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| ILO, Serbia to promote Decent Work |
BELGRADE (ILO news) - The International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Republic of Serbia will work together to address labour market challenges, with the aim of creating more and better jobs, under a partnership agreement signed on 4th December 2008 in Belgrade, Serbia.
High-level representatives of the ILO and Serbian Government signed the first "Decent Work Country Programme" (DWCP) for Serbia for the 2008 - 2011 period, promoting decent work as a national development priority. The Programme of Cooperation was signed by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Regional Development Mladjan Dinkic, the Minister of Labour and Social Policy Rasim Ljajic, Director of the ILO Subregional Office for Central and Eastern Europe Mark Levin.
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Signing ceremony: Mark Levin, Director of the ILO SRO-Budapest Office with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Regional Development Mladjan Dinkic and the Minister of Labour and Social Policy Rasim Ljajic |
The Programme, developed through a participatory process with the involvement of the ILO's tripartite constituents, centers on three key priorities. The first seeks to strengthen the capacity of government institutions and the social partners to improve the governance of the labour market. This includes the reform of labour administration and labour inspection, the establishment of an effective dispute settlement mechanism and the strengthening of workers' and employers' organizations. The ILO will provide technical assistance to improve the effectiveness of social dialogue among government, workers' and employers' organizations, as well as the Social and Economic Council, in order to effectively address economic and social challenges.
The second priority is to assist labour market institutions to tackle the employment challenge of Serbia. The ILO will work with government officials, employers' and workers' organizations to strengthen their capacity to formulate and implement a gender-sensitive active employment policy, to develop a youth employment policy and national action plan, and to design, monitor and evaluate active labour market programmes targeting young people. Support will be provided to the National Employment Service to develop employment programmes targeting disadvantaged persons, especially those living in less developed regions.
The ILO will also advocate good corporate social responsibility practices for diversity management, particularly with regard to measures promoting the employment of persons with disabilities. The government and social partners will also be assisted in the implementation of social finance mechanisms to help the unemployed start their own businesses.
The third priority will focus on improving the effectiveness of the social protection system, including the development of a national policy on social security reform. The ILO will enhance the capacity of labour inspection services and social partners to implement labour and occupational safety and health regulations to prevent occupational accidents.
A major contribution to implement development agendas
In January 2001, the Serbian government launched a major economic reform programme to accelerate the transition to a market economy and to reverse the trend during the 1990s towards decreasing industrial activity. This reform package led to robust economic growth, which averaged 5.7% per year in the period between 2001 and 2007.
Nevertheless, strong economic growth did not create more jobs, at least not in the formal economy. Between 2004 and 2006, the level of employment decreased by 300,000 jobs. In 2007, the employment-to-population ratio was 51.5% (60% for men and 43% for women) while workers with disabilities had an employment rate of only 21%. According to the Living Standards Measurement Survey (LSMS) of 2007 informal employment accounted for 35% of total employment. In 2007, the standard unemployment rate was 18.8%, with the unemployment rate of women more than five percentage points higher than for men. In the same year, the youth unemployment rate reached 43.7% (40.7% for young men and 48.3 for young women).
The new Decent Work Country Programme is aligned to the goals and targets set out by national development strategies - such as the Poverty Reduction Strategy, the National Programme for Integration with the European Union and the National Strategy for Economic Development (2006-2012).
The Programme supports the Republic of Serbia in meeting its commitments arising from international and regional development agendas, including the ratification of international labour standards, the UN Millennium Declaration and the Stabilization and Association Agreement with the European Union. The DWCP is also linked with major priorities identified by development assistance programmes, including the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF).
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Press release in Serbian in pdf
Serbia Decent Work Country Programme 2008 - 2011 in pdf in English and in Serbian
Further information:
Ms Edit Horváth
tel. +36 (1) 473 2656
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On the occasion of the 8th European Regional Meeting, the ILO is launching the Albanian, Romanian, Serbian and Ukrainian versions of the Decent Work Flash
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