Inaugural Address to the Inter-regional Tripartite Meeting of Experts on Safety and Health in Shipbreaking for Selected Asian Countries and Turkey

by Mr Yasuyuki Nodera, Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific

Statement | Bangkok | 14 October 2003

Closing ceremony

Mr Yasuyuku Nodera, ILO Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific

Mr Chairperson, distinguished participants, fellow colleagues,

In a rapidly developing world, our attention is increasingly drawn to newly-emerging challenges that threaten efforts towards the development of decent work. Meanwhile, problems that perhaps historically have received less public attention continue to grow until they become so significant that the magnitude can be overwhelming. Ship breaking falls into this category, for while the ILO has been concerned with the issue, it is an area that has only relatively recently begun to receive mainstream interest and attention.

It is has become increasingly obvious that workers involved in ship breaking can face extremely hazardous working conditions, fraught with the potential for frequent major accidents resulting in serious injury or death. As a result of this, human suffering is widespread and acute. Decent work deficits are common, and the number of workers in ship breaking who develop permanent disabilities and can no longer work is unacceptably high, even for an occupation that is clearly hazardous. Such challenges are faced by workers whose daily wage makes it difficult to meet their own basic needs, let alone provide adequate care for their families.

Ship breaking has now found its place on the agenda of three UN agencies – the ILO, the International Maritime Organization ( IMO) and the Basel Convention under the United Nations’ Environmental Programme (UNEP), and not before time.

The ILO has been highlighting the social and labour concerns surrounding ship breaking for several years now, and the Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific has been supporting our Offices in Beijing, Dhaka, and New Delhi, accordingly, in their efforts to assess the situation and address the problems.

Fact-finding missions and national tripartite workshops in Bangladesh, China, India, Pakistan and Turkey, in which some of you may have participated, have been conducted by colleagues from Geneva. These efforts allowed the ILO to establish national profiles on ship breaking, laying a solid basis for the preparation of the draft ILO Guidelines on Safety and Health in Ship breaking, which were the focus of this meeting.

I have been informed by my colleagues that the draft document was debated intensively and appropriate amendments and improvements have been made.

I am extremely grateful for your efforts as experts in this field in finalizing this comprehensive and practical set of guidelines. I am sure you will agree that the practical nature of the guidelines and the timely preparation of them will benefit all those responsible for setting safety and health standards for the ship breaking industry – governments, employers and workers alike.

I would like to express my sincere thanks to all who have participated in this meeting, including resource persons and observers, for your combined efforts and technical contributions. You are responsible for accomplishing this important body of work, and adopting them unanimously.

The question that now comes to mind is, ‘where do we go from here?’, and, more specifically, ‘how can the ILO help the tripartite constituents implement these guidelines?’ As I mentioned earlier, the ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific attaches great importance to the work of this meeting. I believe that national tripartite workshops could be arranged by the ILO to explain the guidelines and their application in the workplace to actively promote their implementation. These workshops would allow us to plan and develop concrete activities with our tripartite constituents that would enable you to turn the recommendation contained in the guidelines into a reality in the workplace. In this respect, the ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific is fully committed to continue its support for these important activities.

In the longer term, direct technical assistance, which is one of our traditional means of taking action, will be given even greater importance. As you may know, we have been successful in raising US$ 1.3 million from UNDP for this purpose for a technical co-operation programme on ship breaking in Bangladesh. The guidelines adopted today will provide a foundation for this project. Additionally, we will pursue other avenues in order to obtain funding for similar projects in other countries in the region. I would like at this point to extend an invitation to our colleagues from the IMO and the Basel Convention to jointly participate in such endeavours, so that their codes of practice can also receive attention.

Again, I would like to thank you sincerely for your dedication and efforts during this meeting at improving the safety and health environment in the ship breaking industry – you can be proud of your efforts in this regard.

I wish you a safe journey home, and look forward to your participation in future ILO activities in this area.