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4. Turin Centre and International Institute for Labour Studies

Turin Centre

Many consecutive years of rapid growth have shown that the activity of the Centre, as well as its role within the technical cooperation of the ILO and of the United Nations system, has evolved considerably. These changes are in many ways positive but also underscore a number of new challenges and the need to review and upgrade the Centre's capabilities and infrastructure.

In November 1997 the Centre's Board approved a development strategy and a series of measures, including the establishment of an investment fund, that were aimed at enhancing its capacity for sustainable growth. The main elements of the strategy, which were almost fully implemented during the biennium, included: 

• strengthening the Centre's technical capacity. This objective was pursued by creating new programmes and broadening the scope of existing ones to cover the main technical areas of the ILO's core mandate;

• diversifying and upgrading training delivery. Among several initiatives, the development of a Distance Education and Learning Technology Application (DELTA) programme is making effective use of information technology and supplements face-to-face training with distance tutoring and monitoring;
• improving training quality through the implementation of a pilot exercise in total quality management, as a basis for the adoption of a quality approach in all the Centre's work processes, and the strengthening of its evaluation mechanisms.  

Accounting for around one-fifth of technical assistance provided to the ILO's constituents, the Centre's activities during the biennium covered many of the main areas of ILO focus, including:

• international labour standards and human rights;
• women's empowerment and gender equality;
• enterprise development;
• social security;
• employers' activities and workers' activities;
• employment and training policies;
• labour relations and labour administration;
• public sector management;
• training systems and institutions;
• training technology and methodology;
• occupational safety and health; and
• development management, including procurement management.
   

During 1998 and 1999 the results achieved over the previous biennium were consolidated. The number of courses and other activities (over 600) and participants (around 13,000) rose slightly and the number of longer term activities, based on a package comprising training, media development, advisory services and technical assistance, also grew as a proportion of the Centre's total activities. An increasing number of training activities were carried out in the field, with Turin-based residential courses accounting for around 60 per cent of the Centre's activities in 1998-99. Moreover, the Centre aimed to integrate a gender perspective into all development processes. The average rate of female participation in its training events was 37 per cent, an increase from 33 per cent in the previous biennium.
 

Socio-economic status of Palestinian women In 1999, the Centre concluded the first phase of a multi-year programme designed to promote the socio-economic status of Palestinian women. It started in 1996 with two main components: the development of women's entrepreneurship; and the promotion of women workers' rights and equal opportunities in employment. Training carried out in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip and in Turin, involved over 300 women from the Palestinian Ministries of Planning and International Cooperation, Labour and Social Affairs, NGOs, trade unions, business and women's associations. The main objectives were to contribute to the design of legal instruments complying with international standards and to enable participants to identify mechanisms for the promotion and implementation of such instruments. Training also led to the formulation and successful implementation of specific action plans. For example, local tripartite dissemination seminars and meetings were held with the Legislative Council to discuss the Labour Code. Advisory services directed towards the development of women's entrepreneurship involved mainly NGOs and women's associations. One of the main outputs was the formation of a nucleus of women trainers/advisers able to provide efficient training and other forms of support to women micro-entrepreneurs.

These results capped a period of rapid growth in the Centre's activities, during which it embarked on a major process of renewal to cope with the increasingly competitive training "market" in which it operates. During the biennium, no less than 70 per cent of the Centre's budget was covered by the revenue from its activities. The rest came from direct contributions, particularly from the Government of Italy and the ILO. Funding arrangements and sources varied according to the nature of the activities. Financing was provided by international development agencies, bilateral aid organizations, local authorities, private foundations and the beneficiary institutions themselves. The Centre also showed an increased capacity to generate income from other sources, including multi-bilateral funds, development banks and the European Union. In addition, the Centre developed a unit specializing in the preparation of tenders, which resulted in it winning 18 tenders during the biennium, either directly or as part of a consortium of partner institutions. 

United Nations Staff College Project

Conceived as a project with the potential for performing a valuable synergistic role in training staff across the United Nations system, the United Nations Staff College Project (UNSCP) has trained over 3,500 middle and senior United Nations staff in the three-and-a-half years of its existence, especially those in key positions such as resident coordinators and United Nations country teams.

The main training areas so far covered have been:

• international peace and security, human rights and humanitarian emergency management;
• coordination training;
• economic and social development; and
• management development and organizational change in the United Nations system.
   

