ILC88 - Report of the Director-General: Activities of the ILO, 1998-99

ILO is a specialized agency of the United Nations

88th Session Geneva, May-June 2000

ILC88 - Report of the Director-General: Activities of the ILO, 1998-99 (...continued)

5. Active partnership: Regional activities

The ILO's Active Partnership Policy (APP), comprising the interaction between headquarters, regions, area offices and multidisciplinary teams (MDTs), and the formulation and implementation of country objectives, has now been in operation for three full biennia.

In the light of six years of experience, the APP came under review by a Working Party of the Governing Body's Committee on Technical Cooperation whose conclusions and recommendations were submitted to the Governing Body in November 1998. The evaluation report confirmed that:

active partnership is the right policy for the ILO;
services were identified by the social partners and were relevant for the ILO's constituents;
through the establishment of the MDTs, technical expertise was physically closer to the constituents;
ILO visibility was enhanced.

The results of the evaluation exercise and the ILO's role in technical cooperation were discussed by the Committee on Technical Cooperation at the 87th Session (1999) of the Conference. In its conclusions, the Conference renewed its commitment to technical cooperation as one of the ILO's fundamental means of action and indicated a number of areas in which the ILO's programme needed to be strengthened. These included enhancing the relevance and effectiveness of ILO technical cooperation, improving the quality, visibility and efficiency of technical cooperation, and strengthening partnerships.

The Conference requested the Office to provide the Governing Body with an implementation plan. This plan, which was approved by the Governing Body at its 276th Session (November 1999) called for:

an integrated and comprehensive technical cooperation programme within the common framework of the regular budget and strategic objectives;
reforms in the management of technical cooperation and improved delivery;
examining the current field structure and services with a view to making it more coherent and efficient;
an enhanced tripartite involvement in technical cooperation programmes;
a greater place for international labour standards and the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work in technical cooperation;
renewed efforts in resource mobilization.

Africa

At a time when the world's economy is globalizing rapidly, and despite representing 13.5 per cent of the world's total population, Africa accounts for only 2 per cent of world trade and global industrial capacity. Years of crisis have left a legacy of unemployment, low wages and social conflict, exacerbated by the effects of structural adjustment policies. The African economy has also been coming under enormous pressure from rapid population growth and urbanization. The countries affected by conflict and by a very high rate of HIV/AIDS infection in particular are experiencing great difficulties.

Nevertheless, since the middle of 1995, the continent as a whole has registered an annual growth rate approaching 4 per cent. Over 30 African countries have achieved an economic growth rate which is above the national rate of population growth. Much effort has been made to develop the market economy, privatize public enterprises and promote the private sector, with the result that a favourable environment is gradually being created for internal and external investment. The strengthening of subregional organizations, such as the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), is an important means of drawing on the benefits of globalization.

In this context, all the country objectives (by July 1999, 29 had been completed and/or updated) emphasize the need for ILO assistance in three main areas: (a) employment promotion and poverty alleviation; (b) the protection of workers; and (c) the promotion of democracy. This assistance is provided through the ILO's field structure, and particularly the multidisciplinary advisory teams, of which there are now six, a new team having been created in Yaoundé at the beginning of the biennium.

Ninth African Regional Meeting

The ILO's Ninth African Regional Meeting, held in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, in December 1999, was attended by 198 participants from 39 countries. The delegates endorsed the contents of the reports of the Director-General, ILO activities in Africa: 1994-99 ⁽¹⁾ and Decent work and protection for all in Africa.⁽²⁾

While considering the significant advances that had been made in Africa at the political, economic and social levels over the past four years, the meeting noted that the condition of the vast majority of the continent's workforce at the close of the century was characterized by declining living standards, rising unemployment and increasing poverty. The meeting recalled the crucial social dimension of globalization as a precondition of any real and sustainable development, and requested the ILO to be even more active in its advocacy vis-à-vis the international community and to enhance synergies in order to achieve a better globalization of social progress.

The meeting provided an opportunity to consider a number of problems which included:

employment -- unanimously considered to be the top priority in the fight against poverty;
the realities of the informal economy;
child labour; and
the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Topics were analysed with a view to the development of a regional agenda oriented towards:

the promotion and application of fundamental labour rights;
the expansion of job creation opportunities; and
the strengthening of social dialogue.

The delegates recalled that respect for international labour standards was a necessity, and that reducing poverty, achieving economic growth and respecting workers' fundamental rights were inextricably linked. All countries were called on to ratify the fundamental Conventions, if they had not already done so, to bring their legislation into conformity with those instruments and to implement them.

With regard to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, the Platform for Action for Africa, drawn up in October 1999 for tripartite representatives from some 20 African countries, and a resolution on the same subject, were adopted unanimously.

Africa's future lies with its children and the ILO campaign to combat child labour was overwhelmingly endorsed. The Director-General recalled that Africa had played an exemplary role in that campaign by ensuring that the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182), will come into force in November 2000, thanks to the first two official ratifications by Seychelles and Malawi. The delegates requested the extension of the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) to the countries of Africa that have not yet been able to benefit from its assistance.

Priorities identified by the delegates at the Ninth African Regional Meeting

Continued ILO assistance in setting up information and programming systems to assist decision-making in the areas of employment and training with a view to promoting exchanges of information and regional cooperation.

Programmes to be set up to help businesses develop strategies and policies to serve as a framework for promoting employment.

Human resources management to be developed through lifelong training accessible to all, closer links between the training system and enterprises and special attention to employment of young persons.

Continued assistance towards crisis-affected countries and development of activities as soon as conditions permit in the interests of consolidating peace in these countries.

Design and development of sustainable and viable social protection systems extending coverage to the entire population, especially to the informal sector, and providing a minimum level of cover adapted to the needs of the greatest number.

Continued support to the reinforcement of the capabilities of the social partners, as tripartism and social dialogue provide an opportunity to build and consolidate social cohesion, peace and development.

Concrete action to promote gender equality through appropriate provisions and programmes.

Strengthening of the ILO field structures and multidisciplinary teams.

Follow-up mechanism on the conclusions and recommendations of the meeting.

Social dialogue

The High-Level Tripartite Regional Symposium on Social Dialogue in Africa, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in October 1999, provided a far-reaching consensus on the role of social dialogue in development in the region. The symposium was attended by ministers of labour and tripartite representatives from 20 countries. It highlighted the ILO's commitment to promoting and strengthening tripartism and social dialogue in the context of its strategic objectives.

Social dialogue was confirmed as providing a useful opportunity to build and consolidate social cohesion, peace and development. It brings governments and social partners together in frank and open dialogue and allows alliances and consensus to be established during the decision-making process. Social dialogue was considered to be the key to greater transparency, responsibility and good governance.

However, the meeting also noted that dynamic and effective social dialogue required certain essential conditions, including a recognition of the principles of freedom of association and respect for strong and independent social partners. It was also essential for labour ministries to have competent staff and adequate resources.

The participants supported an even greater commitment in this area on the part of the ILO, in sharing examples of successful social dialogue and in the promotion of technical cooperation activities aimed at strengthening the capabilities of the social partners to allow their effective contribution to the social dialogue.

Employment promotion and poverty alleviation

Poverty alleviation remains the major challenge for Africa, where over 50 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line. Although unemployment problems are serious in many countries, a relatively small percentage of the active population is registered as unemployed. Given the prevailing extreme poverty, a large proportion of the population is engaged in survival activities, which provide very low incomes.

The overall employment situation in Africa, including the policies and strategies adopted for employment promotion, poverty reduction and participatory development, were reviewed by the Sixth Biennial Meeting of African Employment Planners, held in Abidjan in February 1999. The participants exchanged information on the implementation of the recommendations of the World Summit for Social Development, analysed the ILO's technical cooperation activities and reviewed the effectiveness of employment-generating investments.

Conclusions of the 1999 Biennial Meeting of African Employment Planners

Participants at this meeting reaffirmed several basic principles:

economic and social reforms, and particularly structural adjustment programmes, should be based on social consensus, and international commitments should be managed by tripartite structures;

employment should be a key component of economic and social policy;

the burden of adjustment should be shared more equally among the various groups in society, thereby facilitating the development of consensus;

caution should be exercised in trade liberalization and internal restructuring and States should, to a certain extent, protect emerging dynamic and export-oriented industrial capacity, appropriate social protection systems being regarded as a prerequisite for opening up markets; and

subregional and regional economic integration, which can promote investment and job creation, should be facilitated through the implementation of a legal and regulatory framework for the free movement of persons and goods, the harmonization of business laws, the development of negotiation and bargaining capacity and participation in international economic debates such as the Uruguay Round and UNCTAD.

The participants also emphasized the need to ratify and implement international labour standards and the fact that employment promotion for women enhances democracy, equity and respect for human rights, and ensures sustained growth and the well-being of the population as a whole.

Jobs for Africa

As a follow-up to commitments made by Heads of State and Government at the World Summit for Social Development in March 1995, the ILO, in July 1998, launched one of its most ambitious projects for the development of targeted employment promotion strategies on the African continent. Endorsed by the 1997 Meeting of African Employment Planners and the OAU Labour and Social Affairs Commission (which met in Windhoek in April 1999), the Jobs for Africa -- Poverty Reducing Employment Strategies for Africa (JFA/PRESA) programme initially covered ten countries (Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe). During the course of the biennium, it was extended to six others (Algeria, Egypt, Kenya, Namibia, South Africa and the United Republic of Tanzania).

Jobs for Africa -- Action in participating countries

Since the Jobs for Africa programme was launched in July 1998, the following action has been taken in each of the first ten participating countries (Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe):

the establishment of national network secretariats and the appointment of national network coordinators (NNCs) for the implementation of the programme at the national level. As for the six new countries, NNCs have been recruited for Kenya, the United Republic of Tanzania and Egypt;

the establishment of national network advocacy groups (NNAGs), composed of influential individuals, representatives of employers' and workers' organizations, NGOs and research institutions, to assess the impact on employment of the investment policies pursued in each country. NNAGs have been established in two of the six new countries (Kenya and the United Republic of Tanzania);

the finalization of country action programmes (CAPs);

poverty-reducing employment studies have been commissioned in three of the initial ten countries (Cameroon, Nigeria and Uganda) and in two of the new countries (Kenya and the United Republic of Tanzania). The studies will provide a well-publicized evaluation of public and private investment and recommend new directions to raise the level of investment and improve its impact on employment.

Support was also provided for regional meetings by the Organization of African Trade Union Unity and AFRO/ICFTU to help equip workers' representatives for the critical role that they will have to play in achieving the programme's objectives. A similar approach was developed with the Pan-African Employers' Confederation (PAEC) to help promote the active involvement of employers' organizations.

The main objective of Jobs for Africa (JFA) is to develop an alternative policy framework which encourages employment-intensive growth based on investment-led macroeconomic policies specifically targeted at the poorest categories of the population. In the initial stages this involves, firstly, strengthening the capacity of national and regional institutions and networks, and secondly, assessing, designing and advocating alternative policies for poverty-reducing employment strategies. For this purpose, ten components have been identified for a coherent employment-generating programme which would lead to sustainable poverty reduction in Africa. Each participating country can identify the components required for effective action in its national situation. The components are:

small and medium-sized enterprise development;
cooperative employment;
the gender dimension, enhancing women's employment;
employment-intensive infrastructure programmes;
informal sector urban employment programmes;
microfinance;
labour market information for poverty monitoring;
training policies and systems;
employment for peace; and
strengthening the role of the social partners in job creation.

Jobs for Africa concentrates largely on policies and programmes at the national level. However, several activities will also be carried out at the regional and subregional levels. These include the establishment of a regional employment capacity-building network to provide support and assistance for national activities. Among other components, this network would consist of a regional training fund, SME development centre and a regional labour market information system. In April 1999, the ILO presented a progress report ⁽³⁾ on the programme to the OAU Labour and Social Affairs Commission, as well as to a number of donors. The first JFA Steering Committee Meeting was held in December 1999. This Steering Committee, composed of members from the UNDP, OAU, PEC, OATUU, UNECA, the ADB and the ILO, assessed and refined the JFA strategy and charted new directions for the JFA programme.

Strengthening labour market information

With a view to improving policy formulation in African countries, considerable emphasis continued to be placed on assisting constituents to set up and strengthen their labour market information systems. For this purpose, employment and training observatories were established in Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Mali and Togo and labour market information systems were strengthened in Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia and Uganda.

Initiatives to establish a subregional network of employment and training observatories took place and included an initial meeting in Benin in 1998, a UEMOA survey and a validation workshop in Bamako. Such a network will allow improvements in data comparison, harmonization of definitions and reviews of skills transfers over the subregion.

The ILO set up a labour market information database for countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). The database was structured by country, year and method of collection and covers the period from 1970 onwards. Fourteen different methods of data collection were differentiated, ranging from censuses to informal sector surveys. The database includes tables on population, employment, unemployment, wages and prices, literacy, membership of workers' organizations by economic sector, tripartism, industrial action, etc.

In East Africa, a collaborative effort involving the ILO, OECD and national statistical offices has been under way since 1997 with the aim of gathering a compendium of basic labour market statistics for all countries. These indicators were chosen on the basis of three criteria: conceptual relevance, data availability and comparability across countries and regions. The resulting set of 18 indicators, covering issues such as participation rates, employment, unemployment, inactivity rates, illiteracy, gender and poverty, has been designed to satisfy the increasing demands of the social partners for timely, accurate and accessible information on the world's labour markets.

In North Africa, the ILO assisted member States in establishing an employment and training observatory for the Mediterranean basin.

Vocational training

There was increased awareness of and interest in training by all the countries in the region as the main instrument for the implementation of employment and enterprise-promotion policies. The assistance provided focused on adapting existing training systems to the needs of clients beyond the modern sector, and therefore to the requirements of SMEs and the informal and rural sectors. With support from the ILO, 11 countries in the region formulated national vocational training policies covering the needs of both the formal and informal sectors. Institutionalized systems or regulations on vocational training are in place or being put in place in all French-speaking countries. They are being formalized in Benin, Cameroon, Mali and Senegal. In East Africa, assistance was provided to improve the relevance, effectiveness and efficiency of vocational education and training systems in Ethiopia, Kenya, Mauritius, the United Republic of Tanzania and Uganda. These assistance activities took the form of programmes and a number of recommendations that had been endorsed by the tripartite bodies concerned.

