ILO LIAISON OFFICE – BRUSSELS
NEWSLETTER NO. 11/2004
International Year of Microcredit
On 18 November, the United Nations launched the International Year of Microcredit with the aim of increasing awareness of the role played by
microcredit in reducing poverty. Over the past decade, the International Labour Office (ILO) has developed a number of microcredit schemes and
programmes, which are a remarkably effective means of promoting decent work: they further job creation, enable small investments to be made in
independent businesses and help the poor to better manage risk through emergency loans, savings and micro-insurance.
In 1991, the ILO launched the Social Finance Programme, which centres around three ideas: reducing the vulnerability of the world's poorest
people, investing in job creation and ensuring that financial policies give more priority to employment.
Click here for more information about the Social Finance Programme.
An article giving further details about the ILO's contribution to
microcredit and two examples of the implementation of microcredit programmes can be found here. One of these programmes is a project to curb forced
labour in rural Nepal.
Governing Body of the ILO
The ILO's executive body, the Governing Body, concluded its 291st session on 19 November. The delegates focused on the issue of forced labour in
Myanmar (Burma) and decided to send a high level mission to the country to assess the attitude of the authorities and their commitment to cracking
down on the use of forced labour, since some of the national authorities with which the International Labour Organization has negotiated in the past
are no longer in place. Belarus was also a key topic of discussion following the report by the ILO Commission of Inquiry, which criticised the
violation of trade union freedoms (see October newsletter). Of the other countries where workers' basic rights are regularly flouted, Columbia
remains the worst offender. Since the last examination of the situation in Colombia in March 2004, the ILO has received allegations concerning 42
murders, 17 death threats, three abductions and 11 arrests.
The delegates of the Governing Body gave their support to the technical cooperation programme in the Palestinian territories. $3.48 million has
been allocated to finance this programme in 2004 and 2005, including a Fund for Employment and Social Protection set up in May 2003. Also discussed
during this session were the strategies to be implemented to promote a fair globalisation and decent work for all. A press release giving further
details of the work undertaken at the last Governing Body meeting can be consulted by
clicking here.
Trafficking of Chinese workers to Europe
The trafficking of Chinese workers to Europe has regularly made the headlines over the last few years. In order to gain insight into the problem, the
ILO Special Action Programme to Combat Forced Labour has published a report summarising the existing literature on the subject. The report examines how
international trafficking and employment in the destination country are organised, where the individuals being trafficked (adults and children) come
from and what legal measures are available in Chinese law to deal with the problem. The report can be consulted by
clicking here. Another, more detailed, study on the
trafficking of Chinese workers to France will be available in the next few months (we will keep you updated about its publication).
Strengthening collaboration between the ILO and UNHCR
The International Labour Organization and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) have signed a joint declaration with
the aim of improving living conditions for refugees,
returnees and internally displaced persons and reducing their poverty through joint action strategies. A joint ILO-UNHCR programme to further the
economic and social integration of these groups was launched at the end of 2003. It focuses mainly on creating businesses, developing microcredit
schemes, giving additional means to women and providing social protection. Countries like Somalia, Serbia and Montenegro, Mozambique and Sudan are
already benefiting from this programme and the two agencies plan to extend it to the North Caucasus and the Democratic Republic of Congo, amongst
other places.
A press release giving further details of the collaboration between the ILO and UNHCR can be consulted by
clicking here.
ILO helps to improve collective bargaining in Indonesia
The ILO has an important role to play in promoting collective bargaining between the social partners in countries where the tradition
is limited or non-existent. An article
published here gives a concrete example of this in Indonesia
where, until 1998, the government opposed independent trade union action and regularly used military force to settle labour disputes. The situation
is now generally improving. The article describes the work of a trade union leader in a supermarket chain who is now in a position to negotiate in
good faith with the company's management, thanks mainly to the support of the ILO. Multinational companies active in Indonesia (Coca-Cola, Adidas,
Nike, etc.) are now turning to him for help. The ILO project is helping these companies to understand the benefits of collective bargaining in the
Indonesian workplace and discover the secrets behind the supermarket chain's ever growing customer base.
New publications
Amongst the ILO's recent publications, the following may be of particular interest to our readers:
The Global Evolution of Industrial Relations
Bruce E. Kaufman; 2004; 600 pp.; ISBN 92-2-114153-5; €65
This reference work presents an in-depth analysis of the history of industrial relations from its beginnings in North America and the United
Kingdom before the Second World War through to the present day. It sheds light on four key elements that have shaped the history of international
industrial relations since 1945: the ILO; the International Association of Industrial Relations; the role played by the United States as a driving
force after the Second World War; and the development of industrialisation, market economies, trade unions and democratic forms of government in many
non-Western countries. This study - the only one carried out on the subject so far - also traces the development of modern industrial relations in
continental Europe, Japan, South Korea, India, Africa and Latin America. You can order your copy by
clicking here.
Schedule of meetings
Please
click here if you would like a copy of the list of ILO meetings scheduled
for 2004 and 2005.