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GB.273/TC/1
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Committee on Technical Cooperation |
TC |
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FIRST ITEM ON THE AGENDA
The ILO's technical cooperation programme, 1997-98
Contents
I. The ILO's performance: An overview
II. Overall ILO priorities and technical cooperation
III. Regional trends and priorities
IV. Workers' and employers' activities and technical cooperation
V. International labour standards and technical cooperation
VI. Gender issues and technical cooperation
VII. Critical issues in technical cooperation
Delivery of technical expertise and services
Design, monitoring and evaluation of operational activities
Resource mobilization
Inter-agency cooperation and cooperation with regional and subregional organizations
Boxes
Charts
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Expenditure on ILO technical cooperation programmes, 1995-97 (excluding administrative expenditure) | |
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Analysis of ILO technical cooperation expenditure by type of assistance/input, 1996-97 (excluding administrative expenditure) | |
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Analysis of ILO technical cooperation expenditure in 1997, by field of activity and source of funds (excluding administrative expenditure | |
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Breakdown, by country and area, of expenditure on ILO technical cooperation in 1997 (excluding administrative expenditure) | |
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ILO technical cooperation activities in the LDCs, 1995-97:
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Nationality of experts | |
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International Training Centre of the ILO, Turin: Geographical distribution of training activities in 1997 | |
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International Training Centre of the ILO, Turin: Distribution of training activities in 1997 by field of activity |
1. This year's report, like last year's, is intended as an information paper on all technical cooperation activities conducted by the ILO in the framework of the Organization's major objectives, namely, employment and combating poverty, improving working conditions and promoting social democracy and international labour standards.
2. It contains not only significant evaluations of technical cooperation activities for constituents, but also suggestions to improve the strategy agreed at the International Labour Conference in 1993. As requested by the Committee at previous sessions and as in the past, examples obtained from evaluations are given in boxes.
3. All the activities derive from the objectives of the Organization and decisions taken by the Governing Body regarding general orientations and are conducted in response to the challenges set by major conferences for employment, women and the environment.
4. Reference is made in this year's report to some 120 different countries, and there are more boxes concerning evaluations carried out by the Office of technical cooperation projects and programmes. Section II, which covers priority themes, has observed equitable geographical distribution. Section III covers regional trends and features concerning technical cooperation. Examples of national execution and the strengthening of technical capacity in institutions are given throughout sections II, III, IV and V. As already indicated to the Committee in March, the aim of the global programmes is to exploit linkages between these programmes and other ILO technical cooperation activities, including those of the Bureaux for Employers' and Workers' Activities, where possible, for their mutual benefit and to maximize the impact of the work of the Office as a whole. Systematic evidence is given in this report of these linkages and of the ways in which the Office can improve and upgrade the quality of its technical cooperation programme.
5. The analysis carried out by the Office is intended to improve its efficiency by adapting internal procedures and practices and to elicit reflection from members of the Governing Body on how to improve the strategy.
6. As regards the resources available for technical cooperation activities in 1997-98, efforts will be noted to ensure the more effective utilization of regular budget resources to complement extra-budgetary resources. At the request of the Committee, a breakdown of RBTC expenditure is given respectively in charts 11 and 12 for employers' and workers' activities, by region (Appendix I) and by country (Appendix IV). Examples of the use of RBTC are given throughout the report. The level of new approvals in 1997 was higher than in the previous year, thus confirming the upward trend in extra-budgetary resources which began in 1995. The international environment regarding development aid has not changed in terms of volume trends. A decline in official development assistance (ODA) flows to developing countries has been observed for some years now ($72.1 billion in 1995 to $66.4 billion in 1996). ODA seems to move from public to private development assistance. Private flows have in fact risen from $160.9 billion in 1995 to $234 billion in 1996. The ILO has managed to maintain its level of technical cooperation resources in this changing context.
7. It is also useful to note that, in the framework of assistance provided to developing countries by countries belonging to the Committee for Development Assistance, a significant increase in the proportion allocated to technical assistance was noted between 1994 and 1996 (from $12.9 billion to $14.1 billion). Moreover, the proportion of contributions to the multilateral agencies (excluding banks and the European Community) reached $6.3 billion, showing practically no change by comparison with 1994 and 1995.
8. This already shows the trends for coming years and the efforts the Office will have to make in relation to new private donors and institutional donors by emphasizing the quality of its products and the impact of its technical cooperation activities in beneficiary countries.
I. The ILO's performance: An overview
9. Technical assistance was provided to constituents in the form of technical advisory services and operational activities within a number of new technical cooperation programmes, mainly funded by extra-budgetary sources and by the regular budget allocations for technical cooperation (RBTC). Technical outputs from the analytical work carried out by the Office have been used not only to identify new programmes, but also to reinforce the ILO's action to respond to the demands of constituents. The following analysis of the ILO's technical cooperation programme is based on RBTC and extra-budgetary resources for specific operational activities.
Chart 1. ILO technical cooperation expenditure, 1991-97 (by source of funds)
10. In 1997, the five-year decline in expenditure on the ILO's technical cooperation programme was arrested. Expenditure rose to $108.4 million in 1997, compared with $98.2 million in 1996, an increase of 10.4 per cent. However, the delivery rate dropped from 62 per cent in 1996 to 55 per cent in 1997. The reasons for this sharp decline are analysed in detail in section VII. As indicated in Appendix II, personnel costs registered a decrease in expenditure of 1.9 per cent; for the other categories a significant increase in expenditure was registered, particularly for training (39.5 per cent) and equipment (54.4 per cent) compared to 1996. A breakdown of expenditure by country and area and source of funds is given in Appendix IV.
11. Expenditure in the least developed countries (LDCs) is illustrated in Appendix V: 31.1 per cent of total expenditure went to the LDCs, a very slight decrease compared to 1996. As in recent years, multibilateral and trust-fund programmes registered a higher expenditure figure in 1997 than the UNDP, but their share of total expenditure dropped from 62 per cent in 1996 to 50 per cent in 1997. Their share of the ILO's RBTC increased from 7 per cent in 1996 to 16 per cent in 1997, which is common for the second year of a biennium. The UNDP programme also includes the Support for Policy and Programme Development-funded activities (SPPD), which amounted to $2.3 million in 1997, and $7.9 million for activities in which the ILO was an implementing agency under nationally executed projects. However, the UNDP figures exclude approximately $1.2 million for Support for Technical Services (STS).
12. All regions except Asia and the Pacific showed an increase in expenditure in 1997 compared with 1996 (chart 2). The African and European regions increased their allocations by 14 and 12 per cent respectively (charts 3 and 7), Latin American and the Caribbean by 31 per cent (chart 5), and the Arab States (chart 6) by nearly 56 per cent. Expenditure in the Asian and Pacific region decreased by 5 per cent compared with 1996. The African region continued to account for the largest share of total expenditure (39 per cent), followed by (chart 4) the Asian and Pacific region (22 per cent). The share of interregional programmes (chart 8) rose by almost 5 per cent, exceeding the peak of 1995. The geographical distribution of expenditure is given in Appendix I-B for the period 1995-97.
New approvals for technical cooperation activities
13. In 1997 approvals increased for the second consecutive year, rising by 6 per cent from $114.6 million in 1996 to $121.5 million. Multibilateral approvals accounted for $60.2 million, or approximately 50 per cent of total approvals in 1997. Particularly noteworthy was the remarkable increase of 81 per cent in UNDP approvals. The decrease of 24 per cent in multibilateral approvals compared to 1996 should be seen in the context of the extremely high level of contributions to the IPEC programme in 1996, when the German replenishment of more than $33 million gave a sharp boost to the approval level. Overall approvals for IPEC dropped to $9 million in 1997.
14. New UNDP project approvals doubled from $17.9 million in 1996 to $35.8 million in 1997. Some 67 per cent of UNDP's new approvals were in the African region. Revisions of UNDP projects again increased from $8.6 million in 1996 to $12 million in 1997. Approvals by development banks increased considerably, from $1.7 million in 1996 to $5.9 million in 1997. Other approvals included $1.4 million from the Capital Development Fund.