The situation with regard to training in the region was reviewed at an African Tripartite Consultative Meeting on Human Resources Development and Training, held in Harare in May 1999. As a result of their discussions, participants at this meeting adopted the following conclusions:

Basic education should be based on community participation, cater to local needs and be accessible to all. Local languages might be used to assist nation building.
Basic education should also convey a positive image of enterprise and entrepreneurship.
After basic education, a major challenge of initial training is to promote employability for wage- and self-employment, trainability and mobility in rapidly changing labour markets.
Basic education and initial training should be supported through a firm commitment by the social partners to continuous, demand-driven, lifelong education and training.
With regard to basic education, governments should retain responsibility for policy while forging partnerships in the area of financing.
With regard to initial training, governments should share responsibility for policy with employers, trade unions and providers.
In the continuous training of the employed workforce, employers, in consultation with unions, should take the lead in policy formulation and financing and play a major role in provision, while government should retain the main responsibility for policy-making and for financing training for the unemployed.
In literacy training, governments are the lead players, in association with NGOs and various associations.
Donor support should be complementary and aim to promote national policies and their implementation.

Employment promotion

The assistance provided by the ILO to promote employment in the region focused on the promotion of small enterprises and cooperative initiatives, as well as the implementation of labour-based investment projects. In addition to supporting the continued expansion of the Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB) programme in English-speaking African countries, the programme was introduced in eight French-speaking countries in the region (Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Senegal and Tunisia).

The promotion of small and micro-enterprises was supported through policy design, regulatory framework revisions, quality and productivity improvement, human resource development, partnership support and coordination of existing policies for SME development.

In South Africa, the SIYB project tested material and training programmes, adapting them to the South African environment, and translated materials into a number of local languages. The project strengthened the capacity of local organizations to support entrepreneurs through training, counselling and referral services. During the pilot period, 16 organizations participated in the trials and after only six months, a total of 75 South African organizations were on the waiting list for participation in the expanded programme.

Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB)

An impact evaluation of the SIYB programme in Malawi, Mozambique, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe was done at an entrepreneurial level. One of the findings of this impact evaluation was that 53 per cent of the people who went through the training programme actually started businesses which have created new jobs. Established businesses which participated in the training programme showed a job expansion rate of 0.73 per cent. Ninety-three per cent of those who participated in the impact evaluation increased their overall performance after the training. The training programmes have a large outreach to women. More than 60 per cent of the entrepreneurs and 45 per cent of the trainers trained in Africa were women.

One of the ILO's most successful approaches to alleviating poverty over the years has been the ACOPAM project in the Sahelian region, which has assisted in the development of a large number of self-managed grass-roots cooperatives, particularly in rural areas, covering such activities as grain storage, cotton marketing, natural resources management, savings and credit schemes and social services. In the Sahelian region, the project entered a consolidation phase to further institutionalize and strengthen its achievements through the development of self-managed producer associations. The programme was recently extended until mid-2000 and a project aimed at replicating the ACOPAM experience in English-speaking countries in the region is being developed.

The achievements of ACOPAM in Burkina Faso

Over the years, the ACOPAM programme has assisted in the alleviation of poverty and the promotion of employment in rural areas in Burkina Faso in a number of ways. At the micro level, based on the consolidation of rural workers' organizations and training for farmers and producers, these include: the promotion of economic activity by women through the development of credit schemes (including, for example, one which covers 10,000 women and has accrued assets estimated at 350 million CFA francs);

the introduction of environmentally friendly land management methods for 7,000 farmers in ten villages;

the improvement of food security through the establishment of over 150 village cereal banks, which have been integrated into the agricultural market and the national food security strategy;

the organization and structuring of the self-managed cotton market; and

the establishment of village dispensaries and shops.

At the meso level, the programme supports around ten cooperative associations and provides training and trainers' manuals. At the macro level, it has contributed to the development of cooperative legislation and policies which are more favourable to rural workers' organizations and the development of a national food security strategy.

Several countries were provided, through the COOPREFORM programme, with assistance in reducing legal and administrative obstacles to the development of cooperatives and creating a favourable environment for autonomous and viable cooperative enterprises. The village banks and savings cooperatives created in some 15 African countries have collected a total of around US$5 million in deposits and serve over 700,000 members. The PA-SMEC programme (see Chapter 2 for more details), implemented in partnership with the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO), has also made an important contribution to developing many decentralized savings and credit associations in the emerging field of microfinance in West Africa. Considerable interest has been expressed in replicating the PA-SMEC approach, for example, by the Bank of Tanzania and the Bank of Central African States (BEAC).

The ILO's employment-intensive programme continued to promote the use of labour-based methods and techniques in infrastructure investment projects in Ethiopia, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Togo and Zambia. Labour-based infrastructure works were institutionalized in Lesotho in the late 1970s through the creation of the Labour Construction Unit (LCU). The LCU is today a functioning and well-established unit within the Ministry of Public Works and Transport of Lesotho, and labour-based methods are employed country-wide by force account units as well as small-scale contractors.

Employment-intensive infrastructure works in Lesotho

The Labour Construction Unit (LCU) of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport embarked on a contractor development programme for maintenance of gravel roads in 1993 and has to date successfully trained some 42 domestic contractors capable of carrying out routine and periodic maintenance. Work has since continued on the training of labour-based contractors in order to expand their skills and work opportunities; this includes construction and upgrading activities, often in very challenging terrain, using labour-based methods.

Under various agreements the ILO has provided technical assistance to the LCU in the form of experts who develop training material and local training capacity, and has recently been providing assistance with the course for construction contractors. As the cadre of contractors grows, there is an increased demand for management capacity with the client organization. Therefore the LCU is now expanding the base by reorienting local consultants towards the design and supervision of labour-based contracts.

The LCU has become the country's largest employer in rural areas. It provides equal employment opportunities for men and women and has on average 2,000 workers regularly carrying out upgrading and maintenance works throughout the country. This represents 4 per cent of formal sector jobs, and provides much needed employment opportunities in rural areas, where 45 per cent of households are headed by women who otherwise have very limited opportunities for paid employment.

Covering about 20 per cent of the road network in the country, the LCU is adding another 60 km per year on average, and the effects of this on the quality of life have been clearly demonstrated in terms of improved access to social and economic services such as health care, education, agricultural extension services, etc.

Following its successful implementation of the previous programme, the LCU is now getting involved in different types of rural and urban infrastructure works. Lesotho has become an interesting study tour destination and the LCU has been asked to provide training internationally.

Conflict-affected countries

During the biennium, the ILO increased its assistance to conflict-affected countries. The technical cooperation projects are designed to cement peace and contribute to the social and economic integration of demobilized ex-combatants. These projects combined elements covering vocational training, micro-enterprise development and labour-intensive works. They were implemented during the biennium in Angola, Ethiopia, Liberia, Mozambique, Sudan and Uganda.

Reintegration of war-affected persons in Angola

Since September 1996, the ILO has been assisting with the reintegration of demobilized soldiers and other war-affected groups in Angola. Despite the chaotic environment, the organization of vocational and business training (based on SIYB) and the distribution of tool kits and activities to promote the creation of micro-enterprises resulted in:

some 80 per cent of the 7,000 beneficiaries finding or creating a job; and

the creation of over 2,000 micro-enterprises in the country.

Experience of the project has shown that demobilized soldiers are a difficult target group to reach and that many other groups are severely affected by the war. In a new project which has been launched, the target population has therefore been widened to include women, disabled persons and displaced youth.

The protection of workers

The transition to market conditions in many countries in the region and the need to attract foreign investment have resulted in an increased trend towards lowering existing safety and health standards and minimum requirements regarding working conditions. To counteract this trend, the assistance provided to constituents consisted of projects carried out in several countries to strengthen their national factories inspectorates. A subregional programme on occupational safety and health was implemented in West African countries. In addition, training courses for the introduction of the Work Improvement in Small Enterprises (WISE) approach were conducted in Ghana, Mauritius, Nigeria, Seychelles, the United Republic of Tanzania and Uganda.

Successful projects have been implemented by promoting the ratification and implementation of standards relating to working conditions in the modern and informal sectors. Activities relating to national policies on occupational safety and health, including legislation, and strengthening of occupational structures were undertaken in a number of countries.

HIV/AIDS at the workplace

In October 1999, a Regional Tripartite Workshop on Strategies to Tackle Social and Labour Implications of HIV/AIDS was organized. A Draft Platform of Action ⁽⁴⁾ on HIV/AIDS in the context of the world of work in Africa was the major output of the meeting. The goal of the platform was to apply a "social vaccine" for prevention and protection which would include elements such as: social inclusion, income and job security, social security, solidarity and optimal use of treatment. A number of activities were recommended, including:

adapting and applying concepts, methods and tools developed in connection with labour and social issues, for the purpose of designing research and programmes on HIV/AIDS;
research and surveys to determine the implications of HIV/AIDS in a working environment;
disseminating best practices with a view to their replication;
promoting vigorous advocacy and training on HIV/AIDS and the world of work, targeting political leaders, workers' and employers' organizations and civil society; and
integrating HIV/AIDS issues into ILO technical cooperation programmes and projects in the region.

Social protection systems

Social protection systems, throughout almost the entire region, experienced a financial crisis aggravated by the decline in the level of public works and internal dysfunction. These resulted in underfunding and limited coverage of social protection systems. In many countries, less than 10 per cent of the labour force was covered by formal social security schemes, which tended to be confined to specific categories of wage earners in the formal sector. In these circumstances, health insurance mutual funds emerged as one of the most appropriate solutions to meet the social protection needs of a growing number of workers.

The technical assistance provided to member States focused on the reform and rehabilitation of their social protection institutions, emphasized the development of economically and financially viable schemes and the extension of coverage to the rural and informal sectors, for example through cooperative structures.

Assistance was provided to several countries to restructure their existing social security schemes in accordance with international labour standards. Support to national projects took place in Benin, Cameroon, Congo, Gabon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Togo. In Cameroon, the collaboration took the form of a project financed by the World Bank. The assistance also included an audit of South Africa's social security funds. A subregional workshop on good governance was held in Mauritius in May 1998 for social security managers and policy-makers in East Africa and the Indian Ocean countries. Activities during the biennium also included support to trade unions' subregional meetings (ICFTU, September 1998 and ODSTA, October 1998), a meeting in Mauritius (October 1999) on management techniques for social security systems, and participation in the 13th ISSA regional conference which focused on good governance and pension reform. A review of social protection systems was also included in the country objectives for Benin, Burkina Faso and Djibouti.

Actuarial evaluations have been carried out to determine the long-term financial viability of several schemes. A wide range of support services has been provided for the conversion of provident funds to pension schemes. In addition, the ILO assisted with several major public information campaigns designed to promote the establishment of new schemes or the reform of existing ones.

Health insurance and other mutual funds

During the biennium, the STEP programme, in collaboration with ACOPAM, launched a regional programme, based in Dakar, for the promotion of health and other mutual benefit systems, particularly in West and Central Africa. Manuals and guides on mutual health schemes were published by the Turin Centre and ACOPAM to promote health protection in rural areas and the informal sector. In June 1998, the ILO organized a subregional workshop on strategies for supporting mutual health schemes in West and Central Africa, which resulted in the Platform of Abidjan ⁽⁵⁾ on the development of health insurance mutual funds.

The promotion of democracy and international labour standards

During the biennium, the commitment of African member States to the ILO's fundamental values was demonstrated by the overwhelming support given by constituents from the region to the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and its Follow-up and by the registration of another 28 ratifications of the ILO's fundamental Conventions.

Ratifications of the eight fundamental Conventions
by African countries

During the biennium, the following African member States registered their ratifications of the ILO's fundamental Conventions:

Convention No. 29: Malawi, Zimbabwe;

Convention No. 87: Cape Verde, Malawi;

Convention No. 98: Congo, Madagascar, Seychelles, Zimbabwe;

Convention No. 100: Congo, Ethiopia, Lesotho;

Convention No. 105: Congo, Ethiopia, Malawi, Togo, Zimbabwe;

Convention No. 111: Congo, Lesotho, Seychelles, Zimbabwe;

Convention No. 138: Burkina Faso, Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, the United Republic of Tanzania;

Convention No. 182: Malawi, Seychelles.

Egypt, with its ratification of Convention No. 138 in June 1999, joins Algeria, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Niger, Togo, Tunisia and Zambia as African member States that have ratified seven of the ILO's fundamental Conventions.

However, by the end of the biennium, only 11 of the 53 countries in the region had ratified seven of the fundamental Conventions and one-third of these countries were still not sending reports on the application of ratified Conventions or information in response to observations made by the Committee of Experts. Continued emphasis was therefore placed on training activities to promote the ratification and application of international labour standards, and assistance was provided to several countries to help them to meet their reporting obligations. In addition, standards-related components were systematically integrated into technical cooperation activities.

A regional meeting on the follow-up to the Declaration was held in Dakar in October 1999. The meeting recommended that all countries in the region should regularly report on the implementation of the Declaration. The meeting further called for a commitment from those countries that had not ratified all the fundamental Conventions to do so. The ILO was called upon to organize similar meetings at the national level in order to involve all stakeholders.

The democratization process which began during the 1980s continued through the 1990s. In many countries in the region it was accompanied by the revision of constitutions and electoral laws, the establishment or reinforcement of political parties and trade unions and the organization of elections. This process has resulted in a situation in which the citizens of an increasing number of countries enjoy basic rights of expression and association.

Two of the most significant activities carried out by the ILO during the biennium to reinforce social dialogue were developed in the context of the PRODIAF and PRODIAL programmes. These two programmes cover respectively the French-speaking West African countries and the African Portuguese-speaking countries. National tripartite meetings took place in Niger, Mali and Togo. Subregional seminars were organized in Dakar, Ouagadougou and Bata over the biennium to promote social dialogue and tripartite cooperation as ways of managing and preventing collective disputes.

A subregional tripartite seminar on the launching of the PRODIAF programme in Central Africa led to the "Bata Declaration", which expressed the will of the participants to promote social dialogue in their countries, to strengthen social dialogue structures and to align national labour legislation with the relevant provisions of the principal ILO Conventions.

PRODIAF

The primary objective of the PRODIAF programme was to assist French-speaking African countries to strengthen their tripartite cooperation structures at the national and subregional levels, to enable governments and social partners to evaluate their social dialogue and tripartite cooperation systems and to analyse together any improvements, changes and reinforcements that may be necessary. The programme is being implemented in the following countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Guinea, Madagascar, Mali, Morocco, Senegal and Togo.

A number of activities have been carried out by the programme and the results include the following:

Benin -- adoption of a new decree on the creation, powers, composition and functioning of the National Labour Council;

Burkina Faso -- design of a national action plan inspired by the joint conclusions of the tripartite meeting;

Burkina Faso -- declaration calling for the UEMOA to create a tripartite consultation body at commission level.

