ILO refutes news feature

By A Staff Reporter

KATHMANDU, Nov. 25: The International Labour Organisation has refuted a news feature that appeared in the Himalayan Times Monday has said the ILO would look into the Maoist problem.
The Himalayan Times included on its front page of 25 November 2002, an incorrect news feature entitled "ILO team to look into Maoist problem", noting that the ILO has decided to send a delegation to Nepal this month to resolve the problems Nepali labourers are facing because of the Maoist violence".

The news feature later states that "the ILO told the Nepal Trade Union Congress (NTUC) the ILO delegation will hold meetings and exchange views with representatives of various national and international agencies regarding the Maoist movement".

These statements are completely incorrect and misleading, all the more so as they are merged with various other news items. The ILO should have been consulted directly before the Himalayan Times published this feature, an ILO statement issued today said.

"During recent discussions between the NTUC and the ILO in Geneva, difficulties faced by the trade unions and their members as a result of the current conflict in Nepal were highlighted. The ILO was requested to provide some assistance in order to promote social dialogue for peace, and to meet with partners in the world of work who are its constituents. In this context, the ILO agreed to send a senior expert from the ILO's Crisis Response and Reconstruction Programme to listen to and better understand the worker's concerns. This is the extent of the ILO's involvement in this issue."

The ILO statutes emphasise that "universal and lasting peace can only be achieved if it is based on social justice" and "poverty anywhere constitutes a danger to prosperity everywhere". These are the guiding principles on which the ILO's work in Nepal - focused on the promotion of decent work for women and men, social protection, social dialogue and fundamental principles and rights at work (e.g- the elimination of child labour, particularly in its worst forms and of bonded labour) - has been based. The ILO believes that peace and development work hand-in-hand.

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