Chart 2. Expenditure by region, 1996-97Chart 3. Africa -- Technical cooperation expenditure, 1990-97
Chart 3. Africa -- Technical cooperation expenditure, 1990-97
Chart 4. Asia and the Pacific -- Technical cooperation expenditure, 1990-97
Chart 5. Latin America and the Caribbean -- Technical cooperation expenditure, 1990-97
Chart 6. Arab States, Middle East -- Technical cooperation expenditure, 1990-97
Chart 7. Europe -- Technical cooperation expenditure, 1990-97
Chart 8. Interregional and global -- Technical cooperation expenditure, 1990-97
15. In terms of breakdown by technical field, the approval levels were highest for development policies ($33.3 million, in such fields as poverty alleviation and employment-intensive programmes); employment and training ($25.2 million); and enterprise and cooperative development ($23.4 million). These were followed by working conditions and environment ($11.4 million) and social security ($11 million). Together these represent 91 per cent of total approvals. In the field of social security, where project approvals totalled $11 million in 1997, and even disregarding the major approval for the global programme of Strategies and Tools against Social Exclusion and Poverty (STEP) ($8 million), there was a net increase of 66 per cent in the total value of project approvals. Some 70 per cent of these new projects were financed by UNDP, and the balance directly by national social security institutions.
16. Since 1996 projects administered by the field structure have been recorded where possible under the appropriate technical fields, and not the heading "Miscellaneous".
II. Overall ILO priorities and technical cooperation
17. The major ILO priority areas for the current biennium (employment promotion, democracy, human rights and the protection of working people) continued to provide a clear focus for the ILO's technical cooperation programme during the period under review. The largest share -- more than 64 per cent of the technical cooperation programme by priority theme -- went to poverty alleviation and employment creation, 15.8 per cent to democracy and human rights, 15.5 per cent to the protection of working people, and 5 per cent to other programmes, as shown in chart 10.
Chart 9A. ILO extra-budgetary technical cooperation approvals, 1996-97 (by source of funds)
Chart 9B. ILO extra-budgetary technical cooperation approvals, 1994-95 (by source of funds)
Chart 10. Distribution of ILO technical cooperation expenditure by priority themes, 1997
18. At the International Training Centre of the ILO, Turin, some 80 per cent of activities were either related to the core mandate of the ILO or aimed at developing the management capacity of ILO constituents and partners (see Appendix VIII). These activities were mostly designed and implemented in close collaboration with ILO technical departments, field offices and multidisciplinary teams. Some 20 per cent were implemented in the framework of the UN Staff College Project. Turin Centre activities were distributed as follows: 45 per cent for activities related to the promotion of employment and combating poverty, 17 per cent for the promotion of workers' rights and social dialogue, and 5 per cent for working conditions and social protection. About 15 per cent of participants were trained in programmes intended to strengthen the institutional and management capacity of constituents, and particularly employers' and workers' organizations.
19. Within the implementation of the ILO Strategy for Employment and Sustainable Livelihoods, and as follow-up on the World Summit for Social Development, work continued on developing a programme on employment generation and poverty reduction, Jobs for Africa. After widespread consultation with constituents and endorsement by the Organization of African Unity (OAU) Labour and Social Affairs Commission, the Programme was launched with the objectives of contributing through the strengthening of social dialogue to the adoption of national and regional policies based on an investment-led growth strategy, and to capacity building and training for employment creation in the informal rural and urban sectors. The situation in sub-Saharan Africa has been largely characterized by public investments concentrated in expensive capital- intensive projects, employing little labour and yielding negligible direct impact on the reduction of poverty. Jobs for Africa will advocate ways in which public investment can be restructured to have a more positive impact on employment creation while simultaneously creating a climate conducive to increased domestic and foreign investment and expanding African entrepreneurship.
20. The programme covers ten countries from west, central, east and southern Africa. Consultations have already been carried out in five countries: Cameroon, Mauritius, Senegal, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Special attention was paid to integrating environmental considerations into investment policies; ensuring women equal access to work opportunities at all levels, with equal pay for equal work; avoiding child labour; and combining empowerment and equitable economic development. For this reason the Jobs for Africa programme will be closely linked to the More and Better Jobs for Women and other global and regional programmes such as the Cooperative support for grass-roots development (ACOPAM), the International Small Enterprise Programme (ISEP), the Support Programme for Cooperative and Mutual Training Systems, the Urban Employment Programme and the Promotion of Micro-enterprises (PROMICRO), the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) and the Strategies and Tools against Social Exclusion and Poverty (STEP).
21. Employment-intensive programmes have always been part of the overall ILO strategy to promote employment creation, private-sector development and poverty alleviation on the one hand, and social progress and empowerment on the other. These programmes encourage worker protection and democratization through transparent contract systems and enhanced popular participation. Strategic use is made of the tendering and contract system by the private sector for infrastructure works to promote the use of employment-intensive technology approaches and to introduce labour clauses related to relevant ILO standards and basic conditions of work. A new manual, Employment-Intensive Infrastructure Programmes: Labour Policies and Practices, published in 1998, describes the current experience of integrating labour issues in employment-intensive infrastructure programmes, while also providing guidance on how improvements in working conditions and standards can be achieved with the involvement of social partners in these projects.(1) Especially when combined with micro-enterprise development and vocational training, this provides scope for successful employment-generation programmes, such as that in Cambodia.
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The ILO's Employment-Intensive Programme (EIP):
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An independent evaluation of the ILO's Employment Intensive Programme (EIP), which has been under way since the early 1970s, was carried out in 1997. The objectives of EIP are to strengthen the capacity of member States to design and implement employment-intensive infrastructure programmes that reduce poverty on a sustainable basis through economically sound job-creation programmes, especially in rural areas. The programme follows a strategy with three levels of action:
The evaluation found that thorough experience at the micro-economic level had given the ILO technical competence, credibility and visibility in the area of labour-based techniques. The evaluation concluded that the ILO had a major comparative advantage for labour-based contracting compared with bilateral donors, who may wish to promote their own equipment and techniques, and multilateral donors, who do not have the necessary technical skills or experience in house and are reluctant to use outsiders. The terms "labour-intensive" and "employment-intensive" mean that labour was used under any circumstances to replace machines. The term "labour-based" -- EIP's current strategy -- means that an optimum mix of labour and machines was used to suit local conditions. The type of labour-based technique varied from country to country. EIP was therefore flexible in practice. Labour-based techniques are still not widely known, or are viewed by many as backward. Evidence showed that they might be both effective and efficient in certain situations. The cost-effectiveness of EIP had been proven and documented. Labour-based methods create three to five times more employment and use 60 per cent less foreign exchange than equipment-based approaches. The weakness of many member States (especially in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia) in terms of competent and motivated staff hindered capacity development. On the other hand, other States had firmly embedded the design and implementation of EIP within the government structure. The organization of the EIP, especially the location of ASIST (Advisory Support Information Services and Training for Asia and the Pacific) and ACTIF (subregional EIP projects) in the overall ILO support structure has to be clarified. The sustainability of created employment and constructed infrastructure was increasingly being addressed by the EIP with some measure of success. This was important since governments where the EIP is based seem to have given low priority to maintenance of infrastructures, which was essential to ensure lasting effects. The evaluation recommended that the ILO formulate an overall employment-creation strategy which the EIP could integrate and that would give clear priorities to programme managers. Better communication on EIP and its experiences with labour-based techniques within and outside the ILO should be established, and EIP should find a way to foster the active involvement of the ILO's social partners in the programme. EIP needed to measure its impact by developing simple, measurable and manageable indicators of achievement at micro-, meso- and macro-levels. The report specified that the programme's evaluation and documentation unit should be re-established. The most important lesson learned from the evaluation exercise was that the EIP should continue to link ground-level interventions with macro-level advice to demonstrate that concentrated action at all levels is necessary and should be well founded. Attention should also be paid to maintenance of infrastructure to ensure sustainability. |
22. A relatively new and expanding area of the ILO's work is urban employment. The ILO is now launching its Urban Employment Programme: Better Jobs for the Informal Economy, which is meant both to consolidate a number of ongoing initiatives funded by various multibilateral donors (Belgium, DANIDA, Germany and Italy) and UNDP, and to mobilize new resources to address growing demand in this field. A focus on the urban sector is being adopted by many donor organizations in the development assistance programmes of Switzerland, the Netherlands and the European Union, who recognize that growing urbanization poses new challenges to the economic, social and environmental sustainability of development. For ILO constituents, programmes to combat urban unemployment have gone hand-in-hand with the development of new approaches to address the urban informal economy, recognizing that the informalization of employment is a growing alternative to either employment or unemployment in the formal sector. The ILO's work in the urban sector has involved municipal authorities and other local actors as new partners in technical cooperation.