Senegal -- monitoring and implementation of the joint conclusions of the subregional tripartite seminar on the strengthening of social dialogue and tripartite cooperation;

One important lesson learnt during the implementation of the programme was that the political will of the countries' highest authorities to promote social dialogue and fulfil its commitments is crucial if long-lasting results are to be achieved. That political will is expressed through:

strengthening the capacity of civil servants in labour ministries;

consolidation and improvement of the mechanisms for tripartite consultation, collective bargaining and dispute settlement;

involvement of the social partners in the formulation of economic and social policies;

allocation of financial and logistic resources to tripartite cooperation structures.

Child labour

It is estimated that some 40 per cent of African children between the ages of 5 and 14, or over 80 million children, are engaged in some form of work. Africa is therefore, in numerical terms, the continent most severely affected by the problem of child labour. Only 16 of the 53 countries in the region have ratified ILO Convention No. 138. More African countries have ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The child labour situation in Africa was examined at the African Regional Tripartite Meeting on Child Labour, held in Kampala in February 1998 and attended by representatives of 22 member States. The ILO report submitted to the meeting emphasized the extent of the problem and its very close relationship with poverty.⁽⁶⁾ The participants urged African member States to commit themselves to the total abolition of child labour and to ratify and implement Convention No. 138 and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. They also emphasized the need for preventive policy interventions including free, compulsory and universal primary education, the development of appropriate legislation and the mobilization of the community, with particular reference to the social partners.

A new ILO Convention (No. 182) on the worst forms of child labour was unanimously adopted in June 1999 by the International Labour Conference in Geneva. As a result of this, a decision was taken by the Summit of African Heads of State meeting in Algiers in July 1999, to urge OAU member States to ratify this Convention before the next OAU Assembly in 2000.

Collaboration between the countries of the region and ILO-IPEC continued to expand during the biennium. Burkina Faso, Madagascar, Mali and Uganda concluded Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) with ILO-IPEC, bringing the total number of African countries to have done so to ten. In addition, preparatory activities are being carried out in collaboration with ILO-IPEC in several other countries, including Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Togo, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Senegal -- a promising experiment in the rehabilitation of child rubbish collectors in Mbeubeuss

As part of the IPEC programme in Senegal, one of the worst forms of child labour was found to exist at the public waste tip in Mbeubeuss. About 400 rubbish collectors, including 120 children below the age of 15 years, work on the site to reclaim and sell waste items. The children are exposed to considerable risks of illness or poisoning, and, in this highly hierarchical milieu, children often suffer psychological and physical ill-treatment and grow up with very low self-esteem.

The NGO ENDA Graf, which has worked in this area for some ten years, suggested setting up a programme, in collaboration with ILO/IPEC, to help these children. From the beginning, the project involved the adult workers' association, the children's families and the children themselves. Preparatory awareness-raising activities were conducted with the adults, who have a certain influence on these children in this very closed environment. The strategy adopted has been, first, to remove 30 children aged below 15 years from the tip and offer them practical pre-apprenticeship training in a trade (mechanics, carpentry or sewing) with local craftsmen; this is rounded off with theoretical training in the chosen trade and courses in reading and writing. Assistance to families in obtaining replacement income has also been proposed.

At present, 30 children have been removed from rubbish collection work, and their families, the adult workers and the children themselves have been mobilized to ensure the success of the project. The families are very much involved in the programme, since they are well aware of the training opportunities now available to their children and are also given assistance in their own right through income-generating activities. The families have undertaken to share in the costs of transport and meals for the children during their training. At the same time, the rubbish collectors' association will systematically discourage the children selected from frequenting the site. Finally, the experiment offers the children an opportunity to learn a trade, and they follow the training classes avidly. This IPEC programme has given back hope to the community and its children. Pressing requests for assistance to other children have been registered and will be acted on when the programme is extended in a final phase.

United Republic of Tanzania -- Trade union action to prevent domestic child labour

Singida region in the United Republic of Tanzania is regarded as one of the leading catchment areas for the recruitment of domestic workers. It also happens to be one of the country's poorer regions, the majority of its population living in abject poverty. Besides supplying girls to work as domestic servants in urban centres around the country, the region has a comparatively large number of out-of-school children working in exploitative and hazardous conditions in the informal sector, including the commercial sex sector.

The overall strategic activity organized by IPEC comprised community awareness-raising seminars involving 13 villages and the participation of 120 people, including government and municipal officials, parents, teachers and community leaders. A child labour committee was formed in each village to monitor and prevent the recruitment of children for domestic service. Trade union officials provided training and orientation on child labour to child labour committees in 13 villages. At the district level, three working agreements were signed between trade unions, local government authorities and employers on the prevention of child labour. At the regional level, a circular was issued to all district councils in the region, requiring district authorities to discuss the child labour situation, to formulate appropriate strategies in response to child labour problems within the framework of the District Development Plan, and to set aside resources to supplement initiatives to combat child labour in the region.

A community-based mechanism to restrict the recruitment of young girls for domestic service has been put in place in 13 villages, while strong partnership and networking between the local government and trade unions to address the problem of child labour in Singida region has emerged. It is estimated that the recruitment of child domestic workers in the 13 villages covered by the action programme implemented by IPEC was reduced by 65-70 per cent over a five-month period.

The experience indicates that trade unions can undertake effective action on child labour at the community level through close networking and collaboration with local government and community leaders and by assisting these to define child labour problems and identify practical measures to prevent child labour. Such district and community-based interventions are inherently sustainable and can be readily replicated in other geographical areas.

During the biennium, ILO-IPEC initiated four subregional programmes, which will become operational in the year 2000. These cover the following:

children working in hazardous operations in commercial agriculture in six countries of eastern and southern Africa, based on the successful experiences in commercial farms and plantations in Kenya and the United Republic of Tanzania;
commercial sexual exploitation of children in eastern Africa;
child trafficking for exploitative labour, including domestic service, plantation work, prostitution and other child slavery practices, in nine countries in West and Central Africa, based on an assessment of the scope and current trends of the trafficking of children; and
action against child labour through education and training in the participating French-speaking countries, based on the experiences of the same programme in English-speaking countries.

In addition to the subregional programme on child trafficking, another joint initiative of ILO-IPEC, UNICEF and the Government of Gabon was launched officially in November 1999. Several activities were implemented with the objective of developing strategies, drafting and adopting a platform for action and following up on actions since the previous workshop on child trafficking in Cotonou which took place in July 1998.

The Americas

During the biennium 1998-99 the countries in the region faced a very volatile international situation at both the financial and the commercial level. They had to make adjustments to cope with the repercussions of the Asian and Russian financial crises, the difficult economic situation in Brazil and the devastating effects of El Niño and Hurricanes Georges and Mitch. Even so, despite the slowdown in economic growth in the region during the biennium, it was not as badly affected as had been feared by the spin-off from the Asian financial crisis.

However, the unemployment rate in Latin American and Caribbean countries rose steadily and job insecurity increased. Growth in the modern, organized sector of the economy was stagnant, and some 85 per cent of all new jobs were created in the informal sector, in micro-enterprises, farming and small-scale services, where wages, productivity and levels of social protection are generally very low.

Fourteenth American Regional Meeting

The social and labour situation in the region was examined by the constituents at the Fourteenth American Regional Meeting, held in Lima in August 1999. The delegates, who included most of the ministers of labour and senior representatives of employers' and workers' organizations, agreed that "obtaining decent work is one of the most pressing priorities for the people of the Americas". They recognized that economic growth is a necessary but insufficient condition to generate decent work, which in addition requires economic policies which "promote productivity growth and guarantee the necessary macroeconomic stability to stimulate savings and investment".

Defining decent work as one of the core objectives of regional integration processes, the delegates requested the ILO to join in the work of the Inter-American Conference of Ministers of Labour, and to participate with the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in developing and applying mechanisms to incorporate the social and labour dimension into the integration processes. They emphasized the importance of an authentic and broad tripartite social dialogue in the promotion of quality jobs. For this purpose they requested the ILO to assist in national and regional initiatives and in the linkage of economic programmes and social policies, particularly through the establishment of constructive relationships with international financial institutions and economic organizations.

In the meeting's conclusions,⁽⁷⁾ the delegates also emphasized their commitment to the elimination of child labour, the earliest possible ratification of the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182), and the implementation of programmes to achieve the objective of the Convention.

Priorities identified by delegates at the Fourteenth American Regional Meeting

The areas of priority action identified include:

creating and strengthening suitable educational and training systems to enable workers to be integrated into the labour market and meet the new challenges of a globalized economy;

promoting a climate of harmonious labour relations through collective bargaining;

developing job-related policies and programmes focusing on the most vulnerable social groups, particularly the young, women, the disabled and the unemployed;

encouraging the absorption of informal activities into the formal sector;

protecting workers against occupational risks;

increasing the efficiency and expanding the coverage of social security systems, including the design of new security mechanisms for the unemployed; and

improving the capacity of ILO member States to respond quickly to crisis and emergency situations.

Promoting international labour standards and social dialogue

Emphasis continued to be placed on assisting member States to ratify and improve the application of the ILO's fundamental Conventions. The activities undertaken included studies on the harmonization and compatibility of national Chilean legislation with Conventions Nos. 87 and 98, as well as a number of other activities to promote the ratification and implementation of Conventions Nos. 87, 98, 105 and 138. Discussions were also launched with the new Government in El Salvador to explore the possibility of ratifying Conventions Nos. 87, 98 and 100.

A total of 12 new ratifications of the fundamental Conventions by countries in the region were registered during the biennium. As a result 12 countries in the Americas have now ratified seven of the fundamental Conventions, while another 12 have ratified six of them.

New ratifications of the ILO's eight fundamental Conventions

During the biennium, the following countries ratified the ILO's fundamental Conventions:

Belize: Conventions Nos. 100 and 111;

Chile: Conventions Nos. 87, 98, 105 and 138;

Dominican Republic: Convention No. 138;

Guyana: Convention No. 138;

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: Conventions Nos. 29, 98 and 105; and

United States: Convention No. 182.

Significant progress was also made in the ratification and application of other international labour standards, with 38 ratifications of other Conventions, including a high number of ratifications by both Belize and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The ratifications included that of the Tripartite Consultation (International Labour Standards) Convention, 1976 (No. 144), by Colombia and the Dominican Republic, the Merchant Shipping (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1976 (No. 147), by Trinidad and Tobago, the Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155), by Belize, and the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169), by Ecuador.

Indigenous rights in Ecuador

Crucial steps were taken during the biennium in Ecuador, where 45 per cent of the population is made up of indigenous peoples, for the recognition of indigenous rights. With ILO support to the President of the Constituent Assembly, the representatives of indigenous and non-indigenous groups and the President of Congress, Ecuador became the ninth Latin American State to ratify the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169). It also adopted a new Constitution incorporating the fundamental concepts of the Convention and recognizing the following rights:

the multicultural and multi-ethnic character of the State;

the respect and development of all Ecuadorian languages and the official use of Quechua, Shuar and other ancestral languages by indigenous peoples;

the promotion of intercultural harmony and of the principles of equity and equality of cultures;

the obligation of the State to guarantee intercultural bilingual education.

Activities to improve the application of ratified Conventions included training for employers' organizations in Central America on the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138), the Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155), and the Occupational Health Services Convention, 1985 (No. 161). Several technical cooperation projects, especially those in support of workers' and employers' organizations and labour ministries, included important components on international labour standards. An innovative approach adopted in Central America and some countries of the Andean region was the organization of workshops for members of the judiciary and human rights lawyers to examine and explain the role of the standards in the framework of national law.

Substantial progress was made during the biennium in the organization in several countries of workers committees to review and comment on the country reports to the ILO's supervisory bodies. In the Dominican Republic the activities undertaken to strengthen the social partners led to the adoption of executive decrees improving the status of labour inspectors by incorporating them into the administrative career structure, thereby giving effect to an important provision in the recently ratified Labour Administration Convention, 1978 (No. 150).

A tripartite seminar on the ILO's maritime labour standards, attended by delegates from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru and Uruguay, enabled Argentina and Chile in particular to progress towards ratification of the Merchant Shipping (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1976 (No. 147). The Ministry of Labour of Argentina also convened a working group to discuss ratification of Convention No. 147. It was envisaged to include ILO standards within the Operative Network for Regional Cooperation among Maritime Authorities of South America, Cuba, Mexico and Panama (ROCRAM).

Strengthening social dialogue

Building upon the achievements of previous biennia the promotion of social dialogue continued to be a major priority throughout the region. However, progress was slowed in many cases by political instability, financial crises and natural disasters. Further efforts were made to strengthen the tripartite partners so that they can participate more fully in social dialogue, as well as to resuscitate the process when it ran into difficulties.

In the Andean subregion a programme was carried out to improve workers' collective bargaining skills. Studies ⁽⁸⁾ analysing national strengths and weaknesses were discussed and disseminated in national seminars. This process confirmed the need for collective bargaining to be strengthened and helped the planning of ILO medium-term action. Research was also carried out on collective bargaining, social dialogue and participation in vocational training in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Uruguay through national studies ⁽⁹⁾ focusing on collective agreements dealing with training, by sector or by enterprise. Tripartite training in collective bargaining in Argentina gave participants in joint committees in various sectors improved techniques, instruments and concepts to help them interact more effectively.

Progress in social dialogue in Latin America

Despite the unstable economic context and a series of environmental difficulties and disasters, progress was made in strengthening social dialogue in several countries in the region. These include:

Bolivia, where social dialogue was established for the first time between the Central Workers' Organization, the Confederation of Private Sector Employers and the Government, culminating in the signature of a national agreement on social dialogue and preparatory work for the modernization of the labour legislation;

Colombia, where following the interruption of the process of social dialogue a Tripartite Labour Coordination Committee was established and social dialogue was considerably strengthened as a result of the organization by business leaders of two major seminars in Medellin and Cali, attended by labour lawyers, trade union leaders and officials from the Ministry of Labour and Social Security;

Costa Rica, where the Consensus Forum, established by the Government at the beginning of its mandate in 1998, drafted new legislation on unemployment and pensions;

Ecuador, where following its temporary cessation tripartite social dialogue was relaunched and focused on reform in the fields of vocational training, active employment policies and programmes, social security and productivity;

Paraguay, where the Council for Social Dialogue, which includes representatives of employers' and workers' organizations, was established;

Venezuela, where the newly established Tripartite Committee for Social Dialogue agreed on reforms of the labour legislation, the social security system and, more recently, the adjustment of the minimum wage, despite losing much of its influence in 1999.

A workshop on mediation for officials of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security in Uruguay contributed to the training of mediators in the settlement of collective disputes. The mediators then trained other officials. A database of Uruguay's collective agreements was also issued as a CD-ROM ⁽¹⁰⁾ and was presented at a subregional seminar held in Buenos Aires in September 1999.

