The Employment Department recently met with stakeholders to validate the draft state party report on the United Nations Convention ‘protection of the rights of all migrant workers and members of their families’ at the Department’s conference room.

The Convention was ratified by Seychelles in 1994 and initial state party report was submitted in 2015.

The validation focused on responding to the list of issues prior to reporting raised by the Convention’s Committee. Participants had the opportunity to provide additional information, clarify existing laws, policies and practices of their respective organization and provide statistics related to migration.

It was noted that migrant workers represent an important component of the Seychelles employed population due to labour demand and skills shortages. Notable achievements have been made during the reporting period to protect the rights of migrant workers and facilitate their social integration.

Seychellois residing abroad (diaspora) has also been further recognized. It is anticipated that further domestication will be carried out in terms of promotion of the Convention, finalization of national legislation, addressing data gaps and enforcement of human rights.

Stakeholders participate in validation workshop on determining drivers of informality research

The Employment Department in collaboration with the International Labour Organization (ILO) organized a validation workshop on Tuesday 28^th November 2023 at the Coral Strand Hotel conference room, to discuss the findings and recommendations of the research on ‘determining drivers of informality and legislative framework for formalization of the informal economy in Seychelles.’

The aims of the research were to analyse the barriers to formalization of informal businesses and informal employment and also assess the factors leading the informal economy. The research was conducted by an international Consultant Mr Stephane Reuse following consultations made with national stakeholders in March of this year and it is also supporting objectives of the National Employment Policy, the Employment Department’s Strategic plan and the Seychelles Decent Work Country Programme (2019- 2023).

Informal employment is one of the key challenges of the labour market alongside youth unemployment. The Quarterly Labour Force Survey published by the National Bureau of Statistics show the annual informal employment rate of 16.9% in 2020 with males being predominately represented at 25.3% compared to females at 8.8%. Youths are equally affected with an annual informal employment of 19.5%, males being 27.8% and females 11.7%.

Participants of the workshop proposed an action plan of priority interventions in the next coming years that Seychelles could implement to address informality under the four main branches affecting informality; Regulation, Production, Representation and Social Welfare and employment conditions.

20 participants were in attendance representing various institutions; Ministry of Employment and Social Affairs, National Bureau of Statistics, Ministry of Education, Seychelles Pension Fund, Seychelles Revenue Commission, Seychelles Licensing Authority, Entrepreneurship Department, Agriculture Department, Fisheries Department, Trade Department, Tourism Department, United workers Seychelles, and General Employers Trade Union of Seychelles.

Labour Market Information System for Seychelles

Data Preparation workshop

A one-week workshop is underway to complete the capacity building activities for the implementation of the Labour Market Information System (LMIS) for Seychelles - a system to enhance labour market efficiency by providing actors with relevant and timely information for decision-making.

It provides an essential basis for employment and labour policies, including the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies that are better focused and targeted, while at the same time consolidating labour market data collected from different providers in the public and private sectors.

The project being developed in phases, is spearheaded by the Employment Department in collaboration with the National Bureau of Statistics, the Department of Information and Communication Technology and the International Labour Organisation.

It is being facilitated by Mr Edgardo Greising – the Head of Unit of Knowledge Management Solutions, department of statistics of the International Labour Organisation.

A master plan has been built with the definition of the indicators that will be part of the first dissemination phase of the LMIS, whose conceptual framework will be the Decent Work Indicators framework, complemented with other indicators compiled from different available data sources.

After the SDMX and Data modelling workshop held in November 2022, the Team working on the project prepared the structural metadata according to the Master Plan. During the 5-day workshop, the data model is being assessed and data managers are being trained in the process of data preparation and upload.

19 participants, including statisticians, IT producers and LMIS IT Specialists from different local institutions are attending the sessions at Coral Strand Hotel which ends on Friday 24th November.

They are from the Ministry of Employment and Social Affairs, National Bureau of Statistics, Department of Information Communications Technology, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, Seychelles Pension Fund, Seychelles Revenue Commission, Central Bank of Seychelles, Immigration Department, Seychelles Licensing Authority, Entrepreneurship Department, Registrar Division, and Economic Planning Department.

Sweden - Seychelles Partnership

The Honorary Consul for Sweden, Lennart Swenson accompanied by Kathrin Alexandra from the UMEA University of Sweden called on Minister Patricia Francourt for a brief meeting on Monday 13^th November 2023.

Ms Alexandra briefed Minister Francourt on the health setting of Sweden, notably the UMEA University, that provides a range of training in health services. Sweden and Seychelles signed an MOU in 2004 and since then, there has been various exchange projects.