23. In order to evaluate the social impact of financial policies on employment and poverty reduction, the Office has been developing programmes that address the adverse consequences of market failures for small and micro-enterprises. Through partnership arrangements with central banks aimed at promoting village banks and other decentralized financial systems accessible to the poor, the ILO has helped improve the access of several hundreds of thousands of small entrepreneurs to safe and reliable deposit and credit facilities in the West African countries.
24. Within the framework of the ILO action programme on Economic reform and structural change: Promoting women's employment and participation in social funds, implemented in 1996 and 1997, country studies on the gender perspective of social funds and social safety net programmes were completed in Bolivia, Honduras, Mexico, Peru, Egypt, Madagascar and Zambia. An international workshop was organized in Geneva in 1997 to discuss the effectiveness of those funds in promoting employment and the importance of the gender dimension. The dialogue on this topic with the World Bank and the international community has resulted in high priority being given to the integration of a gender dimension in the new generation of social funds. The ILO's advice was sought on the development of an effective gender component in specific schemes. Guidelines for the design and functioning of social funds for employment generation with a gender perspective will be published in 1998. The ILO is providing a programme of training and technical assistance to the Albanian Development Fund and to the Ministry of Labour's Training, Enterprise and Employment Fund (TEEF) and the National Employment Fund as a means of improving the quality and impact of employment-creation programmes in Albania. This project combines operational support for the implementation of a road rehabilitation project servicing poor urban communities in the city of Elbasan as an "entry point" to a broader policy dialogue with national and municipal government on increasing the impact of investment funds for employment creation in enterprise development and supporting the rechannelling of social assistance funds into active job-creation programmes.
25. Most technical cooperation projects in the area of small enterprise development were aimed at establishing and strengthening the national framework for the delivery of a wide range of support services to small enterprises.
26. The results of the promoting of micro-enterprises (PROMICRO) project in Central America continued to be relevant: the programme has helped strengthen micro-enterprise associations, facilitating their access to information on innovative approaches to micro-enterprise development. Above all, it has helped create the Committee of Central American Micro-Entrepreneurs (COCEMI) and set up a website (www.sipromicro.com). The project has helped provide associations of micro-entrepreneurs with access to the most advanced technology and to take advantage of market opportunities to benefit from the globalized economy. The experience of this important programme funded by the Netherlands Government will be consolidated through the creation of the Central American Institute for the Promotion of Micro-Enterprises.
27. Basic business management training in the context of the Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB) programme continued to be an important part of small enterprise development activities. Technical cooperation activities in Southern and Eastern Africa further strengthened national training capacities. New SIYB activities also started in countries in Africa, the Arab States, the Pacific and Latin America. New editions of the Improve Your Business and Start Your Business were developed and adapted to national contexts in Peru and South Africa, where the ILO helped set up a sustainable mechanism for continued delivery of SIYB training after the end of the project.
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The Start Your Business (SYB) programme aims to help potential entrepreneurs start businesses through the development of feasibility studies. It conducts training of trainers (TOT) seminars for collaborating organizations which have the necessary capacity to implement the programme. These organizations in turn hold seminars to train potential entrepreneurs in SYB. The final internal evaluation of the programme found that in some cases TOT participants' general business knowledge and training skills were too limited to enable them to implement SYB training after only two weeks of training, and that certain basic knowledge and skills were necessary for trainers to become more effective SYB trainers. Seminars of less than five full days or 40 hours were sometimes too short for the potential entrepreneurs to finalize their feasibility studies. While acknowledging that it was often beyond the capacity of the collaborating organizations, it was recommended that the duration of the seminars should be adjusted to the educational level of the participants. The evaluation also found that the need for follow-up was also directly related to the educational background of the participants and to the quality of training. The frequency and quality of follow-up support services were also very important in ensuring that potential entrepreneurs did not abandon their feasibility studies when they encountered difficulties. A key finding of the evaluation was that a successful start-up was not guaranteed by useful training: apart from the low educational level of some of the participants, a number of other factors outside the control of the collaborating organizations negatively affected start-up and job-creation rates, such as an unfavourable macroeconomic environment, the low financial status of the target groups, the limited availability of finance and the limited amount of time potential entrepreneurs could devote to their businesses. In considering the role of the collaborating organizations, the evaluation considered that the generally limited institutional capacity, on the one hand, and the fact that most of the SYB collaborating organizations were geared towards poverty alleviation and direct support to marginalized groups on the other, diminished the quality of training and follow-up of the potential entrepreneurs. The evaluation recommended, therefore, that, without changing the current composition of the collaborating organizations, any subsequent phase of the SYB programme should also include organizations already targeting groups with a higher educational level, otherwise the impact on job creation would remain limited. |
28. As regards privatization and enterprise restructuring, activities were carried out in Ukraine and Belarus to raise awareness of the major problems involved among central and local authorities and the general public. The experience in Belarus was instrumental in the design of the Russian Federal Programme on the conversion of military settlements into zones of employment, entrepreneurship and energy efficiency. Activities in China addressed the employment and re-employment needs of workers made redundant by enterprise reform. In response to the reorganization of public employment services resulting from structural adjustment programmes, the ILO assisted 23 English-speaking African countries to improve the performance of public and private employment services. In this connection, the publication of a manual on the problems faced by employment services and the institutional response is planned during the 1998-99 biennium. A number of country studies were executed in Africa, providing useful input to the ILO programme on privatization and enterprise restructuring. Technical assistance to strengthen national employment services has also been provided by the ILO to Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina with the financial support of Switzerland, Italy and UNDP.
29. As regards cooperatives, the ACOPAM programme continued to be a major instrument in helping governments and partners' organizations in west Africa to establish successful cooperative and associative forms of organization in support of grass-roots development. The programme is scheduled for completion in 1999 and the ILO has been taking concrete steps to capitalize on the experience by integrating it into broader regional programme planning and programme development. ACOPAM has been able to attract substantial additional parallel funding from the World Bank, the European Union, UNDP and USAID.
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Participation of cooperatives and small enterprises
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In 1994, the ILO started Phase IV of a four-and-a-half-year rural development project designed to involve local cooperatives in bringing food security to villagers in Zinder, Niger . The project also aimed to increase and strengthen the number of new or existing cooperatives in the area, and to set up pharmaceutical cooperatives and credit schemes for women. The mid-term evaluation found that the project had established 199 cereal banks, out of a planned total of 250, 60 per cent of which were considered to be well functioning. However, the evaluation also found that the actual impact of such banks on the food supply situation was limited because insufficient amounts of food grain were available for stocking purposes. This was due to a low crop yield in the area. The evaluation considered that strong networking between the grain banks could be important in supporting local development initiatives in the area. For example, the project initiated the recuperation of land for cultivation purposes. This was well supported by the cereal banks, and therefore by the villagers who willingly invested their own efforts in the project. The evaluation found that, although the number of cooperative enterprises had increased, only a few of them were capable of self-management. This was partly due to the introduction of new legislation restricting the sale of pharmaceutical products, which had a negative impact on the pharmaceutical cooperatives. As regards the establishment of credit schemes for women, the evaluation noted that the original project strategy had been modified. It had been judged more useful to strengthen the already existing credit schemes rather than create new schemes that were not likely to become self-managing during the short lifetime of the project. So far, the results based on the new strategy had been very encouraging, with 78 per cent of the "restructured" entities being self-managing at the time of the evaluation. The evaluation concluded that one main and often-reported lesson could be drawn at this early stage of the project. This was that the time factor for projects dealing with rural development in remote areas was very important. Culture, traditional values, the economy and location all had restraining effects on the progress of implementation, and project designers should take this into consideration. The project's results therefore needed a longer time frame to become sustainable and be "institutionalized" into the local structure. |
30. The interregional programme to support the self-reliance of indigenous and tribal peoples through cooperatives and other self-help organizations (INDISCO) continued to assist indigenous and tribal peoples in Asia and Central America in creating new employment avenues and in safeguarding traditional jobs through the revitalization of indigenous practices, skills training and the provision of micro-credit based on cooperative forms of organization. INDISCO has 16 country-level activities (five in India, seven in the Philippines, one in Viet Nam, one in Thailand and one in Belize). In 1997 and 1998, INDISCO organized informal literacy classes, including some in tribal languages, for more than 3,000 people, most of them women. More than 5,000 men and women were trained on various income-generating schemes, using local experts and specialists. In India and the Philippines, INDISCO helped its partners to create 2,500 new jobs and preserve 1,500 traditional ones. Using indigenous knowledge, India has put into practice innovative approaches, cost-effective and sustainable water harvesting systems through lift irrigation cooperatives, plant nurseries to regenerate forests, biogas plants and dairy schemes. More than 1,000 jobs have been created with financial support from community-based revolving loan funds. In the Philippines, information on traditional aspects of knowledge systems and practices which are pertinent to successful employment strategies at present, has been incorporated in subsequent project activities. Ancestral domains (land management plans) have been prepared and innovative approaches developed to implement participatory land and natural resource management practices. Indigenous women's groups have been predominant in these schemes due to the concentration of capacity building and skills training programmes for entrepreneurship among women. The COOPNET programme continued to provide support to cooperatives and associations, particularly through training activities carried out in Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East. A newsletter on topical issues concerning cooperatives has been issued for the regional coordinators of the programme in Africa and Asia, while a Spanish version of the manual on Gender Issues in Cooperatives has been published in 1997.