The social dimension of regional integration processes

As regional and subregional integration processes gather pace, the ILO has become more active in strengthening the involvement of the social partners and ensuring that these processes include the social dimension.

After the first phase of the economic stabilization process and structural adjustment, the regional and subregional integration issue together with the advantageous insertion of the Latin American and Caribbean countries in the globalization process is a fundamental issue in the public agenda of the continent.

The Regional Office participated actively in a number of permanent committees and commissions of the Organization of American States -- particularly in the field of economic integration and its effects on employment and labour integration. As a result of these activities ILO issues were discussed both at the Summit of Heads of State and Government of the countries of the Americas (Santiago de Chile, April 1998) and at the XIth Inter-American Conference of Ministers of Labor (Viña del Mar, October 1998). Final declarations were signed by the participants at the end of both events, recognizing the ILO's mandate and committing their governments to providing greater support for the promotion of core labour standards.

In a self-administered survey of the participants in the Fourteenth American Regional Meeting (Lima, August 1999), 76 per cent of the responses agreed that the countries need the ILO's support in regional and interregional negotiations. As to the reasons given, 35 per cent said that the ILO assists in strengthening the dialogue and consensus among countries and social partners, 32 per cent that the ILO disseminates experiences and provides technical support, and 19 per cent that the ILO's presence is the workers' safeguard.

Subregional integration in MERCOSUR

In the context of MERCOSUR, the assistance provided during the biennium consisted largely in supporting Labour Sub-Group 10 in the development of a social space and the preparation of the Social and Labour Declaration that was signed by the presidents of the MERCOSUR countries in December 1998. A Social and Labour Commission was also established as the mechanism for applying and promoting labour rights within the framework of the subregional integration process.

The MERCOSUR Social and Labour Declaration

Although non-binding, the Social and Labour Declaration signed by the presidents of the MERCOSUR countries -- Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay -- in December 1998 is a very significant statement of principle. The principles which it espouses include:

recognition that MERCOSUR countries support the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and its Follow-up;

an affirmation that the integration process involves social issues and cannot be confined to economic and commercial matters;

an endorsement of the importance of a minimum level of workers' rights corresponding to the ILO's fundamental Conventions, with particular reference to the promotion of equality and non-discrimination, the protection of migrant workers, the abolition of forced labour and child labour, collective rights, social dialogue, collective bargaining, the protection of unemployed workers, vocational training, human resources development, occupational safety and health, social security and labour inspection.

The adoption of the Social and Labour Declaration has been accompanied by the development of a technical assistance project designed to assist Labour Subgroup 10 and strengthen the labour institutions of MERCOSUR, particularly in the fields of labour inspection, vocational training and skills certification, labour market information and migrant workers.

Promoting employment and combating poverty

Subregional integration in the Caribbean

One of the main objectives of the ILO's policy advisory activities in the Caribbean subregion during the biennium was to work towards a common position on labour issues in the context of multilateral trade agreements. Several papers and studies were therefore prepared for the ILO Caribbean Subregional Symposium on Labour Issues in the Context of Economic Integration and Free Trade, which was held in Port-of-Spain in January 1999.⁽¹¹⁾

The purpose of the symposium was to clarify how labour policy can facilitate the transition from protected to open economies and to examine the likely impact of globalization and economic integration on Caribbean labour markets. It was seen that, in the context of economic integration and free trade, it is necessary to adjust to the inevitableness of globalization. In particular, since global economic integration will involve the small Caribbean States, they must be prepared to take advantage of the opportunities it provides while cushioning the negative consequences for their economies. It is imperative for CARICOM countries to pool their resources in order to maintain some degree of competitiveness.

The participants identified several areas of priority action, including:

training and retraining of workers to achieve functional adaptability;
cushioning the unfavourable effects of downsizing;
ensuring that workers' rights are respected (as embodied in the ILO Declaration);
the proper development of labour ministries to meet the impending challenges.

A publication has been issued containing the contributions to the symposium, a summary of the discussions and the proposed agenda for the future. As a follow-up to the symposium a study tour was organized to Lima and Santiago to inform employers' and workers' representatives from the Caribbean on the labour issues affecting Latin America. On a related subject, a study was published on the crisis in the banana-growing sector in the subregion.⁽¹²⁾

Cooperation agreement with the Andean Community

The Andean Community encompasses all the organs and institutions of the Andean Integration System, whose basic objectives are to:

promote the economic and social cooperation and integration of its members;
speed up economic growth and job creation in the Andean countries;
strengthen solidarity and equality in terms of development in the subregion;
promote regional integration;
define social policies geared to improving the quality of life;
improve access of the various social groups to the benefits of development.

During the Fourteenth American Regional Meeting of the ILO held in Lima in August 1999, the ministers of labour of the Andean Community adopted a final statement stressing the importance of having closer links with the ILO to study and discuss central issues, including:

occupational safety and health;
social security;
vocational training and labour skills;
labour migration;
employment generation.

In this framework an agreement between the secretariat of the Andean Community and the ILO Regional Office for the Americas in Lima was ready to be signed at the end of 1999. Its main objective is to give specific form to cooperation between the two organizations, to support the countries in their efforts to achieve better social cohesion and to incorporate social and labour concerns in the process of social integration in the Andean Community.

Central America

One of the ILO's major contributions to promoting employment and combating poverty in Central America was its response to the emergency situation in the countries suffering the effects of Hurricane Mitch, which devastated large tracts of Central America in October-November 1998 and left over 11,000 dead and hundreds of thousands without homes or means of livelihood. While Honduras and Nicaragua were the worst affected, the hurricane also caused extensive damage in Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Guatemala.

After the completion of the humanitarian and relief phase, the ILO assisted in the urgent reconstruction activities. It was also responsible for coordinating the regional proposal from the United Nations system as a whole to donors at the Stockholm Consultative Group Meeting for the Reconstruction and Transformation of Central America at the end of May 1999.

Reconstruction in the wake of Hurricane Mitch

In the projects designed by the ILO in the wake of Hurricane Mitch, emphasis was placed on the construction of retaining walls along river banks to protect the population against future flood disasters and to recuperate farm land. Studies were made of the design of retaining walls for over ten rivers. The following activities were launched:

six projects in Nicaragua with 760 direct and 400 indirect beneficiaries, and two micro-projects for the construction of retaining walls, employing 300 workers and indirectly benefiting 25,000 people;

a reconstruction programme in the municipality of San Juancito (30 km north of Tegucigalpa), generating 160 jobs (60 per cent of them for women), which has received praise from the Government, UNDP and donors and is being replicated in other regions of Honduras and Nicaragua;

an employment and training programme in Honduras for some 1,000 women who were made redundant when the banana industry was decimated. The programme emphasized micro-enterprise creation, produced targeted training packages in alternate income-generating skills and facilitated access to start-up credit where necessary.

The ILO's response to Hurricane Mitch emphasized the maximization of local employment opportunities, particularly for women. It focused on two levels:

the national level, by assisting in the development of investment plans for construction and reconstruction, with particular emphasis on labour-intensive infrastructure projects;
local government, through its support to municipal authorities to help them prepare, manage and implement pilot projects and develop medium-term programmes for the labour-intensive reconstruction of infrastructure and the creation of productive employment, particularly through the development of small and micro-enterprises.

Labour-intensive public works projects were carried out in four municipalities and ILO-designed programmes in another 36. Four projects were already completed during 1999.

Employment

In more general terms, policy advice continued to be provided on employment policy issues and an employment policy review was carried out for Chile. The first in a series of country studies was published on Chile by the ILO Task Force on the Country Studies on the Social Dimensions of Globalization in 1998.⁽¹³⁾ Chile is a remarkable example of integration into the world economy and has been praised by the WTO as one of the world's most liberal trade regimes. Social progress, however, has been uneven, with an unequal distribution by international standards and very unequal opportunities for its population. Several factors, more or less directly related to the globalization process, accounted for these labour and social problems.

The question was raised whether measures should be taken to address these problems while maintaining the dynamism of Chile's economy -- i.e. whether high growth rates could be expected to bring about more equal income distribution as more stable jobs were created, or whether low productivity would result in the Chilean economy continuing to specialize in sectors characterized by unstable jobs and thus accentuate income inequality.

Further discussions are due to take place on ways in which the ILO could assist Chile in assessing its vulnerability to exogenous shocks, and in particular the impact of such external developments on the Chilean labour market and policy responses.

Study on the social dimensions of globalization in Chile *

With a view to maintaining Chile's economy on a sound macroeconomic path, while avoiding the trap of low productivity and unstable jobs, this study explored several policy avenues, not just in the area of education but also regarding:

social protection: unequal income distribution and the lack of social protection in the event of unemployment means that Chile was not sufficiently prepared for a possible economic downturn;

labour market regulations and institutions and social dialogue at the national level: given the limited role of collective bargaining, the individual contract is the prevailing form of employment relationship, entailing the risk of an insufficient degree of protection and a lack of information for unskilled workers; the way these issues are addressed will have a strong bearing on the economic development prospects of the country;

vocational training: access to vocational training varies greatly according to the category of employment, and the fact that decisions on training programmes are taken by the employers can result in an inefficient allocation of resources for vocational training; this is especially important in a medium- to long-term perspective as lack of training reduces career prospects.

Some of these measures have a budgetary cost, involving difficult trade-offs between short-term objectives such as maintaining a constant tax rate and long-term objectives such as a socially sustainable participation in a globalizing economy.

* Studies on the social dimensions of globalization: Chile, 1998.

Women's employment programme in Peru

Although the participation of women in the labour market in Peru has increased over the last decade, poor women in urban areas still face great problems in finding remunerated work. With a view to developing a viable policy option to help this category of women, particularly women heads of households, the ILO has assisted the Peruvian Ministry of Labour and Social Promotion to develop a Women's Employment Consolidation Programme (PROFECE). The programme is based on the provision of training in management and technical skills so that the women can improve the quality of their goods and services and sell them more easily.

In Metropolitan Lima some 2,500 groups composed of a total of approximately 11,000 women workers were set up under the programme and are working in such areas as services, textiles and clothes making, craft work and food processing. In addition, the following assistance has been provided to the group:

creation of a database of some 2,000 groups of women and enterprises offering work;
development of an evaluation module for each sector of activity to orientate the production and training of the groups;
establishment of a network through which 5,960 temporary jobs have been found in some 70 participating enterprises;
setting up of a permanent exhibition hall for the display and sale of the groups' produce;
preparation of a framework contract for the engagement of the groups by enterprises, in parallel with the process of the development of microenterprises in the formal sector.

The programme has been extended to Ayacucho, one of the poorest areas in Peru, and donors are planning its further extension to Huamanga and Huanta and other parts of the country.

Labour market information

In view of the need for reliable and comparable labour market information as a basis for policymaking, the ILO continued compiling the annual statistical analysis, the Labour Overview ,⁽¹⁴⁾ which has become a well-respected source of information for ILO constituents on trends in the labour market situation in the region. In August 1999 an advance edition was published, prior to the Fourteenth American Regional Meeting, containing information on the economic and labour situation in Latin America for the first half of 1999.

The growing impact of the Labour Overview is reflected by its increased exposure in the national and regional press in the region. When the fifth edition was published in 1998, over 104 articles were published on it in the region and even in Europe. The demand for the hard-copy version of the Overview almost doubled in comparison with the previous biennium.

Assistance was also provided at the national and subregional levels to improve the scope and effectiveness of labour market information systems.

Vocational training

In view of the great importance attached to improving the skills of the workforce in an era marked by uncertainty and change in the labour market, considerable emphasis was placed on assisting member States improve their vocational training systems and adapt them to rapidly changing needs. Over recent years the ILO has been particularly influential in the development of competency-based training in the region.

Until recently there had been little or no training or certification of vocational skills or labour competencies in the various trades in the region. There was therefore no training or career structure outside the strictly academic path followed by a small minority of students. Even three years ago few vocational training institutions or employers' or workers' organizations advocated competency-based training and certification. In collaboration with the Inter-American Research and Documentation Centre on Vocational Training (CINTERFOR), therefore, the ILO has placed considerable emphasis on disseminating experience of competency-based skills training from Australia, Mexico, North America and Europe. As a result institutions throughout the region have taken important steps towards its introduction.

The introduction of competency-based skills training

Vocational training institutions have taken important steps for the introduction of competency-based training in the following countries:

Argentina, Bolivia and Chile, where competency-based projects are being carried out in several sectors;

Brazil, where a network of competency certification has been developed;

Colombia, where a start has been made in setting up a competency-based training system and broad-based tripartite dialogue on an experimental basis in 18 occupational sectors;

Costa Rica, where competency standards in the hotel and tourism sector have been identified and introduced;

Ecuador, where a model training system based on competencies has been introduced;

Guatemala, where a competency-based approach is being incorporated into training programmes;

Uruguay, where a system of training and competency certification is being designed and a pilot application is being developed in a local enterprise for the standardization of qualifications;

Venezuela, where work has started on the development of a national training system using the competency model.

In addition, several employers' organizations in the region have started pilot programmes for competency-based training to improve human resources management. Several workers' organizations have also requested training and information on the competency-based approach to vocational training.

The protection of workers

The importance placed by constituents in the region on the protection of the workforce was demonstrated by the interest shown in the XVth World Congress on Occupational Safety and Health, held in São Paulo, Brazil in April 1999. The Congress served to draw attention to the ILO's occupational safety and health statistics, which revealed the real magnitude of workplace accidents and diseases (see Chapter 3 for more details).

To assist in preparing workers for social security reforms and to sensitize them to the various implementation alternatives available and to international labour standards, a Latin American Regional Round Table for Workers' Representatives on Pension Schemes Reforms was held in Mexico City, Mexico in September 1998. Previously, three preparatory subregional meetings were held -- in Santiago de Chile for the MERCOSUR countries, in Lima for the Andean subregion, and in Mexico for the Central American countries, including Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Mexico. As a result, workers' organizations presented important proposals on raised protection levels and security coverage for the reform and development of the various countries' pension schemes.

Under the STEP programme the ILO strengthened its collaboration with the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) and the Inter-American Social Security Conference (IASSC), in order to enhance coverage of health care schemes in the region. A Memorandum of Understanding between the ILO and PAHO was accordingly signed in August 1999, establishing a framework for cooperation to develop and implement joint activities to promote equitable access to quality health care in Latin America and the Caribbean. The long-term objectives of this cooperation are:

to enable member States of the ILO and PAHO in Latin America and the Caribbean to extend coverage of health care systems and to develop policies for extending social protection for health care, particularly in the informal sector in both urban and rural areas and among unprotected groups;
to involve all the major stakeholders in the process of policy design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, in order to gain public support for health policy reform in the region.

