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"The primary goal of the ILO today is to promote opportunities for women and men to obtain decent and productive work, in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity." Juan Somavia, ILO Director-General
Decent work sums up the aspirations of people in their working lives – their aspirations for opportunity and income; rights, voice and recognition; family stability and personal development; and fairness and gender equality. Ultimately these various dimensions of decent work underpin peace in communities and society. Decent work reflects the concerns of governments, workers and employers, who together provide the ILO with its unique tripartite identity.
To reduce the decent work deficits in the Arab Region, the ILO ROAS is implementing innovative programmes that are guided by the four overarching pillars of the Decent Work Agenda, namely employment creation and enterprise development, social protection, standards and rights at work, and social dialogue and the ILO Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalization, looking into economic and financial policies in the light of the fundamental objective of promoting social justice. Strategic partnerships with national, regional and international actors are being consolidated to ensure a more inclusive and participatory approach to programme development. Moreover, to strengthen the region’s capacity to survive further financial shocks emphasis is being placed in developing an integrated set of policy interventions aimed at boosting employment, strengthening social protection mechanisms, establishing sound socio-economic policies based on social rights and social dialogue, promoting gender equality and non-discrimination, and focus on human development and decent work.
The main vehicle that the ILO uses to implement its decent work agenda and deliver support to counties is the Decent Work Country Programme. DWCPs have two basic objectives. They promote decent work as a key component of national development strategies. At the same time they organise ILO knowledge, instruments, advocacy and cooperation at the service of tripartite constituents in a results-based framework to advance the Decent Work Agenda within the fields of comparative advantage of the Organization.
Regional Programme Priorities (2010-2011)
Building on ongoing and proactive policy dialogue with governments and social partners, in the context of the formulation and implementation of DWCPs as well as in mobilizing action for change through regional events focusing on specific decent work dimensions, the ILO ROAS will focus on the following priority areas over the period 2010-2011.
Supporting productive employment and inclusive labour marker policies
Technical support and advisory services will be provided to at least three countries to pursue the adoption of the Employment Policy Convention (No. 122), and to develop and implement action-oriented national employment policies. National capacities will be strengthened to collect and analyse data for policy development and to ensure effective monitoring. The ILO will support national and regional institutions in analysing labour market dynamics through capacity development initiatives and regular regional reports to inform macro-economic decision making. Active labour market programmes targeting youth, including labour market intermediation systems, will be supported and strengthened at various levels. National and regional knowledge networks will be established to share best practices and build capacities for improved sustainability in service delivery.
ILO best practices in skills development will be adapted to national contexts. Support will focus on developing effective TVET policies and systems responsive to market needs. This includes supporting national efforts to develop effective vocational rehabilitation delivery systems to better target young women.
Programmes to enhance entrepreneurship and self-employment culture will be developed based on business environment assessments. This will be complemented by women’s enterprise development and gender equality in local area development, and the development of an entrepreneurship education curriculum. The technical capacity of SME service providers and support institutions will be strengthened to improve provision of needs-based and commercially-driven support services.
Extending social protection for vulnerable workers
The financial crisis is expected to affect the livelihoods of a growing number of vulnerable workers, including migrant workers, particularly in countries with less well developed social security policies and mechanisms. The ILO will offer technical assistance and training to support the extension of social security coverage and improve its governance. The Social Security Inquiry will be used as a new tool to help countries monitor progress and self-benchmark within the region and beyond. The ILO will continue to provide advisory services aimed at closing coverage gaps and establishing a basic social security package, as well as strengthening the planning and implementation capacities of institutions. ILO interventions will ensure that social security is mainstreamed into national legal, economic and fiscal policy frameworks, also ensuring compatibility with social, economic and fiscal reforms.
DWCPs will focus on protecting the most vulnerable groups, providing policy guidance on international labour migration, and strengthening the capacities of relevant departments at Ministries of Labour. Advocacy efforts and support to normative reform will emphasize the central theme of decent work, labour migration governance, protection of migrant workers, promoting migration and development linkages, and expanding international cooperation using a rights-based approach.
Improving labour governance and social dialogue
The ILO will continue to provide technical assistance to member States for the ratification and application of international labour standards, particularly addressing ratification deficits on freedom of association, the right to organize, collective bargaining and labour administration. Mechanisms for social dialogue will be promoted through the establishment or re-activation of tripartite labour committees, including national Economic and Social Councils and by strengthening constituents’ capacities to engage in policy dialogue and legislative action. Technical advice to governments will ensure alignment of labour law reforms with international standards, stronger and more responsive labour administration systems and promotion of modern labour inspection mechanisms.
Supporting recovery in crisis-affected countries
Support to crisis-affected countries, focusing on vulnerable groups, will be designed to ensure coherence with and relevance to national UN development frameworks. Constituents’ capacities will be strengthened to ensure effective participation in local area socio-economic development initiatives. National policies addressing unemployment and skills development will be translated into integrated and agile national strategies targeting strong labour market institutions and producing reliable labour market information.
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