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The objective of the integrated rural transport project was to improve transportation in the Makete district of the United Republic of Tanzania . An ex-post evaluation of the project, which ran for 11 years between 1985 and 1996, was carried out in January 1998. A comprehensive low-cost rural transportation approach was used to reduce the time and effort involved in travelling by road, and to increase the capacity of the district or council to plan, organize and implement rural transport measures. The ex-post evaluation found that the project had been successful in improving the local transport infrastructure by mobilizing village councils and villagers to construct and maintain the roads and footpaths. However, the low-cost bridges and culverts were frequently damaged and villagers lacked the technical know-how and resources to maintain them. In order to reduce the time people spent on transport, the project introduced intermediate means of transport (IMTs) such as wheelbarrows and donkeys. This strategy was only partly successful because the wheelbarrows turned out to be too expensive for villagers and donkeys were only used for transport when there was a clear economic profit to be gained, such as when taking vegetables to market, transporting brewed beer, etc. For domestic purposes, head-carrying remained the dominant means of transport because the village councils considered that the value of the time saved by the women and children was close to zero. The project's attempt to introduce maintenance and repairs services for the IMTs was partially successful. A repair workshop was set up to service the wheelbarrows. But medicines for the donkeys that became ill were in short supply. The project was less successful in its capacity-building efforts at the district council level because of the low priority accorded to it by the council and because of a lack of financial resources for road construction and maintenance. The main lessons drawn from this project were that it is relatively easy to mobilize voluntary labour from the local communities for the improvement and maintenance of local transport infrastructures. However, the design of the infrastructure should take into account the technical and financial capabilities of those expected to bear responsibility for its maintenance and repair. If high standards of infrastructure were obtained, their durability would minimize the financial and technical resources needed for their maintenance. |
31. In the field of training, special attention was given to youth employment. In Latin America and the Caribbean the Inter-American Centre for Research and Documentation on Vocational Training (CINTERFOR) focused on this area and executed a series of country assessments in selected countries. An analysis was also carried out of the problems faced by training institutions in inserting young people into labour markets in the European Union. Both documents were discussed at the International Seminar on Youth, Education and Employment in Ibero-America, organized in 1997 by the Organización Ibero-Americana de la Juventud. CINTERFOR's member institutions have stressed the importance of exchanging information on the quality and scope of training and of contributing to improved dialogue with the social partners in the region on the issue of youth employment.
32. In a more traditional field, training in the hotel and catering sector, the ILO continued to develop activities. In May 1998 a subregional project funded by Spain came to an end which had aimed at strengthening regional cooperation in the area of vocational training in the hotel, catering and tourism sectors. The nine participating countries felt that considerable progress had been made towards improving training and certification criteria, and thus the employability of workers. Elsewhere, the ILO provided assistance in the training of workers in the hotel and tourism sector to some 15 countries in Africa, the Arab States, Asia and Europe.
33. Training is also an important element in post-conflict programmes. The successful reintegration of ex-combatants is a key factor for the stability of post-conflict countries. The ILO has worked in this area in Mozambique and Angola. In Angola, a project launched in 1996 with funding support from UNDP, Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, successfully tested a decentralized strategy involving innovative approaches and institutional mechanisms which has been effective in lowering the cost of the training. Of the 14,000 ex-combatants targeted for training, some 5,900 subcontracts -- representing more than 42 per cent of the total potential trainees -- have been signed with local training centres. According to the provisional results of a recent survey of some 2,000 micro-enterprises in all provinces of the country, training preferences reflect quite closely the content and geographical distribution of the training packages offered by INSERM (Institute for the Socio-Professional Reintegration of Ex-Military Personnel). The experience acquired in dealing with the reintegration of ex-combatants led to the publication of a manual on Training and employment options for ex-combatants.
34. Technical advisory services were provided to more than 25 countries in the field of labour statistics. Technical cooperation projects on national labour statistics are ongoing in Armenia, Georgia, Nepal, Turkey, the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Within the framework of the master plan of the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the ILO prepared a programme to establish a labour statistics unit and launch a quarterly labour force survey to collect regular data on the employment, unemployment and wages of the Palestinian population. In addition, during 1997, the ILO has prepared a project dealing with data production and dissemination standards, the classification of occupations, occupational employment and wages data and statistics on ex-detainees. In Ukraine, technical assistance was provided for the development of a modern Labour Market Information System, training of national specialists in sample techniques and the launch of an LSF-based informal sector survey.
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The ILO/Japan inter-country project on "Strategic approaches towards employment promotion (ILO/PEP)" undertaken in China, Bangladesh and Pakistan started in Bangladesh and Pakistan in mid-1993 with the aim of identifying appropriate modalities for Government and non-government organizations (NGOs) to create job and income opportunities in disadvantaged rural and urban areas. Over the years three main programmes had been implemented: community-based special employment schemes (SECs), the mobilization of non-project resources for government and NGOs in the pilot areas for use by the project, and projects for non-project beneficiaries in generating income and policy support to strengthen the role of the ministries of labour in employment promotion and planning. In 1997 the project focused on institutionalizing the employment promotion modalities, enhancing the self-sustaining capacity of the counterparts and assisting the ministries of labour in preparing a successor project based on PEP experiences. In China, the ILO/PEP started the preparatory stage of Phase III in mid-1996 with the Employment Department, Ministry of Labour (MOL) as the main counterpart agency. The project implementation framework included a National Steering Committee (NSC), a Provincial Steering Committee and Project Implementation Working Groups, with the Labour Service Station as the direct implementing agency. A remarkable feature of the pilot SECs was their potential to create jobs. The 35 schemes had provided direct employment to nearly 1,500 beneficiaries. However, difficulties arose in some schemes where economic returns were limited because of the beneficiaries' lack of technical skills in new production methods and knowledge of the market economy and small business management. Another shortcoming was the need for greater credit than that made available. The major achievement of the project was the creation of a Rural Employment Promotion Fund (REPF) in each pilot province. This strategy, which had been used very successfully in the Bangladesh project, aimed at enlarging beneficiaries' access to non-project resources and enhancing counterpart agencies' involvement in the project. It was based on the assumption that funds for the pilot employment creation schemes would be mobilized locally. As of September 1997, more than RMB4.9 million (2) -- out of a projected RMB6 million to be raised before the end of 2000 -- had been secured locally. The REPF's success has indicated the strong commitment of the local authorities and beneficiaries to the project's activities. It has also shown to be an effective method of mobilizing resources at local governmental and community levels for rural employment promotion. |
35. The ILO's Global Programme on Occupational Safety, Health and Environment (OSHE) provides the broad framework for all ILO initiatives in this field based on multidisciplinary and multi-stakeholder approaches. In the prevailing environment, a major objective of the programme is to ensure that the positive values of a strong safety, health and environmental culture are integrated into the globalization process as a critical element of social stability and equitable and sustainable development. Appropriately adapted to national circumstances, the focus is on strengthening national capacities to work on occupational safety and health (OSH) issues including policies, standards, occupational health services, safety management, built-in protection, safety culture, training and information dissemination. Particular attention is paid to the participation of workers. Special attention is paid to the interaction between the working and general environment, which provides opportunities for integrated action to improve both.
36. In the period under review advisory services and assistance were provided to strengthen national capacities, improve national laws and regulations, develop national tripartite safety and health structures, and to support the ratification and implementation of basic international labour standards on OSH.
