ILO Governing Body 352nd Session - Complaint alleging non-observance by Nicaragua of Conventions Nos 87, 98, 111 and 144

ILO Governing Body, 352nd session

28 October – 7 November 2024

Complaint alleging non-observance by Nicaragua of Conventions Nos 87, 98, 111 and 144

GB.352/INS/15

EU Statement

Chair,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.

The candidate countries North Macedonia*, Montenegro*, Albania*, Ukraine and Republic of Moldova, the EFTA countries Iceland and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Switzerland, align themselves with this statement.

1. We are committed to the respect, protection and fulfilment of labour rights. Universal ratification and effective implementation of fundamental ILO Conventions and the ILO’s supervisory mechanism are essential in this endeavour.
2. We thank the Office, for its efforts to engage in discussions with the Nicaraguan authorities to explore possibilities for technical assistance to the Nicaraguan tripartite constituents and to identify specific areas and modalities through which the ILO could offer support.
3. We remain deeply concerned about the labour rights situation in Nicaragua, including reports of intimidation and harassment of independent workers' and employers' organisations, arbitrary arrests and detentions. We deplore the climate of violence, insecurity and intimidation in the country that fosters discrimination in employment and occupation based on political opinion, as well as ongoing human rights violations, including gender-based violence and discrimination. We are deeply concerned about the recent closure of bilateral chambers of commerce.
4. We recall that various UN Bodies including the United Nations Human Rights Council have also expressed their concern at the human rights violations that further the shrinking of civic and democratic space in Nicaragua.
5. We regret that the authorities have failed so far to follow up on the conclusions of the 110th and 111th Conference Committee on the Application of Standards regarding Conventions No. 87 and No. 111. We call on the authorities to act on them as well as on the conclusions adopted at the most recent Conference Committee in June 2024.
6. We want to reiterate the necessity of upholding freedom of association, the right to collective bargaining, ensuring non-discrimination in employment, and fostering tripartite social dialogue as immediate priorities. We therefore urge the Nicaraguan authorities to address the serious compliance gaps identified and to effectively implement the ratified fundamental and governance ILO Conventions in both law and practice.
7. We regret that, despite the Conference Committee's urging the Nicaraguan authorities in 2022, 2023 and 2024 to promote social dialogue without delay through the establishment of a tripartite dialogue round table under ILO auspices, and despite the Office's recent efforts to facilitate this, no tangible progress has been made.
8. We deplore that the Nicaraguan authorities have not responded to the Office communications and have not provided the information requested by the Governing Body. We call on the authorities to engage positively and to accept a high-level tripartite mission that would assess the issues raised in the complaint. This would be in the best interest of the tripartite constituents in the country. In the absence of progress at the next session of the Governing Body, we will call to explore the use of next steps provided for under Article 26 of the ILO Constitution.
9. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and support the people of Nicaragua in their legitimate aspirations, including on labour rights. We remain open to a genuine dialogue on these and other topics of interest.
10. We support the decision point.

Thank you Chair.

*North Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.