One of the first activities undertaken after the signature of this Memorandum of Understanding was the organization of an ILO/PAHO Latin American and Caribbean regional tripartite meeting on the extension of health care to excluded groups, which took place in Mexico City from 29 November to 1 December 1999. The tripartite meeting:

reached a consensus on the implementation of alternative mechanisms for extending health care protection to the excluded populations, taking into account the criteria of solidarity, complementarity, comprehensiveness, efficiency and technical and financial sustainability;
defined lines of action for the extension of health protection to the excluded groups in Latin America and the Caribbean;
proposed guidelines for an action plan to identify technical and financial resources for this initiative at the national and international level.

The meeting also:

reviewed the situation in member countries and the reasons for exclusion from health care protection;
made comparative analyses of policies for the extension of health care protection;
reviewed successful experiences in this field at the national and local level;
proposed alternative mechanisms to the member countries for their inclusion in programmes to extend health care protection.

In view of the progress achieved, it is planned to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with PAHO on occupational safety and health issues. A manual ⁽¹⁵⁾ was published for employers, workers and social security organizations which describes various approaches to occupational safety and health and provides information on their objectives, financing and administration.

Another focus of the ILO's work on occupational safety and health during the biennium was the construction sector. An ILO programme covering Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela, estimated that in this sector, which accounts for some 6 per cent of GNP, there are approximately 220,000 work-related accidents a year, of which 7,000 give rise to permanent incapacity and 700 are fatal. The annual cost of these accidents to the construction companies is around US$450 million.

Safety and health in the construction industry in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela

Following the holding of a series of workshops on the organization of safety and health on building sites in collaboration with associations of employers in the construction industry, and the publication of articles on the subject in the journals of the associations:

the associations of employers in the construction industry became more involved in the promotion of safety and health in building works (for example, the association in Peru created a security and productivity committee);

measures were taken by several governments (for example specific occupational safety and health regulations for construction and public works were adopted in Ecuador in 1998, and similar regulations were announced in Peru);

work commenced on the design of national action programmes for the promotion of safety and health in the construction industry.

Child labour

During the biennium ILO-IPEC continued to develop its activities in the region at both the national and the regional level. Two more Memoranda of Understanding plus a letter of intent (with Uruguay) were signed and nearly 50 action programmes were commenced during the biennium. The beneficiaries of the programmes included 5,000 direct beneficiaries, 2,500 families and 50,000 indirect beneficiaries. National studies were undertaken to obtain information on the quantity and characteristics of child labour.⁽¹⁶⁾

Arab States

The average growth in GDP for countries in the region (excluding Iraq) was estimated at 2.1 per cent in 1998, which was below the rate of population growth in the region. An even lower rate of GDP growth was foreseen for 1999. There were significant differences in economic growth between the oil-producing countries, whose economies were closely linked to fluctuating oil revenues, and countries with more diversified domestic incomes. The decline in oil revenues, combined with the social impact of various structural adjustment measures, resulted in an aggravation of the unemployment and underemployment situation in most countries of the region. Low-income countries in particular continued to face widespread poverty, limited social protection and poor working conditions.

Social conflicts were relatively scarce and moderate during the biennium. The peace process and regional cooperation gave signs of taking on a new lease of life. Some progress was witnessed in the fields of democracy and tripartism, human rights, trade union rights and gender questions. In this context the action taken during the biennium by the ILO Regional Office and the MDT in Beirut in collaboration with constituents in the region focused on the reinforcement of local capacity through training, information dissemination and technical information.

Poverty reduction and employment promotion

Tripartite consultation and the involvement of the social partners in the formulation of economic and social development programmes and policies was an essential component of the strategy recommended by the ILO to promote employment and combat unemployment. A series of seminars and national and regional workshops was organized in the region with the aim of promoting new employment strategies. Translation of key ILO documentation on employment strategy, in particular the World Employment Report,⁽¹⁷⁾ and the modular package on gender, poverty and training, supported this work.

In September 1999 a tripartite regional consultation was launched in Beirut in the context of the follow-up of the World Summit for Social Development.⁽¹⁸⁾ This consultation provided a regional and tripartite perspective on priority action at the national and regional level in the area of employment promotion policies and poverty eradication, labour market policies and institutions, enterprise development and skills, human resources development and gender and employment. The issue of globalization and its impact on job creation, technologies, skills and productivity were also discussed. The consultation brought together for the first time representatives from governments and employers' and workers' organizations of Arab countries in Western Asia. The conclusions reached through this tripartite consultation provided a platform for follow-up action by social partners, and for the ILO's future assistance programme in the region.

At the national level efforts were made to enhance the institutional capacity of constituents to develop and implement employment strategies, training and small and medium enterprise development policies and programmes. In Bahrain and in Yemen technical cooperation was carried out in order to enhance the knowledge and skills of the staff of ministries of labour in monitoring labour market developments. In Lebanon a strategy for employment promotion and sustainable economic growth was initiated in order to assist the National Employment Office in conducting the second manpower survey and revising the national strategy on employment and economic growth.⁽¹⁹⁾ Technical advisory services were carried out in order to establish a global and operational framework for labour market information systems covering the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.

The issue of women's employment remained a major challenge in the Arab States. Gender issues needed to be addressed through policy decision-making processes and social consultation mechanisms at the same time as through the traditional awareness-raising activities.

Advice was provided in Yemen in order to establish a directorate of working women in the Ministry of Labour and thus mainstream gender and women's employment issues within the Ministry. Workshops and training seminars, including advisory services, were also provided to workers' and employers' organizations in the region on practical measures to enhance women workers' access to labour markets.

In 1999 an ILO regional study ⁽²⁰⁾ was conducted which reviewed and appraised progress made in the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action in the region in the area of gender equality at work. The review concluded that the availability of gendersensitive data has greatly improved and that there was an increased awareness with regard to gender issues. However, there was not yet a clear indication of this in national priority policy programmes or statements. The study also pointed out the weak representation of women in employers' and workers' organizations in almost all countries in the region.

Promotion of women's employment in Yemen -- Strengthening institutional capacity

After the 1997 International Labour Conference, the Ministry of Labour of Yemen established the Directorate of Working Women. The basic challenge was to create a permanent structure as an integral part of the Ministry in charge of mainstreaming gender issues within the Ministry. In 1998 ILO technical assistance was requested in formulating the organizational structure of the Directorate. A draft of the general functions and organizational structure of the Directorate was jointly developed by the Ministry, a representative from the National Commission for Women and the ILO. A technical cooperation programme focusing on the capacity building of the Directorate was designed. Further follow-up advisory services are currently planned to enhance the coordination and effectiveness of women workers' programmes in Yemen through the Directorate.

Human resources development

One of the major obstacles to the effectiveness of employment promotion and poverty alleviation programmes in most countries of the region remains the lack of a sound human resource plan and the failure of skills training programmes to adjust to labour market trends. Policy advice and technical guidelines were provided to training institutions and ministries of labour in the region, as well as to employers' and workers' organizations. The increased involvement of employers', workers' and non-governmental organizations in the promotion of vocational training programmes, especially in the context of globalization, was one of the priority follow-up activities recommended at a regional seminar organized in Kuwait in October 1998. A number of training activities at the national level are envisaged to follow up this regional seminar.⁽²¹⁾

A national tripartite workshop conducted in Yemen addressed the issue of the employability of new graduates and the difficulties they face in the labour market, which is a serious concern among the constituents in the Arab States region. Policy-makers, employment planners and representatives from workers' and employers' organizations were provided with the necessary technical information and guidelines on different best practices and approaches to establish closer links between the skills profile of graduates and labour market requirements.

Palestinian employment programme: A medium-term strategy

This programme was designed to strengthen the integrated work of various services in the Labour Department related to employment, including employment services, employment policies and labour market information systems. The territories under the Palestinian Authority have been assisted in:

designing medium-term strategies for employment promotion;

elaborating a labour market information system; and

establishing a model for employment services.

The project trained 105 employment officials in the districts of Ramallah, Gaza, Nablus and Hebron and organized two workshops in cooperation with the Directorate of Employment of the Ministry of Labour in both the West Bank and Gaza. The training workshops focused on ways and means of strengthening employment services and labour market monitoring.

In addition, a guide for public employment services was prepared to familiarize officials with the organizational structure and work of employment offices and with labour forms, classification, placement and data-coding.

Employment promotion through small enterprise development

In most countries of the region SMEs account for nearly 90 per cent of industrial and trade enterprises. However, the quality of jobs and productivity are low, and there is a growing need to enhance management skills and create a more favourable environment for enterprise development. In response to the increasing interest in small enterprise development for employment generation, the ILO fielded several needs assessment missions and formulated project proposals for Jordan, Yemen and the West Bank and Gaza.

In Jordan a project to support business training for micro- and small enterprises was launched. The project is designed to develop the capacity of the private commercial and non-profit sectors to deliver practical business training and follow-up counselling to existing micro- and small enterprises. Training programmes will be developed for two main target groups:

micro-entrepreneurs wishing to improve their business performance; and
micro- and small enterprise owners, who intend to achieve their growth potential.

The project activities will contribute to securing better employment in the enterprises and increasing incomes.

Two further technical assistance projects for the promotion of small and medium enterprises were implemented in the West Bank and Gaza.

The training of small contractors project provided technical advisory services and training based on "Improve Your Construction Business" to small private contractors, with a view to enhancing their technical and managerial capacities.
A project on the creation of small enterprises development units (SEDUs) assisted four selected chambers of commerce on a pilot basis. Through training and advisory services, the ILO contributed to establishing SEDUs capable of providing a range of highly practical skills and needs-based services to artisans and small enterprises located in their respective areas, including:
- consultancy services aimed at helping small businesses overcome a range of common practical problems related to business planning, marketing, productivity and quality control;
- highly practical training programmes;
- facilitation of linkages between small businesses in the same subsector and overseas sectoral associations, and between local and overseas enterprises;
- referral services to help small businesses identify other support schemes;
- information services;
- facilitation of credit access.

Rehabilitation services for persons with disabilities

Technical cooperation projects were implemented in Iraq, the Syrian Arab Republic, the West Bank, Gaza and in the Gulf.

In the Syrian Arab Republic, the project promoted the community-based rehabilitation of disabled persons and made significant progress in achieving its objectives. One hundred and thirteen loans were provided to disabled persons to assist them in establishing income-generating activities. The repayment rate reached 98 per cent following the successful performance of these activities. The project also conducted five training courses for knowledge and skills enhancement for project staff and community workers. Training covered "Start Your Business", vocational rehabilitation and the promotion of handicrafts. Six vocational training units were established in three governorates with an annual training capacity for 400 people. The project, in cooperation with concerned NGOs and the Government, played a critical role in establishing a special fund for employment promotion for disabled persons. Furthermore, a directory, produced by the project, of all institutions related to disability in the Syrian Arab Republic was expected to contribute significantly to the assistance and support to be provided to disabled persons.

Labour administration

ILO efforts, in cooperation with the Regional Arab Programme for Labour Administration (RAPLA), were directed to better equipping labour administration systems in the region to respond to the need expressed by the social partners for increased social dialogue and improved application of labour legislation and workers' protection systems. Training activities carried out at the national level included:

Jordan -- promotion of collective bargaining;
Kuwait and Lebanon -- strengthening labour inspection;
Lebanon:
Saudi Arabia -- revision of labour legislation.

Promotion of international labour standards

ILO promotional work aimed at the wider ratification of relevant core Conventions was intensified in 1998-99 in the Arab States region. Advisory services and technical meetings at both the regional and the national level were organized to explain the relevance and importance of labour standards in the development process, and in particular the significance of ILO principles and values underpinning tripartism, human rights and democracy.

With respect to international labour standards and core Conventions, a regional seminar was organized in 1999 in the Syrian Arab Republic, in order to promote understanding of the procedures related to international labour standards and to the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.⁽²²⁾ Fellowships and study tours were organized by the Turin Centre and at ILO headquarters for government officials and employers' and workers' representatives.

Promoting labour standards in the Arab region

One of the more intensive areas of activity in 1998-99 was the promotion of the ratification of international labour standards, which culminated in the organization of a Tripartite Regional Seminar on Ratification and Application of Core International Labour Conventions (Damascus, May 1999). The seminar was designed to examine the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and its Follow-up and to consider efficient ways of applying fundamental rights and principles, in particular the fundamental Conventions. The seminar also provided the opportunity to exchange views on possible activities to enable member States to consolidate their efforts on this subject.

The seminar was successful in promoting understanding on the ILO Declaration and on international labour standards, including the core Conventions, and in identifying the ILO's role and action. The meeting concluded by agreeing on a series of concrete follow-up activities at the regional and national level particularly with respect to:

strengthening ILO technical cooperation programmes designed to enhance the constituents' capacity to ratify and apply international labour standards;

increasing the availability of ILO documents in Arabic concerning international labour standards;

organizing regional/subregional seminars or workshops on international labour standards, in particular on core Conventions; and

promoting dialogue and discussion between the ILO and constituents on the procedure for ratifying and applying international labour standards, as well as on specific cases.

Although relatively slow, progress in the ratification and application of ILO fundamental Conventions is being made steadily in the region. During the period under review Oman and Qatar ratified the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29), Bahrain ratified the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105), and Jordan, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates ratified the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138).

Ratification of the eight fundamental Conventions by Arab countries

During the biennium the following Arab member States registered their ratification of the ILO's fundamental Conventions:

Convention No. 29: Oman, Qatar;

Convention No. 87: none;

Convention No. 98: none;

Convention No. 100: none;

Convention No. 105: Bahrain;

Convention No. 111: none;

Convention No. 138: Jordan, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates;

Convention No. 182: none.

Child labour

Child labour is widespread in the Arab region, but relatively rarely in its worse forms. Special attention has been made in the region to sustain the momentum gained in national efforts for the elimination of child labour. A regional seminar was organized in Jordan in October 1999 to improve national strategies and review the situation on child labour. The seminar identified a set of measures and practical action to be taken against hazardous work, hidden child work situations (e.g. domestic service) and situations involving sexual exploitation. In its conclusions the seminar:

called on Arab countries to ratify rapidly the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138), and the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182), and to accommodate these standards in their national legislation;
advocated the establishment of a regional committee with a view to coordinating efforts and following up with Arab governments the ratification of Convention No. 182; it was suggested that the committee be composed of representatives of the ILO, UNICEF, UNESCO, ALO, League of Arab States and Arab Council for Childhood and Development;
called on Arab governments to develop a policy and establish a plan of action to define, identify and eliminate child labour, particularly in its worst forms;
encouraged the establishment of appropriate mechanisms and structures to monitor and to collect data and report on abuses;
called on the ILO to provide technical assistance to strengthen the capacity of the constituents and the concerned NGOs to participate constructively in the fight against child labour;
endorsed all support programmes that provide direct assistance to working children, including the provision of legal assistance, the opening of specialized centres for rehabilitation and education, the enhancing of labour inspection and other similar services; it was suggested that special consideration should be given to children, particularly girls, working as domestic servants;
called on ILO constituents, concerned NGOs and the media in the region to engage in campaigns to raise the awareness of their members and of the public at large.

