The Decent Work Imperative

To incorporate aspects of decent work into poverty reduction strategy papers.

Linkages between the ILO decent work agenda and the Millennium Development Goals are being developed.

These measures demonstrate the ILO commitment towards fundamental principles and rights at work and towards a fair globalization based on decent work for all.

Decent work for all is not a policy option, but an imperative.

In order for globalization to benefit all, the global economy must deliver decent work.

At the country level, ILO works for the inclusion of decent work in poverty reduction strategy papers and carries out decent work pilot programmes, aiming to show how decent work can reduce poverty in practice.

The development of decent work agendas for indigenous peoples offers an opportunity for ILO constituents (workers' and employers' organizations) to work in partnership with indigenous peoples.

This Program is part of the ILO Decent Work National Agenda.

ILO contributes to the achievement of Millennium Development Goal 2 by promoting quality and universally accessible, free and compulsory education in the context of its decent work agenda.

This also requires the right regulatory framework to ensure that the private sector contributes responsibly to a decent work agenda.

The process provides a good entry point for promoting decent work for indigenous peoples in the national development context.

Access to decent work and an education for all are the key to lifting individuals and nations from poverty to prosperity.

Decent work is at the centre of the ILO mandate and activities, bringing together the goals of rights at work, employment and income, social protection, and social dialogue.

It was proposed that an additional development goal on ensuring decent work and increasing employment opportunities be established.

Decent work promoted by the International Labor Organization since 1999 means productive, rewarding, and secure jobs that provide safe working conditions, fair income, and social protection for the employed and their families.

Biofuel production shall not violate human rights or labor rights, and shall ensure decent work and the well being of workers.

(a) Appropriate housing

Mr. Ndjonkou (International Labour Organization (ILO)) said that the 2005 World Summit had put decent work and employment firmly back on the national and global development agenda.

ILO has begun a pilot initiative to integrate indigenous and tribal people issues into the national decent work programme for Nepal.

Employment policies should promote decent work under conditions of equity, security and dignity, and incorporate job creation into macroeconomic policy.

A more integrated approach to economic and social policies was critical and the Decent Work Agenda could contribute to such an approach.

Right to adequate housing

With the right policies and a global framework, we can generate economic growth and steer it in a low carbon direction.

This gives ILO a mediating and facilitating role between the various involved stakeholders, while serving the ILO objective of promoting decent work for women and men.

Getting Corruption Right

Secure and decent employment is surely at the top of most personal agendas, as it should be with respect to national agendas.

Denying young people their rights such as the right to decent work or the right to seek and express their sexual or cultural identity places our future at risk.

It also affects girls' school attendance, leading to a higher level of dropouts, and has decimated the female labour force in sub Saharan Africa, including in the public sector.14 At the same time, access to education does not automatically translate into decent work and well paid employment, if gender discrimination in the workplace persists through occupational segregation or unequal pay for work of equal value.

Following the development of a national plan of action for decent work in Nepal in January 2005, which also highlights the needs of disadvantaged groups, including indigenous peoples, in all policies and programmes, the main elements of a decent work agenda for indigenous groups will now be identified.

INDISCO programme promotion of decent work for indigenous and tribal peoples

Inadequate housing in Bosnia and Herzegovina

(n) Final report of the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing containing the study on women and adequate housing (resolution 2005 25, para.

The review should therefore include the performance of Governments and social partners on the decent work agenda, which the International Labour Organization (ILO) World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization identified as the most significant route out of poverty.

1. States Parties recognize the right of persons with disabilities to an adequate standard of living for themselves and their families, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions, and shall take appropriate steps to safeguard and promote the realization of this right without discrimination on the basis of disability.

Decent work is the most effective way out of poverty.

Pro poor growth and decent work

It was mentioned, however, that despite some recent negative trends, globalization can be a positive force for the creation of decent work.

Another study on gender equality and decent work in Thailand, prepared under a joint regional technical assistance project of the ILO and the Asian Development Bank, has shown that women in Thailand are disadvantaged in the labour market.

The Committee further recommends that the State party ensure the right to decent work and to provide sufficient resources to the labour inspectorate to enable regular and independent inspections of safety and health conditions in all sectors and to ensure that employers who fail to observe safety regulations are duly sanctioned.

The same member States attending the presentation have already committed themselves to the decent work agenda, and the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, with a focus on eliminating child labour and guaranteeing women equal access to labour markets, sustainable employment and adequate labour protection.

One of the specific recommendations to ILO was to design, in conjunction with the ILO constituents and indigenous nationalities, a decent work plan for indigenous nationalities, in a public private partnership framework.5

It empowered societies to demand from their governments that they behave properly.

Incorporation of indigenous concerns into national decent work programmes

In response to this dual challenge INDISCO has been working to enable indigenous and tribal communities to strengthen the basis of their livelihood through decent employment and income generating schemes.