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| - The International Labour Organization said Thursday that a landmark convention on preventing violence and harassment in the workplace would take effect in one year, after Fiji became the second country to ratify it. The text was approved by an overwhelming majority of countries a year ago at a conference marking the ILO's 100th anniversary, but it required two ratifications to allow it to enter into force. Uruguay ratified the text earlier this month, and Fiji's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Nazhat Shameem Khan, informed ILO chief Guy Ryder of the ratification during a virtual ceremony on Thursday, the UN's labour organisation said in a statement. "With the deposit of this second ratification, the Convention will enter into force on 25 June 2021," it said. ILO began work on the convention in 2015, two years before the sexual harassment and assault allegations against Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein triggered the #MeToo movement. But Ryder said last year that the global #MeToo campaign gave "momentum and significance" to the process of drafting the convention, which establishes protection standards for workers worldwide on a range of issues, including sexual harassment. Ambassador Khan said the convention was "timely", as it "purports to protect and empower all those who are the subject of bullying and harassment at work, including women." Ryder stressed Thursday that the current coronavirus crisis had increased the need for the treaty to take effect. Fiji's ratification was "an important step towards the achievement of decent work, particularly in these unprecedented times in which the world is struggling to overcome and recover from a global pandemic," he said in the statement. "In times of crisis and economic insecurity, the risk of violence and harassment escalates, as has been so evident during this devastating pandemic." The convention affirms that everyone has the right to work in an environment free from violence and harassment. It also recognises that violence and harassment in the workplace "can constitute a human rights violation", is a threat to equal opportunities at work, and "is unacceptable and incompatible with decent work." The text defines violence and harassment as behaviours "that aim at, result in, or are likely to result in physical, psychological, sexual or economic harm," and reminds states that they are responsible for promoting a "general environment of zero tolerance". nl/dl
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