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Handbook of good human resource practices in the teaching profession

September 4, 2012 Comments off

Handbook of good human resource practices in the teaching profession
Source: International Labour Organization

The handbook draws upon experiences and good practices in a wide range of ILO member States, giving a large number of examples of good practice and lessons learned. The methods it outlines are intended to be applicable to all schools and education systems, and to be adapted to accommodate differences in resource availability, culture, ethnicity, gender, political and governance structures.

Social Protection Floor for a Fair and Inclusive Globalization

October 31, 2011 Comments off

Social Protection Floor for a Fair and Inclusive Globalization
Source: International Labour Organization

In many ways the power of the social protection floor lies in its simplicity. The floor is based on the idea that everyone should enjoy at least basic income security sufficient to live, guaranteed through transfers in cash or in kind, such as pensions for the elderly and persons with disabilities, child benefits, income support benefits and/or employment guarantees and services for the unemployed and working poor. Together, in cash and in kind transfers should ensure that everyone has access to essential goods and services, including essential health services, primary education, housing, water and sanitation.

This report, prepared under the guidance of Ms Michelle Bachelet and members of the Advisory Group, shows that the extension of social protection, drawing on social protection floors, can play a pivotal role in relieving people of poverty and deprivation. It can in addition help people adapt their skills to overcome the constraints that block their full participation in a changing economic and social environment, contributing to improved human capital development and stimulating greater productive activity. The report also shows how social protection has helped to stabilize aggregate demand in times of crisis and to increase resilience against economic shocks, contributing to accelerate recovery towards more inclusive and sustainable development paths.

+ Full Report (PDF)

ILO warns of major G20 labour market decline in 2012 and serious jobs shortfall by 2015

October 3, 2011 Comments off

ILO warns of major G20 labour market decline in 2012 and serious jobs shortfall by 2015
Source: International Labour Organization

The slow-down in the global economy could result in a massive jobs shortfall among G20 members by next year, warns the International Labour Organization (ILO), in a joint study prepared with the OECD at the request of the G20 for its labour ministerial meeting in Paris on 26-27 September.

The statistical update prepared by the ILO and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development also says that at current employment growth rates of 1 per cent, it won’t be possible to recover the estimated 20 million jobs lost in the G20 since the crisis began in 2008.

The joint ILO/OECD statistical update study says employment would have to grow at an annual rate of at least 1.3 per cent in order to return to the pre-crisis employment rate by 2015. Such a growth rate would generate some 21 million additional jobs per year, recover jobs lost since 2008 and absorb the increase in the working age population

However, the analysis also expresses concern that employment may in fact grow at a rate of just under one per cent (0.8) until the end of 2012, resulting in a 40 million job shortfall in G20 countries next year and a much larger shortfall by 2015.

+ Full Document (PDF)

Global Dialogue Forum on the Needs of Older Workers in relation to Changing Work Processes and the Working Environment in Retail Commerce

September 26, 2011 Comments off

Global Dialogue Forum on the Needs of Older Workers in relation to Changing Work Processes and the Working Environment in Retail Commerce
Source: International Labour Organization

In March 2009, the Governing Body of the ILO approved a recommendation of its Committee on Sectoral and Technical Meetings and Related Issues for the ILO to convene the Global Dialogue Forum on the Needs of Older Workers in Relation to Changing Work Processes and the Working Environment in Retail Commerce. The focus of the Forum would be to examine ways in which work processes and the working environment in the labour-intensive retail commerce sector could be adapted to the needs of an ageing workforce, taking into account the effects of technological and other changes in the sector. The purpose of the Global Dialogue Forum is to exchange views and experience of participants on:

(a) the employment and occupational characteristics of retail commerce and the working conditions of the sector in their countries;
(b) the current age profiles of retail commerce workers and how these and the sector’s workforce are likely to be affected by global demographic trends, especially ageing populations;
(c) the factors shaping future labour demand in retail commerce;
(d) how the retail sector could increase its competitive capacity in the labour market to attract and retain older workers with respect to terms of employment; working conditions; occupational health and safety; flexible working; and training and staff development; and
(e) how best the ILO and its constituents could support decent work in the sector in the context of global population ageing.

The Forum will bring together representatives of governments, employers’ and workers’ representatives. It is open to Governments of all interested ILO member States. In addition, representatives of intergovernmental organizations and observers representing international non-governmental organizations have been invited to attend the Forum.

+ Greying of the workforce in retail commerce: Questions and answers
+ Adapting work processes and working environments in retail commerce to older workers’ needs (PDF)

New ILO report on the situation of workers in the occupied Arab territories

June 12, 2011 Comments off

New ILO report on the situation of workers in the occupied Arab territories
Source: International Labour Organization

The annual report of the International Labour Office (ILO) on the situation of workers of the occupied Arab territories calls for replacing the current security logic “with a development logic, based on a long-term vision of the economic, employment and human security interests of all the women and men in the region.”

According to the report, despite some improvements in the movement of people, no significant change to the better regarding the situation of these workers has taken place during the past year. The report notes that such change cannot take place “unless the restrictions imposed by the Israeli occupation, and the occupation itself, are removed.”