37. A national programme on chemical safety was launched in China. In Africa, national workshops on chemical safety related to the creation of national chemical registers were organized in Uganda, Zimbabwe, Malawi, United Republic of Tanzania and Kenya. Work was also done on the translation of Chemical Safety Data Sheets into several languages. The production of chemical safety training materials, posters and booklets, and awareness training campaigns, were included in technical cooperation programmes and projects.
38. Both the Asian and African OSH information programmes provided a wide range of support to programme and budget objectives focused on ensuring the availability and use of OSH information services for ILO constituents in developing national services capable of distributing and using OSH information effectively, and on promoting networking between the national services in this field.
39. The ILO action programme on Safety in the use of chemicals at work (1996-97) was designed to deal with the negative effects of toxic chemicals and waste on health, and the danger of fires and explosions. It was also one of the ILO's contributions to achieving the goals set by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED, Rio de Janeiro, 1992 -- Chapter 19, agenda item 21) for the environmentally sound management of chemicals, and the relevant recommendations of the Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety.
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International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) |
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A total of 23 countries have signed the Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) with the ILO, committing themselves to work together to address effectively the issue of child labour in their countries. Another 32 countries are also involved in IPEC in a less formal manner. During the period under review, IPEC maintained a strong presence in Asia and Latin America, and expanded its coverage in Africa and in Central and Eastern Europe. Donor support for IPEC remained high during 1997-98, with additional resources received from the United States, Norway, Netherlands, France, United Kingdom and Italy. Austria, Finland, Japan, Poland and Switzerland joined the Programme and contributions were received from the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (JTUC-RENGO), bringing the number of donor countries and contributing organizations to 21. The proposed ILO Convention on child labour that will probably be adopted by the International Labour Conference in 1999 calls in its present draft for the "elimination of the worst forms of child labour". A large number of countries have expressed their support for the new Convention and their interest in implementing programmes focusing on the immediate elimination of the worst forms of child labour. IPEC will then develop programmes of action in countries where there is a firm political commitment towards this end. A promising new approach in addressing child labour issues is a comprehensive system designed to ensure that manufacturers and their subcontractors in specific economic sectors do not employ children under the age of 14 years. Child labour monitors under the programme inspect the workplaces regularly. Social protection schemes provide alternatives to the affected children and their families. The strategies applied in these types of programme have proven valuable in workplace monitoring programmes both in the formal sector (for example, the garments industry in Bangladesh) and in the rural and semi-urban informal and formal sector (for example, the soccer ball industry in Sialkot, Pakistan). IPEC now intends to replicate and expand this model. |
40. ILO technical cooperation activities addressing the issue of child labour continued to be delivered through the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC). A report on the operational aspects of IPEC was presented to the Governing Body at its 271st Session (March 1998).(3) Extra-budgetary resources provided by IPEC donors were reinforced with RBTC funds. They were used to promote and complement IPEC programmes on the basis of agreed country objectives. Technical cooperation and promotional activities were mutually reinforcing and supported by extensive basic research and analytical work undertaken by the Office.
41. RBTC funds were used to finance technical advisory services and operational activities carried out in cooperation with the field structure. These included the following:
42. The ILO collaborated with the National Safety Council (NSC) and their National Education Centre for Agricultural Safety (NECAS) to organize an international workshop on occupational safety and health in agriculture and the training needs of developing countries in the United States in October 1997.
43. The scope of the ILO's ongoing collaboration with the NSC and the NECAS is oriented towards stimulating action and strengthening cooperation between the ILO and other international and interregional bodies in the development of action plans on safety and health in agriculture in developing countries. The purpose of the workshop was to identify the critical issues that affect the health and safety of agricultural workers in developing countries and their training needs. The ILO's contribution to the workshop was to provide technical input and sponsor the participation of representatives from Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Arab States. The participants were directly responsible for OSH matters in their institutions and organizations or actively involved in occupational safety and health in agriculture. The ILO also provided technical input in the preparation of keynote presentations, group discussions and the final recommendations. Based on the outcome of the meeting, the participants are expected to be able to organize national programmes on OSH for the sector. An information network was also created among the participants as a by-product of the workshop.
44. The ILO continued to be recognized throughout the world as a source of guidance and expertise in the development, reform and administration of social security schemes. In 1997 the ILO was alone in offering advisory services and technical cooperation projects in about 25 countries. The social security programme addresses each of the ILO's priority objectives. First, as regards democracy and fundamental workers' rights, social security was recognized in the Declaration of Philadelphia as a basic human right. Moreover, since social security schemes are financed by employers and workers, with the latter and their families as the beneficiaries, there is a strong case for the democratic management of the schemes through the active participation of representatives of employers and workers. Secondly, since the benefits of growth are often unequally distributed, there are many who do not benefit from positive economic development and who nevertheless require even more social protection. Social security programmes aimed at poverty relief are thus an essential component of poverty alleviation programmes. Social security is also an essential feature of working conditions intended to promote a healthy and contented workforce and to provide income security in the event of temporary or permanent interruption of earnings.
45. A major development in the period under review was the commencement of the global programme on Strategies and Tools against Social Exclusion and Poverty (STEP), funded with a contribution of more than $8 million from the Government of Belgium. This reflects a growing trend towards addressing the social protection needs of those outside the scope of formal social security schemes. Since its launch the programme has formalized research links with a number of institutions of high reputation. In June 1998 it collaborated with a number of agencies, including USAID and GTZ, to organize a major workshop on health mutuals in Abidjan, which also served to identify concrete needs for programme development.
46. The ILO's technical cooperation efforts in the maritime sector continued to focus on improving working conditions, including the safety of maritime workers. Most of the activities focused on the port sector. The ILO provides the workers with an opportunity to raise their concerns on issues related to the effects of structural adjustment. Another theme has been the impact of structural adjustment programmes on the port sector. As concerns seafarers, the main activities included national seminars on maritime labour standards and the training of ship inspectors. The latter programme has been carried out in very close cooperation with the International Maritime Organization. The use of new cargo-handling techniques and port reforms, implemented through privatization, liberalization and the improvement of existing port administration, has resulted in an urgent need to increase skill levels, and in many cases to change the skill profile of port workers. The interest of ports and port training centres in using and implementing the Portworker Development Programme (PDP), both in developed and developing countries, has been overwhelming. It is foreseen that in the next five years more than 25 developing countries will be implementing the PDP through national or regional projects assisted by the ILO, and in most cases co-financed by the governments concerned.
47. The Office maintained its efforts to improve conditions for workers with disabilities. An international research project on disability management in the workplace is being undertaken in collaboration with the National Institute for Disability Management and Research of Canada. This project is examining the state of the art of disability management across a broad range of countries and enterprises, identifying and examining best practices and benchmark models. The findings will contribute to the formulation of a draft ILO Code of practice on the management of disability-related issues in the workplace, which will then be available for use in other projects and programmes. Study countries include Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand and United States.
3. Promoting democracy and human rights
48. Harsh competition between nations and enterprises in today's globalized market economy, current political, economic and social changes, and the impact of structural adjustment programmes with persistently high levels of unemployment and poverty are compelling member States to introduce major reforms in the areas of labour law and labour relations. Wage policies at the national, industrial and enterprise levels are insufficiently adapted to the task of ensuring better earnings for workers, enabling employers to attract, maintain and motivate workers, and increasing productivity.
49. To respond to the great need for adequate legal frameworks to protect and promote workers' rights and for the establishment of essential mechanisms for the promotion of tripartite consultations, collective bargaining and the settlement of labour disputes, expert technical assistance in drafting, revising and codifying labour legislation was provided to more than 25 member States. Technical comments were made on draft texts from 12 countries. The ILO recently received new requests for technical assistance in the area of labour legislation from subregional organizations seeking to harmonize labour legislation and labour relations. One such request comes from Kenya, United Republic of Tanzania and Uganda.
50. Technical assistance in developing mechanisms for negotiation and consultation at the national level was provided to more than 20 member States. With financial support from the Government of Belgium, a major project on the promotion of social dialogue in French-speaking African countries started in Benin, Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire. The aim is to enhance the social partners' awareness of the need for tripartite dialogue on economic and social issues and the establishment and strengthening of tripartite consultation structures in these countries. The success of the pilot phase of this project generated considerable interest in many other African countries.
