Director-General of International Labour Organization offers Armenia to be part of Global Coalition for Social Justice

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 14, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Narek Mkrtchyan met with the Director-General of the International Labor Organization Gilbert Houngbo during a visit to the United Arab Emirates.

Mkrtchyan and Houngbo discussed the reforms in the labor and employment sector, the development of the employment strategy, and the possible introduction of an unemployment insurance system and extrajudicial settlement of labor disputes in Armenia, the ministry said in a read-out.

Mkrtchyan thanked the Director-General of theInternational Labour Organization for the close and productive cooperation, as well as supporting the sectoral reforms. The Armenian minister said that cooperating with the International Labour Organization contributes to increasing the level of protection of rights of employees and employers and strengthening cooperation of social partners.

Gilbert Houngbo, concurring with the Armenian ministry’s priorities, reaffirmed readiness to invest necessary resources and efforts aimed at sectoral cooperation.

Houngbo introduced his initiative – the Global Coalition for Social Justice – and offered Armenia to be part of it. Mkrtchyan and Houngbo also discussed the possibility of holding a sectoral conference in Armenia in the end of the year with participation of the Director-General of the International Labor Organization.

Mkrtchyan then briefed Gilbert Houngbo on the situation in Nagorno Karabakh resulting from Azerbaijan’s blockade of the Lachin corridor. Mkrtchyan had briefed Houngbo on the blockade earlier in his official correspondence as well.