AWESOME ILO Convention 190 policy brief

Most, if not all of us, have experienced it. While workplace violence and harassment should never be accepted, it has been one of those common injustices that we speak about amongst our sisters in exasperation. But now, for the very first time, we have international labour standards that seek to end it by holding governments to account.

The ILO (International Labor Organization) Convention 190 and its accompanying Recommendation 206 sets out international labour standards that for the first time recognise the right of all to work free from violence and harassment. First adopted in 2019, the ILO 190 Convention (C190) entered into force two years later in June 2021. As of today, it has been ratified by nine member states, three of which are African: Mauritius, Namibia, and Somalia. Now the task ahead is advocating for other countries to ratify the convention.

This policy brief outlines what C190 entails and shares a case study of Namibia to provide lessons in steps needed to ratify it. The policy brief is the first step of many that we will embark on to support this progress.

Womankind, along with our partners, will be supporting Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda to ratify, domesticate and implement the provisions of C190, as part of our AWESOME programme, a 5-year advocacy programme aimed at strengthening women’s movements. We encourage women’s rights organisations and activists to use the policy brief to support advocacy efforts in ending work-place violence and harassment.