ESA STAFF PRODUCTIVITY WORKSHOP

MONDAY 12^TH TO WEDNESDAY 14^TH APRIL 2021

The Productivity Unit from the Ministry of Employment and Social Affairs conducted a free Productivity Workshop with all ESA staffs. The main objectives of the workshop were to sensitize and educate both the employer/employee on positive work attitudes.

 MINISTRY OF EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS

JOINT PRESS COMMUNIQUE

21^st April 2021

The Ministry of Employment and Social Affairs and the Ministry of Education jointly condemn the irresponsible act of the individuals who applauded, recorded and shared the video depicting the inappropriate behavior of young children in what has been said to be a birthday celebration get together.

The Minister for Employment and Social Affairs Mrs. Patricia Francourt had her first meeting done virtually with the International Labour Organization (ILO) Country Office Director for Madagascar, Comoros, Mauritius and Seychelles, Dr Coffi Agossou on Monday 09^th February 2021.

Other participants of the meeting were Ms. Clara Ramaromanana Programme Officer for Seychelles and Ms. Michelle Randriamaharo Senior Secretary of the office and for Seychelles the Principal Secretary Mr. Jules Baker, Special Advisor Ms. Veronique Bresson, Chief Policy Analyst Ms. Susan Morel and Senior Cooperation Officer Ms. Juliette Vidot.

The Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Trade along with the Ministry of Employment and Social Affairs have held a virtual consultative meeting with representatives from the private sector.

The aim of the meeting was to present to the private sector the new revisions being proposed to the GOP Framework. The presentation started with an overview of the labour market to allow the private sector to better appreciate the new dynamic since the beginning of the pandemic.

The private sector was also given the chance to give their views on the announcement by the President of the Republic, that the Financial Assistance for Job Retention or FA4JR, will no longer exists at the end of March.

Present at the meeting held at the Headquarters of the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Trade, Liberty House, was the Minister for Employment and Social Affairs, Mrs Patricia Francourt, and senior officials from her Ministry.

The Secretary of State for Finance, Patrick Payet, was representing the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Trade.

The Chairperson of the Seychelles Chamber of Commerce and Industry, (SCCI), Oliver Bastienne, chaired the meeting on behalf of the private sector.

 Representatives from private businesses included those from sectors such as agriculture, fisheries, financial, telecommunications, tourism, retail, Omnibus operators and civil society.

The chairperson of SCCI, has welcomed the dialogue set forth by the Government, describing the first virtual meeting as ‘positive’, but that far more understanding is needed by government of the current state of affairs of the private sector especially those that have been affected with the new local restrictions and in terms of talent acquisition and diversity, balancing local and expatriate workers for a future-proofed economy.

Furthermore, the SCCI Chairperson states that given the current turn of events globally with regards to the new variant and challenges with global vaccination programs the expectation of getting the economic engine starting in March looks bleaker.

 Whereas Minister Francourt, when closing this first meeting, welcomed the collaboration, stating it is important to get the right ‘balance for employees, employers and the economy’.

“The information shared on the status quo of our labour market highlighted the reality of the trend to come,” said the minister.

“It is very worrying and it is going to be more worrying. We have to have a balance to get it right from all perspectives to help us in our decision- making; subsequently aim to have positive results.”

The information presented at the meeting has been forwarded to the private sector representatives, to further consult with their members and in a week’s time, both parties have agreed to reconvene to consider the final position of the private sector.

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‘We are thinking about the children who are vulnerable and those living without their families during the festive season’, is the message conveyed by Minister Francourt during her visit to three orphanages situated on Mahe.

On Monday 21^st December the First Lady Mrs. Linda Ramkalawan and Minister for Employment and Social Affairs visited three orphanages - Foyer de Nazareth, Foyer de la Providence and Foyer de la Solitude.

The visit started at Foyer de Nazareth at Anse Etoile, where the children had prepared a warm welcome song and dance for their guests, followed by a presentation of flowers to the First Lady and the Minister. In addition, both the First Lady and Minister presented two hampers as gifts to the orphanage.

After the small welcoming ceremony, Sister Jeanine who is in charge of the Foyer offered a small tour and the children were very excited to show their guests their home.

Minister Francourt expressed her appreciation and gratitude to the staffs for the devotion and love given to the children, she mentioned that she has visited the orphanage before and is very impressed with the changes that have taken place since then.

The same sentiment was also expressed by the First Lady who said that she was deeply moved by the earnest devotion of all the staffs in their work that are being done on a daily basis for the children, as this job she recognizes requires a lot of patience and love.

Foyer de Nazareth currently have 15 boys aged between 4 and 15 years and are well taken care of by 10 staffs including three nuns.

