‘Lesotho ratifies three ILO Conventions’ 17 March 2023

On 15 March 2023, the Government of Lesotho deposited the instruments of ratification of the Labour Relations (Public Service) Convention, 1978 (No. 151), the Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 2006 (No. 187), and the Violence and Harassment Convention, 2019 (No. 190). In depositing the instruments of ratification, the Honourable Minister of the Public Service, Labour & Employment, Mr Richard Ramoeletsi, stated: “Today marks a momentous occasion in the history of the governance of the labour market in Lesotho where the Government of the Kingdom of Lesotho is going to demonstrate its political will to heed the resolutions of various fora dedicated to promoting decent work across the globe. For our purposes, I wish to mention that whilst discussion and adoption of International Labour Conventions is the purview of the International Labour Conference (ILC), the promotion of ratification of these conventions is a product of social dialogue at national, subregional and regional levels.

…Fundamental Convention No. 187, with this latest undertaking, has now been ratified by 60 ILO Member States, out of which 16 are from Africa and four are from SADC. Its ratification by Lesotho is one of the latest occupational safety and health developments, all ILO fundamental conventions are now ratified, including the latest two on Occupational Safety and Health (OSH). Since 2018, the ILO has been consistently accompanying the Member State’s social dialogue institutions, particularly the National Advisory Council for Occupational Safety (NACOSH) and National Advisory Committee on Labour (NACOLA), including through technical support provided towards the compilation of Lesotho’s national OSH profile, the conduction of scoping missions aimed at establishing the country’s OSH needs, and capacity building prioritization in a light previously identified ratifying aspirations. Technical support was also provided towards developing a national OSH policy, developing Guidelines on COVID-19 and the Workplace, and revising the draft OSH Bill.

…Lastly, Lesotho became the 26th ILO Member State, 7th from Africa, and 4th from SADC to formally commit to ILO’s most recent addition to International Labour Law, namely Convention No. 190. The instrument, which entails an inclusive, integrated and gender-responsive approach to preventing and eliminating violence and harassment in the world of work, together with its accompanying recommendation (R.206), is one of the first two global instruments on violence and harassment in the world of work. ILO’s technical support to the country has echoed the integrated approach of the convention by bringing together the technical expertise of labour law, equality, non-discrimination, and occupational safety and health.