I. BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION
The International Labour Organization, with support from the European Union, is implementing a project to enhance labour governance, inspection and working conditions in Iraq, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The project addresses a number of labour market challenges imposed by the pandemic, as well as some of the longer-term decent work priorities of Iraq.
It focuses on strengthening the labour inspection system and improving occupational safety and health (OSH) in line with international labour standards, through policy development and capacity building. The project will also work closely with social partners to raise their awareness on labour inspection, OSH and fundamental principles and rights at work, so they can better engage in programs to promote compliance with labour legislations and respond to COVID-19.
Labour inspection assessment conducted in several countries in the region, including Iraq, revealed that the labour inspectorates, which are usually greatly under resourced, are overloaded with non-inspection activities that may deviate them from the main labour inspection mandate and roles stipulated in the relevant national laws and international labour standards, for which the inspectorates mandate and inspectors responsibilities need to be clearly defined to avoid wasting or misusing labour inspectors' time and resources, for which relevant business analysis shall be conducted to analyze the whole labour inspection...
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