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Harmonization of labour legislation and promotion
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In February 1997 the ILO, with financial support from the African-American Labour Centre (AALC) and UNICEF, assisted the Ugandan Government in organizing a tripartite subregional conference on the Harmonization of labour legislation and the promotion of tripartism in East Africa. The conference, which was attended by high-level tripartite delegations from the three countries of the East African Cooperation (Kenya, United Republic of Tanzania and Uganda), concluded with a set of recommendations for consideration by its commission. The East African Cooperation meeting of ministers of labour was held in Arusha in October 1997 and endorsed most of the recommendations, including those dealing with the need to harmonize labour and immigration laws, the introduction of flexible approaches in the implementation of labour policies, the enhancement of tripartism and the need for greater ratification of international labour standards. Follow-up missions to the three countries in February 1998 investigated and assessed their specific needs with regard to labour reforms, and investigated and assessed the commitments and feasibility of harmonization of labour legislation within the framework of the East African Cooperation. The findings and recommendations of these missions will be submitted and discussed with the social partners in the three countries. |
51. In Asia, a project entitled Promoting sound industrial relations based on tripartism, covering Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Viet Nam, was approved by Norway and should start by the end of 1998. A regional project on the promotion of sound labour relations and mutual understanding, funded by the Japanese Government, showed that labour-management relations rely on increased worker involvement in decision-making as a key factor in the success or failure of enterprises. A Swiss-funded project on the prevention and resolution of conflict and the promotion of workplace democracy in South Africa contributed to the creation of a national statutory Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA). In 1997 some 60,000 disputes were referred to the CCMA and nearly 50 per cent were reconciled by the Commission. This represented a very favourable rate of prevention of work/hour losses for the country as a whole. The promising results of this project thus far encouraged the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation to provide funds for another project covering Lesotho and Namibia, which aims to assist them to review their labour legislation and to develop the appropriate legislative framework for effective dispute prevention and settlement. It also provides relevant training for government officials and representatives of the employers' and workers' organizations.
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Promotion of tripartism and social dialogue in four southern African
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The adoption of structural adjustment programmes, the enhancement of a liberal market economy and the emergence of multi-party democracy are changing the overall social and economic environment for these and other countries in Africa. The first phase of the project, funded by Norway , mainly comprising studies of national conditions and the identification of major problems hindering effective tripartism, was completed in 1997. The second phase will involve the organization of high-level tripartite seminars to discuss the major problems identified and to make recommendations. These seminars will be completed by the end of 1998, while the last and final phase -- the organization of a subregional conference to discuss the experiences of these countries -- is scheduled for 1999. |
52. One effect of the transformations taking place in many countries is an increase in the frequency and number of labour disputes. In China, the transition to a market economy and the open-door economic policy have increased the number of labour disputes. In 1997, the restructuring of state-owned enterprises resulted in 11 million workers losing their jobs. The number of disputes, individual and collective, has doubled since 1995, but China has neither the experience nor the institutional machinery to handle them. In this context, the Government of China requested ILO technical assistance. In response, in November 1997, the ILO arranged the visit of a high-level Chinese delegation to a project in South Africa to allow them to gain first-hand knowledge of its operation and impact. Subsequently, a project on promoting workplace democracy and improving industrial relations in China was formulated, and it is anticipated that it will be finalized and funded by the end of 1998.
53. There has been an increase in the number of requests for ILO technical assistance in the settlement of labour disputes and in the establishment of collective bargaining machinery in the public service. The latter has been particularly affected by the liberalized policies that are being progressively introduced in many countries. A major challenge is to establish ways of accommodating the interests of civil servants and government administration in line with basic ILO principles.
54. In the area of workers' participation, technical assistance was provided for a tripartite national conference on workers' participation in Mauritius in February 1997 which was attended by 200 participants from government and from employers' and workers' organizations, and other institutions concerned. It identified the major problems hindering the promotion of workers' participation as a means of sustaining the country's economic success, examined various workers' participation schemes in Mauritius, and made proposals for future action. The results of this fruitful national consultation were integrated into a project on the revision and codification of labour laws and the promotion of workers' participation in Mauritius, now being implemented with UNDP funding.
55. In Latin America, technical assistance was provided to Colombia for social dialogue on wages, prices and productivity and the modernization of labour relations. Parallel to support for tripartite social dialogue in the five Andean countries, the ILO promoted bipartite collective bargaining through advisory missions, technical assistance, empirical research, workshops and the publication of a manual on collective bargaining. Two regional projects funded by Spain on the strengthening of tripartite social dialogue and labour reconversion in the Andean countries, and more recently in the Central American region, continued to be implemented. In Bolivia a tripartite agreement on social dialogue, the first in the entire history of labour relations in Bolivia, was signed in May 1998. It constitutes an important step towards using social dialogue as an instrument to tackle labour market reforms.
56. The lack of clear and effective principles and procedures for consultation with indigenous and tribal peoples, dispute settlement mechanisms, just and appropriate compensation, and socio-economic rehabilitation, are primary causes of pauperization and social unrest among indigenous and tribal peoples. In Guatemala a series of workshops, training courses and radio programmes aimed to help indigenous peoples and associations at the grass-roots and regional levels to comprehend the scope and implications of the Final Agreement on a Firm and Lasting Peace and the ratification of Convention No. 169 under the interregional project entitled Indigenous and tribal peoples: Poverty alleviation and democratization. The project also helped COPMAGUA, the Guatemalan Indigenous Confederation jointly responsible for the implementation of the Indigenous Agreement to strengthen its grass-roots promotional and educational campaigns. Training has also been supplied to enhance the capacity to design and negotiate the funding of community-based economic and social projects. In the Philippines, the project has focused on lobbying and promoting dialogue with local and national government authorities and other concerned actors on local policies for the sustainable use and management of indigenous ancestral lands.
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Enhancing the employment and access to social prote
ction
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Activities in Asia focused on the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia , resulting in the establishment of a national network of homeworkers. The project also contributed to the creation of an institutional framework for social dialogue at the national level in two countries, the formulation of national development policies on the informal sector, and the enhancement of the socio-economic status and capacities of homeworkers. In the period under review major emphasis was placed on developing innovative social protection schemes, especially in the context of the current Asian financial crisis, and promoting international linkages between homeworkers' organizations. In Latin America studies in Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Chile, El Salvador, Guatemala, Paraguay and Peru have been finalized. The goal was (i) to ascertain the magnitude and trends of this form of employment in the manufacturing and service sectors, while assessing the suitability of national employment surveys and statistics; (ii) to determine the socio-economic profile and needs of homeworkers; (iii) to assess the appropriateness and effectiveness of existing regulatory frameworks; and (iv) to obtain the views of workers' and employers' organizations. A publication in Spanish on the research is under preparation. A regional consultation on the findings and possible follow-up is scheduled for October 1998 in Santiago (Chile). Some Asian experts working on this subject will be invited. |
57. As regards remuneration, technical assistance was provided in response to constituents' requests (i) to protect workers' earnings; (ii) to enhance the capacity of employers to attract and motivate qualified human resources; and (iii) to help improve macroeconomic management of the economy.
III. Regional trends and priorities
58. The status of the country objectives (COs) was the subject of a paper submitted to the Committee in March 1998.(4) An update on the situation regarding the country employment policy reviews is submitted to the Committee on Employment and Social Policy at the present session.(5)
59. The African region represents on average 39 per cent of the ILO's technical cooperation activities financed from regular budget and extra-budgetary resources.
60. As regards job creation and combating poverty, which are priorities for the programme in 1998-99, ILO technical cooperation activities with constituents are conducted on a number of fronts, such as the increasingly effective integration on employment issues into economic management. Biennial meetings of employment planners promote exchanges of national experience and involve countries in the orientation of and follow-up on the regional programme, Jobs for Africa.
61. In addition, countries in the region are increasingly aware of the need to take account of the employment effects of the choices they make regarding investment, and donors themselves are making positive changes in this respect. This is largely the outcome of studies undertaken by the ILO in countries of the region, discussions held in the framework of two tripartite meetings on the socio-economic consequences of the devaluation of the CFA franc (Dakar, 1994; Yaoundé, 1997), and cooperation with countries and donors (Antananarivo and Dakar), and resulted in the elaboration of a programme of concrete support at the subregional level (AFRICATIP).
62. As regards the improvement of labour information for the elaboration of employment policies, the organization of consultations at the subregional level and with donors on employment and training observatories provided an opportunity to make concrete responses to the needs expressed by many countries for improvements in employment and training information, which are essential to accurate decision-making and to efficient planning.
