The Blue Pacific Big Ocean States (BPBOS) Labour Platform plays a vital role in unifying the Pacific region on labor and employment matters, as well as the International Labour Organization (ILO) agendas. Established in 2019 during a meeting of ILO Pacific member states’ Labour Ministers in Papua New Guinea, Fiji was the first country elected to Chair the BPBOS platform and continues to hold this position through the Minister for Employment, Productivity and Workplace Relations. The Cook Islands currently manage the Secretariat.
Agni Deo Singh, the Minister for Employment, Productivity and Workplace Relations and the current Chair of the BPBOS, emphasized the platform’s significance in amplifying the Pacific’s presence and perspectives at the International Labour Conference and within the Asia Pacific Group. He noted that during the last Pacific Tripartite High-Level Forum in 2019, Labour Ministers stressed the necessity of presenting a unified stance on critical issues facing the region, including decent work, labor and employment challenges, and climate change.
To further the objectives of the BPBOS, a successful two-day meeting was held on August 26-27, 2024, in Auckland, New Zealand, during which the draft Terms of Reference for the BPBOS Labour Ministers’ Platform were reviewed and completed.
Minister Singh expressed gratitude for the dedication of the Cook Islands government, represented by Anne Herman, Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and Social Impact Fund Officer Miriama Herman, for their assistance in the Secretariat role. He also thanked the ILO Office for the Pacific Island countries for funding the meeting and for their ongoing support to enhance social justice among ILO Pacific Islands member states.
Singh was joined by Deputy Secretary for Employment Atish Kumar and Senior Ministerial Liaison Officer Elina Vuniwa, with support from the Fiji High Commission and Fiji’s Trade Office in New Zealand.