A national-level social dialogue on The ILC-GBV and SDGs as an organising tool to unionize women workers: A Step Toward Ending Gender-Based Violence at the Workplace in Nepal

The SARTUC, in collaboration with FNV Mondiaal, organised a one-day national social dialogue on “A national-level social dialogue on the ILC-GBV and SDGs as an organising tool to unionize women workers: A Step toward Ending Gender-Based Violence at the Workplace in Nepal” in Kathmandu, Nepal on 14 July 2023.

The SARTUC, in collaboration with FNV Mondiaal, organised a one-day national social dialogue on “A national-level social dialogue on the ILC-GBV and SDGs as an organising tool to unionize women workers: A Step toward Ending Gender-Based Violence at the Workplace in Nepal” in Kathmandu, Nepal on 14 July 2023. The national dialogue aimed to address the critical issues of gender-based violence (GBV) and women's empowerment in the changing world of work, and to explore the role of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and International Labour Convention 190 (ILC-GBV) as organizing tools to unionize women workers, especially in the trade union movement. The national-level social dialogue was successful to bring together representatives from trade unions, government, employers, and civil society organisations (CSOs).

 

Objectives

  • To sensitise the SARTUC affiliates national trade union leaders to use ILC GBV Convention and SDGs as organising tools to increase the unionisation of women in the world of work.
  • To capacitate the organising skills of the women trade union leaders to encourage more women’s participation in the unions.
  • To identify and develop strategies based on ILC GBV Convention to prevent gender-based violence in the workplace.
  • To explore the realities and efforts of all the stakeholders - government, employers, trade unions, and CSOs in Nepal for the prevention of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) at the Workplace.

Opening and Welcome Address

The event commenced with an opening and welcome address by Mr Laxman Basnet, the General Secretary of SARTUC. He highlighted the importance of promoting gender equality and women's empowerment in the trade union movement and emphasized the need for collective efforts to end gender-based violence at workplaces in Nepal. He highlighted the importance of gender equality in building a more inclusive and progressive trade union movement. He encouraged the participants to actively engage in the sessions and learn from each other's experiences and insights. Moreover, he shared his experience of the reality of women in the world of work, including their participation in public spares. In his short address, he highlighted the issues of economy, equality, commitment, cooperation, women’s participation in trade unions, women’s engagement in labour market in Nepal, women’s rights, and labour’s rights.