63. Training is also coming to be regarded by increasing numbers of countries in the region as a major instrument for the implementation of employment and enterprise promotional policies. Their main concern was the adaptation of existing systems to a greater and more diversified demand for them both within and outside the modern sector, taking account flexibly of the needs of SMEs and the informal sector, and promoting the involvement of enterprises themselves. They were also concerned that training should make a greater contribution to improving the productivity of enterprises and of the national economy.
64. As regards the promotion of democracy and workers' fundamental rights, social dialogue and tripartite cooperation are in several countries increasingly turning to the objective of instituting frameworks for tripartite consultation on a permanent basis. ILO support, provided in West Africa thanks to cooperation from Belgium, is extending to Portuguese-speaking countries, and requests for programmes of assistance are being made by all subregions.
65. As regards equality of opportunity and treatment for women and underprivileged groups, technical cooperation activities have brought a number of results, including support for the formulation and implementation of national and sectoral policies on the promotion of women (resulting from the Fourth World Conference on Women), policies for the socio-economic integration of the handicapped and victims of conflict. Programmes to assist these target groups are formulated and executed in various countries. Interventions in which there is a shared interest are developed on the lines of the guidance document concerning community-based vocational rehabilitation, and on methodologies and strategies for the reintegration of groups affected by conflict.
66. As regards child labour, considerable progress can be noted in improving awareness among constituents of the problems this poses, but much remains to be done to eliminate its extreme forms. African countries are aware of the problems, and are favourable to the new Convention.
67. As regards the reform of social protection systems, technical cooperation has been varied and has involved many studies, auditing missions, advisory services and the organization of training courses and seminars at the national and subregional level, and has helped bring positive developments in existing systems, identify the problems, and finding the solutions in a broader framework, taking account of the population as a whole, and not only workers in the modern sector. Moreover, better understanding can be noticed among many countries of their situation regarding workplace health and safety, as they have become aware of the problems in this area, and particularly of the links between improvement of the working environment and productivity improvements. Support programmes are under way or in preparation in a growing number of countries.
68. RBTC resources are also used as seed money in many projects that are under way or in the pipeline, in cooperation with IBRD/ADB (combating poverty, social security, employment observatories, etc.), UNDP (reintegration of victims of conflict and vulnerable groups) and bilateral donors (e.g. social dialogue).
69. As regards the involvement of employers' and workers' organizations in the technical cooperation programme, since 1996 a new approach can be detected to the promotion of social dialogue through specific programmes targeted at the tripartite partners, the creation and strengthening of frameworks for cooperation and the initiation of subregional exchanges. Demand for such support services comes mainly from the major regional groupings.
70. While demand for ILO technical cooperation remained high in the Americas during 1997-98, the level of new project approvals in 1997 for the Americas decreased slightly from 7.4 per cent ($8 million) to 6.1 per cent ($7.5 million). This was due in part to the fact that the activities undertaken as a result of the first country objective plans, prepared in 1994 and 1995, were in the final stage of implementation and the MDTs started working on preparing a second country objective (CO) review. In addition, for countries such as Argentina and Uruguay it is difficult to obtain multibilateral resources because of strict donor criteria related to GNP. It is also difficult to abstract resources for the Caribbean subregion where most of the planned activities were accomplished by using RBTC resources or by mobilizing national resources. Resources received from UNDP were relatively scarce, but one important achievement was the approval of a project on women's training by the Inter-American Development Bank. This facilitated future negotiations with the Bank, which has now requested CINTERFOR to execute other technical cooperation activities.
71. Since the introduction of the APP and the use of country objectives as the basis for national programming, a sharp increase has been registered in extra-budgetary contributions from governments. Clear examples can be seen in Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Panama, Uruguay and Argentina. During the period under review, some ILO area offices, together with the counterparts or with technical departments in headquarters, allocated RBTC resources to share the cost of small projects and programmes identified in the COs.
72. Of the 13 action programmes in the Programme and Budget for 1996-97, countries of the region had participated in seven (three on employment issues, three on gender issues and one on social dialogue), including the International Programme on More and Better Jobs for Women. A mission to launch this programme in Mexico, a selected country for this activity, was undertaken in May 1998, aimed at formulating the National Action Plan in Mexico.
73. The IPEC programme, aimed at creating permanent institutional structures, was an important part of the overall ILO programme in the region. Memoranda of Understanding have been signed with Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, and Peru, and the National Committees have been working to consolidate the National Plans of Action. IPEC also developed various action projects on hazardous work in mining (Colombia), brick works (Peru and Argentina), produce markets (Peru), stone chipping (Peru) and shoe shining (Bolivia). The first evaluation of these projects indicates that there is a need to mobilize grass-roots communities with a multidisciplinary approach that includes four basic components: education, nutrition, health and alternatives for income generation. Based on the subregional experience, the second phase of action will continue efforts to consolidate national policies in the region.
74. Assistance to the social partners was a major component of the programme in the region. Workers' education programmes focused particularly on international labour standards, collective bargaining, working conditions, human rights reform and the development of pension systems. Expenses for workers' activities in 1997 rose to 8.5 per cent ($1,120,000) of total expenditure, compared with 6.7 per cent in 1996 ($680,000). New project approvals in 1997 for workers activities rose to $1,178,939.
75. Direct support was also provided to workers' organizations to strengthen their capacity to participate in tripartite social dialogue and socio-economic development. The results of the research and studies undertaken will be important in strengthening workers' organizations in certain technical areas.
76. The Regional Office worked with employers' organizations to strengthening their capacity to participate in formulating national social and labour policies, to improve labour relations and to provide adequate services to their members. Almost $1 million was internally mobilized for employers' activities throughout the region in 1997.
77. As regards resource mobilization, the key issue is to become involved at the very earliest stage of the formulation process, for example, within the Country Cooperation Framework (CCF). This is one way of contributing to the assessment of the social and economic situation in a specific country, while providing, at the request of UNDP, technical assistance and backstopping for nationally executed projects.
78. A noticeable achievement with respect to resource mobilization in 1997 was the agreement signed with the Ford Foundation to fund a subregional project amounting to $425,000 for the MERCOSUR countries and Chile. There is also great interest by the Caribbean Development Bank in supporting ILO activities in favour of CARICOM member States, and work is being done by the ILO Caribbean Office to succeed in this endeavour.
79. Approvals for this region increased by 9 per cent compared to 1996, and stood at more than $20.8 million. In terms of geographical distribution, Asia had the second highest level of approvals after Africa. With respect to the ILO's priority objectives, there was a clear focus on employment and poverty-related issues, reflecting the demand for action in this area. Ensuring effective action in this field will remain one of the main challenges for the ILO in the region for some time to come. The percentage share of expenditure for employment and training activities increased from 21.7 per cent in 1996 to nearly 30 per cent in 1997, followed by poverty alleviation (21 per cent -- 25 per cent in 1996) and enterprise development and working conditions with about 15 per cent each (down from 18 per cent and 17.6 per cent respectively in 1996).
80. RBTC resources were used for a wide range of activities to assist constituents. An important function of RBTC has been to serve as seed money for developing projects and programmes that can attract the required levels of extra-budgetary support. One example is the project on employment opportunities for women, which is currently being developed in the Pacific subregion as an outcome of RBTC-financed training for young women for employment promotion. Despite its quantitative limits, RBTC has also been valuable in organizing cost-sharing arrangements, both within the ILO and with constituents.
81. As regards the issue of the social responses to the financial crisis in East and South-East Asian countries, this was the subject of a high-level meeting held in Bangkok in April 1998 in response to a recommendation by the Twelfth Asian Regional Meeting (Bangkok, 9-11 December 1997).(6) Further information on activities in this area are the subject of a special report submitted to the Governing Body at its present session.(7)
82. Attention was given to improving linkages between the country objectives and the ILO's action programmes and global programmes. They are seen to be supplementing other planned country activities, and often stimulate interest among both recipients and donor countries in follow-up activities. Thus, for example, the action programme for the development of export processing zones (EPZs) in China, generated demand from the Government for future activities in that area. Global programmes such as STEP, More and Better Jobs for Women and major ILO programmes such as ASIST (Advisory Support Information Services and Training for Asia and the Pacific), have generated considerable interest at the country level and among donors.
