https://www.sartuc.org/document/national-seminar-on-ratification-of-c190-in-nepal/

In June 2019, after much deliberations and a lot of pressure from trade unions and civil society organisations, the ILO in its Centenary year, adopted the first-ever convention on the elimination of violence and harassment at the workplace.  The global community has made it clear that violence and harassment in the world of work will not be tolerated and must end.  The Convention 190 and the Recommendations 206 were the first ever such standards in 100 years.  So far 45 member countries around the globe have ratified the convention 190 of which only 4 are from the Asia Pacific region (Australia, Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Philippines). Unfortunately, none of the countries in South Asia so far have ratified.

ILO Convention No. 190 is a binding international treaty addressing violence and harassment in the world of work. Moreover, Convention No. 190 and Recommendation No. 206 are the first international labour standards to provide a common framework to prevent, remedy and eliminate violence and harassment in the world of work, including gender-based violence and harassment. The Convention includes the specific recognition, for the first time in international law, of the rights of everyone to a world of work free from violence and harassment, and sets out the obligation to respect, promote and realize this right (Art. 4(1)).

Now that C190 has been adopted, ILO member states have to decide whether or not to ‘ratify’ the Convention. If a Government decides to ratify, the Convention becomes binding (obligatory) and it must put its contents into that country’s national law and practice. Conventions reflect the different national contexts of countries and so are flexible enough to do this. It can take many years for Governments to decide whether to ratify a Convention. A Convention becomes operational one year after two member states have ratified it.

The Convention applies to all workers, regardless of contractual status, and shelters different settings, from workplaces to work-related communication and commuting. Implementing C190 requires states to update laws, strengthen institutional capacity, and ensure access to complaint mechanisms. Moving forward, priority actions include capacity building, awareness campaigns, and tripartite discussions, which are very important for the ratification of C190 in Nepal.

The National Seminar successfully brought together a member of parliament (MP), representatives from the government, trade unions, employers, civil society organizations, and ILO. The seminar facilitated meaningful discussions on Nepal’s progress and challenges in ratifying ILO C190, focusing on collective strategies to eliminate workplace violence. Stakeholders reaffirmed the importance of ratification to ensure a harassment-free workplace and committed to collaborative efforts in addressing policy gaps and advancing this critical agenda.

Participants have discussed intensively in group to explore out the challenges of ratification of ILO C190, way forward and key strategies for the ratification of ILO C190 in Nepal.