Multilateral institutions should help India create decent work environment: ILO G20 Sherpa Richard Samans
The creation of a working group on women empowerment under India's G20 presidency will address the issue of low female labour force participation, says Richard Samans, the G20 Sherpa of the International Labour Organisation. In an interview with Yogima Seth Sharma, he says multilateral institutions should help India build capacities to provide decent work and social protection to its workers. Edited excerpts:
Countries world over are fixing wage standards and standards for working conditions for their trading partners. How do you see this impacting the workforce in India and elsewhere?
This has been a long-standing controversial issue in the international trade regime.
As these core labour standards are universal human rights that the world has agreed to, trading between nations doesn't mean there should be a derogation down on a safe and healthy work environment for labour. Secondly, the issue is, how do you constructively engage with trading partners on the lack of capacity to implement these set standards? I would argue that is both morally unjustifiable, but it's also economically probably short-sighted in the long run, because a healthier, more empowered and enabled workforces is more productive.
Multilateral development banks should be funding support to the Indian government to enable that type of work environment.
Do you think that the G20 nations could have done more on sustainable financing of social security for workers.
I think the G20 is a process that works incrementally, step by step. We would like to see faster movement, but we know that human society is a complex phenomenon.