In Yemen a project proposal endorsed by the tripartite partners in Yemen was formulated to upgrade skills and knowledge, establish proper structures and mechanisms, develop policies and strategies and assist in child labour awareness campaigns. Missions were also carried out to Lebanon and the Syrian Arab Republic to formulate project proposals to enhance the capacity of workers' organizations to contribute more effectively to national efforts to eliminate child labour.

Assistance to employers' organizations

The ILO continued its efforts to assist employers' organizations in strengthening their capacity for active participation in tripartite dialogue, and in enhancing the role of the private sector in economic and social development. ILO training material on management was disseminated through national seminars organized in Kuwait (How to Start a Private Business); Oman (Training in the Private Sector to Accelerate the Omanization Process); and Yemen (Quality Management). Technical advice was also provided to employers' organizations in Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen and the West Bank and Gaza to identify the needs for technical assistance and to provide advice for employers' organizations on specific issues. As a follow-up to needs assessment missions, two technical cooperation projects were developed for Yemen and the West Bank and Gaza. The proposal in Yemen is specifically designed to increase the capacity of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry to provide training services for small enterprises and to establish a database on market information at the Federation of Chambers. The project also aims to facilitate the flow of information between the federation and its member chambers by establishing a computer network. The proposed project in the West Bank and Gaza is aimed at rehabilitating and strengthening small chambers so as to enable them to provide appropriate services. It is envisaged to conduct studies/surveys on economic activities in the area covered by each chamber and to carry out training programmes covering such issues as operations and management of chambers, business planning, market analysis, information systems and credit and loan management. A number of seminars at the regional and national level were organized for training purposes or to consolidate the employers' position in selected areas. A subregional round table on the innovative role of employers' organizations in the coming era (Bahrain, 1998) addressed the impact of economic and social change and identified elements to be reflected in employers' strategies and policies.

Strengthening workers' organizations

In the field of trade union activities a project on workers' education was launched in 1999 to reinforce the technical capacity of the General Confederation of Lebanese Workers (CGTL) in engaging in social dialogue. Advisory services and training activities addressed a wide range of issues, including the basic principles of freedom of association, the right to organize and collective bargaining; promoting the ratification and application of basic human rights standards; globalization and the impact of privatization and enterprise restructuring on workers; and protection of women workers' rights, informal sector workers and vulnerable groups. In close cooperation with the International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions (ICATU) six regional seminars were organized covering the aforementioned subjects. Activities at the national level (Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Syrian Arab Republic, Yemen), were designed to strengthen the capacity of workers' organizations, particularly with respect to workers' education, collective bargaining and international labour standards.

Special programme in support of the territories under the
Palestinian Authority and employers' and workers' organizations

During the biennium, the ILO provided assistance and training to the West Bank and Gaza, in response to needs identified in the country objective review, in the fields of:

labour administration;

employment services;

labour legislation; occupational safety and health;

small enterprise development;

the rehabilitation and reintegration of disadvantaged groups:

establishment of a vocational rehabilitation centre and the training of its staff;

rehabilitation of ex-detainees and the disabled;

women workers.

A number of new and pipeline projects were also developed, including a project on employment generation through human resources development in the hotel, tourism and catering sector.

Social protection

Most countries in the region needed to enhance the capacity of governments as well as of employers' and workers' organizations to deal with pension reform schemes. Capacity-building assistance was needed, in particular, to develop appropriate social protection systems for a broader category of workers, including migrant workers, workers in agriculture, informal sector and domestic helpers.

An Interregional Tripartite Seminar on Social Protection Strategies for the Arab Countries was organized in Amman in February 1998 at which the countries of the region were assisted in developing a strategic approach to the design of national social protection systems. In response to one of the recommendations of the seminar, a draft project document for a regional project entitled "Development and Strengthening of Social Security and Social Insurance" was formulated. The proposed project is designed to enhance the managerial capacities of social security institutions. In addition, technical advice was provided to Lebanon and specific recommendations and proposals for the development of computerization systems were submitted to the authorities concerned. Technical advice was provided to Kuwait on an actuarial study.

Promotion of occupational safety and health

Two national seminars were organized in Lebanon during the period under review, on occupational medicine and on training trainers in occupational safety and health. Their objectives were to create national awareness of the gravity of work-related accidents, injuries and diseases and to underscore the importance of basic protection for all workers in conformity with international labour standards. Information and technical reference documents were disseminated to the constituents in the region in order to enhance the institutional capacity of member States to design and implement effective preventive and protective policies and programmes.

Syrian Arab Republic -- Occupational safety and health

A project was implemented in the Syrian Arab Republic which aimed at protecting the lives of 25,000 workers and their families from the hazards associated with agriculture, namely: exposure to pesticides and other chemicals; accidents and injuries; biological hazards; and exposure to noise and heat. The project also addresses issues relating to the protection of the environment from chemical pollution. At the end of the project in January 2000 a manual on occupational safety and health in agriculture, which covers the prevention and control of environmental hazards as well as health surveillance, was developed in Arabic. In addition, a number of government officials were qualified as trainee trainers in occupational safety and health and in the detection and control of agriculture hazards. Locally adapted audiovisual training material will also be produced.

Cooperation with regional and subregional organizations

The eighth ILO/ALO Joint Committee Meeting was held in July 1999 to strengthen the programme of joint activities with the Arab Labour Organization. With due consideration of the ILO's strategic objectives, the meeting agreed on a number of joint activities, including seminars and studies on freedom of association, the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, social dialogue, gender issues, the alleviation of child labour, employment promotion, small enterprise development, occupational safety and health, and social security. It was also agreed to enhance the joint media campaign for the elimination of child labour.

During the period under review the two organizations held a regional seminar on "Employment and Emerging Changes in the Arab Region" (February 1998) and a national seminar in Lebanon on "Statistics of Work Accidents and Occupational Diseases" (September 1999). Furthermore, the ILO and the ALO Institute for Occupational Health and Safety signed an agreement for the translation of the ILO publication Ergonomic checkpoints: Practical and easy-to-implement solutions for improving safety, health and working conditions. The institute initiated the necessary work in this respect and the Arabic version of the document is scheduled to be published early in 2000.

The ILO maintained close relations with other regional and subregional organizations, including the International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions, the General Union of the Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture of Arab Countries, the Executive Bureau of the Council of Ministers of Labour and Social Affairs in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) States and the Arab Gulf Programme for United Nations Development Organizations (AGFUND).

Asia and the Pacific

First and foremost, substantial changes have taken place in the region during this biennium as a result of the financial crisis in East and South-East Asia. Globalization had advanced most in crisis-affected countries, and this has caused considerable social pain. This major programme has therefore redirected its programme of work substantially, focusing on effective responses to newly emerging needs.

The Twelfth Asian Regional Meeting, held in December 1997, was the guiding factor in shaping ILO's response to the crisis. This was followed by a series of regional meetings on the main social and labour aspects of the crisis, held throughout 1998-99, which have been a major source of analysis and direction to the ILO. The first of these was the High-Level Tripartite Meeting on Social Responses to the Financial Crisis in East and South-East Asian Countries, held in Bangkok in April 1998, with the participation of the IMF, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. At this meeting four priorities for ILO action were reaffirmed:

social protection;
employment, enterprise development and labour market policies;
promotion of social dialogue;
promotion of ILO Conventions.

More emphasis than ever before has been given to democratic institution building, and social dialogue has emerged as one of the four pillars of ILO activities. The ratification of seven fundamental Conventions by Indonesia, the first country in the region to do so, has launched a new era in the field of human rights at work in Asia and the Pacific and has helped to expand the ILO's scope of work. Significant support, including technical cooperation, technical advisory services and assistance in the drafting of relevant national laws, has also been provided in the implementation of ILO Conventions.

Fundamental ILO Conventions ratified in 1998-99
by countries in Asia and the Pacific

During the biennium the following Asia and Pacific member States registered their ratification of the ILO's fundamental Conventions:

Convention No. 29: none;

Convention No. 87: Cambodia, Indonesia;

Convention No. 98: Cambodia;

Convention No. 100: Bangladesh, Cambodia, Thailand;

Convention No. 105: Cambodia, Indonesia;

Convention No. 111: Cambodia, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka;

Convention No. 138: Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Philippines;

Convention No. 182: none.

Both Indonesia and Cambodia have now ratified seven of the fundamental Conventions.

As indicated above, the Asia and Pacific region has attained considerable flexibility in meeting emerging needs. The lessons learned from the financial crisis have helped to provide a prompt response to pressing needs arising in Cambodia and in East Timor.

Cambodia achieved political reconciliation in early 1999, and the new administration has made some progress in the area of workers' rights. In order to provide appropriate ILO services and to maintain close relations, an ILO representative was assigned to Cambodia for four months. This initiative certainly increased interaction between the Office and the tripartite constituents, in particular the Government.

For East Timor, initial action taken after the country gained independence from Indonesia included fielding missions to identify ILO humanitarian aid and development needs, to set up a regional task force, and to post an ILO representative in East Timor. The ILO's focus has gradually shifted towards assistance in the process of reconstruction of the country.

Crisis response in East Timor

Towards the end of 1999, the Regional Office took the lead role in launching a set of activities aimed at providing assistance to East Timor. Following a rapid appraisal mission to East Timor at the invitation of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the UNDP, a task force was set up at the regional level with the aim of providing support to the proposed ILO programme for East Timor, which comprised several project proposals in the field of employment. As the initial mission had identified the need for an ILO presence in East Timor, an ILO representative was temporarily assigned to Darwin as the ILO contact person for the United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNAMET), other United Nations agencies, donors, and other institutions. This initiative is directly linked with the InFocus Programme on Crisis Response and Reconstruction, which will become fully operational in the biennium 2000-01. It is expected that this regional initiative will lead to a comprehensive programme of support in the areas of employment services, skills training, small enterprise development, and labour-based infrastructure development.

A further important element of the work of the ILO in the region was regional meetings. These were organized with the aim of providing a regional input to global agendas and to support country activities in priority areas. There was important interaction between the series of regional tripartite meetings organized by the Regional Office with the cooperation of the Employers' and Workers' Activities Bureaux and technical departments at headquarters, and the ILO operational projects and technical advisory services provided to the crisis-affected countries. The regional tripartite meetings set up a dynamic of debate and consensus on ways forward for ministries of labour and employers' and workers' organizations in the crisisaffected countries, identified any regional dimensions where action would help, and shaped the overall ILO programme of work. The active participation in these meetings of representatives of the IMF, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) was an important ingredient in their outcome. The topics covered were:

social protection in economies in transition (Phuket, Thailand, May 1998);
combating trafficking in children for labour exploitation (Kathmandu, October 1998);
termination of employment (Seoul, November 1998);
human resource development and training (Singapore, June-July 1999);
industrial relations and globalization (Bangkok, August-September 1999);
worst forms of child labour (Phuket, Thailand, September 1999); and
economic crisis, employment and labour markets in East and South-East Asia (tripartite seminar organized jointly with the Government of Japan and the World Bank, Tokyo, October 1999).

A further source of interaction between the ILO's membership in the region and its programme of work in each country has been the regional tripartite meetings that were held to follow up global conferences. While taking up issues relevant to all ILO member States in Asia and the Pacific, they have also inevitably been influenced by the debate opened by the Asian financial crisis. The Asian Regional Consultation on Follow-up to the World Summit for Social Development took place with the participation of employment planners as well as ILO constituents.⁽²³⁾ This was followed by a Tripartite Round Table Meeting on Enterprise and Society Partnership and the Asian Regional Consultation on Follow-up to the Beijing Platform for Action. Specific regional meetings followed up on major development in the ILO, such as the two regional symposia held in 1998 and 1999 on the worst forms of child labour. Employers' and workers' organizations were called to a series of meetings and workshops for their specific issues, usually organized subregionally.

While the series of regional tripartite meetings held throughout the biennium guided and shaped the ILO response to the Asian financial crisis, the country-level programmes that the ILO carried out were also subjected to continuous verification. The ILO's role in helping its membership to lay the foundations for equitable and sustainable development and social policies following the Asian financial crisis was reviewed at two Governing Body sessions in November 1998 and March 1999.

A notable development in the region is the increased interaction with the Bretton Woods institutions and the Asian Development Bank, which are systematically invited to major meetings, leading to improved dialogue with ILO constituents. Progress in the relationship between the ILO's role and work to that of the World Bank, the IMF and the Asian Development Bank was also reviewed, as were the ways the ILO can help its social partners and the ministries of labour play a more influential role in rethinking the social dimension of economic development.

Workers' protection

Social security

The abrupt descent from economic growth to increasing unemployment and poverty deeply affected the social and political institutions in East and South-East Asia. The task of bringing about economic recovery and repairing the social damage has been enormous and the negative social impact on the labour force and vulnerable sectors of society will endure for some time.

The scale of assistance to rebuild social and economic institutions required a broad range of assistance and alliances, and only some of the issues and problems which made the workforce so vulnerable during the crisis have been addressed by the governments of the affected countries. The crisis focused attention on the quality of governance and the importance of democratic institutions as a safeguard of human rights. Greater political openness and the expansion of trade union freedoms in the Republic of Korea actually grew from the economic crisis. A window of democratic opportunity was opened. The ILO assisted the Federation of Korean Trade Unions in its analysis of the impact of the financial crisis on Korean workers and its preparation of a trade union policy response, and strategic directions. The ILO organized a seminar with the Korea labour federations, the FKTU and the KCTU, on international labour standards and labour legislation relating to women workers, designed to increase awareness among senior women trade union leaders of strategies to combat discrimination and to promote trade union rights in the context of the crisis.

Strengthening the Ministry of Labour in the Republic of Korea

In seeking to provide assistance to the Republic of Korea's Ministry of Labour, the ILO concentrated on the design of systems that would provide benefits to as large a percentage of the labour force as possible and which would take into account national circumstances regarding employment centres and the importance of dual employment. In mid-1998 the ILO conducted a high-level technical assistance mission to the Republic of Korea at the invitation of the Ministry of Labour, to review the labour market and the various policy and programme responses the Government had instigated in unemployment insurance, vocational training, and employment services. International study tours, research internships and technical workshops are being provided to Ministry of Labour officials, for example to observe model employment services in other countries. On the issue of making the Republic of Korea's retraining programmes more effective, specific policy advice has been provided on the methodology for evaluating retraining and developing a new evaluation model, along with opportunities for exposing officials to best practices in other countries.

