GENEVA (ILO News) ─ The Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development Angel Gurría today made an urgent call for increased collaboration between the OECD and the International Labour Organization (ILO) in response to the global financial crisis.

Speaking to the ILO’s tripartite Governing Body, Mr. Gurría said the weekend meeting of the G-20 had provided a mandate for “better collaboration between international organisations, including the OECD and the ILO”.

“The crisis has made our two organisations’ work on labour markets and social policies even more important”, he said. “Success or failure in this area will affect not only the livelihood of millions of people around the world but it will also determine what the citizens of the world want the global financial and economic architecture to look like after the crisis”.

Mr. Gurría cited OECD economic projections released last week, indicating the OECD expected “the average unemployment rate in OECD countries to rise from 5.6 per cent in 2007 to 7.2 per cent in 2010. This means that there could be around 10 million more unemployed in the OECD area by that date – the most rapid rise in OECD unemployment since the early 1990s”.

In his comments, ILO Director-General Juan Somavia referred to the OECD and the ILO as “kindred spirits in the multilateral system”, adding that the ILO had “much to do to help constituents find their way through and out of the crisis”.

“To do that, we must play our role within a strong and responsive UN system, including Bretton Woods institutions and the World Trade Organization and OECD”, Mr. Somavia said. “We must build policy alliances – not just operational and delivery coordination – across funds, programmes or agencies. If the multilateral system cannot respond to the crisis together, it will become part of the problem, and not what it should be, the way forward to solutions.”

In a statement on the G-20 meeting issued earlier, Mr. Somavia said the ILO would be taking action “to help its constituents weather the crisis, prepare for recovery and support the process started on 15 November”.

Mr. Gurría warned that the financial crisis is quickly turning into an economic and social crisis, adding that “globalisation can only work to the benefit of all if we get the social dimension right”. He reminded government, workers’ and employers’ delegates at the Governing Body meeting that “rising unemployment rates will put more people at risk of poverty and will further widen the gap between rich and poor”.

Noting that “as OECD social protection systems will come under stress as taxes and contributions dwindle”, he called for timely, targeted and temporary “policy interventions in favour of the most vulnerable groups to prevent them from sliding further down the ladder. At the same time, we must improve the longer-term labour market prospects for all workers”.

Mr. Gurría also warned that the social impact of the crisis will be even more dramatic in many of the developing countries and emerging economies where a large proportion of workers are employed informally.

The OECD and the ILO already collaborate in a number of areas, including corporate social responsibility. “With the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the ILO Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises we are joining forces to promote socially responsible corporate behaviour”, he said.