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Events in the international community |
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Major recent eventsThe following is a selection of links concerning recent international conferences and other events of relevance to the social and labour field. |
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Commission for Social Development: Review of further implementation of the outcome of the World Summit for Social Development 1995 and the 24th special session of the General Assembly (Copenhagen+5/Geneva 2000) |
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World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance
The principal concern of the ILO in relation to the Conference was to highlight the economic and social aspect of racism and xenophobia as they affect working men and women and those seeking work, with a special focus on discrimination in the world of work, migrant workers and indigenous and tribal peoples.
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The ILO played a a key role in discussions on HIV/AIDS in the world of work. The ILO Director-General, Juan Somavia, presented the ILO's new Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the World of Work in his statement to the plenary of the Session... |
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The ILO's concerns focused on the need to address the fast and dangerous speed of urbanization worldwide and the related social exclusion and increase in urban poverty, which are intrinsically linked to unemployment and the quest for jobs and to environmental degradation. The ILO believes that there is a strong chance of significantly reducing poverty by increasing the levels and the quality of employment among the poor in cities. |
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One of the best ways to eradicate poverty is through employment and Decent Work ... The ILO was the lead agency for the Interactive Thematic Session on Human Resources Development and Employment, placed under the co-chairmanship of France and Ethiopia, ... where the debate focused on the role of human resources development and employment in stimulating growth and reducing poverty in LDCs...
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Some 149 Heads of State and of Government gathered at UN headquarters in New York from 6 to 8 September for the United Nations Millennium Summit. They considered the Secretary-General’s report entitled We the Peoples: The Role of the United Nations in the 21st Century. In his report, the UN Secretary-General attempts to identify the main challenges facing the international community and sketches out an action plan for addressing them. Among the new initiatives announced by the Secretary-General in the report is the proposal to establish a global policy network to explore viable new approaches to the problem of youth employment. The Summit unanimously adopted a United Nations Millennium Declaration. The main document to emerge from the largest-ever gathering of world leaders, the Declaration contains a statement of values, principles and objectives for the international agenda for the twenty-first century. It also sets deadlines for many collective actions. The Declaration reaffirms member States’ faith in the United Nations and its Charter as indispensable for a more peaceful, prosperous and just world. The leaders declare that the central challenge of today is to “ensure that globalization becomes a positive force for all”, acknowledging that at present both its benefits and its costs are unequally shared. They call for global policies and measures, corresponding to the needs of developing countries and economies in transition. The Heads of State and Government resolved to halve, by the year 2015, the proportion of the world’s people whose income is less than one US dollar a day. They also resolved to “develop and implement strategies that give young people everywhere a real chance to find decent and productive work” and to “develop strong partnerships with the private sector and with civil society organizations in pursuit of development and poverty eradication”. Among the steps aimed at development and poverty eradication, the Declaration contains commitments to make the right to development a reality for everyone. It stresses that success in eliminating poverty will depend, inter alia, on good governance not only within each country, but also at the international level. Commitments to advance the role of the UN include steps to ensure greater policy coherence and better cooperation with its agencies, the Bretton Woods institutions and the WTO as well as other multilateral bodies. The Declaration calls for greater opportunities for the private sector, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and civil society to contribute to the realization of the Organization’s goals and programmes.
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The 24th Special Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations – the “World Summit for Social Development and Beyond: Achieving Social Development for All in a Globalizing World” – was held in Geneva from 26 June to 1 July 2000 to conduct an overall review and appraisal of the implementation of the outcome of the 1995 World Summit for Social Development. The outcome advanced the social development agenda, not only reaffirming the will and determination of the international community to implement the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action, but also setting out further initiatives for its full implementation. The final document adopted includes a political statement on the centrality of more equitable, socially just and people-centred societies; an assessment of what has happened since the World Summit for Social Development; and a wide array of initiatives. The Special Session considered that “full respect for fundamental principles and rights at work” was one of the “essential elements for the realization of social and people-centred sustainable development”. The Special Session stressed that “since the Summit, globalization has presented new challenges for the fulfilment of the commitments made and the realization of the goals of the Summit.” and recognized that there was a “need for collective action to anticipate and offset the negative social and economic consequences of globalization and to maximize its benefits for all members of society, including those with special needs”. Delegates duly acknowledged the work carried out by the ILO since 1995, in particular the adoption of the Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and of the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182). The overall document adopted by the Special Session made specific reference to the central role of employment and labour matters in combating poverty and exclusion, and of the ILO agenda for social and economic development. Of particular significance is the explicit endorsement of the ILO’s Decent Work Programme and its four strategic objectives by the international community as a whole.
World Summit for Social Development (Copenhagen 5-12 March 1995)
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The Special Session of the General Assembly: Women 2000 – Gender equality, development and peace for the twenty-first century (New York, 5-9 June 2000), also known as Beijing+5, conducted an assessment of the progress made and obstacles encountered in the implementation of the Platform for Action agreed at the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995 and sought to identify further action and initiatives to achieve its full implementation. The General Assembly adopted by consensus a Political Declaration and an outcome document entitled Further Actions and Initiatives to Implement the Beijing Platform for Action. The outcome document emphasizes the gender dimension of the challenges posed by globalization. It stresses the gender effects of changing patterns of production, work, and accelerated technological advances in information and communication, pointing out their uneven impacts on women. The outcome document calls for measures to ensure that women reap the benefits rather than bear the burdens of globalization. They include analysing and designing policy responses to the major reasons why women and men are differently affected by job creation and retrenchment; ensuring equal access to social protection systems to provide safeguards against the uncertainties and changes in conditions of work; facilitating employment for women, through, inter alia, adequate social protection and access to risk capital. Finally, the agreed text calls for the respect, promotion and realization of the principles contained in the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and asks member States to “strongly consider ratification and full implementation of ILO Conventions which are particularly relevant to ensuring women’s rights at work”.
Fourth World Conference on Women (1995)
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Created by AD. Approved by ED. Last modified: 18.02.2005 18:05:00