The report underlines that all parties “have to come to a decision sooner or later on the next steps. The Palestinian economy has reached limits which cannot be surpassed without agreement and action on the two major constraints it faces: occupation and separation. Palestinian state-building should not be stifled and allowed to run out into frustration and discontent.”

+ Full Report (PDF)

Window of opportunity for Asia to improve gender equality at work – ILO, ADB

June 6, 2011 Comments off

Window of opportunity for Asia to improve gender equality at work – ILO, ADB
Source: International Labour Organization

Asian countries have a window of opportunity to tackle gender inequality in their labour markets and support sustainable crisis recovery, according to a new report prepared jointly by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The report, Women and Labour Markets in Asia: Rebalancing for Gender Equality, says that although Asia is helping to lead the global economy, recovery of the labour market from the recent global economic and financial crisis has not kept pace. In some developing countries, particularly in East Asia, job growth is back, but the quality of jobs being created is a major concern. In particular, 45 per cent of the vast productive potential of Asian women remains untapped, compared to just 19 per cent for Asian men.

Even before the crisis, Asia was estimated to be losing US$42-$47 billion a year because of limits on women’s access to employment opportunities and another US$16-$30 billion a year as a result of gender gaps in education, according to estimates by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. Although the region’s economic growth of 6.2 per cent in 2000-2007 greatly exceeded the global average of 4.2 per cent, average growth in women’s employment was just 1.7 per cent- below the world average of 2 per cent.

These deficits are likely to have increased during the crisis, the report says, because women disproportionately shouldered the impact due to pre-existing gender inequalities. They include discrimination throughout the region’s labour markets, inequality rooted in social-cultural norms and national policy and institutional frameworks that shape the employment opportunities of Asia’s 734 million female workers.

The report says that “there is now a window of opportunity to address systematic gender inequalities as well as the symptoms thrown up by the crisis, and achieve full labour market recovery and successful rebalancing.” It adds that “the policy goal should not be to return to the ‘normal’ pre-crisis situation…but to rebalance towards a new development trajectory that is job-rich, just, sustainable and inclusive”.

+ Full Report (PDF)

Brazil’s growth-with-equity strategy key to beating the crisis, says ILO

April 10, 2011 Comments off

Brazil’s growth-with-equity strategy key to beating the crisis, says ILO
Source: International Labour Organization

A new report by the International Labour Organization (ILO) says Brazil’s innovative income-led strategy led to a faster than expected recovery from the financial crisis, with employment creation returning to positive territory as early as February 2009 – even before economic growth resumed.

What’s more, the report says carefully conceived employment and social policies, which were implemented in parallel with supporting macroeconomic policies, meant the recession lasted only two quarters.

The study – titled “Brazil: An innovative income-led strategy” – shows Brazil created over 3 million formal jobs over the past two years and reached an economic growth of more than 7 per cent in 2010, thus returning to pre-crisis levels. Most importantly, economic and employment growth have not been achieved at the expense of equity. Quite the contrary: informality and income inequality have declined in spite of the crisis.

According to the study, published by the International Institute for Labour Studies (IILS) and undertaken in conjunction with the ILO office in Brasilia, Brazil’s success was due to its favourable pre-crisis economic condition, a quick job-centred response, and the right mix between social, labour and macroeconomic policies.

+ Full Report (PDF)
+ Executive summary and policy recommendations (PDF)

Mongolia: Measuring the Output Gap

April 10, 2011 Comments off

Mongolia: Measuring the Output Gap
Source: International Monetary Fund

This paper compares the output gap estimates for Mongolia based on a number of different methods. Special attention is paid to the substantial role of mining in the Mongolian economy. We find that a Blanchard and Quah-type joint model of output and inflation provides a more robust estimate of the output gap for Mongolia than the traditional statistical decompositions.

+ Full Paper (PDF)

ILO: learning lessons from success key to economic improvement for the Least Developed Countries

April 6, 2011 Comments off

ILO: learning lessons from success key to economic improvement for the Least Developed Countries
Source: International Labour Organization

A new report by the International Labour Office (ILO) recognizes the growth revival in least developed countries (LDC) in the last decade, but argues that major structural challenges in the nature of growth, employment and decent work remain.

The new study, entitled “Growth, Employment and Decent Work in the Least Developed Countries” has been prepared on the occasion of the Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries to be held in Istanbul from 9-13 May, 2011.

The report especially examines the relationship between GDP growth, employment and decent work in the LDCs within a longer term perspective but focusing on the last decade. It addresses a number of key issues in growth and development across the three main regions of Africa, Asia and the Island countries, also highlighting challenges and opportunities for structural changes, job creation and poverty eradication.

The ILO study includes key figures and trends. It shows that over the 2000-2009 period, employment in LDCs has grown at an annual average rate of 2.9 per cent, slightly above population growth but much weaker than GDP growth. Most of the increase took place in the services sector, with industry accounting for a mere 10 per cent of total employment in 2008 from 8 per cent in 2000. The share of wage and salary workers increased slightly, from 14 per cent in 2000 to 18 per cent in 2008 but the large majority of workers remained trapped in vulnerable forms of employment that cannot lift them above the poverty line.

+ Full Report

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