On March 06, 2023 HE President David Kabua met with the International Labor Organization (ILO) to discuss progress and ongoing activities that ILO has with the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
Mr. Martin Karimil, Director of the ILO Office for Pacific Island Countries, was accompanied by the Employment Specialist, Mr. Christian Viegelahn and the Program Officer, Mr. Ahmad Ali.
Director Karimili explained that there are eleven member countries that his department oversees: Fiji, Kiribati, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Tonga, Cook Islands, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands. His role in these countries is to promote international labor standards and social dialogue, employment creation and skills development, rural and labor intensive infrastructure development, national employment policy, youth employment initiatives, elimination of child labor and forced labor, gender equality to name a few. ILO’s current work with the Marshall Islands is the National Employment Policy for Inclusive Economic Diversification and Environmental Sustainability, which wrapped up on Friday, March 03, 2023.
President Kabua reiterated that the Marshall Islands is weak in skill labor, dropouts of students are high, and students with a degree expect higher salary. There are a number of problems that the workforce is going through and that the budget can’t handle the workforce. He also mentioned that students off to universities in the states rarely return, but students in Australia, Fiji, and Taiwan are most likely to return to the Marshall Islands to work.
ILO continues progress in areas of Labor Law Review, Regional Assessment, Ongoing support to the Chamber of Commerce, and Workers Organization in RMI.