In countries like Thailand, the need for an institutional mechanism to coordinate social policy formulation, notably in relation to social insurance and social assistance policies, is ever more present. Following the ILO's recommendations, the Thai system of social protection is being expanded to cover retirees and informal sector workers. The civil service protection scheme is being revised to encourage mobility from the public to the private sector in the context of Thailand's reform of the civil service. Thailand is considering implementing unemployment insurance, recognizing that this is a priority, in combination with effective employment services for job placements. The feasibility study conducted in Thailand in mid-1998 showed that the cost of such schemes can be kept modest. Social protection is also a key function of minimum wages. As part of the Asian Development Bank's assistance to Thailand, a social sector loan was provided, with disbursement conditional on a government review of wage policy. The ILO's advice was requested and 14 policy recommendations were produced, most of which were subsequently endorsed by the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare after review by various committees and a tripartite seminar. A comprehensive assessment of child labour following the impact of the financial crisis was also undertaken and the report was published in 1999.

In the Lao People's Democratic Republic support was given to the Government in its efforts to establish, with active involvement of the social partners, a modern social security system providing effective protection to workers in both the public and the private sectors. Significant progress was achieved, notably in the completion of a draft decree on social security for private sector employees.

Child labour

In countries such as Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand, child labour had seemed to be on the decline, as per capita income rose, family size reduced and education became more widely available. The financial crisis and economic downturn brought in its wake a significant increase in poverty as unemployment increased. Cuts in social programmes were introduced with structural adjustment programmes. Formal sector businesses were sometimes replaced with informal sector enterprises, where child labour might be employed. The ILO conducted research into the crisis-affected countries. While macroeconomic indicators show that recovery is taking place, the social impact of the economic downturn persists. Children who already worked before the crisis face deteriorating conditions and more exploitation, especially trafficked children. There are indications that some of the worst forms of child labour such as children involved in the trafficking of drugs or in pornography and other illicit activities are on the rise.

Despite these drawbacks, there have been positive developments. The countries which are moving from a centrally planned to a market economy have openly recognized the need to address the increased vulnerability of children during the transition of their economies. The growing number of Memoranda of Understanding (Lao People's Democratic Republic and Mongolia) and national plans of action (Viet Nam) with the ILO's International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) testify to this.

Cambodia, China, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea and the Philippines ratified the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) during the biennium, and Mongolia and Thailand are expected to do so soon. Indonesia and the Philippines have expressed their intention to ratify the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182), soon. Cambodia has developed a five-year plan against the sexual exploitation of children, and Thailand has set up a task force against trafficking in children. There is a broad and effective public opinion against child labour in South-East Asia, despite the economic downturn, and the ILO has found that there is increased donor interest in the trafficking in children, child prostitution and pornography, illegal migration and child labour in tourism and in export-oriented manufacturing industries, especially where a transnational (subregional) dimension exists. It is possible to take vigorous subregional action to eliminate the worst forms of child labour, and coordination and networking with other international agencies has become increasingly more important. IPEC, UNICEF and several international NGOs have formed a regional working group on child labour which is producing excellent results in developing information strategies and research methodologies. Networking and partnerships are essential and, given the magnitude of the child labour problem, so too is a broad alliance of partners. IPEC is part of a United Nations inter-agency initiative against trafficking in children and women in the Mekong subregion and coordinates the activities in Thailand.⁽²⁴⁾

The involvement of the ILO's tripartite partners in the alliance against child labour made some progress but needs to be further strengthened. A regional tripartite meeting on the worst forms of child labour was held in Thailand in September 1999, sponsored by Japan. It marked the launch of the ILO's campaign for the ratification of the new Convention No. 182. The tripartite meeting identified a number of areas of crucial importance for developing a programme of action in each country to accompany ratification of the Convention.

Asian Regional Meeting on the Worst Forms of Child Labour (Phuket, 8-10 September 1999)

Changing national legislation, income-generating schemes and declaring particular areas "child-labour-free" were among the measures proposed in a set of statements of common understanding agreed upon at this meeting, which will guide future ILO action in the region. The statements cover four areas:

situation analysis and monitoring;

legislation and enforcement;

action programmes for prevention, withdrawal and rehabilitation; and

international cooperation.

The common understanding also calls for measures to strengthen education and encourage parents to send children to school; vocational training and income-generation schemes for parents; an awareness-raising campaign; reporting centres; sharing experience and best practice; and efforts to solve debt problems in cases of debt-bonded child labour.

Occupational safety and health

The significant economic changes resulting from globalization and technological development in the Asia and Pacific region have had a direct impact on working conditions and safety and health of people at work. There are new hazards and increased risks of accidents and diseases, rendered more acute by the effects of the financial crisis. The ILO's role is to promote national capacity to achieve better occupational safety and health services, better national mechanisms for identifying occupational diseases, and better policies and practices to reduce the number of occupational accidents.

Strengthening occupational safety and health structures

ILO assistance through the Global Programme on Occupational Safety, Health and Environment contributed to the strengthening of occupational safety and health structures in a number of countries during the biennium, including:

China, where a national chemical register was established, officials and employers' and workers' representatives were trained in chemical safety, a nationwide competition was organized on chemical safety with some 600,000 participants, and a pneumoconiosis prevention campaign was launched, based on the development of guidelines, training materials and the training of 100 technicians from state-owned coal mines;

Nepal, where a national occupational safety and health centre was established and equipped, extensive training was provided for local specialists and representatives of employers' and workers' organizations, and training materials were produced in the local language;

Pakistan, where the Lahore occupational safety and health centre was strengthened through the purchase of a mobile training unit, which delivered a large number of field training courses and workshops, and training manuals and safety information were produced in Urdu;

Viet Nam, where national occupational safety and health programmes were developed, occupational safety and health structures were established in the fishing and construction industries, training was provided, and training and information materials were produced in Vietnamese.

A major achievement of the ILO's programme in China has been the positive role played in promoting occupational safety and health. The focus was on chemical safety, prevention of major industrial hazards/prevention of pneumoconiosis and occupational safety and health in small coal mines run by townships and villages. To set up a national system for chemical safety, a regulation on safety in the use of chemicals at work was formulated and issued; three national standards on chemical safety were revised and a trainers' manual on chemical safety was published. The purpose was to assist China in its implementation of the Chemicals Convention, 1990 (No. 170). A large-scale competition on chemical safety knowledge was launched. Tripartite cooperation has been an important aspect, with the ACFTU and CEDA co-sponsoring workshops on chemical safety with China's State Economic and Trade Commission. A national chemicals registration centre has been established and China is actively participating in international cooperation on the Globally Harmonized System for the Classification and Labelling of Chemicals. An International Conference on Chemical Safety was held in Shanghai in November 1999, with the ILO as one of the sponsors. The Bureau of Work Safety of the State Economic and Trade Commission expressed its appreciation of the support given to the Government's agenda on safety work and asked the ILO to carry out an evaluation of the programme so far, and to provide further assistance to improve the application of the Chemicals Convention and the training of state safety inspectors.

New materials measuring the specific impact of improvements in working conditions on workers' health were developed in the Philippines with ILO technical assistance. This was part of a sustained advocacy effort aimed at convincing small-scale entrepreneurs of the benefits of voluntary improvements in working conditions and promoting the ILO's Work Improvement in Small Enterprises (WISE) methodology. This new work was undertaken in the framework of a continuing national commitment to implement WISE and to orient the labour inspectorate accordingly. In the same country a simple and practical approach for promoting improvements in working and living conditions for small-scale agricultural workers was introduced. The methodology has resulted in improvements being made by participating farmer households. This approach has been strongly supported by the Government, in line with its focus on improving the lives of the rural poor.⁽²⁵⁾

Employment and reduction of poverty

The ILO's work in this area was mainly guided by four factors:

challenges posed by the Asian economic crisis;
employment and labour market problems faced by transitional economies;
poverty reduction in South Asia;
specific needs of constituents at the country level.

A major tripartite regional meeting was convened to discuss the social impact of the crisis, following which a number of initiatives were taken to assist affected countries in areas such as design of active labour market policies, the strengthening of employment services, advice on wage policies and competitiveness, small enterprise development and job creation using labour-based approaches. The Governing Body was briefed on ILO action taken at its March 1999 meeting. Considerable support was provided to countries in the region in formulating and evaluating employment policies through a regional consultation on follow-up to the World Summit for Social Development and country employment policy reviews for Pakistan and Thailand.

A special study was carried out on the employment effects of the Indonesian economic crisis, followed by a multisectoral employment strategy mission which prepared a comprehensive report and programme of action. Under the title "Transition from crisis to reconstruction", a portfolio of policy guidelines and action programmes for job creation and unemployment alleviation was put together to assist the country to lay the foundations for sustainable and equitable economic growth. The policy guidelines took into account the requirements of the IMF-prescribed reform package and the most impelling needs for a social safety net comprising food security, environmental protection and a social relief fund. Part of the output of the ILO's work took the form of a published report funded by the UNDP entitled Employment challenges of the Indonesian economic crisis, which generated considerable debate with the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. The impact of this report on national policy and programmes was widely noted. It also laid the foundation for mobilizing additional resources for employment and poverty reduction projects, and for reorienting other ongoing technical cooperation projects such as the ILO/Japan multi-bilateral programme on expansion of employment opportunities for women in Indonesia. The ILO/Japan programme contributes to improving the overall socio-economic position of women workers through action programmes at the grass-roots level for women's empowerment; it also seeks to build up national capacity through a steering committee on the issue of expanding employment opportunities for unemployed and underemployed women in urban and rural areas. Finally, in mid-1999 the ILO fielded a comprehensive employment strategy mission to support an employment-friendly economic recovery in Indonesia. The preliminary recommendations of this mission have been accepted in principle by the Government.

In Pakistan the ILO contributed significantly to the ninth plan by assisting in the preparation of the chapter on employment and human resource development.

The ASIST-Asia Pacific (ASIST-AP) programme that was launched in the region in May 1998 has given the ILO a unique opportunity to promote employment-intensive programmes as powerful instruments for employment generation through the use of labour-based investment policies and practices for infrastructure planning, development and maintenance. The programme has initiated new short-term and long-term employment creation support programmes in Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand, and provided technical support to existing labour-based technology projects in Cambodia and Nepal. In Indonesia, the Lao People's Democratic Republic and the Philippines, ASIST-AP supports local-level development planning projects. The ILO's work on policy guidelines and action programmes for job creation also attracted resources from AusAID for ILO advisory services in effective management to be provided to the labour-based schemes funded under the World Bank social safety net adjustment plan for Indonesia, backstopped by ASIST-AP.

ASIST-AP

Following a national tripartite workshop in the Philippines initiated by ASIST-Asia Pacific to debate the wider and improved use of labour-based technology in the construction and infrastructure sector, an Executive Order was approved by President Estrada to make labour-based, equipment-supported technology the country's technology of first choice. A special ministerial oversight committee was established to realize the new employment creation goals, whereby up to 200,000 full-time equivalent jobs could be created in three government departments.

Advisory services were provided to China on active labour market policies for the re-employment of laid-off workers. With regard to migrant workers, the focus of activities was on advisory services and advocacy for the protection of both regular and irregular migrant workers, especially from the adverse impact of the economic crisis, and the promotion of ILO Conventions.⁽²⁶⁾ In Indonesia the Ministry of Manpower drafted a bill on migrant workers, on which the ILO commented at various stages. Its submission to Parliament is foreseen for the first half of 2000.

The ILO also provided concrete support to a number of countries in improving labour statistics and labour market information. The emphasis was on improving the capacity of the social partners to monitor, analyse and formulate employment and labour market policies and programmes for the unemployed and for vulnerable groups. The system of labour statistics in Cambodia, China, Mongolia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet Nam were improved through technical advisory services and training courses. The improved statistics will facilitate the development and monitoring of policies and strategies for employment and human resources development. The statistics produced by employers' groups in Malaysia and by workers' groups in China were strengthened. A major activity was the implementation of Nepal's first labour force survey, which is expected to provide essential and long-needed data on employment (including employment in the informal sector and employment of women and children), underemployment and unemployment.

Human resource development

The financial and economic crisis and its effect on the labour market underscored the importance of an effective national training system to enhance the employment opportunities of jobseekers. A regional meeting on human resource development held in mid-1999 provided an opportunity to review the situation and policy directions.⁽²⁷⁾ In Indonesia, the ILO provided assistance in developing a strategy for the more efficient functioning of the National Training Council and in improving the effectiveness of the skills testing and certification system. The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority of the Philippines was assisted in reviewing its framework for policy planning and programme implementation. This process resulted in the identification of two priority concerns for future cooperation: developing strategies for financing the training system in the long term, and enhancing the effectiveness of the skills standard and certification procedures. In Thailand the ILO contributed, together with the World Bank, to preparatory work for the proposed Vocational Education and Training Act.

In Pakistan the ILO provided assistance in the form of workshops and advisory services, e.g. on the role of skill development councils in training and employment promotion. Specific advice was provided in the area of financing of training and the role of the tripartite partners in employment generation through skill development. The ILO's suggestions have been adopted as guidelines for financing and developing partnerships between the Government and enterprises for the successful implementation of training programmes. In Sri Lanka support given by the ILO in the framework of a vocational training and testing project strengthened the technical capacity of several national training bodies, including government institutions.

A technical advisory report on HRD policies and programmes will provide the basis for the Government of Mongolia to decide on its future direction and investment in the field of HRD and training. In China the outcome of a seminar on the labour preparation system, which included ILO inputs on youth employment and training schemes in market economies and HRD/training trends in market economies, contributed to the modification of existing pilot schemes for young people.

At the regional level a new model for skills standards was developed under the Asia and Pacific skills development project. This work is expected to have a significant impact on national approaches to the recognition, testing and certification of skills.

