INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION
	" Poverty anywhere is a threat to prosperity everywhere "

ILO's Perspective on Poverty

At the core of an ILO vision is a notion of society. Within society, solutions are achieved through social dialogue and consensus-building or, if consensus cannot be achieved, by building broad coalitions to overcome vested interests. This means that the labour market, for instance, is a locus of dialogue and consensus, and not just resource allocation. Since conflicting interests are involved, there is a need for rules which obtain respect from the parties involved, implying regulation. Because such regulation cannot be achieved by individuals, there is a stress on the importance of social groups and of collective action.



The ILO concern with social justice leads naturally to a stress on rights and standards: rights, as the basis for participation by labour in society; standards, as a means to express those rights. With respect to poverty, the prevailing philosophy can be expressed as a right to inclusion, in the sense of participation, protection, access to decent jobs and decent incomes. But the fulfillment of this right depends on economic preconditions and to meet these preconditions it is necessary to build up the capacities of labour and of the corresponding systems of production. Thus, the achievement of rights involves the development of both economic and social capability.

There are corresponding priorities in macro-economic policy as well. Inclusion, integration and access to incomes all imply the centrality of employment creation as an economic priority. More generally, the need to build social objectives into macro-economic policy implies a stress on redistribution, equity and solidarity. This is not limited to national policy, but also has implications for the design of international economic systems which respond to poverty-reducing objectives, e.g. through internationally agreed systems of social protection or through modifying the operation of international markets for goods and services in order to defend the ability of workers to obtain a decent remuneration for their work.

Gerry Rodgers (ed): "New Approaches to Poverty Analysis and Policy I: The poverty agenda and the ILO Issues for research and action", International Institute for Labour Studies, Geneva, 1995

 
For further information, please contact the Development Policies Department (POLDEV)
at Tel: +41.22.799.6436, Fax: +41.22.799.6867, or E-Mail: poldev@ilo.org