ILO - BRUSSELS
NEWSLETTER N°. 12/2006
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A million jobs a year lost through AIDS
The progression of AIDS is significantly reducing economic and employment growth in the most severely affected countries, undermining
their efforts to eradicate poverty, create new jobs for young people and tackle child labour.
These are among the findings of a new ILO report on HIV/AIDS (available by
clicking here).
According to the report, around 36.3 million people of working age (15 and over) are living with HIV/AIDS, the vast majority in sub-Saharan
Africa, and the employment loss through AIDS totals over a million new jobs a year. The report calls for the workplace to become a key
point of access to treatment. The 43 most severely affected countries lost an average of 0.5 % of their economic growth annually between
1992 and 2004 as a result of the epidemic.
Click here to read a press release outlining the report's main findings.
Another publication worth noting is an ILO report detailing the effects of treatment with effective antiretroviral medication on workers'
productivity and income. This can be consulted by
clicking here.
EU and ILO join forces to promote decent work
The ILO has welcomed the decision of the Council of Ministers of the European Union to adopt a set of conclusions on promoting decent work
in the EU and worldwide. The decision is the latest in a series of measures to strengthen links between the ILO's Decent Work Agenda and EU
policies and actions. "Europe is showing leadership on a crucial issue at a crucial time," said Friedrich Buttler, ILO Regional
Director for Europe and Central Asia, at a conference on "Promoting Decent Work in the World: the Contribution of the EU" organised by
the European Commission in Brussels on 4-5 December. Noting that unemployment in Europe was disturbingly high at 17 million and that half
the world's workers lived beneath the US$ 2 per person, per day poverty line, Mr Buttler said that "despite five years of relatively strong
economic performance, the world is not generating enough decent jobs to keep pace with a 40 million annual increase in the global
labour force or substantially reduce unemployment and working poverty."
Click here to read Mr Buttler's conference speech or
here to read the speech (in French) given by
Vladimir Špidla, European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities.
How is work evolving in the enlarged EU?
The ILO organised a conference on the evolving world of work in the enlarged European Union in Brussels on 23-24 November, with the support
of the European Commission. The conference coincided with the launch of a collective work by the ILO on the same issue entitled "Evolving
World of Work in the Enlarged EU : Progress and Vulnerability" (copies available by sending an E-mail at infobru@ilo.org). Focusing on specific
examples (Germany, Poland, Bulgaria, etc.), the work's contributors presented their research to tripartite delegations from all the countries
of the future EU 27. They charted the diversity of trends in employment, income, social dialogue, etc. to provide an overview of good and bad
practices on Europe's labour markets. One of the negative trends was the development of new forms of precarious employment in all EU Member
States, particularly the new members and the accession countries. The conference also highlighted the worsening situation of the most
vulnerable workers, in particular young people, women and the low qualified.
New ILO research on gender wage equality
A new ILO study analyses the benefits and costs associated with promoting wage equality between male and female workers. It aims to throw
light on policies and encourage employers to tackle gender-based wage discrimination. Each of its chapters focuses on a key aspect of the
issue: the causes of wage discrimination, the legislative models used to promote wage equality, the costs and benefits of equal pay, good
practices for minimising costs and maximising benefits and corporate social responsibility. The study can be accessed by
clicking here.
Zero tolerance for violence against children in the workplace
Millions of children who work and legally employed adolescents face "systematic" violence in the workplace. This can take the form of
physical or verbal abuse, sexual harassment, rape and even murder, according to the new United Nations "World Report on Violence
against Children" (available by
clicking here). The ILO, which contributed to the study, is calling for zero
tolerance for violence against approximately 218 million working children and 100 million legally employed adolescents around the world.
Some categories of working children and adolescents are particularly at risk of violence: domestics, young people in the informal economy,
children forced into servitude in order to pay off debts, children in modern forms of slavery and those who carry out dangerous work. The
report recommends holistic approaches that tackle the economic and cultural causes of child labour, promoting education and alternative means
of subsistence and social mobilisation to change mentalities on child labour and violence against children in the workplace.
Also on the topic of children, IPEC has issued a CD entitled “Steps toward determining hazardous child labour”. The CD has been compiled at
the request of ILO member countries to assist them in determining hazardous child labour for the first time or in revising their existing lists.
It can be downloaded by
clicking here.
State of social security in the world
In 1948, the United Nations proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: "Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social
security". In 2006, only 20% of the world's population has proper social protection and over half have none at all. In an interview, the ILO's
Senior Advisor on the Informal Economy Emmanuel Reynaud analyses a number of key questions relating to this issue: what impact have the economic
and social changes of the last few decades had on social protection systems? Have innovative ways been found of extending social protection? Is
there a 'recipe' for social protection policy?
Click here to read the interview.
New publications
The following recent ILO publication may be of special interest to our readers:
International Labour Standards Electronic Library (ILSE) 2006 CD-ROM
2006; ISSN 1020-9972; €10
ILSE is an electronic reference library of basic International Labour Standards documents, including ILO Conventions, Recommendations,
Constitution, Standing Orders of the International Labour Conference, General Surveys, the Digest of Decisions of the Committee on Freedom
of Association, the Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, the Global Reports, and the recent publications on International
Labour Standards.
Click here to order your copy.
Scheduled meetings
Please
click here for a list of scheduled ILO meetings in 2007.
Contact us
For more information on the ILO's activities, please contact the :
ILO Brussels
Rue Aimé Smekens 40
B -1030 Brussels
Belgium
Tel.: + 32 02 736 59 42
Fax: +32.02 735 48 25
E-mail: brussels@ilo.org
Website : www.ilo.org/brussels
The ILO Liaison Office in Brussels wishes you all a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!!!
