International Labour Conference - ASPAG meeting
Asia Pacific Group labour ministers: Decent Work at heart of sustainable development
Ministers of labour of countries from the Middle East to Australia met on sidelines of ILC to exchange ideas on generating Decent Work for sustainable development in the wider Asia Pacific region.
13 June 2017
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GENEVA (ILO News) – Ministers of Labour from the Asia Pacific Group of the ILO (ASPAG) met on the sidelines of the 106th International Labour Conference (ILC) in Geneva on 13 June to discuss prospects of employment generation for inclusive growth in the region.
The Group is chaired this year by Iran, and the meeting opened with addresses by Iran’s Minister of Labour Ali Rabiei.
It was also addressed by ILO Director-General Guy Ryder, who stressed the importance of India’s ratification of both ILO’s fundamental Conventions on child labour (Conventions 182 and 138), and Thailand’s ratification of the fundamental Convention on discrimination (Convention 111) during this year’s Conference.
Ryder highlighted the important role the Asia Pacific region plays in generating economic growth in the global economy.
“But the fact that there are still so many working poor, and that development does not yet dispense its benefits equally within and between countries and regions, illustrates that our task is not simply to generate economic growth, not simply to create jobs, but to generate decent jobs that can lift working people and their families out of poverty,” Ryder continued.
“The International community has taken an enormously important step with the adoption of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, which is the international community’s affirmation that Decent Work is many ways the key to sustainable development,” he said.
The framework for the ILO’s work over the next two years is fully aligned with achieving the 17 goals of the Sustainable Development Agenda, Ryder said. The Bali Declaration, adopted during the ILO’s 16th Asia Pacific Regional Meeting held in Indonesia in December last year, sets goals for the ILO in the region that are consistent with placing Decent Work at the heart of the 2030 Agenda, Ryder said.
“The ILO working at the international level with UN partners in that regard, and we must work with you, our member states in the Asia Pacific region and elsewhere, to drive the 2030 Agenda into regional and national strategies, involving governments and workers’ and employers’ organizations,” he concluded.
Ministers presented updates on the labour market and employment situation in their countries.
The meeting closed with handing over the year-long chairmainship of ASPAG to Iraq. The Group will meet again at the ILO’s Governing Body session in November.
The Group is chaired this year by Iran, and the meeting opened with addresses by Iran’s Minister of Labour Ali Rabiei.
It was also addressed by ILO Director-General Guy Ryder, who stressed the importance of India’s ratification of both ILO’s fundamental Conventions on child labour (Conventions 182 and 138), and Thailand’s ratification of the fundamental Convention on discrimination (Convention 111) during this year’s Conference.
Ryder highlighted the important role the Asia Pacific region plays in generating economic growth in the global economy.
“It is largely thanks to the resilience of the Asia Pacific economies that the global economy is slowly finding its way back to a trajectory of sustained growth following the global financial and economic crisis,” Ryder said in his address to meeting.The fact that there are still so many working poor, ... illustrates that our task is not simply to generate economic growth, not simply to create jobs, but to generate decent jobs."
Guy Ryder, ILO Director-General
“But the fact that there are still so many working poor, and that development does not yet dispense its benefits equally within and between countries and regions, illustrates that our task is not simply to generate economic growth, not simply to create jobs, but to generate decent jobs that can lift working people and their families out of poverty,” Ryder continued.
“The International community has taken an enormously important step with the adoption of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, which is the international community’s affirmation that Decent Work is many ways the key to sustainable development,” he said.
The framework for the ILO’s work over the next two years is fully aligned with achieving the 17 goals of the Sustainable Development Agenda, Ryder said. The Bali Declaration, adopted during the ILO’s 16th Asia Pacific Regional Meeting held in Indonesia in December last year, sets goals for the ILO in the region that are consistent with placing Decent Work at the heart of the 2030 Agenda, Ryder said.
“The ILO working at the international level with UN partners in that regard, and we must work with you, our member states in the Asia Pacific region and elsewhere, to drive the 2030 Agenda into regional and national strategies, involving governments and workers’ and employers’ organizations,” he concluded.
Ministers presented updates on the labour market and employment situation in their countries.
The meeting closed with handing over the year-long chairmainship of ASPAG to Iraq. The Group will meet again at the ILO’s Governing Body session in November.