The visit proceeded to Foyer de la Providence in Victoria (well known as Ste.Elizabeth), where in this orphanage is accommodated 19 children from the age of 0-10 years. The delegation was welcomed by Sister Rosefine and her team. The same welcome was extended to the guests through a song and presentation of a small bouquet of flowers to the First Lady and the Minister who in return offered them a hamper and some educational toys. The First Lady and Minister interacted with the children and for those who were not shy shared their satisfaction about their school, teachers and their friends and for some they only preferred to shows how energetic they can be.

The visit ended at Foyer de la Solitude at La Misere. The Orphanage has the ability to accommodate 10 children and currently have only three teenage girls. There was also an exchange where the children offered a basket of flowers to the First Lady and Minister and in return the girls received a hamper.

The First Lady and Minister had the chance to speak to the three girls where they shared their career aspirations that they want to pursue after their studies and spoke about their challenges .The distinguished guests were impressed with their choices and had words of encouragement for them. The Sister in charge Sister Suzanne uttered her gratitude towards the assistance they receive from Social Services and other partners. She made known that her biggest wish for the girls is to see them become young responsible adults when they leave the orphanage, a message that was echoed by the First Lady when she stressed that in the end the biggest gift for everyone responsible will be to see them successful in life.

On a final note the First Lady echoed that’’ her wish is for society to become more responsible towards children. She expressed her sadness to see children having to live without their parents and made a special call to all concerned in society to help reduce the number of such cases.

Accompanied on the visits was Principal Secretary for Social Affairs Mrs. Linda William-Melanie and two Senior Officials from the Social Affairs Department.

The accompanied pictures shows some of the highlights of the visits in all three orphanages.

FOYER DE NAZARETH

 FOYER DE LA PROVIDENCE

FOYER DE LA SOLITUDE

On Tuesday 15^th December Minister Francourt met with the Senior Management Team of the Social Affairs Department to discuss the achievements as well as challenges encountered during the year 2020.

With the pandemic situation, the Department had to re-adjust in regards to the services offered taking into account that Social Workers are considered as essential workers and had to be available at all times to assist the community and families in need.

The Department was able to continue with the different programmes such as Parenting Education, Professionalization of services for the domiciliary care workers, promote elderly wellbeing despite encountering many challenges like a lack of commitment from partners to attend sessions, lack of employer’s collaboration for staff release and was not able to conduct some training due to the Health Restriction measures.

Many discussions were also conducted with the different policy papers and laws presented to Cabinet and were approved for example the Children (Amendment) Act 2020 on the issue of ban on corporal punishment, ratification of the optional protocol to the convention of the right of child (CRC)  on a communication procedure, to name a few.

The Minister used this occasion to thank the management team for their hard work during 2020. She commented that staff needed to also “self-care” as their work can be very intensive and demanding.

On that note, the Minister, Management and Staff of Social Affairs would like to wish all the families a peaceful and wonderful Christmas and a Happy New year 2021.

Minister Francourt and Minister Fonseka have established a platform whereby together they are leading a team of officers from their respective Ministries in a fortnightly consultative meeting on pertinent issues concerning their respective portfolios requiring quick action. This is in line with commitment made at the very first Cabinet of Minister’s meeting on statement of action for the first 100 days.

On 19^th November they had an introductory meeting to establish different strategies related to jobseekers on the labour market as well as GOP holders currently occupying a post in the country.

A second meeting was held on 3^rd December with focus on quality disaggregated data and its classification. Other stakeholders were invited from Economic Planning Department, DICT and Central Bank. The consultative meetings will continue and where found necessary other stakeholders will be invited including the private sector.         

In the spirit of inter-ministerial partnership and meaningful collaboration, on Monday the 14^th December 2020, the Minister for Employment and Social Affairs Mrs. Patricia Francourt had a first meeting with the Minister for Education, Mr. Justin Valentin. Considered a key partner, the Ministry of Education is crucial to attaining the Ministry’s goal of building a productive and self-sufficient workforce able to enjoy decent work and a good quality of life.

The purpose of the meeting was to touch base on the progress made in regards to increasing the intake of S5 students by Professional Centers for 2021. This is crucial step in ensuring that youths remain in school for as long as possible considering difficulties being experienced by the labour market in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Minister appraised the work of a Technical committee set up between the two ministries to monitor the process.  The meeting agreed on several recommendations to be achieved in the short to medium term including assistance to be provided to students in terms of career re-orientation and assessment of courses on offer at the different Professional Centres to ensure that they meet the requirement of the labour market.

 The two Ministers have agreed to meet regularly to take up other pertinent issues of concerns in relevance to both of their portfolios such as the alarming rate of students dropping out of schools at the level of S5 or even earlier.

 In attendance for the meeting were the two Ministers, Principal Secretary Jules Baker, Principal Secretary Linda Barallon, Special Advisor Veronique Bresson, Director General Letimie Dookley and Chief Policy Analyst Susan Morel. 

The much awaited 13^th month salary will not be paid this year to any employees, either in the public service or in the private sector, due to the current economic crisis.

