From the Editor
Dear Friends,
This issue of Yemaya, as always, carries articles, news and other developments from different continentsfrom Latin America, North America, Europe and Asia.
It also focuses on the recently held 92nd session of the International Labour Conference (ILC). The fifth item on the agenda of this Conference was on Work in the fishing sector: A discussion with a view to the Adoption of a Comprehensive Standard (a Convention supplemented by a Recommendation). Several gender-related issues were raised during discussions on this agenda item, and have been excerpted for this issue of Yemaya. Significantly, as is clear from the report of the discussions, the proposed Convention aims to extend coverage of labour standards to allmen and womeninvolved in the fishing sector, including those on artisanal and small-scale vessels and those working to process fish on board.
There is, however, also a need to consider whether coverage of core labour standards and social security can be extended to those who work on shore in the fisheries sector, in pre- harvest and post-harvest activities, mainly in the informal sector. By all accounts, many of these workers, particularly in developing countries, are women, and their numbers run into millions.
Clearly this is an issue of vital importance. The report of the ILO Director General on the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization, to the 92nd Session of the ILC titled A Fair Globalization: The Role of the ILO, emphasizes in many places the need to extend social security to the excluded, to extend rights and protection to the informal economy and to promote gender equality. It draws attention to the emphasis in the Commission’s report on dealing with the informal economy by providing an adequate framework for property and social rights, and by supporting associational approaches, cooperatives and other measures to overcome informality. It is to be hoped that the work of the ILO on labour standards in the fishing sector can be extended in the near future to the fisheries sector, to cover as well the millions of shore-based workers in the informal sector, not presently covered under any form of labour standards.
We would also like to take this opportunity to inform you that ICSF is launching a web page on women in fisheries. The web page will bring together, in one place, information resources on women in fisheries. Do visit the page and send us any comments you may have. It can be accessed from www.icsf.net.
On a related issue, the collection of articles on women in fisheriesGender Agendarecently brought out by ICSF, is now available online in French, with the title Pour améliorer la situation des femmes dans la pêche. And, for Portuguese speakers, the news is that Yemaya is now available in Portuguese.
As always, we look forward to articles, news and views from you. Please send these in by 15 October for inclusions in the next issue of Yemaya.
