7 News Belize

LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT…
posted (February 25, 2019)
Back in December of last year, we told you about the initiative of the Ministry of Human Development, Social Transportation and Poverty Alleviation. They want to ensure that the Government is doing its best to look after the poor and less fortunate citizens of the country.

They first introduced us to the concept of social protection, where Government administrations introduce pro-poor policies and programs aimed at preventing, reducing and eliminating the vulnerabilities that less fortunate Belizeans face due to poverty and deprivation.

They looked at the social safety net in Belize, and what is available to poor persons by way of assistance. And this time around, they are examining what can be done to provide opportunities for gainful employment where both the public and the private sector work together. The Ministry of Labour is now collaborating with them, and today, the 2 ministries hosted a 2-day conference to continue the discussion on improving social protection.

They invited the press for an early morning discussion on the topic, and here's what the officials at the head table had to say:

Sharon Ramclam - CEO, Ministry of Labour
"The broader social protection is actually implemented through the Ministry of Human Development, and in this workshop, we want to explore those inter-relationship, how labor supports our social protection systems, and specifically, we wanted to have a discussion and some more elaboration on how we transition off of social protection system into a state of employability. So, that's a timely discussion."

Dr. Susan Kasedde - Representative, UNICEF Belize
"One of the critical messages that UNICEF will share during the course of this meeting is the importance early investment, investment in quality education, investment in improving access to education, and opportunity for skills development for young people. We know that in order for us to continue to maintain trends in terms of access to employment, we have to make sure that the work force is skill, and that needs to start very very early. Belize as made significant strides in making sure that we address the issue of educational inclusion, but we know that we have challenges in this regard."

Asha Williams - Social Protection Specialist, World Bank
"We were invited by the Ministry for the first conference, which took place in December, focusing on, as Mr. Antrovus mentioned, the social protection floor, and looking at social protection systems. I think that this conference is a very important conversation follow that conversation that we had in December. As CEO and the other panelists have mentioned, the issues of labour and poverty are inextricably linked, and it's very multifaceted. So, it requires multiple interventions by different sectors, different agencies, different ministries as well as the private sector. We'll be bringing evidence from the different countries, and sharing examples of what different countries that done to address these topics. Particularly, in the case of Belize, where there's issues such as high rural poverty, high female unemployment, high youth unemployment. All these require very nuanced approaches for addressing these challenges. And the involvement of many poor people in the informal sector as well is a critical challenge that needs to be addressed."

Hon. Dr. Carla Barnett - Minister of State, Labour
"The most important commitment that we need to get from everybody is one of collaboration and cooperation. If we can work together, if we can bring the private sector onboard to work with us, and if we open up ourselves, and work willingly and openly with the private sector, it becomes easier for us to set up a system where available jobs can be matched with available workers."

The conference ends tomorrow.

Home | Archives | Downloads/Podcasts | Advertise | Contact Us

7 News Belize