"Trade union rights are human rights"
A regular newsletter produced by the ILO Bureau for Workers' Activities
No. 2/05
31 March, 2005
Contents
 Global aim: decent work for all
Burma: time to be firm
Concern over Nepal situation
Union rights: a constant battle
Budget: doing more and better with less
Other Governing Body decisions
Combating child labour: IPEC and ACTRAV, same struggle
28 April: World Day for Safety and Health at Work
Making labour inspections more effective
Tackling HIV/AIDS among health workers
Union rights make you competitive
In brief...
Global aim: decent work for all
Published in February 2004, the report of the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization has already been scrutinized at more than 70 events of various kinds at the national, regional and world levels. During its 292nd session (Geneva, 3-24 March 2005), the Governing Body of the International Labour Office continued its discussions on follow-up to the report's recommendations. The aims: to make decent work a global objective and ensure policy coherency within the multilateral system.
With the UN General Assembly's adoption of a resolution calling for "a fully inclusive and equitable globalization", the listing of decent work as a worldwide objective in the European Commission's Social Agenda for 2005-2010, the support expressed by the African Heads of State during the African Union's Extraordinary Summit on Employment and Poverty, and many other marks of support, attention is now turning to the International Labour Organization (ILO) which will have the task of identifying the concrete measures needed to follow up on the Report of the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization, which the ILO helped to set up.
The Governing Body had before it three proposals from ILO Director-General Juan Somavia: policy coherence initiatives aimed at strengthening partnerships within the multilateral system; the establishment of a globalization policy forum for the exchange of views on the social dimension of globalization; and policy development dialogues that would enable the various decision-makers and actors in the globalization process to engage in concertation on the different aspects of globalization and, if necessary, to decide on the types of action to be envisaged.
Supported by the Workers' Group, these three proposals were the subject of wide-ranging discussions within the Working Party on the Social Dimension of Globalization. A broad consensus emerged on the need for the ILO to strengthen its partnership with the other institutions of the multilateral system, particularly the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization, with due regard to each organization's mandate. Preparations for the first initiative on policy coherence, which covers growth, investment and employment, were favourably received by the delegates as a whole. As regards the dialogues on policy formulation, the Workers' Group suggested that one of the dialogues could be about export processing zones. Unions still have concerns about respect for workers' rights in these zones. While the proposal for a Globalization Forum received broad support from worker and government delegates, including the Latin American and African groups on the Governing Body, the Employers' Group kept up its opposition. The employers indicated that, if the proposal were nonetheless maintained, they would press for a reduced version with a very concrete mandate. The Workers' Group, on the other hand, proposed that the ground for such a Forum should be prepared by convening a group of experts to make a prior assessment of globalization issues in a sample of countries and in consultation with the tripartite constituents, in order to better identify the problems and study the most effective approaches.
The discussion will continue at the Governing Body's November session, which is to prepare a document setting out the first results of the policy coherence initiative on the linkages between growth, investment and decent work. The Governing Body will also be selecting thematic issues for the policy formulation dialogues, and it will be discussing a new proposal for a forum on globalization, taking into account the discussions at its latest session. The ILO may also consider publishing a regular report on the state of globalization.
In his conclusions, Governing Body Chair Philippe Séguin said the Working Group had reached "clear and strong consensus" that the promotion of decent work as a global goal is the ILO's distinctive contribution to a fair globalization.
Special guest Vladimir Spidla, the European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, underlined the key role of the ILO in promoting international policy dialogues and the establishment of policy coherence partnerships in the multilateral system.
Burma: time to be firm
After a high-level mission is curtailed and a report shows continued forced labour, the Governing Body says no more "wait and see".
At its previous session, the Governing Body had called for the sending of a very high-level team to assess the attitude of the new leaders of the Burma (Myanmar) ruling military junta towards the forced labour practices which are still continuing in all regions of the country. The Workers' Group then let it be known that, if this mission did not obtain a credible commitment from the government, they would call for full implementation of the resolution adopted in June 2000 under Article 33 of the ILO Constitution. This resolution provides for the ILO to call upon its Member States to review their economic policies towards and other relations with Myanmar (Burma) in the light of the continued use of forced labour there. Such a review should also concern investments.
