|
GENERAL
INFORMATION
|
|
Conclusions from
the Thirteenth ILO Asian Regional Meeting 2001
1.
The delegates at the Thirteenth Asian Regional Meeting of the ILO
endorse the general purport of the Report of the Director-General,
Decent Work in Asia.
2. The delegates urge all member States in the region to define, through
a tripartite process, a national plan of action for decent work, that
integrates fundamental rights at work, greater opportunities for
women and men to secure decent work, social protection, including
occupational safety and health standards, for the greatest possible
number of workers, as well as increased social dialogue.
3. The delegates call attention to the fact that globalization can have
positive as well as negative impacts. In light of the current global
economic downturn, which is already causing lower economic growth
in many countries of the region, the delegates request the
Director-General, as a matter of urgency, to prepare, in consultation
with the tripartite constituents of the region, guidelines and proposed
programmes aimed at preventing, or at least significantly attenuating,
the negative impacts of the current economic slowdown, as well as
programmes aimed to assist member States to participate
successfully in the global economy to achieve sustainable economic
growth.
4. The delegates recall that respect for international labour standards is
fundamentally important for reduction of the decent work deficit in
their countries. The ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and
Rights at Work will provide a positive framework within which to
fashion more adequate responses to social problems and structural
changes which may result from economic fluctuation and
globalization. The delegates call on all member States to bring their
legislation into conformity with the principles of the fundamental
Conventions and to take steps to ratify these Conventions, if they
have not done so, and to apply them fully. The delegates note the
disparity between ratification and implementation of fundamental
Conventions and urge that measures be taken to address this issue.
5. The delegates welcome the ongoing review of standards policy. In
order to facilitate the process it would be useful to follow a more
systematic approach focusing on the revisions of existing standards,
as well as the development of relevant new standards. Delegates
also call on the Office to provide assistance to constituents both in
preparing for ratification and in applying ratified standards.
6. The delegates take note of the significant expansion of the
International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) in
the region and of the remarkable results achieved in some countries.
They express the hope that IPEC will extend its activities to
appropriate countries in the region in the course of the next
biennium. While urging IPEC to deploy every possible effort to
eliminate child labour, in particular in its worst forms, the delegates
encourage it to devote particular attention to combating trafficking of
children and to bonded labour.
7. The delegates wish to stress the importance of employment
generation as the central element in the Decent Work Agenda and
as the principal means to reduce poverty. They call on the
Director-General to give priority to this issue in the ILO programme in
both the Asia-Pacific region and the Arab states. The delegates urge
the Office to work with constituents to enable member States to
establish development plans and training programmes to alleviate the
problem of unemployment. They call on the ILO to assist countries to
identify their needs, undertake research, and develop, in consultation
with them, an employment framework in accordance with the Decent
Work Agenda. Delegates note the significant increase in flexible
work arrangements – subcontracting, casual, fixed-term, part-time,
temporary and home-based work. The delegates stress the need
both for the creation of decent work and the establishment and
maintenance of a policy framework favourable to economic growth
and to the development and expansion of both large and small
enterprises and to provide appropriate training, credit and other
support services, especially to small enterprises. The delegates note
the importance of raising productivity, increasing competitiveness of
enterprises and establishing a conducive environment for investment,
job creation and improved quality of life.
8. The delegates consider that it is important to promote policy
integration for employment through better co-operation among
government agencies as well as with social partners. By giving high
priority to employment issues in the overall policy agenda, it is hoped
that forward-looking strategies may be developed to avert and
mitigate the social repercussions of economic downturns on
employment and income in the region. In order to promote
employment the delegates stress the importance of partnerships
among the ILO, relevant international agencies and international and
regional financial institutions.
9. The delegates note that there are still many countries in the region
where equality between women and men in employment, education
and training, remuneration, social security entitlements, facilities to
establish their own enterprises and other aspects of work, has not
yet been achieved. Delegates also note that women account for a
disproportionately large group of the working poor. They stress that
gender issues should not be marginalized. Gender mainstreaming
should be a priority item on the employment agenda and should be
monitored regularly to determine whether concrete progress has
been made. The ILO, in consultation with constituents, should also
assist member States to introduce time-bound programmes for
gender equality.
10. Multi-skilling, skills training and upgrading are crucial to enhancing
access to employment and improving productivity and
competitiveness in the global economy. The rapidly increasing
reliance on information and communication technology and a general
trend towards knowledge-based economies require a more educated,
skilled and adaptable workforce. The delegates note that education
systems and skills training should be linked to market demand
through improved labour market information and labour market
analysis.
