel; principal planning officer, Mario Dupres; vice-chairman of the General Employers Trade Union of Seychelles, Donald Monnaie; and secretary general of the Seychelles Federation of Workers’ Union, Antoine Robinson.
Contributed
Photo credit: Violaine Martin (ILO)