Programme and Administrative Assistant

The new Project on “Strengthening freedom of association and action against child labour in the Philippines” aims to strengthen the promotion and enforcement of labour laws compliance with international labour standards, with focus on the fundamental principles and rights at work, especially as they are applied in trade sectors.  The Project will run from 2024 to 2029, with funding from the Government of Canada, particularly the Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC).

The initiatives concentrate on two domains: Freedom of Association and Child Labour. The emphasis on Freedom of Association and labour relations arises from the recommendations of the 2023 High-Level Tripartite Mission to the Philippines and initiatives under the project will help realize the FOA Roadmap. The Project will also support the Philippine Programme Against Child Labor in helping the country recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic which reversed the progress in reducing child labour.   The Project will address gender-related issues/gaps surrounding freedom of association and labour rights drawing from the priorities under the women workers’ agenda as well as gender-related vulnerabilities of children in child labour.

The Project will provide technical assistance aligned with ILO conventions on FOA and child labour, support institutional capacity-building on addressing FOA and child labour, and facilitate social dialogue and sharing of learnings or good practices among ILO’s tripartite and bipartite social partners to promote fair labour practices and labour rights and core labour standards including collective bargaining, discrimination, and occupational safety and health, especially on trade sectors.

The Project will run parallel to the ILO’s regional project on Trade, Labour, and FPRW in Southeast Asia which is also proposed to be funded by ESDC. In particular, the Philippine project will complement the regional project in the capacity building initiatives to improve compliance of ASEAN Member States (AMS) with fundamental principles and rights at work; development of tripartite FPRW roadmap; and assessment of labour compliance gaps in trade sectors.  The Philippine project will facilitate the participation of Philippine workers’ and employers’ organizations in the regional peer to peer learning and training initiatives.  It will also be aligned to the regional communication and advocacy strategies on labour rights as well as on child labour.  Similar to the regional project, the Philippine project aligns with Canada's Indo-Pacific strategy, to improve the enforcement of labour provisions, including on forced labour, in current and future free trade agreements between Southeast Asia and Canada.

Within the policy and procedural requirements established by the ILO and the Project on “Strengthening freedom of association and action against child labour in the Philippines”, the Programme and Administrative Assistant will help ensure the Project objectives are met by providing programmatic and administrative support and contributing to delivering the expected outputs.

Reporting Lines:

The Programme and Administrative Assistant will be based in Manila, Philippines.

The Programme and Administrative Assistant will report to and work under the supervision of the National Project Coordinator of the Project. S/he will receive overall guidance from the Country Director of ILO in the Philippines. Administrative and financial guidance will be provided by the Senior Operations Officer and programme-related guidance will be received from the Senior Programme Officer.

S/he is required to work in close collaboration with other ILO staff members, as required.