President Wavel Ramkalawan made this announcement yesterday while addressing the National Assembly for the first time since he was elected in October.

The decision to forego the 13^th month pay was made following significant analysis of the country’s current and near-future economic outlook, which looks quite dire.

According to the president, economic experts are predicting the local economy will contract by 13.5% or more for 2020 compared to a contraction of 10.8%, forecasted earlier this year at the start of the pandemic.

Additionally the main pillar of the Seychelles economy, the tourism industry, is anticipating 73% less in visitor arrivals at the end of this year compared to 2019.

“The country’s debt has reached an unsustainable level. If the government continues to spend at the rate it currently is, this would prove catastrophic for our country. The government needs to return its budget back to a sustainable level. In this moment, revenue will remain low because the economic activities are similarly low,” said the president.

President Ramkalawan painted a somber picture of the economy, which has been greatly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, to the National Assembly and to the population watching the live broadcast, and at various occasions stated the need for sacrifice and hard work.

The 13^th month pay, which would have been a relief for many, will be among one of those sacrifices Seychellois will have to make for the betterment of the country.

It is to be noted that, under the law, it is an offence for employers to not pay the 13^th month salary which is why President Ramkalawan noted that the Attorney General is working on legislative amendments to deal with this issue.

“Given the economic situation with the continued devaluation of the rupee and reduction of dollars entering the government coffers, the government which is already paying employees working in the private sector, finds itself in an impossible position to pay the 13^th month salary,” announced the president yesterday.

He noted that the payments of the 13^th month salary in 2020 would have cost government around R541 million.

The sacrifice will also be reflected in the highest echelon of the government, whereby the end-of-year benefits for all constitutionally appointed public servants will not be paid.

This includes for the president, vice-president and members of parliament and this will once again be legitimised through an amendment.

Next year’s district council elections, scheduled for January 2021, have also been scrapped because the country simply “does not have the money”.

“The reason for this is financial. With our economic situation, the country is not in a position to spend R20 million to organise this election,” said President Ramkalawan, adding that it would have also cost R38.408 million to pay these councils.

Cost cutting measures are also expected outside of the country with the announcements that Seychelles plans to close three of its embassies in Sri Lanka, Cuba and Geneva, Switzerland.

As a measure to ensure price of goods remains affordable, President Ramkalawan announced the transfer of the Bois de Rose Complex, or hypermarket, from government-owned Société Seychelloise D'Investissement (SSI) to the Seychelles Trading Company (STC). This would remove a burden of R13.2 million on STC in rent payments at the location.

President Ramkalawan revealed that the Indian government has agreed to install photovoltaic (PV) systems on the hypermarket roof, enabling STC to save another R1 million per month in electricity cost.

“This would lead to a savings of at least R20 million for STC in 2021 and I am insisting it passes on this gain to its customers, so that they can see a price reduction.”

It would also seem that the relief schemes Financial Assistance for Job Retention (FA4JR) and Seychelles Employment Transition Scheme (Sets) will carry on into 2021 in one form or another.

President Ramkalawan noted that the FA4JR structure will be revised for next year since “the country cannot sustain an expenditure of R1.4 billion”.

Meanwhile Sets and other employment programmes such as the Unemployment Relief Scheme (URS) and My First Job will have to play a more active role in ensuring qualified Seychellois replace their expatriate counterparts, said the president.

To weather these “turbulent times”, President Ramkalawan stated that Seychelles has already entered into negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to assist Seychelles, via an economic programme, in addressing public debt, price stability and balance of payments.

However not all of the announcements in the president’s address yesterday were bleak.

President Ramkalawan stated that a private investor, who seeks to remain anonymous, has promised to gift Seychelles 100,000 vaccines, which is considered 95% effective, being developed by a company called MODERNA when the vaccine is commercialised early next year. This equates to one vaccine per Seychellois, and then some.

The construction of the Baie Lazare clinic has been guaranteed through a grant, President Ramkalawan continued, while the La Digue hospital is being funded by the United Arab Emirates government.

The hospital, which will replace the battered down Logan Hospital, will be equipped with dialysis and X-Ray facilities, an isolation centre, female, male and pediatric wards, a hospice among others.

The president also announced that businesses with foreign exchange at hand, which is not taken from the already burdened financial system, will be able to use their foreign exchange to import their vehicles.

President Ramkalawan’s address yesterday was one which underscored the grave economic and health crises the country faces, and the absolute need for Seychellois to band together to work hard.

By Elsie Pointe

‘I have always been passionate about making a difference in society’

 Seychelles has a new Cabinet with 13 new ministers appointed. While some of them are familiar faces, others were not in the limelight. In an effort to better acquaint ourselves with the new cabinet, Seychelles NATION will be sharing with its readers profiles of each minister on a regular basis.

The second to talk to us is Patricia Francourt, Minister for Employment and Social Affairs.