In October 1998 the college undertook a comprehensive review and analysis of training needs. It has since developed a new strategy for designing and implementing training and learning activities focusing on the change and reform process in the United Nations system, especially at the field level. The college has redefined its strategic direction in terms of four product areas in which its programmes and activities are being developed. They are:

• executive/learning forums;
• learning and training workshops;
• expert services; and
• networking/clearing house.

In keeping with the greater emphasis which the United Nations Secretary-General has placed on preventive measures, a major training project was established by the UNSCP in September 1998 to develop the United Nations capacity in early warning and preventive measures in crisis-affected countries or other special development circumstances. This project is based on a recognition of the crucial need for system-wide consistency, complementarity and coordination.

By the end of October 1999, through the auspices of the United Nations Staff College, a total of 145 United Nations staff members from 21 departments, agencies, programmes and offices, had undergone training. It is planned to extend the training to at least 500 United Nations staff members, at headquarters and in the field, by 31 December 2000.

This project provides a coherent background and enhanced coordination among United Nations partners including ILO activities and more specifically the InFocus Programme on Crisis Response and Reconstruction.

International Institute for Labour Studies

The main theme addressed by the Institute during this biennium was the relationship between labour institutions, economic growth and social equity. The central question addressed was: How are social change and the new individualism transforming the institutional environment of employers' organizations, trade unions and the State and, in effect, changing the ways in which tripartism itself functions? A better understanding of these developments is essential to the ILO, since only by strengthening its constituents will it be able to reinforce the process of social dialogue.

In response to this concern the Institute launched two major research programmes to examine the problems faced by business and trade unions in a changing environment: business and society, and labour and society.

Work was also done on a limited scale on the emerging role of the State in social policy and transformations in society. The aim of these programmes was to go beyond traditional labour-management relationships and look at the protagonists of tripartism and social dialogue within the current context of social change in order to obtain a better picture of how trade unions and employer organizations are responding to social changes in different regions of the world. The two major programmes involve ILO constituents, labour and business practitioners and ILO departments.

In the 1998-99 biennium, the Institute fully developed its use of the Internet, not only with a website to disseminate information, but also by setting up electronic networks and on-line interactive conferences.

Business and society programme

Two international meetings pointed to the role of local policy networks in building up new industrial competence and contributing to wider employment opportunities. There was discussion of several examples where business associations, trade unions or individual firms played a leading role in establishing intermediary organizations to support industrial upgrading at the lowest possible social cost. A workshop reviewed corporate social initiatives, highlighting the motivations behind such programmes and their implementation modalities, focusing on their links with enterprise mainstream concerns and on the potential mutual benefits to both the enterprise and the community.

Research focused on three main topics:

• the impact of change in economies and societies on the current activities and prospects of employers' organizations;
• the potential contribution of business joint action to promoting higher planes of competition, sustainable development and decent jobs;
• the developmental function of associations of micro-enterprises and enterprises in the informal sector.

The responses of business to globalization and their impact on employment policies were discussed at a meeting organized with the support of the regional government of Emilia-Romagna in Italy. The meeting showed that the decentralization of employment and industrial policies was becoming widespread. Through several case studies it illustrated how successful enterprise development strategies were characterized by an emphasis on close and flexible relationships between the State, business, business associations and other intermediary organizations.

A regional workshop organized with the ILO Caribbean Office in October 1999 was attended by representatives of employers' organizations from the English-speaking Caribbean and regional and international agencies. It identified the following key elements of high-road employment and industrial strategy needed to achieve decent work in the small and undiversified economies of the Caribbean:

• pursuit of a new pattern of productive specialization, less centred on traditional industries and more on innovative service activities and export niches in international value chains;
• targeted efforts to attract quality foreign direct investment and incentive systems that did not discriminate between local and foreign investors; these were preferred to the EPZ model;
• abandoning the reliance on cheap labour for competitiveness in favour of high-road solutions based on innovation and the involvement of skilled and motivated workers, supported by meso-level policies and institutions, primarily in the area of human resources development;
• closer public-private interaction and attention to industry specificities in order to promote both new management practices at enterprise level and the generation of adequate skills for the economy as a whole;
• assistance by employers' organizations and business associations in providing their members with new information services and by promoting awareness campaigns and social partnership; upgrading of such organizations' strategic planning and technical skills.