Comprising Sir Ninian Stephen, former Governor General of Australia, Ms. Ruth Dreifuss, former President of the Swiss Confederation, and Mr. Eui-yong Chung, former Chairman of the ILO Governing Body and member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea, the high-level mission visited Burma on 21-23 February. Initially scheduled to run until 25 February, the mission was curtailed after it became clear that it would not be granted a meeting with the junta's highest authorities, namely Senior General Than Shwe, the head of the junta, and Vice-Senior General Maung Aye. And yet, in its meetings with the Prime Minister (who ranks fourth in the hierarchy of the ruling military council, the SPDC), the Minister of Labour and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the high-level mission had insisted that it needed to make contact at the highest level, in view of disturbing reports that "the army was responsible for some very serious cases of forced labour".
In his report to the Governing Body, the ILO Liaison Officer ad interim in Yangon notes that, despite certain improvements since the commission of inquiry was held - notably the recent sentencing of a few people responsible for forced labour cases - forced labour is still widespread throughout the country, and more particularly in the border areas where a strong military presence has been observed.
On behalf of the Workers' Group, Leroy Trotman, Worker Vice-Chairman of the Governing Body, strongly deplored the lack of progress on eliminating forced labour in Burma, and he voiced concern over the fate of the trade union activists imprisoned for denouncing the repression by the regime. In the circumstances, he called for the strengthening of the measures envisaged in the resolution adopted in 2000, as well as the maintenance of the ILO presence within the country. Some governments and the Employers' Group, while joining in the condemnation of the authorities' action, felt that the regime should be given a new deadline and a last chance, and that any decision should be postponed until the International Labour Conference in June.
Finally, the Governing Body noted in its conclusions that it is no longer possible to maintain the "wait and see" attitude that has prevailed since 2001. It was unanimously agreed that its conclusions should be sent to the representatives of governments, employers and workers, so that they can take the appropriate measures within the framework of the 2000 resolution. (This resolution, adopted in 2000 under Article 33 of the ILO Constitution, asks the ILO constituents and the other agencies to review their relations with Myanmar (Burma) and take the action that they may consider appropriate.)
The Governing Body will continue to watch developments closely and a document will be presented to the Committee on the Application of Standards during the International Labour Conference in June.
At a meeting with the Workers' Group, Ruth Dreifuss (who was herself a worker representative at the ILO during her long career as a trade union leader in Switzerland) noted that trade union pressure had been crucial in convincing the ILO to act firmly on the forced labour situation in Burma, and would remain vital in future.
Concern over Nepal situation
The Governing Body approved a declaration proposed by the Workers' Group, calling for the release of trade unionists imprisoned in Nepal.
On 22 March, a delegation of Governing Body Workers' Group members, led by their spokesman Leroy Trotman, went to the Nepalese mission to the United Nations, in Geneva, to express their concern over the situation in Nepal and to call for the release of detained trade unionists.
Their action was part of the worldwide campaign launched by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and the World Confederation of Labour (WCL) together with the Global Union Federations, who had called an international day of trade union action to defend trade union rights in Nepal.
According to the trade unionists, at least 25 union activists and leaders have been arrested in Nepal under the state of emergency decreed by King Gyanendra on 1 February. Many of them are still being detained and some are in poor health. Laxman Basnet, President of the ICFTU-affiliated Nepal Trade Union Congress (NTUC), who as a Governing Body member was attending the ILO meeting in Geneva, took part in the delegation. He is also one of the 1,400 people on the regime's list of targets for close surveillance or arrest. In a declaration addressed to the King of Nepal and presented to his Ambassador to the United Nations, the members of the ILO Governing Body Workers' Group demanded the immediate and unconditional release of all the imprisoned trade unionists and the immediate restoration of their basic rights.
Following an international trade union complaint lodged with the ILO, the situation in Nepal was on the agenda of the organization's Committee on Freedom of Association, whose report was examined by the Governing Body.
