Executive Secretariat for Integral Development (SEDI)

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Employment


Second Preparatory Meeting of the XX Inter-American Conference of Ministers of Labor (IACML)

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Date: October 4-6, 2017
Venue: Ruben Dario Room - OAS Headquarters
1889 F Street N.W., Washington D.C., 20006

The objective of the Second Preparatory Meeting was to negotiate the Draft Declaration and Plan of Action of Bridgetown, consider the Final Reports of the Working Groups and other preparatory business for the XX IACML, to be held on December 7 and 8, 2017 in Bridgetown, Barbados.

Delegations from 20 Member States, including the Ministers of Labor of Barbados and Ecuador, other officials from Ministries of Labor, workers' and employers' representatives through COSATE and CEATAL and representatives of international organizations, including ILO, PAHO, IDB and CISS, participated in the meeting.

In preparation for the meeting, the Technical Secretariat opened a Virtual Forum from August 14 to September 23 where the Ministries of Labor and consultative bodies of the Conference made comments to the Draft Declaration and Plan of Action of Bridgetown.

The meeting was chaired by the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare of Mexico, as Chair of the XIX IACML.

Gallery of Pictures
II Preparatory Meeting: XX IACML

Main Results

  • Negotiations of the draft Declaration and Plan of Action of Bridgetown were finalized, after Minister of Labor of Barbados, Hon. Esther Byer-Suckoo, presented revised drafts of both documents containing the comments made by delegations in the Virtual Forum. All delegations had the opportunity to make comments and suggest language to these drafts both in the Virtual Forum and during the Preparatory Meeting.
  • Chairs and Vice-Chairs of the Working Groups created at the XIX IACML, led by the Ministries of Labor of Brazil, Paraguay, Chile, Panama, Canada and Costa Rica formally presented their Final Reports, which included the main issues discussed and consensus reached during their meetings in 2016 and 2017, as well as recommendations for further work, which are part of the draft Plan of Action of Bridgetown.
  • Delegation of Barbados shared with delegations the draft Work Schedule of the Conference, as well as other logistical issues.
  • Decisions were also made on: Style Committee of the XX IACML integrated by Barbados (English), Mexico (Spanish), Brazil (Portuguese) and Canada (French), deadline to submit proposals during the XX IACML will be 11:00 a.m. of December 7, 2017, and the Conference will end by 6:00 p.m. on December 8.
  • The following delegations expressed their interest in leading the two Working Groups of the XX IACML: Ecuador (for Chair of WG1), Brazil, Chile and Colombia (for Vice-Chairs of WG1), Argentina (for Chair of WG2), Paraguay and Costa Rica (for Vice-Chairs of WG2) and Canada (for Chair or Vice-Chair of WG2). Authorities (Chair and 2 Vice-Chairs per WG) will be elected during the XX IACML. All delegations interested in these positions were requested to submit their interest in writing to the OAS Secretariat at their earliest convenience.
  • The Technical Secretariat at OAS and the delegate of the Inter-American Conference on Social Security (CISS) presented, respectively, the new virtual Platform of the Inter-American Network for Labor Administration (RIAL) and the new on-line database on bilateral and multilateral social security agreements. Both platforms were mandated by the XIX IACML in 2015.

Considered and Resulting Documents