83. Following extensive consultations, the ILO was able to attract UNDP funding for the preparation of a project document on women's employment concerns and working conditions in Pakistan. A National Plan of Action for More and Better Jobs was then formulated and has also attracted interest from other donors.
84. Several projects focusing on employers' and workers' organizations either started or continued during the reporting period. In Bangladesh and India, a project funded by Norway on integrating women in private sector activities through employers' organizations continued to be implemented, covering the training needs of women entrepreneurs and gender equality issues. Norway is also funding a project on employers' organizations and cleaner production, which is operational in India, Sri Lanka, China, Philippines and Indonesia. Following an initial orientation workshop, several training courses were carried out at the enterprise level. A DANIDA-funded project on Human resource development for adjustment at the enterprise level is being implemented in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Philippines. Project outputs so far include two training manuals, which were tested at a workshop.
85. The efforts being made in some countries to establish a UN-wide framework for action under the UNDAF exercise provides an opportunity to pool resources with other UN agencies and attract other donors. Such exercises are taking place in Viet Nam (recently completed), Philippines and Thailand.
86. Contact between the ILO and the international and regional financial institutions has been intensified as a result of the heightened presence of representatives of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) at the country level following the Asian financial crisis. At the policy level, the ILO's Regional Office is engaged in a dialogue with the ADB and the international financial institutions on the social consequences of structural adjustment programmes, and seeks to encourage dialogue with the social partners and ministries of labour.
87. Turin RBTC funds were made available for subregional workshops on an Introduction to pension schemes held in Malaysia, and on Strengthening dispute settlement mechanisms in South Asian economies, held in Nepal. Capacity building in the field of international labour standards was promoted through individual fellowships for government officials. Support to employers' organizations was provided in the form of a workshop at the Turin Centre on employers' organizations in Asia and the Pacific in the twenty-first century.
88. The objective for this region is to reach a level of extra-budgetary approvals that would secure the implementation of the programme planned for the 27 countries, supported by the area offices and the multidisciplinary teams in Moscow and in Budapest.
89. Prospects are encouraging in Europe. The level of approvals doubled in 1997 compared with 1996, totalling $8,249,379 or 6.8 per cent of total ILO approvals. The main multibilateral donors in the region are Belgium, Finland, the Flemish Community, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Switzerland and Italy. The ILO was able, in 1997-98, to mobilize $7.1 million for Bosnia and Herzegovina from the Governments of Japan, Italy, Luxembourg and Belgium and from UNDP. A number of new projects are to be submitted for funding in Albania, Russian Federation, Azerbaijan, Belarus, and Tajikistan. In Uzbekistan, along with the World Bank and the UNDP, the ILO participates in the establishment of the Uzbek Social Transformation Fund, comprising three different subprogrammes; small enterprise development, employment promotion in infrastructure, and a micro-credit scheme.
90. In Tajikistan, with financing from the donor community, the ILO will implement a $2 million project for social rehabilitation and the reintegration of refugees and displaced persons. A subregional project enhancing women's employment and equality during economic transition, covering Belarus, Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan is being submitted to donors for funding. As can be seen, technical cooperation in the countries of Central Asia and Europe is an increasingly powerful tool for achieving an efficient active partnership with the constituents. In this respect it might be noted that technical cooperation usually produces better and more tangible results in countries where there is a permanent ILO presence. Alternatively, consultation with technical advisers locally responsible for the execution of the activities, or with national correspondents could be advantageous.
91. In countries emerging from conflict (Bosnia, Albania and Tajikistan), the ILO is proactive and very successful in ensuring its presence at the early stage of developing technical cooperation programmes of interest to recipients and donors and directly linked to the ILO's core mandate (reform of labour legislation and labour institutions; employment promotion through the creation of small and medium enterprises; training and reinsertion of the disabled into the labour market).
92. The resource mobilization strategy in the region focused on the outcome of successful technical cooperation projects, approaches and methodologies, which were disseminated and attracted donor interest in several countries (i.e. income-generation and self-employment in depressed areas). The countries of this region covered by both area offices and MDTs will benefit from ILO global programmes such as IPEC (which will be extended to other countries), STEP (already implementing activities in Azerbaijan and Russian Federation), More and Better Jobs for Women, ISEP and the World Programme on Safety and Health, when operational.
93. The ILO should enhance its efforts to attract more external assistance for technical cooperation programmes in the field of institution building to develop employers' and workers' organizations; reinforcement of tripartism and social dialogue; employment and active labour market policies, training systems and labour administration; small enterprise development and entrepreneurship, and poverty alleviation and social protection.
Arab States and the Middle East
94. Approvals in 1997 amounted to $7.4 million, reflecting an increase of 67 per cent from $4.4 million in 1996. Approvals in the fields of employment, small enterprise development and vocational rehabilitation accounted for nearly 50 per cent of the total approvals. The technical cooperation programme in the region mainly addressed the ILO objective related to employment promotion and poverty alleviation. In Lebanon, Bahrain and Yemen, the ILO's programme helped to strengthen the capacity for labour market monitoring. In Lebanon a project completed during the period under review produced employment data that provided a substantive basis for the formulation of policies and programmes on employment promotion. The Office also implemented a project in the West Bank and Gaza designed to help the Palestinian Authority to establish a employment strategy in the medium term that included institution building on employment issues. The technical cooperation programme also contributed to employment promotion and poverty alleviation for the disabled in this region through vocational rehabilitation, the development of small enterprises and the promotion of income-generating activities.
95. Promotion of employment is one of the highest priorities identified in the country objectives for Lebanon: in collaboration with UNDP, an SPPD project to formulate an appropriate strategy for employment promotion and sustainable economic growth was prepared. The combined efforts of the ILO and UNDP ensured the timely launch of studies within the framework of this project.
96. A number of activities were undertaken in the region in support of employers' and workers' organizations. In order to promote tripartite structures, regional and subregional seminars were organized to meet the needs and interests of the Arab States. In cooperation with the Arab Labour Organization (ALO), the ILO held regional meetings on the role of workers' and employers' organizations in Tunis and Dubai. Three ILO/ICATU subregional meetings on the importance of social dialogue, workers' education and trade union rights were held in the region to promote cooperation between workers' organizations and with the ILO. During 1997 a number of workshops and seminars were held at the national level.
97. A major priority for the RBTC programme in the Arab States was to enhance the capacity of employers' and workers' organizations to effectively participate in tripartite dialogue. In this connection, particular emphasis was placed on issues such as fundamental workers' rights, including freedom of association and collective bargaining, and the social impact of economic globalization. These activities contributed to the achievement of the ILO's objective related to the promotion of democracy and workers' rights.
98. Notable during the period under review was the completion of studies on the situation regarding child labour in selected countries in the region. The results are being used to prepare strategies and programmes to combat the most intolerable forms of child labour.
99. As regards gender issues, one major activity was a regional seminar on the promotion of micro- and small enterprises for women, focusing on the creation of an enabling business environment and on the required support, such as credit schemes, training, marketing and promotion. Within the framework of the International Programme on More and Better Jobs for Women, the action plan for the West Bank and Gaza was formulated.
100. Within the region, the West Bank and Gaza received the largest share of the technical cooperation programme. Projects in the field of vocational rehabilitation, employment promotion and small enterprise development were funded from extra-budgetary resources, while those related to labour administration and employers' and workers' organizations were financed through RBTC.
101. The ratification of international labour standards was promoted in nearly all technical cooperation activities in the region. Particular emphasis was placed on enhancing the social partners' understanding of international labour standards in specific technical fields. Assistance to workers' organizations focused on improved understanding of international labour standards related to fundamental workers' rights, such as freedom of association and collective bargaining.
102. Close contacts were maintained with the local representatives of traditional donors. At the same time considerable efforts were made to diversify extra-budgetary funding. Experience in the West Bank and Gaza points to the need to involve UNDP representatives and other donors both on technical (formulation, monitoring and evaluation) and substantive issues.
IV. Workers' and employers' activities and
technical cooperation
103. Technical cooperation projects implemented by the Bureau for Workers' Activities (ACTRAV) are based on direct requests from workers' organizations and needs identified by the ILO, both in the field and at headquarters, and from international, regional and national trade union bodies. All such assistance addresses the ILO's priority themes: support for democracy and fundamental workers' rights, promoting employment and combating poverty; and protecting working people. Within this context, the main issues of the technical cooperation programme in 1997 and 1998 have been the strengthening of representative, independent and democratic trade unions and the enhancement of their capacity to participate effectively in trip