ILO LIAISON OFFICE – BRUSSELS
NEWSLETTER NO. 12/2004
Good governance at the heart of the seventh ILO European Regional Meeting
The Seventh ILO European Regional Meeting will be held on 14-18 February 2005 in Budapest. Regional meetings are held every four years to discuss
activities and priorities in a particular region and to identify strategies to improve economic, social and employment conditions in the countries
concerned. The main topic for discussion at the meeting in Budapest will be good governance within the conditions of globalisation. Debates will be
structured around four main areas: youth employment; the connection between companies' needs for flexibility and workers' needs for security;
participation of older workers in the labour market and pension issues; and the migration of workers.
The Luxemburg government, which will hold the presidency of the European Union during the first half of 2005, has stated that this meeting will be
an integral part of the European presidency agenda. Useful information about the Seventh European Regional Meeting is available by clicking
here.
Tripartite meeting for the transport equipment manufacturing industry
A tripartite meeting of transport equipment suppliers will be held on 10-12 January 2005 in Geneva. The meeting will focus on the automotive industry
and will be accompanied by an ILO document entitled Motor vehicle industry trends affecting component suppliers, which provides an overview of
recent trends in this sector. The document is available for consultation by clicking
here. The meeting will address social dialogue, in particular
industrial relations, freedom of association, collective bargaining, international framework agreements, and health and safety matters. Although the
working conditions of large vehicle assemblers are well-known, the working conditions in their supply chains are less clear despite the fact that they
produce up to two-thirds of the components. Supplier chains can be linked to assemblers in a variety of ways ranging from being a direct subsidiary
in a near-by country to being subcontracted in a far-away export processing zone. This meeting will attempt to clarify the situation.
ILO instruments to prevent a new Bhopal disaster
The ILO's SafeWork programme has taken the opportunity of the 20th anniversary of the Bhopal disaster to call for concerted action by governments,
employers and trade unions to reinforce national systems for chemical safety and the prevention of major industrial accidents. This action must
include the full application of all instruments that the ILO has developed since the disaster occurred on 3 December 1984 in a bid to prevent any
further catastrophes of a similar nature such as The Chemicals Convention 1990 (No. 170), the Prevention of Major Industrial Accidents Convention
1993, (No. 174), all accompanying recommendations and the Guidelines on Occupational Safety and Health Management Systems (ILO-OSH 2001). A list of
the tools linked to chemical catastrophes such as the Bhopal disaster is available on the SafeWork website by
clicking here.
Half the world's workers live below the poverty line
As announced in the press release we sent you last week, the ILO has published its latest World Employment Report for 2004-2005. This study shows
that half the world's workers (1.4 billion people) are trapped in grinding poverty unable to earn enough to lift themselves and their families above
the $2 a day poverty line. To reduce poverty across the world and meet the UN Millennium Development Goals, it is essential that economic policies
are refocused on creating decent and productive employment.
The World Employment Report is available by
clicking here and the press release on this report is available by
clicking here.
More and more women are being infected by HIV/AIDS
World AIDS Day 2004 was an opportunity for the ILO to highlight the fact that women workers are bearing the brunt of this pandemic. The ILO's report
on HIV/AIDS and work, available here, shows that the percentage of women of working age infected by HIV/AIDS is increasing in all regions of the world.
The proportion of women among adults living with HIV/AIDS rose from 43 per cent in 1998 to 57 per cent in 2003, and continues to grow. In sub-Saharan
Africa, women represent 57 per cent of all HIV-positive adults, and three quarters of young people living with HIV are women and girls. The pandemic
is having a serious impact on employment and education opportunities for women. The ILO/AIDS programme aims to raise global awareness of the economic
and social impact of the pandemic on the labour market, to help governments, employers and workers to support national measures to prevent and reduce
the impact of HIV/AIDS and to fight discrimination linked to the condition.
Access the website by
clicking here. An interview with Odile Frank, one of the programme's
specialists, is available by
clicking here.
New publications
The following recent ILO publications may be of special interest to our readers:
Implementing Codes of Conduct.
How businesses manage social performance in global supply chains
Ivanka Mamic, 2004, 336 pp., ISBN 92-2-116270-2, €52
This book represents the most extensive research conducted to date on the social responsibility of global companies and supply chains. It provides
useful examples and lessons learned for companies and other people interested in the application of codes of conduct. Implementing Codes of Conduct
is based on interviews with hundreds of managers, activists, government officials, workers and trade unionists. This study presents a model that maps
a route from the creation of a code of conduct to its implementation in practice. You can order a copy by
clicking here.
Improving Prospects for Young Women and Men in the World of Work.
A guide to youth employment
2004, vii+76 pp., ISBN 92-2-115945-0, €18
This new ILO guide seeks to understand why all too often society seems incapable of investing in one of its main assets - young people. After all,
young people are facing unemployment rates that are, on average, two to three times higher than for the rest of the population. The guide reviews
experiences that could serve as examples for developing and implementing national policies and action programmes for youth employment. You can order
a copy by
clicking here.
Schedule of meetings
The list of ILO meetings scheduled for 2004 and 2005 is available by clicking
here.
Staff changes at the ILO Liaison Office - Brussels
Our colleague, Sabine Overkämping, senior advisor to the Director of the ILO Liaison Office, Brussels, will be leaving her post on 20 December 2004.
We are extremely grateful to her for the valuable contribution she has made to our activities during her time in Brussels.
The ILO Liaison Office in Brussels would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
