Better Work Sri Lanka
Launched in February 2022, Better Work Sri Lanka aims to improve the working conditions and competitiveness of Sri Lanka’s garment and footwear industry.
Better Work, together with the ILO Sri Lanka office, is conducting an intervention in Sri Lanka in close collaboration with national constituents and other relevant actors in the garment industry. Since the 1980s, the garment industry has been the largest exporter in Sri Lanka’s economy, employing a majority of women workers. Better Work will support the national partners representing the government, employers’ and workers’ organizations in Sri Lanka to promote international labor standards, more effective partnerships, and sound industrial relations.
Better Work Sri Lanka’s activities are designed to contribute to achieving three strategic goals focused on the thematic areas of data and evidence, gender equality and inclusion, occupational safety and health (OSH), and productivity and business performance. The activities of the current phase will be implemented until June 2023. This includes the introduction of bipartite OSH committees across Sri Lanka through National OSH Industry Advisors to promote social dialogue and OSH management systems. Better Work does not offer its traditional factory engagement package in Sri Lanka.
Strategic Goals
Better Work Sri Lanka is in the process of establishing its national level strategic goals for its second phase, which will be aligned with Better Work’s global goals:
By 2027, employers and workers and their representatives in the Better Work program uphold and are protected by national labor laws and fundamental principles and rights at work; and enterprises in the sector that have emerged from the COVID-19 and economic crisis will be more sustainable, resilient, and inclusive.
By 2027, Better Work’s impact on workers, businesses, and compliance will be sustained by national institutions that leverage the programme’s approaches, data, and evidence.
By 2027, enterprises that participate in Better Work will have adopted policies and practices on responsible business conduct that support the realization of decent work.
By 2027, Better Work’s learnings and methods will have created positive social and environmental impacts beyond the program as they are adopted in other countries and sectors.
Latest news
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With a population of 21 million people, a noticeable shortage of trained mental health professionals persists in Sri Lanka
Better Work Sri Lanka launches second OSH Master Trainer Programme
Closing gender gaps: GEAR drives progress for women in Sri Lanka’s apparel industry
Contribution to Priority Themes
The Better Work global strategy, Sustaining Impact, sets out eight thematic priorities for our program. Better Work Sri Lanka focuses on four of these cross-cutting themes, which are essential to achieving our strategic outcomes and will be present in our factory engagement, research, policy influencing, and content produced, as well as affect how we allocate our human and financial resources:
Productivity and Business Performance
Better Work Sri Lanka partners with the Ministry of Labour and the Apparel Association and other ILO teams to support entrepreneurship and skills development. This work focuses on training workers and their families to help them generate additional income. The programme is working to link micro, small and medium enterprises to supply chains, including a focus on micro-economic activity and the creation of rural employment.
Data and Evidence
Building on initial discussions with the Ministry of Labour launched in September 2022, Better Work Sri Lanka will support ongoing work with the broader ILO on data related to OSH inspection and administration, including an assessment of how to apply lessons learned from other Better Work countries.
Gender Equality and Inclusion
In collaboration with the International Finance Cooperation (IFC), Better Work Sri Lanka launched the Gender Equality and Returns (GEAR) programme in nine factories. Better Work Sri Lanka also supports increased participation of women on OSH committees and works with a women-led union to build soft, technical, and leadership skills to promote female leadership within trade unions in Sri Lanka.
Occupational Safety and Health (OSH)
Better Work Sri Lanka will increasingly engage tripartite partners in OSH initiatives, focusing on training participants from the Ministry of Labour and workers’ and employers’ associations. Activities include developing OSH management systems as a proactive tool to identify and minimize risks through the National Institute of OSH (NIOSH) and promoting bipartite OSH committees through the Department of Labour.
