GENEVA (ILO News) – The International Labour Office welcomed the adoption on Friday of a resolution on the ILO’s Global Jobs Pact sponsored by more than 170 countries attending the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) meeting here.

The Global Jobs Pact is an urgent call for worldwide action – at the national, regional and global level – to put employment and social protection at the heart of recovery policies.

Citing the “depth and breadth of the economic and financial crisis affecting all countries and the ensuing employment losses and human hardship”, the resolution encourages UN Member States to “promote and make full use of the Global Jobs Pact as a general framework within which each country can formulate a policy package specific to its situation and priorities”.

“This resolution provides a strong new element in the growing international support for the ILO’s Global Jobs Pact,” said ILO Director-General Juan Somavia. “It is an indication of both the urgency of the situation, and the relevance and timeliness of the Pact and creates a strong platform for follow-up actions in addressing the global jobs crisis.”

The resolution – E/2009/L.24 – was adopted by consensus following an introduction by the Ambassador of Brazil, H.E. Farani Azevedo, Chairperson of the Governing Body of the ILO.

The resolution requests UN funds, programmes and specialized agencies to take into account the Global Jobs Pact in their policies and programmes and invites international financial institutions and other relevant international organizations to integrate the policy contents of the pact in their activities.

It further invites donor countries, multilateral and other development partners to consider providing funding for the implementation of the recommendations and policy options of the Global Jobs Pact. The resolution requests the Secretary-General to report to ECOSOC at its 2010 session on progress made in its implementation.

The Global Jobs Pact was adopted by government, employer and worker delegates at the 98th session of the International Labour Conference in June, following strong support from heads of state and government, vice presidents, ministers of labour and leaders of workers’ and employers’ organizations during the ILO Summit on the Global Jobs Pact, held on 15-17 June.

G8 leaders meeting in Italy in early July also highlighted the relevance of the Global Jobs Pact in responding to the crisis worldwide and advancing the social dimension of globalization.

The Pact is a productive growth agenda for the recovery of the real economy, based on the ILO’s Decent Work Agenda. It proposes a balanced and realistic set of policy measures that countries, with the support of regional and multilateral institutions, can adopt to strengthen their ongoing efforts to address the crisis while pursuing economic, social and environmental sustainability.

The Economic and Social Council is the specialized organ of the United Nations in charge of coordinating the economic, social and related work of the 14 UN specialized agencies, functional commissions and five regional commissions.