ENGINEERS & PROFESSIONALS ENDORSE, MULTI STAKE HOLDER COLLABORATION
Engineers and Professionals expressed confidence to persuade their respective professional associations; to support a top down multi stake holder collaborative approach, to influence policy directives towards achieving sustainable development goals.
Engineer Dhurba Thapa, President of Nepal Engineers Association, (NEA) joined the inauguration of the UNI Apro/FES National Network Meeting on bridging implementation gaps in compliance with International Labour Standards and Decent Work agenda held on 20-21 May 2016 in Kathmandu, Nepal. Eng. Thapa assured support and cooperation; to work with UNI Apro Professionals and Managers group to operationalize a multi stakeholder holder collaborative approach; as a way forward to introduce international standards and best practices in work places in Nepal.
SAARC Sub-regional seminar for Professionals & Managers was also held in Kathmandu, Nepal in conjunction with the national network meeting. The theme of the seminar was, securing decent work for professionals and managers through multi stakeholder collaborative approach. The events were implemented under the FES’s Global Trade Union Project implemented jointly with UNI global union.
Fifteen Engineers, six accounting professionals and four medical professionals representing Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka attended the seminar. Mr Vivek Patwardhan, HR Consultant from India, Mr Devraj Dahal Head of FES Nepal, Dr Jagadish Chandra Pokhrel former Vice Chair of National Planning Commission Nepal and Mr Narayan P Bhattarai, ILO Project coordinator were the resource persons shared experiences with the seminar participants. Seminar was facilitated by UNI Apro Regional Directors Jayasri Priyalal and Rajendra Acharya and the staff of FES office in Nepal.
Institute of Engineers Bangladesh (IEB) was also represented by two senior officials at the seminar and solicited support from UNI to improve occupational health and safety systems in work place in line with the international standards and best practices.
The UN guiding principles on business and human rights were also introduced to the seminar participants highlighting on Respect, Protect and Remedy framework. Participants worked in groups and made recommendations to influence policy makers to formalize structures to arrest widening inequalities through multi stake holder collaboration as a way forward to sustainable development.
All seminar participants endorsed the UNI Apro P&M initiative beneficial to the Professionals and Managers to secure decent work and network with the globally interconnected professional associations.
Refer the related files for the – Group recommendations on PPT slides