Majuro (ILO NEWS) - The team from the ILO Office for Pacific Island Countries has successfully concluded its mission to the Republic of the Marshall Islands culminating in a briefing with His Excellency Mr. David Kabua, President of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, on ILO’s continuing support to RMI. ILO Director for Pacific Island Countries, Mr. Matin Karimli informed His Excellency of the current ILO technical assistance being provided in crucial areas such as the review of the proposed Labour Minimum Conditions Act as well as work on the Minimum Wage Policy.

Director Karimli noted the current emphasis on the Global Coalition for Social Justice initiated by the ILO Director General Mr. Gilbert F. Houngbo, focusing on poverty alleviation, and reducing inequality and informed this as one of the driving themes of the recently completed National Employment Policy seminar held on the 02nd and 3rd of March in Majuro, RMI.

President Kabua noted the need to focus on improving skilled labour in the workforce and broadening the scope of training and studies being offered in RMI and abroad whilst at the same time ensuring fresh graduates return to RMI by ensuring youth are empowered through a sense of patriotism and renewed emphasis on culture and community. His Excellency also noted the role of government as an employer and seeking innovative ways to empower the workforce emphasizing the need for partners and government to work collaboratively across government agencies.

In discussions with the Government, the ILO highlighted the focused approach being undertaken to ensure sustainability of actions and activities targeted towards providing skills training and empowering youth to be more economically active. One of the key factors to this is the current emphasis on digitalization and the requirements of this, not only for digital awareness but also ensuring relevant and sufficient training is provided for youth and entrepreneurs to fully utilize the opportunity.

This was further emphasized during ILO’s meeting with the Marshall Islands Chamber of Commerce in fostering a culture of entrepreneurship in RMI thereby providing options to youth to not only become skilled and employable, but also to start up their own businesses. ILO will be working on a Joint UN 2-year project on Digitalization in Micronesia and engage with stakeholders in RMI to seek ways in which SMEs can also access such opportunities through ILO toolkits such as the Start & Improve Your Business (SIYB) and Digitalize Your Business trainings.

The ILO team also met with the Office of the Chief Secretary, the Attorney General’s Office, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to discuss priority areas for RMI in 2023 and beyond. The need for a demand driven approach that contextualized RMI issues was emphasized throughout the mission to ensure a collaborative and informed process in achieving results. As part of the UN family, ILO also noted the systematic approach being undertaken by the UN Micronesia Resident Coordinator’s Office in the Federated States of Micronesia to ensure that agency level engagements with government and stakeholders were done jointly.