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The International Organisation of Employers (IOE), condemns Nicaragua's deprivation of the personality of employers' and business federations and calls on the ILO to intervene

News | 08 March 2023

Nineteen employers' and business organisations in Nicaragua were stripped of their legal status by a ministerial decree. Citing violations of the law and a lack of transparency, the Ministry of the Interior's decision deprives virtually all of the country's business organisations of their legal status.

The Consejo Superior de la Empresa Privada (Cosep), Nicaragua's main employers' association, was dissolved by law after 32 years of existence. Along with Cosep, 18 other business chambers that were part of this employers' organisation were also disbanded.

The International Organisation of Employers (IOE) has expressed its deep concern in a letter to ILO Director-General Houngbo, asking him to intervene with the Nicaraguan government. He was also asked to forward this information to the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR).

Previously, the ILO's Committee on Application of Standards (CAS) at its 110th session and the CEACR in its most recent report in 2023 had made strong statements about Nicaragua's failure to fulfil its obligations under Convention 87. But this is a new situation.

A recent UN report has concluded that “serious and systematic violations of human rights violations take place in Nicaragua”, which constitute " crimes against humanity," adding that there is a " deliberate dismantling of democratic institutions and the destruction of civic and democratic space ".