A short video presentation on the collaboration with Seychelles was shared showcasing a project between La Digue School and Sweden and an exchange visit of health professionals along with members of the Seychelles Alzheimer’s Foundation to have firsthand experience on the programme for Alzheimer care.

The UMEA University wishes to extend the partnership to share their expertise in social care, training of care givers and also establish the proper model for screening and early detection of people with signs of Alzheimer so that they can get the appropriate care.

Minister Francourt thanked Honorary Consul Swenson and Ms Alexandra for the insight on the on-going corporation and emphasized that the focus on early identification of telltale signs of people suffering from Alzheimer and dementia is crucial to determine the level and quality of care those people should be getting.

The discussion has come at an opportune time when the Seychelles Home Care Agency is preparing to develop a training programme of care givers. The Agency stands to benefit from the expertise of UMEA University.

The Principal Secretary for Social Affairs Department Linda William-Melanie and CEO Daniel Kallee of the Seychelles Home Care Agency were also in attendance.

 FIFTH SESSION OF THE COMMITTEE ON SOCIAL POLICY, POVERTY AND GENDER

ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA (ECA)

The Committee on Social Policy, Poverty and Gender of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) held its fifth session in Addis Ababa on 2^nd and 3^rd November 2023 under the theme “Building new social contracts: choices to fulfil development aspirations”.

The Committee meets biennially at the ECA’s headquarters and is led by the Bureau that is elected for the duration of two years until the next meeting.

During that meeting, the Committee considered reports on projects under three sub-programmes that have been undertaken in various member states during the year 2022-2023 with the support of the Gender, Poverty and social Policy Division of the Economic Commission for Africa and to elect the new bureau for the next two-year tenure.

The sub-programmes are:

1. Poverty, inequality and social policy
2. Gender equality and women’s empowerment
3. Digital technical and vocational education and training: enhancing the skills of women and girls across Africa

Participating member states from the five regions; northern, eastern, western, central and southern Africa are invited to nominate a member state from each region to participate in the election process.

Ghana was elected as Chair of the Bureau.  Djibouti and Cameroon were elected first and second vice-chair respectively, whilst South Africa and Tunisia were elected as first and second rapporteur.

The general discussion of the fifth session was to ensure that all African countries are moving together to attain the sustainable development goals (SDGs) by 2033 and the goals of Agenda 2063 with the support of the Economic Commission for Africa and other multilateral partners to assist countries requesting for assistance with specific programmes.

After the two-day meeting, member states approved the resolution and recommendations of the Fifth Session of the Committee on Social Policy, Poverty and Gender.

Principal Secretary Linda William-Melanie represented the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Family at the meeting.

Note: Seychelles benefitted from a training sponsored by ECA for women entrepreneur in digital technology from 12^th – 15^th September 2023 under sub-programme No.3, Digital technical and vocational education and training: enhancing the skills of women and girls across Africa

Members of the Occupational Health and Safety meet with

Minister Patricia Francourt

The members of the Occupational Health and Safety Board met with the Minister for Employment and Social Affairs, Patricia Francourt on 14^th September 2023, to officially present to her a copy of the strategic plan developed with the aim to present the strategic priorities for the Occupational Safety Board for the next five years and highlight the key actions.

In the meeting the chairperson of the board Dr Vanessa Lesperance made a presentation on the newly developed Strategic Plan and officially presented to Minister Francourt the work of the board since inception, and their primary concerns relating to employee well-being and health and safety within the workplace.

Facilitating a presentation, Dr Lesperance detailed the board’s vision and mission. She highlighted the Occupational Safety Board’s role followed by the key actions and strategic priorities for the next five years. To end the presentation, the Chairperson presented the board’s aspiration to witness the creation of an independent Health and Safety Authority to oversee all health and safety related matters in Seychelles.

Board members highlighted that there is a significant gap on the domestic labour market for trained and qualified health and safety personnel, and that the majority of the time, both employers and employees are not aware of the legal requirements, nor their rights. It was also recommended that government institutions should also adopt the current legal obligations to employ Health and Safety Officers.  In addition, further recommendations were made to the Minister for legal instruments to be used to require that all organisations irrespective of their number of workers, to employ a Health and Safety Officer or enlist the services of a Health and Safety service provider. The recommendation called for the Health and Safety Officer employed within the organisation to be directly accountable to the Accounting officer of the organisation.

The board members conveyed to the minister their concerns with regards to the Occupational Safety & Health Decree, which needs to be modernised at the soonest. Presently as is, the decree is not up to par with international standards, and permits certain activities which are now considered not safe.

The board comprises of nine members ‒ representatives from government, private sector, employees and employers. Members are presently meeting every couple of months, and are actively pushing for the promotion of safe workplaces, good work practices among employers and employees, and promoting a culture of safety among the general population.