BEIJING (ILO NEWS)

The Regional Workshop on Social Protection and Social Security for All was held in Beijing from 12-15 April 2014. This workshop was jointly organized by the All China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU), the ILO Bureau for Workers' Activities (ACTRAV) and the ILO International Training Centre (ITC). It is a part of the trade union capacity-building programme under the ACFTU/ACTRAV-ILO Project.

Jiang Guangping, the Vice-Chairman and member of the Secretariat of ACFTU, addressed the participants in the opening ceremony. He emphasized the traditional friendship and cooperation between trade unions in China and other Asian and pacific countries. He referred to the various challenges facing trade unions in the aftermath of the international financial crisis and the essential role of social protection in promoting decent work in the Asia Pacific region.

Tim De Meyer, Director of ILO Country Office for China and Mongolia, stressed that social protection is not a luxury and should become a political and economic priority for every country. He pointed out that the current global daunting gap in social protection is a recipe for political instability as deprivation and insecurity breed political tension. He highlighted the challenges and progress of extension of social protection in the AP region and called on trade unions in the Asia Pacific region to play a more important role in ensuring that everyone without exception is entitled to basic social guarantees.

The four-day workshop covered wide-ranging topics including the social security reforms and key challenges in extending social protection to all, changes and challenges for unions, organizing and collective bargaining as pathway to social protection, financing of social security, development and challenges of social security system in China, etc. Around 40 trade union representatives from 13 Asian-Pacific countries, including China, attended this workshop.