The Governing Body issued a statement proposed by the Workers' Group, in which it notes that "trade union activities have been severely limited, with any union meetings requiring prior authorization from public officials, which is contrary to fundamental ILO standards." The statement demands the immediate release of all the imprisoned trade unionists. Last month, the ILO Director-General wrote to King Gyanendra to express his deep concern over the suspension of civil and trade union rights, and especially the fact that a number of trade unionists were in prison.
Union rights: a constant battle
Arrests of trade unionists, denial of public service workers' right to strike through an unduly elastic conception of essential services, anti-union discrimination, unfair dismissals, assaults, death threats and murders ... Once again, the Committee on Freedom of Association had to draw attention to serious breaches of basic labour rights in a number of countries, notably Nepal (see above), Costa Rica, Indonesia, Zimbabwe, Canada, Colombia, Guatemala, Haiti and Uganda, as well as in a Sri Lankan export processing zone.
In all, the Committee on Freedom of Association examined 30 cases during its March session. There are currently 134 dossiers before this Committee.
On Costa Rica, the Committee asked the government to amend its legislation so as to guarantee the right to strike to public service workers other than those in essential services. Turning to complaints about the unfair dismissal of trade unionists in Indonesia, the Committee deplored the fact that, for the third time, it had to emphasize that accusations of anti-union action must be rapidly and impartially investigated and that, if these proved to be well founded, the trade unionists must be reinstated. The legislation should also be modified to provide workers with better protection against such abuses. Four cases before the Committee concerned serious breaches of freedom of association in Zimbabwe. These include the dismissal of the President of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), Lovemore Matombo, sacked for taking allegedly unauthorized leave in order to attend the Congress of the Organization of African Trade Union Unity (OATUU). Other cases were about arrests, dismissals and attacks directed against ZCTU activists. The Committee once again called on the Zimbabwean government to hold a truly independent inquiry into certain allegations of anti-union discrimination. On Colombia, the Committee examined a case of collective dismissal affecting about one hundred textile workers who had set up a trade union and whom the employer replaced with non-union workers. One of the leaders of this textile workers' union, Luis Alberto Toro Colorado, was murdered during these events. Death threats and intimidation also seem to be on the increase again in Guatemala, where the Committee found that judicial rulings on the reinstatement of unfairly dismissed trade unionists are often not respected. It noted the slowness of the procedures for claiming compensation. The Committee also expressed concern over the situation in Haiti, where a case under examination concerns, amongst other things, the detention without charge of about ten trade unionists for over a month.
Yet again, the Committee on Freedom of Association had before it a case of union rights violations in an export processing zone. This time, the EPZ concerned was in Sri Lanka, where a firm conducted a campaign of intimidation and harassment in order to prevent workers from forming a union. About a hundred workers suspected of being union members were dismissed. The Committee asked the government to open an enquiry into the allegations of anti-union discrimination and to take the necessary steps to reinstate the rights of the workers concerned.
On behalf of the Workers' Group, Ulf Edström (Sweden), emphasized that it was unacceptable that entire sectors such as textiles and garments, often based in EPZs in Sri Lanka or elsewhere, should see their workers deprived of their basic right to freedom of association and collective bargaining.
In a case concerning restrictions on the right to strike in a province of Canada (British Columbia), Ulf Edström raised the question of the federal State's responsibility for union rights violations in its provinces. He regretted that the federal authorities were content to act as a transmission belt for the provincial government. "I am convinced," he said, "that if cases of child labour, forced labour or gender discrimination were reported in the provinces, the federal government could not tolerate such situations. But apparently, when violations of workers' basic rights are at stake, the same does not apply."
The Committee on Freedom of Association asked the government of Belarus to provide it as soon as possible with comments and information on the steps taken to implement the recommendations of the Commission of Enquiry of which it was the subject, taking due consideration of the deadlines set by the Commission concerning several recommendations (see Human.Rights@Work No. 5/2004).
On a brighter note, the Committee's interventions and recommendations did lead to positive steps being taken in a number of cases, such as the reinstatement of unfairly dismissed workers and trade unionists in Guatemala, the announcement of the imminent ratification of the Convention on Freedom of Association (No. 87) by the government of Mauritius and the opening of negotiations between the government of Argentina and the national civil service union UPCN.