11. The delegates note that migration, as a manifestation of the
globalizing world, cannot in most cases be conceived as favouring
the sending country alone, but as benefiting also many receiving
countries by providing much needed workers. Migrant workers are
often the least protected. Irregular migration and trafficking expose
workers to the worst forms of abuse and exploitation. Even legally
admitted workers do not enjoy the same rights and level of social
protection as the national workforce in most countries. Recognizing
that bilateral and multilateral approaches are prerequisite for
safeguarding the least protected, the delegates request the Office to
take a lead in developing and facilitating appropriate policy measures
for migrant workers within the framework of Decent Work. It is
suggested that the respective ILO Regional Offices carry out
activities on labour migration and provide a forum to discuss
migration issues. The delegates note that the ratification and full
implementation of the Migration for Employment Convention
(Revised), 1949 (No. 97) and the Migrant Workers (Supplementary
Provisions) Convention, 1975 (No. 143) constitute a positive step
towards ensuring decent work for migrant workers.
12. The delegates note the importance of providing appropriate training
and productive employment opportunities for members of vulnerable
groups, including disabled persons, indigenous people, women, older
workers and unemployed youth. Of particular concern is the high
level of youth unemployment.
13. The delegates note that social protection must complement national
employment policies. They note with concern that limited social
protection is one of the greatest decent work deficits in the region. Of
particular concern is the widespread absence of social protection for
workers in informal employment – both rural and urban. Recognizing
the high social cost of the Asian crisis of 1997 and relatively low
public spending on social protection in the region, the delegates call
upon the ILO to support the development of comprehensive, inclusive
and sustainable social protection programmes. The delegates note
that social protection is the responsibility of the State in order to
achieve effective redistribution of national resources through both
contribution-based social insurance and public-financed social
assistance programmes.
14. Considering the conclusions of the general discussion on social
security at the 89th Session of the International Labour Conference,
the delegates stress the importance of building the ILO research and
knowledge base about the extension of social security benefits to
more workers. In this regard, the delegates urge the Office to allocate
adequate resources to assist constituents in the region to address
these issues.
15. Delegates note that although governments need to play a major role
in implementing and improving the framework for occupational safety
and health, it is also the role of the social partners to ensure that
occupational safety and health is addressed as a priority in the
workplace. In this regard, the Occupational Safety and Health
Convention, 1981 (No. 155), the ILO Guidelines on Occupational
Safety and Health Management Systems, as well as the newly
adopted Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the World of Work should
be promoted.
16. Recognizing the importance of the right of freedom of association and
the right to collective bargaining as the foundations for social
dialogue, the delegates urge all member States to implement fully
the rights set out in the Freedom of Association and Protection of the
Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) and the Right to
Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98)
throughout their national territory. The delegates acknowledge that
social dialogue has been instrumental in attenuating negative social
impacts during the Asian financial crisis. In the light of looming global
economic downturn, the delegates urge the ILO to provide timely
technical assistance to member States for strengthening the
capacity of social partners to engage in dialogue and improve social
dialogue mechanisms at all levels. The delegates further call upon all
member States to take steps to ratify the Tripartite Consultation
(International Labour Standards) Convention, 1976 (No. 144). While
taking note of the great diversity of institutional arrangements for
social dialogue at all levels in member States, the delegates request
the Office to make the provision of assistance to strengthen dialogue
at the level of the work place a priority.
17. The delegates reiterate that the most effective way to define and
implement a national policy to reduce the decent work deficit is
through tripartite social dialogue and that such dialogue is only
possible when the participants are equal partners. The delegates call
upon the ILO to play a more effective role in strengthening the social
partners through research and training.
18. While expressing concern at the lack of information on, and
evaluation of, the follow-up to the conclusions of previous regional
meetings, the delegates urge each member State of the Asia-Pacific
region to establish, through tripartite discussion and consensus, a
national plan of action for decent work, which should define, within
the overall framework of the ILO Decent Work Agenda, national
priorities, a timetable for implementation and a set of indicators for
the purposes of regular tripartite monitoring and evaluation. The
delegates request the Office to provide such assistance to the
tripartite constituents in the design of these national plans of action
as they may consider necessary.
19. The delegates request the Office to give priority to assisting, where
necessary and requested, the tripartite constituents to implement the
national plan of action for decent work. In this regard, ILO capacity in
the region should be strengthened. Further, the delegates express
the hope that other member States in the region will respond
positively to requests for technical assistance and advice to replicate
or adapt their own best practices for the benefit of less advanced
countries.
20. To facilitate the design, implementation and monitoring of national
plans of action for decent work, the delegates request the Office to
establish a regularly up-dated website which reflects actions and
activities undertaken in each country in pursuit of the Decent Work
Agenda, both by the Office and the constituents. In this connection,
the delegates call upon the Office to design, as soon as possible,
appropriate measures for collecting information annually and
disseminating this to all constituents, including qualitative
assessment of the effectiveness of ILO activities in the region.
21. As regards elements of the Decent Work Agenda which are most
appropriately dealt with at the subregional and regional levels, the
delegates invite the tripartite constituents to consider the
establishment of corresponding subregional or regional fora to design
and implement appropriate programmes. The Office should include
information on such programmes in the website mentioned above.
|
