UN Women, ILO launch campaign to promote harassment-free workplaces in Jordan

AMMAN — The International Labour Organisation (ILO) and UN Women launched a campaign across social media platforms to bring awareness to the rights of male and female workers to an environment free from violence and harassment, in cooperation with the  Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and the Norwegian embassy in Amman.

The ILO said in a statement on Sunday that the four-day campaign comes on the first anniversary of the adoption of the organisation's Violence and Harassment Convention 2019, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

It added that campaign aims to provide community and official support for legislation that guarantees the right of women and men to a harassment-free work environment, which affects millions of employees and workers worldwide.

ILO gender specialist Reem Aslan said that the convention provides tools that contribute to developing response and recovery strategies from the COVID-19 pandemic and promote a safe working environment.

In the statement, the ILO said that Jordan, through the Ministry of Labour, has adopted a policy to prevent violence and harassment in the workplace through a code of conduct.

It added that the Jordanian government submitted amendments to Article 29 of the Labour Law to the Lower House that were agreed upon with civil society organisations after holding dialogue sessions on the recommendations organised by international work with its social partners.

"We have reached collective labour agreements that prevent and criminalise violence and harassment in the workplace through collective negotiations followed by educational and training programmes to create an environment free from violence in the world of work," said Mazen Maaytah, head of the General Federation of Jordanian Trade Unions.

The convention and the accompanying recommendations aim to ensure that "no one is exposed to violence and harassment in the workplace".