ITF Seafarers' Trust funds ILO to bolster seafarers' rights in Arab World on 20-year MLC anniversary

The ITF Seafarers' Trust announced EUR 500,000 in new funding to the International Labour Organization to support institutional capacity building for seafarers' rights in the Arab World on the 20th anniversary of the Maritime Labour Convention 2006.

The ITF Seafarers' Trust has announced EUR 500,000 in new project funding to the International Labour Organization on the 20th anniversary of the Maritime Labour Convention 2006. The donation will support institutional capacity building to enhance protection of seafarers' rights in the Arab World. This contribution adds to the Trust's existing support for a three-year project with the ILO and the International Training Centre of the ILO to improve implementation and enforcement of the MLC. That project completed its first year in the Mediterranean, is now focused on the Indian Ocean, and plans a third year concentrating on the Viña del Mar region. Key facts: - EUR 500,000 granted by the ITF Seafarers' Trust to the ILO to support capacity building for seafarers' rights in the Arab World. - The grant supplements an ongoing three-year ILO and ITC-ILO project to improve MLC implementation, with attention to regional Memoranda of Understanding on port state control. - Project timeline reported: year one — Mediterranean; year two — Indian Ocean; year three — Viña del Mar. - The Trust also supports ITC-ILO open courses at the MLC Academy. - The article notes the MLC has 112 ratifications covering 96.6% of the world shipping fleet. Summary: The funding is intended to enable the ILO to provide targeted technical support and build institutional capacity in the Arab World to increase the reach and impact of the MLC. Trust leaders said the convention's framework supports tripartite negotiations and that resourcing the ILO is important for responding to requests from states. The current three-year project continues in the Indian Ocean this year and is scheduled to focus on the Viña del Mar region in its third year.