VietNamNet Bridge – While violence and harassment in the workplace has received increasing attention from the public, a convention by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) will serve as a useful tool enabling people to improve the prevention and response to violence and harassment at work.

Nguyen Manh Cuong, director of the International Cooperation Department under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, gives a speech at the workshop. — VNS Photo Thu Trang

This was the focus of the discussion at a workshop held on Thursday in Hanoi. The workshop focused on the ILO Convention on Ending Violence and Harassment against Women and Men in the World of Work, organised by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) and CARE International in Vietnam.

Speaking at the workshop, Nguyen Manh Cuong, director of the International Cooperation Department under MOLISA, said that the workshop provided an opportunity for concerned parties to update each other on the context and progress of the ILO convention.

“It’s also a chance for us to assess the possibility for Vietnam to join the convention,” he said.

Next month, the tripartite delegation from the Vietnamese Government, workers and employers will attend the 107th annual session of the ILO in Geneva, Switzerland.

During the event, the Vietnamese delegates would participate in the discussion around the convention, he said.

Le Kim Dung, director of the CARE International Vietnam, said, “Ensuring a safe working environment does not only enhance economic effectiveness, but also improve workers’ well-being and their right to be free from violence.”

CARE hoped that Vietnam would make significant contributions to the process of developing the convention, and improve domestic legal regulations towards ending violence and harassment in the world of work, she said.

Andrea Prince, ILO labour law specialist, said violence and harassment violated human rights, affected work productivity and enterprises’ reputations, and 

hindered the efficient operation of the labour market. 

There was no universal definition about violence and harassment, thus there was no international guidelines on how to deal with these issues, she said. 

Therefore, "new standards on how to approach violence and disability in the world of work are needed," she said. 

The new convention would provide definitions and implications for key concepts, preventive measures, and methods of supervision and support for victims, she said. 

Source: VNS