ILO LIAISON OFFICE – BRUSSELS
NEWSLETTER NO. 1/2005
The ILO's role in tsunami relief
The ILO is not an organisation that specialises in relief or emergency aid, but it can take part in the overall reconstruction effort after
a catastrophe. This is currently the case in countries affected by the tsunami in the Indian Ocean.
The ILO's offices in Jakarta, Colombo, New Delhi and Bangkok are involved in assessing needs, reconstructing and restoring infrastructure and housing,
running subsistence programmes and getting the local economy back on track. The ILO focuses in particular on evaluating the impact of the disaster
on workers and employers with a view to making proposals designed to boost the reconstruction of the affected areas and get them back on their feet.
The ILO believes it is essential that the reconstruction effort should concentrate on restoring jobs, on employment issues and on other forms of
economic activity to prevent any worsening of the chronic poverty that already existed in many affected regions.
Click here to read a statement by the ILO Director-General on the response
to the tsunami.
The United Nations follows the ILO's lead for fairer globalisation
One of the international community's major objectives today is to establish a fair globalisation. At its latest session, in December, the UN General
Assembly adopted a resolution that breathes new life into the initiatives taken worldwide to implement the recommendations set out in the report
published by the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalisation set up by the ILO. It asks the relevant international organisations to
provide UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan with information on action taken to promote a fair globalisation.
Click here to read an article explaining why this UN initiative
offers us hope that globalisation may at last go hand in hand with poverty reduction. To read a press release on the adoption of the UN resolution
on the World Commission's report,
click here.
Globalisation and job security
Globalisation is creating new opportunities for growth and employment, but is also posing challenges and problems, such as company relocations, job
losses and also increased stress and tension in workplaces exposed to tougher global competition. An ILO working paper examines a series of problems
associated to changes in employment relationships in the context of globalisation. It begins by assessing whether long-term employment is a relic of
the past, then moves on to discuss the consequences of job flexibility and stability on worker safety and decent work. Next it demonstrates the link
between different systems of employment relationships and the flexibility or stability of the job market. This document can be consulted by
clicking here.
ILO European Summit
As announced in the previous newsletter, the Seventh ILO European Regional Meeting will be held on 14-18 February 2005 in Budapest.
The main topic for discussion will be good governance under the conditions of globalisation. The two reports published by the ILO Director-General
for the summit are now available on the meeting's website (
click here). One of these reports, entitled "Cooperation in a
changing environment", deals with developments in the social situation and labour markets in Europe and ILO activities in this area. The other report,
entitled "Managing transitions: Governance for decent work", deals amongst other things with the issues of youth employment, labour migration, the
ageing population and pensions reforms.
Health and safety in the iron and steel sector
The iron and steel industry has undergone many changes over the last 20 years, changes which have prompted the ILO to revise its code of practice
on health and safety in this sector. This will be the aim of a meeting of experts to be held on 1-9 February in Geneva. A draft version of the
new code, available by
clicking here, will be discussed at the meeting. This document
proffers advice to ILO constituents and anyone responsible for health and safety in the iron and steel industry. It reflects developments in the sector
towards a smaller, but more flexible and better qualified workforce, new technologies and less normative approaches.
Did you know…?
The ILO website hosts a database of social initiatives taken by private sector companies to address labour and social conditions. It features
corporate policies and reports, codes of conduct, certification criteria and other programmes. It allows you to make customised searches to
retrieve information on specific countries, organisations, regions, business sectors and labour and employment issues. You can access it by
clicking here.
New publications
The following recent ILO publications may be of special interest to our readers:
- Get Ahead for Women in Enterprise Training Package and Resource Kit
By Susanne Bauer, Gerry Finnegan and Nelien Haspels
2004, vi+355 pp; ISBN 92-2-115807-1; €26
This training package promotes enterprise development among women in poverty who want to start or are already engaged in small-scale business.
It shows women how to develop their personal entrepreneurial skills and to obtain support through groups, networks and institutions involved in
enterprise development. Presented in the form of modules and exercises, it brings together methods that have proven effective for both low-income
women with little formal education and top managers in the public and private sectors.
Click here to order your copy.
-Local Economic Development in Post-Crisis Situations. Operational guide
By Martin Gasser, Carmela Salzano, Roberto Di Meglio and Alfredo Lazarte-Hoyle
2004, xvi+237 pp; ISBN 92-2-116429-2; €30
This operational guide proposes the Local Economic Development (LED) approach as a particularly suitable development process for post-crisis
situations. As opposed to traditional development approaches, LED uses participation, public-private partnerships and dialogue at the local
level as tools for sustainable employment creation.
Click here to order your copy.
Schedule of meetings
The list of ILO meetings scheduled for 2005 is available by
clicking here.