March 2007

• ILO Governing Body concludes 298th Session. Considers ILO budget, labour situation in Myanmar, Belarus and other countries as well as trade and employment policy.

  30 March 2007. The Governing Body of the International Labour Office (ILO) concluded its 298th session here today following wide-ranging discussions among its worker, employer and government constituents on the Organization’s budget, the labour situation in Myanmar, Belarus and other countries as well as trade and employment policy.
  The Governing Body adopted a proposed programme and budget for 2008-09 of US$594 million – which in constant 2006-07 US dollars represents no change for the next biennium, before accounting for cost increases. The proposed budget will be submitted to the International Labour Conference in June for consideration.

• Gender audit training for trade unions.

  A gender audit training was organized in Kryukovo, Moscow region, for representatives of different trade union affiliations of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia (FITUR).
  Starting from 2004, the ILO Moscow Office has received a number of requests from FITUR to provide technical assistance in organizing gender audit within their structures. The initiative was fully supported by Mikhail Shmakov, Chairman of FITUR, as it goes in line with the Gender Policy of FITUR, which is considered to be one of the good-practices’ examples among TU organizations globally.
  The training was conducted by Ms Jyoti Tuladhar, ILO Bureau for Gender Equality (GENDER) and Ms Verena Schmidt, ILO Bureau for Workers’ Activities (ACTRAV). This was the first step of an important exercise - pilot gender audits in selected FITUR's units. The ILO Manual for Gender Audit Facilitators was highly assessed by the participants of the training. They noted that many tools and exercises tested during the workshop could also be used for effective mainstreaming of gender issues in different programmes and projects implemented by the ILO constituents in the sub-region.
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  Armenia and ILO signed Decent Work Country Programme.

  26 March 2007. ILO and its tripartite partners – government, employers’ and workers organizations - signed here today a Decent Work Country Programme for the Republic of Armenia for 2007-2011.
  A priority issue in the new Programme is the improvement of employment policies. Despite active GDP growth of 13,4%, the employment problems still persist in the country and the unemployment rate is still high - 8.2%. The ILO will assist the social partners to effectively use labour market analysis in formulating and implementing labour market policies in order to strengthen links between education and the labour market. Technical advice and capacity building will be provided for the improvement of the law and practice concerning recruitment, oversight and protection of migrant workers

• ILO ready to assist Kyrgyzstan in eliminating child labour.

  20 March 2007. The ILO is ready to help Kyrgyzstan work out a special project on the elimination of child labour. Specialists of the state migration and employment committee say cases of child labour are often in Kyrgyzstan. Children under 14 years of age are actively involved in the labour market and in most cases get minimal wages or no payment for equal work with adults. As a rule, in Kyrgyzstan’s poorest families children have to leave school and start working to help their families.
  Psychologists say hard and unqualified labour produces a negative impact on children’s mind. Without access to primary school such children have no chances to get education and vocational training. In the future they will remain unqualified workers or will join the army of the unemployed.
  The state migration and employment committee in cooperation with the ILO plans to work out a special project aimed at resolving problems of child labour in Kyrgyzstan. The project will become a part of Kyrgyzstan’s national employment policy the committee had developed.
  (By information of the Kabar news agency)
• International Women's Day. Global Employment Trends for Women 2007. ILO study warns on the feminization of working poverty. 8 March 2007. More women then ever before are in work, but a persistent gap in status, job security, wages and education between women and men is contributing to the “feminization of working poverty”, according to a new report by the International Labour Office (ILO) issued for International Women’s Day.
  GET Brief (PDF , 207Kb)

• Subregional planning and evaluation meeting.

  5 - 6 March 2007. Work results and perspectives were discussed on 5-6 March at the ILO Subregional planning and evaluation meeting in Moscow. The meeting was attended by ILO Moscow staff and colleagues from Headquarters in Geneva.
  Special emphasis was made on the promotion and implementation of Decent Work Country Programmes – the main delivery instrument of the ILO. In 2006 DWCPs were signed in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, and two more programmes - in Armenia and Tajikistan - are expected to be signed in the coming months.
  In his concluding statement Friedrich Buttler, European Regional Bureau Director, noted remarkable progress made by ILO Moscow in developing cooperation with national and international partners, and particularly in attracting new donors for the ILO programmes in the subregion.
  ILO Subregional Director Werner Konrad Blenk underlined team building and improved quality of the work. With the introduction of results-based management and Decent Work Country Programmes all programme components are now linked, he said.