Budget: doing more and better with less
The Workers' Group is disturbed by the unfavourable trend in the ILO's budget relative to those of the other UN agencies and of the UN itself. The workers supported the Director-General's questioning of the zero real growth in the ILO budget. The outcome is that the International Labour Conference will have before it a proposal for a modest increase.
The Governing Body backed the provisional programme and budget level. The budget for the two years 2006-07 should amount to US$ 586.6 million, according to an estimate based on the exchange rate used for the 2004-05 budget, which was 1.34 Swiss francs to the US dollar. This would represent a real budget growth of 1.1 per cent.
Speaking for the workers in the programme and budget discussion, Marc Blondel (France) recalled that, when the Director-General originally presented the programme and budget proposals, the workers had, in a spirit of consensus, supported the 4.3 per cent increase proposed, even though they would have preferred a more substantial and appropriate increase. The Workers' Group therefore regretted that the Director-General had been constrained, by certain governments, to abandon this modest aim, at a time when the Governing Body is faced with the paradox of meeting a constantly growing demand for services on the basis of further cuts in the budget. Marc Blondel pointed out that the ILO will be measured by the yardstick of what it really contributes to the world of work, as its whole raison d'être is to ensure that work is given its proper place in society, while campaigning for peace, democracy and social justice.
The new programme, which will be submitted to the International Labour Conference in June for approval, places the emphasis on decent work as a global goal and the interrelated actions needed at the local, national, regional and international levels, including Decent Work Country Programmes. The programme reinforces and deepens the four strategic objectives of the ILO: promoting standards and fundamental principles and rights at work, creating greater opportunities for women and men to secure decent employment and income, enhancing the coverage and effectiveness of social protection for all, and strengthening tripartism and social dialogue. It also proposes initiatives on decent work for youth, corporate social responsibility, export processing zones, and the informal economy.
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The Workers' Group of the ILO paid tribute to Ditiro Saleshando, in charge of the Africa desk of the ILO Bureau for Workers' Activities, who died on January 18. A webpage on the ACTRAV site is devoted to Ditiro Saleshando's contribution to the labour movement. |
Other Governing Body decisions
Sectoral activities: The Governing Body decided that new sectoral action programmes would be implemented during 2006-07 in the health services (international migration of health professionals - supply side); telecoms (theme to be agreed); and the public services (promote and intensify social dialogue in the public services and support and activate public service reform within a rapidly changing environment). Tripartite sectoral meetings will be organized in 2006-07 for chemicals, mining, transport and commerce.
Tripartism: The Governing Body asked the ILO Director-General to ensure that the principles of tripartism and social dialogue are more integrated into technical cooperation activities and to work out precise modalities for facilitating consultations and relations between all of the ILO departments and the Bureau for Employers' and Workers' Activities. This decision is part of the follow-up to the Resolution on tripartism and social dialogue adopted by the International Labour Conference in June 2002.
International migration: As part of the follow-up to the June 2004 general discussion on migrant workers, a tripartite experts' meeting will be held in Geneva on 14-16 September 2005. Its task will be to prepare, for submission to the November 2005 Governing Body, the multilateral framework for a rights-based approach to labour migration.
International Maritime Conference: Scheduled for 2005, the maritime session of the International Labour Conference has been postponed until 2006 for budgetary reasons. It will be held on 7-23 February next year. This conference is to adopt a new Convention consolidating the main provisions of more than 60 ILO maritime labour standards, with the aim of ensuring better protection for workers in the sector. The draft Convention will be fine-tuned at a preparatory tripartite meeting in Geneva on 21-27 April 2005.
Tsunami aftermath: While recounting the efforts made by the ILO in its reconstruction assistance programmes following the earthquake and tsunami disaster in the Indian Ocean, a report submitted to the Governing Body notes that the donors have not provided funds for its two reconstruction projects featured in the emergency funding appeal, whereas other bodies received excess funding. One of the explanations suggested by the report is that the system put in place is strongly focussed on providing immediate assistance, and much less so on the ensuing medium-term recovery process.
