The Ministry of Labor says it welcomes the ratification of two International Labor Organization Conventions and the amendment of certain provisions of the Law to Ban Human Trafficking in Liberia by the Liberian Senate.
The Senate Tuesday, August 31, 2021 ratified ILO Conventions “C-100” of 1959 on equal pay for equal work and the amendment of ILO Constitution of 1986.
These two international instruments were first ratified by the House of Representatives and sent to the House of Senate for concurrence. It is now left to be signed by the President of the Republic of Liberia.
The Senate also passed the amendment to the provision of the law to ban human trafficking in Liberia and it is expected to be sent to the House of Representatives for concurrence as well.
Speaking minutes after the ratifications of the two International Conventions and the amendment to the Human Trafficking Law of Liberia, Labor Minister Cllr. Charles H. Gibson said that it is a breakthrough in enhancing labor administration as well as the fight against human trafficking in Liberia.
Minister Gibson said that, with the ratification of the two ILO Conventions, Liberia stands to benefit more from its major international partner, the ILO, and will lead to the coming into the country of the ILO Decent Work Country Program, which will bring about increased employment opportunities for Liberians, including “zogoes” and physically challenged people, and other programs.
The Labor Minister added that it was embarrassing that Liberia, as a founding member of the International Labor Organization, was considered as the only country in Africa that had not ratified these ILO instruments, especially C-100 which speaks to “equal pay for equal work”.
On the issue of the amendment to the Human Trafficking Law of Liberia, Cllr. Gibson, who is also the Chairman of the National Human Trafficking Taskforce of Liberia, said that the amendment, which focuses meanly on areas of prosecution, strengthening of the laws and protection for witnesses, will greatly contribute to elimination of human trafficking in Liberia.
He added that this latest development will help to improve Liberia’s grading on the United States Government Report on trafficking in Liberia, which is one of the serious imperatives that a country must fulfill to qualify for certain financial benefits from the US government.
Cllr. Gibson used the opportunity to thank members of the Legislature, lawyers and consultants, ILO, IDLO, the US embassy, the Liberia Labor Congress (LLC), the Liberia Chamber of Commerce (LCC), local and international partners and all who participated in the activities leading to this great achievement
For his part, the ILO Program Manager in Liberia, Salif Haji Massalay, who also welcomed the ratification of the conventions, said that the latest move by the Government of Liberia (GOL) means that Liberia as a country can now design programs to benefit vulnerable Liberians and others in the society. He said that it will also accelerate the implementation of the Pro-poor Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), especially Convention 100, which speaks to gender equality.
He thanked the Labor Minister, Cllr. Charles H. Gibson, and the administration of the Ministry of Labor for his leadership role in ensuring that these ILO conventions, which have been major stumbling block for the implementation of some ILO programs in Liberia.