OAS cooperation strengthens the labor sector in the Americas

Bilateral cooperation has proven to be a valuable mechanism for countries to strengthen institutional capacity through the exchange of experiences, expert advice, and on-site analysis of programs and successful practices. Labor Ministries in the region have benefited from being exposed to different solutions found by other countries to address similar challenges.

Since 2007, the OAS-SEDI through its Inter-American Network for Labor Administration (RIAL) has funded over 70 activities for bilateral technical cooperation that have strengthened labor policies and procedures through direct and individualized assistance, reporting impact in areas such as:

- Design or modification of internal procedures: To cite just one example in this area, the Occupational Health and Safety area of the Ministry of Labor of Guyana, following cooperation activities with Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados, adopted the 4P model for evidence gathering - a technique that considers People evidence, Position evidence, Paper evidence and Part evidence - enhancing investigations of workplace accidents and fatalities, and improving the use of scientific equipment and information systems in labor inspections.

- Development of new products, services, and programs: Colombia created the Rules of Procedure of the Commission for Wage Negotiations based on the Brazilian experience following an on-site visit.

- Amendments of regulatory and legal frameworks: The Labor Advisory Council of the Dominican Republic approved a bill drafted based on the experience of the Mandatory Labor Conciliation Service (SECLO) of Argentina.

This year, a total of 60 proposals from 12 Ministries of Labor of the region were received for the sixth call for proposals for bilateral cooperation, 8 of which were selected based on their pertinence, clarity of objectives, degree of relevance and explicit commitment of the involved parties, among other criteria. In August, 2013, the following two activities of the 8 selected from the sixth call were carried out:

1. July 29 to August 2, 2013: Two officers from the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare of Guatemala traveled to Quito to receive technical assistance from the Ministry of Labor Relations of Ecuador on the elimination of child labor., Brenda Santos, one of the Guatemalan officers stated: “The lessons learned were very rewarding because they allowed us to strengthen our knowledge in order to propose new approaches to address the problem of child labor in Guatemala based on the Ecuadorian successful experience.”

2. August 5 to 9, 2013: Three officers from the Secretariat of Labor and Social Welfare of Mexico traveled to Buenos Aires to learn from the experience of the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security of Argentina on unemployment insurance schemes. The Mexican delegation expressed their enthusiasm to participate in such an important exchange of best practices.

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