Combating child labour: IPEC and ACTRAV, same struggle
Cooperation between the IPEC and ACTRAV programmes against child labour is being reinforced. Each is making use of its relative advantages. ACTRAV's strength lies in getting the unions involved and, through them, ensuring employer commitment to this struggle.
During this Governing Body session, delegates received a visit from King Juan Carlos I of Spain. In his address, he described child labour and its ramifications as "appalling" and called for them to be combated vigorously as part of the drive to give the globalization process a "human dimension". The King and Queen Sofia of Spain were at the ILO to mark the tenth anniversary of Spain's cooperation with the ILO's International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC).
"Work carried out by school-age children should be vigorously condemned and combated, not only because it adversely affects children's health and education, but, above all, because it violates their most basic rights, to dignity and to freedom", said the King. The Director-General of the ILO said that Spanish cooperation with IPEC had allowed more than 100,000 children who were victims of the worst forms of child labour to have access to education. "More than 35,000 families have been helped to increase their level of income, and not to depend for subsistence on work done by their children", he added.
The ACTRAV programme
Lower-profile but just as effective, the programme run by the ILO's Bureau for Workers' Activities (ACTRAV) and financed through Norwegian development assistance has made major advances in the fight against child labour. It has done so by putting trade unions at the centre of its action and promoting the negotiation of collective agreements with employers. In Malawi, for instance, the ACTRAV programme helped bring about an agreement between the sugar plantation workers' union and the Malawian sugar company SUCOMA. Under the agreement, SUCOMA must fully respect regulations forbidding child labour. The company has also pledged not to employ any workers aged under 18, even though the labour regulations set the age limit at 14. Moreover, the agreement specifies that the company shall also apply its provisions to its suppliers and subcontractors.
In Uganda, a declaration signed by the national trade union centre NOTU and the employers' federation at the end of a joint seminar held as part of the ACTRAV programme commits the unions and the employers to join together in combating child labour wherever it is found in that country.
Thanks to collective agreements between trade unions and rubber plantation owners, it's back to school for some 4,000 Cambodian children. The ACTRAV programme plans to continue its promotion of collective agreements to eliminate child labour in Zambia and Zimbabwe.
In French-speaking Africa, the programme helped set up union resource centres against child labour in Benin and Burkina Faso and an inter-union committee in Senegal. ACTRAV's work with the unions on this issue lays down a solid base for the development of IPEC's activities in these countries, thus building synergies between the two programmes.
According to Tor Monsen, who heads the project, the comparative advantage of the ACTRAV programme is that, by involving unions in the fight against child labour and, through the unions and collective bargaining, committing the employers to respect international standards, lasting results can be achieved. Incidentally, the project also helps to strengthen trade union organizations, thus ensuring even better results in future. Currently, the ACTRAV programme is active in 18 African and Asian countries.
28 April: World Day for Safety and Health at Work
Tripartism can boost union action for worker health and safety.
More than 5,000 people die every day from work-related accidents and illnesses. Workplace health and safety remain a top priority for the ILO. Since 2003, at the initiative of its Bureau for Workers' Activities, the ILO has been providing a tripartite input for Workers' Memorial Day, the event held by the trade union movement on 28 April every year since 1995 to commemorate all those killed or injured at work. This special day is coordinated by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. This year, the ILO's chosen theme is health and safety in the construction sector, one of the world's deadliest industries. A third of the fatal accidents, almost 120,000 a year, occur on building sites. Another focus for the ILO this year will be younger and older workers' particular occupational health and safety needs. Tripartite activities have already been scheduled in a number of countries. In Algeria, for example, the Ministry of Labour has confirmed that there will be a week-long exhibition as well as an official ceremony on 28 April, with the launch of a special postage stamp on occupational health and safety. In Gabon, the government has decreed that 28 April will be observed as a special day each year. In Bangladesh, the foundation for health and safety at work will be holding a tripartite seminar, and several activities are planned in Indonesia. In France, the University of Savoie will stage a conference on workplace health and safety on 7-8 April as part of the run-up to the international day. A conference is also planned in Finland, with the participation of ILO Executive Director Kari Tapiola. Various activities are slated in Sweden, while in Kazakhstan a two-day seminar will deal mainly with the role of the labour inspectorate. Argentina will be holding a workplace health and safety week on 21- 28 April 2005.
