The Global Deal for Decent Work and Inclusive Growth hosted a webinar on 6 November 2024 to discuss findings, good practices and lessons learned from a project implemented in Kenya, Nigeria, and Sri Lanka to strengthen social dialogue institutions and mechanisms. This follows the publication of the project’s synthesis report earlier in the year.
Project summary
The project, funded by the European Commission, was implemented from 2022 to 2024 to strengthen social dialogue to address labour market challenges in Kenya, Nigeria and Sri Lanka. By harnessing the strengths of the Global Deal’s multi-stakeholder partnership—which includes governments, trade unions, businesses, employers’ organisations, and civil society—the initiative partnered with tripartite national social dialogue institutions to increase their capacity. These efforts align with the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan as well as the European Commission’s Communication on decent work worldwide for a global just transition and sustainable recovery. The project pursued three main goals:
1. Increasing knowledge: conducting contextual studies in each country on the status of social dialogue, labour market challenges and decent work deficits.
2. Building capacity: delivering targeted training to national tripartite social dialogue institutions to ensure that progress is sustainable and locally owned.
3. Creating a forum for exchange: facilitating tripartite discussions by organising high-level conferences in each country.
Highlights from the webinar
The webinar, titled Supporting Social Dialogue Institutions to Address Labour Market Challenges: Key Findings from a Global Deal Project, featured one representative from Kenya, Nigeria and Sri Lanka respectively. Moderated by Glenda Quintini, Head of the Global Deal Support Unit, the event began with welcome remarks from Laura Corrado, Head of the International Affairs Unit at the European Commission’s Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion. Laura Corrado highlighted that social dialogue is key to improving working conditions, fostering the adoption and compliance with international labour standards, as well as to reducing poverty and inequality.
Representatives from Kenya, Nigeria, and Sri Lanka then reflected on main findings and outcomes of the project:
• Hellen Apiyo from Kenya, Commissioner for Labour in the Directorate for Labour and Secretary of the National Labour Board, discussed how social dialogue is a key mechanism for inclusive policy promotion, especially addressing concerns of more vulnerable groups of workers, including platform workers or domestic workers, and especially in times of crisis such as during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Commissioner also emphasised the need to further build capacity on social dialogue and learn from international good practices.
• Dr John Olanrewaju from Nigeria, an arbitrator with the Industrial Arbitration Panel (IAP), emphasised the contribution of social dialogue to foster industrial peace and harness the full potential of the largest economy in Africa, particularly in diversifying an economy traditionally dependent on oil, and in supporting the green and digital transitions. In this regard, social dialogue can help building trust to work better together.
• Suranga Gunarathne from Sri Lanka, Director General of the National Institute of Labour Studies (NILS), highlighted the positive impact of the project’s training initiatives, which has allowed NILS to build its capacity and include modules on social dialogue in its existing training on labour law and industrial relations. This has greatly increased the sustainability of the training.
Lessons learned
• Thorough labour market analysis is key: a comprehensive review of labour market conditions, social dialogue structures, labour market challenges and decent work deficits is key to make training and discussions relevant.
• Effective capacity building: training programmes have strengthened the technical expertise of tripartite social partners, with plans to replicable training modules for example in Sri Lanka. This will be useful to address labour market challenges and discuss on-going labour market reforms.
• Strengthening dialogue: the project successfully fostered trust and collaboration among workers, employers, and government representatives, helping to transform what can sometimes be complex relations into constructive engagements.
• Showcasing the value of social dialogue: the organisation of high-level events showcased to stakeholders the benefits of social dialogue in addressing labour market challenges and improving labour market resilience.
Future directions
Discussions highlighted positive changes made, such as improved institutional capacity and enhanced bipartite and tripartite cooperation, which can pave the way for further national actions to enhance social dialogue. The webinar concluded with the announcement of the project’s extension to other countries. The Global Deal and the European Commission expressed confidence that the insights gathered from work with Kenya, Nigeria, and Sri Lanka would inspire and inform future endeavours.
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