Labour and society programme

The project "Organized Labour in the 21st Century" aims to investigate the challenges facing trade unions and to identify the policies and activities which have proved particularly successful in different regions of the world.

The activities of the project have been directed along two tracks. First is an electronic network which links trade union practitioners with academic experts and has two main components: a website -- http://www.ilo.org/public/english/130inst/research/network; and an interactive conference facility -- http://www.ilo.org/public/english/130inst/research/network/index.htm.
 

Interactive Conference on Organized Labour in the 21st Century The conference, a first for the ILO, was launched in September 1999 and was scheduled to run for a year. Its purpose was twofold: to establish an international forum in which a wide range of people could share ideas and strategies for strengthening and broadening the role of organized labour in 2000 and beyond, and to foster debate, build links and support research in relevant areas; to provide a showcase for the ILO. Developments such as the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work would be discussed, thus bringing some facets of the ILO's work to a broader audience. The virtual conference debate on the future of organized labour was opened by Mr. Juan Somavia in a keynote speech on trade unions in the twenty-first century, to which Mr. Bill Jordan, General Secretary of the ICFTU, responded. Each month a fresh topic was launched with panels of guest speakers, followed by a general discussion. The November 1999 session was devoted to unions and the challenge of globalization, and in December, a new panel of speakers considered aspects of unions and organizing. A new feature of the conference appeared in November 1999 and was aimed at tracking the progress made in work on the proposed new Convention on maternity protection. Each month, expert speakers from the labour movement, academia and NGOs shared their views on what they hoped and expected from the Convention. The decision of the International Labour Conference in June 2000 on this matter will be reported to the interactive conference. Over 700 participants from all continents (union practitioners, academic experts and media specialists) signed up in 1999, made their contributions via e-mail and received communications from the conference. The debate was moderated by Institute staff members. Participants noted that the challenge of globalization made the ILO's international role increasingly significant. A full report based on the proceedings and outcome of the first on-line conference will be prepared.

The other main component is comparative research on the successes and failures of trade unions. This was undertaken in 16 countries with a view to understanding how far the unions in a given country have adapted by addressing new concerns, taking on new roles in society, organizing new constituents, forming new alliances and adjusting their structures and finances. These case studies served as source material for meetings on union strategies at the regional level which were intended to facilitate a region-specific flow of information and reflection on the future of trade unions.

The first two meetings were held in December 1999 in Seoul and São Paulo and brought together prominent academics, union leaders, policy advisers and media representatives in Asia and Latin America for a candid and revealing assessment of union strategies in the respective regions. The participants raised pertinent questions for further reflection and identified the following priorities for action towards revitalizing the labour movement and enhancing the image and visibility of unions in society:

• better use of information technology for the purpose of promoting collaboration and sharing information among trade unions;
• enhancing the scope of the current Interactive Conference on Organized Labour in the 21st Century to make it more broad-based;
• publicizing and disseminating the results and findings of the on-line conference among the unions with a view to stimulating further discussion on the future of the labour movement; and
• preparing summaries of the various contributions to the on-line conference and posting them on the conference website.

The new context

With the appointment of the new Director-General of the ILO, the Institute was directly involved with the Transition Team in the preparation of the Director-General's 1999 Conference Report Decent work and also organized a series of meetings designed to enhance the ILO's knowledge capability, particularly in the field of economics. Another meeting with leading foundations in the United States helped to identify areas of mutual concern, opportunities for collaboration and information sharing and the knowledge implications of promoting decent work in today's world.

In 1999 the reorientation of the ILO's activities according to four strategic objectives provided an opportunity for the Institute to review its programme and build on its relative strengths, while contributing more directly to the work of the reorganized ILO as a whole. The role of the Institute was strengthened to meet demands for:

• a research centre to identify the policy implications of the concept decent work;
• a source of support for strategic planning within the Office;
• a forum for intellectual exchange and learning;
• an instrument to project ILO concerns to wider constituencies.

The Programme and Budget proposals for 2000-01 proposed to concentrate all Institute activities in two programmes:

• a research programme that would seek to develop a paradigm of decent work which could provide a guide for policy-making;
• outreach activities that aimed to develop the Institute's role as a centre for policy dialogue, learning and knowledge sharing and to establish the Institute as the principal forum for intellectual interaction between ILO constituents, ILO staff, the academic community and external practitioners and policy-makers working on labour and social issues.

Updated by SD. Approved by RH. Last update: 30 May 2000.