These are just some examples of the tripartite activities. In addition, many events will be held by the unions as part of the international commemoration day launched by the ICFTU and the Global Union Federations.
New health and safety news service: An online news service about occupational health and safety has just been launched by the labour news site LabourStart, in cooperation with the health and safety magazine Hazards. The scheme, which is entirely free, enables any website to be updated with the latest health and safety news every 15 minutes.
Making labour inspections more effective
The ILO wants to promote an integrated labour inspection system, in order to make it more effective. Trade unions make a link between basic rights and respect for health and safety standards.
The murder of two labour inspectors in France last year was headline news, as was the slaying of three inspectors and their driver in Brazil while they were on duty. But according to the ILO, these two extreme examples are just the tip of the iceberg for labour inspectors. On 9-11 March, a high-level European Union conference held in Luxembourg called for a global approach to labour inspection, so as to give practical effect to people's right to decent working conditions.
As Bjorn Erikson, representing the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, pointed out, the firms that do not respect basic labour rights are the firms where workers' health and safety are most at risk. Simon Steyne, a worker member of the ILO Governing Body, emphasized that workers have two means of asserting their right to decent work: solidarity and negotiation via independent, representative trade union organizations; and the legislation which labour inspectorates must help to uphold.
Participants stressed that globalization demands a more creative, wider-ranging approach to labour inspection, due to changes in the world of work and the emergence of new hazards. They also emphasized the importance of strengthening the integrated labour inspection system worldwide, particularly in European transition countries. Held during Luxembourg's presidency of the European Union, the conference proposed the establishment of a joint ILO-EU programme, financed by the EU, to strengthen labour inspection and occupational health and safety in these countries.
During the conference, the Luxembourg government confirmed that it was preparing to ratify twenty ILO Conventions with a bearing on health and safety.
Asked about labour inspectors' safety, Jukka Takala, head of the ILO Safework department, said that although murders of labour inspectors are, fortunately, a rarity, they are frequently subjected to threats, act of resistance or violence.
"Violence or hostile attitudes towards labour inspectors are more and more common," Jukka Takala said. "And not only in Brazil or France. The various indicators show that this is a very widespread phenomenon. Of course, labour inspectors sometimes have unwelcome messages to put across when it comes to denouncing atrocious working conditions or a substandard working environment. But there's no point shooting the messenger."
With 134 countries signed up, ILO Convention No. 81 on labour inspections is one of the most ratified of the ILO's 185 Conventions, and it is regarded as a priority for ratification.
Tackling HIV/AIDS among health workers
A tripartite experts' meeting to be held in Geneva on 19-21 April is to adopt common ILO and WHO (World Health Organization) guidelines for a better approach to HIV/AIDS in the healthcare sector. According to the WHO, HIV/AIDS generally hits hardest where healthcare systems are weakest, and these already hard-pressed systems are further weakened by the loss of health staff who themselves fall victim to the virus. The common guidelines from the two UN agencies will help to improve the organization of HIV/AIDS prevention among health staff and the follow-up of health workers who contract the virus.
Africa could avoid 43 million new cases of AIDS over the next two years if overseas aid were significantly increased and major investments were made in health and prevention. That is the message from a new UNAIDS report which sets out three possible scenarios for the future shape of the epidemic in Africa.
Union rights make you competitive
ILO specialists have come up with some fascinating findings about the competitive edge that labour rights bring to trade and to the informal economy.
There is a clearcut link between labour rights (freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining) and the volume of manufactures exported. Similarly, union rights and democracy affect the total volume of exports. Those are the findings of a study of 162 countries, covering the years 1993 to1999. The study (How do trade union rights affect trade competitiveness? David Kucera and Ritash Sarna, ILO) shows that greater respect for trade union rights does not pose any threat to firms' competitiveness. On the contrary, countries with a good record on implementing international labour standards generally fare better in world markets. So the study scotches all those theories about trade union freedom being an obstacle to development. According to its authors, ILO researchers David Kucera and Ritash Sharna, their findings are explained by the greater economic and social stability enjoyed by the countries with the best labour rights records. And that stability is a real boon when it comes to making exports more competitive.
In another study, David Kucera shows that the Latin American countries which most respect union rights tend to have a bigger formal economy and a smaller informal one. (Labor Standards and Informal Employment in Latin America, Rossana Galli and David Kucera, World Development, Elsevier).
In brief...
178th member for the ILO: The Independent State of Samoa has become the 178th Member State of the International Labour Organization (ILO). This follows the receipt in Geneva of a letter from Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, declaring his government's formal acceptance of the obligations arising from the ILO Constitution. Samoa, a UN member since 15 December 1976, joined the ILO on 7 March 2005.
Promoting the Declaration on Multinational Enterprises: Three tripartite subregional seminars are planned this year as part of the drive to promote the ILO's Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy. One of them was held on 25-26 January in Pretoria, for the countries of Southern Africa. A symposium for the South-East Asian countries will take place on 11-12 April in Jakarta (Indonesia). The symposium for the Mercosur countries is scheduled for 25-26 April in Montevideo. In addition, the Governing Body subcommittee on multinational enterprises has proposed holding a forum on corporate social responsibility to mark the thirtieth anniversary of the Declaration.
Promoting labour rights in Rumanian schools: As part of a project financed by Germany, aimed at promoting the ILO Declaration, the Rumanian unions have developed educational modules for incorporation into secondary school syllabuses. They deal with basic principles and rights at work, the role of the social partners and the usefulness of social dialogue in a democratic society. This is the centrepiece of the Rumanian unions' long-term strategy for attracting young people into the trade union movement and making workers' rights and the values of solidarity better known.
Slight fall in world unemployment: Published last month, the ILO's annual report on world employment trends reveals that, despite strong economic growth, the global employment picture showed only very slight signs of improvement in 2004. The number of jobs went up and unemployment dipped very slightly at the world level, falling from 6.3% to 6.1%, or from 185.2 million jobless in 2003 to 184.7 million in 2004. It was the first time since 2000 that world unemployment had declined year-on-year, although the reduction was very slight, and only the second time since 1994. The report explains that strong world economic growth, running at 5% in 2004, was the main contributor to this result. But compared to economic growth, worldwide employment growth remains disappointing, at 47.7 million new jobs created, a rise of 1.7%. Apart from creating jobs, the report says the world's leaders now face some other big challenges - notably the need to eliminate decent work "deficits", which do not necessarily decline when unemployment is on the wane. Policy should therefore not aim just at cutting unemployment, but also at improving working conditions.
UN Women's Commission: The UN Commission on the Status of Women, which ended its 49th session on 11 March, adopted several texts including a resolution calling on governments to take all appropriate measures to end the trafficking of women and a policy declaration which recognizes the link between the Beijing Action Programme and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
The Commission devoted this session to the follow-up to the Beijing Action Programme adopted in 1995. The Commission also called for all forms of people trafficking, and in particular the trafficking of women and girls, to be treated as crimes and for the traffickers and their intermediaries to be tried and sentenced. At the same time, protection and assistance must be provided to the victims of this trade, while fully respecting their basic rights.
New Human Rights Council at UN: After growing criticism of the UN Commission on Human Rights, paralyzed by Member States more concerned with escaping blame than with promoting human rights, the United Nations Secretary-General has proposed creating a new Human Rights Council alongside the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council. The new body would consist of members elected by two-thirds of the votes in the General Assembly, and would be bound by basic criteria. Asked about this reform, the Secretary-General said it was an open secret that the Human Rights Commission could be more effective. He added that governments tried to get onto the Commission either to protect themselves or to punish others.
World Water Day: To mark World Water Day on 22 March, the UN launched the Water For Life Decade. "Water is essential for life," the UN says. "Yet many millions of people around the world face water shortages. Many millions of children die every year from water-borne diseases. And drought regularly afflicts some of the world's poorest countries."
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