Women workers

A major drawback in mainstreaming gender concerns into the ILO's initiatives in the region was the absence of gender specialists since early 1997. By the end of the biennium, however, the post in the MDT in Bangkok had been filled along with two new posts in the MDTs for South Asia and South-East Asia. Important work was done through a number of regional technical cooperation programmes, and through the organization of studies and technical meetings.⁽²⁸⁾ An ILO regional programme on the expansion of employment opportunities for women, designed as a follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women, has been operational in Indonesia and Nepal with the aim of strengthening national efforts towards poverty reduction by enhancing the socio-economic status of women and promoting gender equality. The programme has a three-pronged approach combining community-level action for the social and economic empowerment of women in rural areas and in the informal sector with capacity building of governmental and non-governmental organizations and with policy reform. An interregional project on training and information dissemination on women workers' rights focused on increasing the capacity of ILO constituents to advance the position of women workers in Viet Nam, while a regional project raised awareness among trade unions regarding the promotion of gender equality and the elimination of child labour in Indonesia, Thailand and Viet Nam. As the effects of the Asian crisis started to unfold in the region, the ILO supported a regional research institute and national universities in carrying out a study on the impact of the crisis on gender relations and women workers in the five most affected countries. Other initiatives included technical assistance to various countries in promoting the application of the Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100), and capacity building on mainstreaming gender concerns into the policies and programmes of ILO constituents. An Asian Regional Consultation on the Follow-up to the Beijing Platform for Action: Gender and Women's Issues in the World of Work was held in the latter half of 1999 to raise the awareness of ILO constituents of the need to promote gender equality at work.

ILO Asian Regional Consultation on Follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women
(Manila, 6-8 October 1999)

The meeting reached agreement on a number of issues relating to the promotion of equal employment opportunities for women and to women's rights in the world of work. In a Statement of Common Understanding, it called on the ILO to:

undertake gender sensitization training for its own staff and constituents;

involve more women in the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation stages of technical cooperation projects;

increase women's participation in its activities and improve the gender balance of its staff, and seek to persuade constituents that women should constitute a greater proportion of ILO delegates;

establish a gender-disaggregated data bank, and distribute gender-relevant information;

assist countries in carrying out gender-based analyses and develop gender-sensitive training programmes in various sectors of the economy, including in non-traditional forms of employment;

help develop a system for monetary evaluation of unpaid work such as household duties;

carry out analyses of the economic implications of international standards relevant to women workers, such as maternity benefits;

share and widely distribute information on best practices for achieving gender equality at work.

Small enterprise development

Given the increasing importance of small and micro-enterprises and self-employment in job creation, the ILO carried out several activities: training of government officials in managing support schemes for small business; promoting the use of Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB) material in China, Thailand and Viet Nam; and advisory services on the creation of an enabling policy environment. In Thailand officials from the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare were trained in managing micro- and small enterprise support schemes. In Cambodia the ILO is completing a project on micro- and small enterprise (MSE) development and poverty reduction, which will provide the Government and other key actors with policy recommendations to improve the employmentgeneration potential of the MSE sector. The popularity and success of the SIYB programme is reflected in continued demand from constituents for the adaptation and translation of materials (Thailand) and their use in training courses (China) and projects (Viet Nam). Women entrepreneurship development was the focus of support given to the social partners in the Lao People's Democratic Republic and Viet Nam. The outcome of the recent ILO Asian and Pacific Regional Round Table on Roles of Enterprises and Society Partnerships has once again underlined constituents' interest in the creation of an appropriate policy environment for tapping the employment potential of small businesses.

Disability issues

Employment promotion for disabled jobseekers is a central concern of countries of the Asian and Pacific region, as is clear from the targets for action of the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons, 1993-2002. The ILO has contributed to this objective through a regional programme to promote employment services for disabled people. Building on a pilot project carried out in the 1996-97 biennium in which placement guidelines were developed and tested in four countries -- China, Malaysia, Thailand and Viet Nam -- the programme involved a series of trainer training workshops to develop the capacity of these countries to train job placement officers in helping disabled persons find employment. In addition, a technical consultation, "Developing an effective placement service for people with disabilities", was held in Singapore for representatives of employment services and relevant NGOs from eight countries of the region. This technical consultation has led to several practical initiatives in the participating countries, including an ILO-supported employer colloquium in Indonesia, where the Ministry of Manpower, in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Affairs, sought employer cooperation in the implementation of the Government's employment promotion policy for disabled persons. The ILO has given further technical support to the strengthening of the employment services for disabled persons in Cambodia, Indonesia and Thailand and to the development of a strategic action plan for the further development of the employment service of this target group.

An innovative approach to promoting the access of disabled people to mainstream vocational training has been tested in Cambodia, under the ILO/Japan project "Strengthening labour administration for employment promotion and human resources development in Indochina". A disability resource team has been established to facilitate the attendance of disabled people from rural and urban areas in three provinces at training courses in the provincial training centres and at courses conducted by NGOs, providing necessary support, arranging adaptations to the training centre buildings, and assisting the disabled graduates in finding a job or starting a small business on completion of training. A seminar was organized under the project to promote a concerted effort by different government ministries to consider the requirements of disabled people in their policies, programmes and services, and to ensure that the obstacles that prevent them from generating an income are removed. As a result, a tripartite steering group, including representatives from different ministries, was established to oversee the development and implementation of an action plan, which would incorporate practical suggestions from the seminar.

The promotion of social dialogue and tripartism

Throughout the biennium the regional department has provided opportunities for the tripartite constituents to meet and discuss their roles in relation to the priority problems in Asia and the Pacific. The High-Level Tripartite Meeting on the Social Responses to the Asian Financial Crisis held in April 1998, and the follow-up to the Social Summit held in 1999, brought the government planning agencies into the debate with the ministries of labour and the employers' and workers' representatives. The round table on the emerging role of the enterprise included ministries in charge of enterprise promotion. These meetings revealed a number of common issues more or less present throughout the region. There is a need to change the role of labour ministries from a regulatory to a development role. The promotion of social dialogue appears to be the key to helping labour ministries be more involved in policy- and decision-making on socio-economic issues, by showing up the links between social factors and economic growth. The priority problem is unemployment, and the developmental role that ministries of labour should play needs to address employment and productivity not only in the formal sector but also in the rural and informal sector.

The crisis has focused attention on the quality of governance and the importance of democratic mechanisms as a fundamental human right. The Republic of Korea, Indonesia and Thailand have expanded their democratic openness, which has resulted in the promotion of social dialogue in established forums. The ILO's work has focused on improving institutional capacity and in sharpening the content of dialogue. Several workshops and seminars were organized to help strengthen the capacity of the tripartite constituents to handle the impact on the social fabric of increasingly interdependent economies. The ILO/Japan project on industrial relations and globalization has provided a forum for improved understanding of the effects of globalization in the context of social dialogue.

Strengthening social dialogue in response to the financial crisis

The ILO organized a workshop jointly with the Employers' Confederation of Thailand in July 1998 on human resource development strategies which help reposition enterprises affected by the financial crisis. It helped to fund meetings of the Employers' Confederation of the Philippines on strategies for enterprise survival and on job preservation and job creation. ILO specialists also provided employers' and workers' organizations with training in techniques of workplace cooperation and negotiating skills for collective bargaining and the practice of tripartism in both China and Viet Nam. The ILO provided substantial support in the process of labour law reform and the development of dispute prevention and resolution mechanisms in Indonesia (see Chapter 1).

Support was provided to the Federation of Korean Trade Unions to help it analyse the impact of the financial and economic crisis and develop a trade union policy response. The ILO also organized three joint meetings of Thailand's eight major trade union centres to analyse the effects of the crisis and forge a common strategy, as a basis for playing a more effective role in tripartite dialogue at the national level and with the international and regional financial institutions.

At the same time, assistance in the region was designed to develop mechanisms for social dialogue and to extend them to such areas as dispute settlement and wage determination. The ILO provided training in conciliation and mediation techniques to industrial relations officers in Malaysia and in Hong Kong, China. It also trained arbitrators in Viet Nam's newly formed provincial arbitration committees and provided training courses for the newly formed tripartite provincial wage committees in Thailand.

As a result of ongoing advisory services to Cambodia in the field of industrial relations and tripartism, a tripartite Labour Advisory Committee was established towards the end of 1999. The number of workers' and employers' organizations in that country increased significantly during the biennium, and they are all represented on this Committee. Training and advisory services on industrial relations issues were also provided to government officials dealing with special economic zones in China, in support of national efforts to facilitate the restructuring of the economic system.

A major achievement in the five countries of South Asia (Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) has been to produce an articulated, consistent programme at the national and subregional level on the prevention and settlement of labour disputes. Industrial relations have worsened under the impact of privatization, industry restructuring, productivity requirements, technological changes, redeployment and retrenchments. Poorly functioning and cumbersome dispute settlement and conciliation mechanisms have led to excessive delays and unnecessarily legalistic procedures. Particular problems have been noted in the context of labour court administration and practices.

National tripartite seminars and subregional workshops on dispute settlement, labour tribunals and industrial courts have formed part of the ILO's commitment in South Asia to support national efforts to identify and overcome difficulties in the prevention and settlement of labour disputes, which is crucial to the health of the national economy.⁽²⁹⁾ The approach used has been to interlink issues covered by different departments and ministries and to seek a strong involvement of the social partners in discussions and plans of action. Subregional technical meetings on labour court administration have been held in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. An important aspect of the programme in South Asia has been the sharing of knowledge and experience among the participating countries, and the quality of the technical papers prepared by the ILO as a basis for the various workshops and seminars. The ILO's programme of work in this field has seen close cooperation among the senior specialists in the MDTs, the technical departments and branches, the area offices and a number of multi-bilateral technical cooperation programmes. The technical cooperation projects involved are the ILO/Japan industrial relations programme, the ILO/Norway programme on promoting tripartism and sound industrial relations, and the ILO/DANIDA project on workers' education assistance in management training for trade unions. The work has received considerable publicity at country level.

ILO/Japan Asian Regional Tripartite Seminar on Industrial Relations and Globalization
(Bangkok, 31 August-2 September 1999)

This seminar was the concluding event of a three-year programme of work on industrial relations and globalization undertaken by the ILO with funding from the Government of Japan. During this time, a number of national seminars were held, exploring the effects of the opening up of markets on domestic industrial relations institutions, the behaviour of the State and workers' and employers' organizations, and the structure and content of their relations. The programme aimed at assisting the ILO's tripartite constituents in addressing the problem of how to develop effective workplace relations and an industrial relations environment which is supportive of the increasing integration of national economies in regional and world markets while maintaining the objective of social protection. The programme contained a research component including national monographs on China, India, Malaysia and the Philippines, and work on cross-border organization of industry.

The seminar had several objectives:

to bring together ILO constituents in the Asian region for a comparative exchange of views on the implications of globalization for industrial relations;

to identify generally and at the subregional level unresolved problems posed by globalization for the actors, structures, processes, and outcomes of industrial relations;

to propose measures for the reform of policies and practices from the perspective of each of the tripartite constituents.

The ILO's programme in Sri Lanka made particular headway and has led to a decrease in the number of cases unresolved and pending in the labour courts (from 15,000 to 10,000 at time of writing). Following a seminar which examined the underlying causes affecting the functioning of the labour courts and having clarified the role of constituents and labour court judges, a plan of action was developed. A working party was formed to give effect to the plan.

The promotion of ILO standards and labour legislation

Advisory services were provided on an ongoing basis to China, Fiji, India, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, the Lao People's Democratic Republic and Thailand on the relevance and importance of human rights standards and on the reporting requirements for ratified and unratified Conventions. This supplements other promotional efforts and has facilitated the submission of reports. In the Philippines the ILO has provided assistance in the revision of the Labour Code. In Nepal, the ILO's assistance has contributed to the improvement of legal provisions in the labour sector. The Trade Union Act was amended, introducing freedom of association in the agricultural and non-formal sectors, and the Collective Bargaining Act was awaiting endorsement from Parliament at the time of writing. ILO/IPEC and the Asian Development Bank have drawn up a research project on the economics of child labour, which will also develop guidelines on the inclusion of child labour issues in planning. In addition, work will be carried out on the economic relevance of selected international labour standards -- on gender, child labour, and occupational safety and health -- in sustainable development; this also was supported by the Asian Development Bank.

The economic, social and political crisis in Indonesia which began unfolding in late 1997 led to a sustained effort on the ILO's part to broaden support for and understanding of the fundamental rights and principles of workers. The ILO also played a significant role in the release of noted trade unionists in detention. Senior ILO officials from the Office as well as technical specialists from the regional structure engaged the highest level of policy- and decision-makers in the country in the discussions, which led to the ratification of the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138), the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105), and the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111). To ensure adequate support to Indonesia in the implementation phase, a Letter of Intent was signed by the President and the ILO, laying out a joint workplan for the implementation of the fundamental Conventions. This has opened up new horizons in the promotion of workers' rights through technical cooperation.

The ratifications were part of an effort to update and modernize Indonesia's labour and social legislation. The drafting of the new legislation has been undertaken in consultation with employers' and workers' groups and other non-governmental organizations, and covers areas such as trade unions, industrial relations, the prevention and settlement of labour disputes, overseas employment and protection of migrant workers, social security and other issues covered by the 1997 Manpower Act. The new legislation will comprise three bills -- a bill on trade unions, a bill on the settlement of industrial dispute and a bill on manpower development and protection which will revise the 1997 Manpower Act. The Trade Union Bill was already submitted to Parliament in January 2000. The others will be submitted towards the middle of this year. Regarding the protection of migrant workers, the Government has decided that the provisions on measures for protecting migrant workers are to be included in the bill revising the 1997 Manpower Act. In order to maintain the momentum of the successful cooperation between the Government and the social partners and the ILO on the reform of labour legislation, the Office decided, in April 1999, to post a full-time senior adviser on labour laws in the ILO Area Office in Jakarta for a 12-month period. Strengthening the capacity of workers' organizations to carry out their role has also been identified as an important component of the ILO's work with Indonesia, and two workers' education projects have been launched with ILO technical advisers in Jakarta.

Cambodia ratified six fundamental Conventions in 1999. This followed an intensive programme of activities to promote these standards within the framework of some large technical cooperation programmes that the ILO has carried out in Cambodia over the past decade, concerning employment generation, skill training and enterprise development. Talks are well advanced with the Ministry of Trade and Commerce and the Ministry of Labour concerning a project on the implementation of labour legislation in the textile industry in Cambodia, an industrial sector in which the majority of the labour force is female.

Europe and Central Asia

Despite the fact that the transition from centrally planned to market economies in Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) has made considerable progress since 1989, the economic and social costs it has brought in its wake have proved to be much greater and more tenacious than anticipated. Indeed, the sharp increase in poverty which dominates the social affairs scene is a direct consequence of the transition process and closely linked to the evolution of the labour market. As societies in transition have moved gradually away from a full-employment economy to a less secure environment, poverty has ensued from a combination of higher prices (following price liberalization) and lower incomes, which may be attributed to a decline in wages -- when these are paid -- and to a drop in social transfers. The situation is further compounded by a breakdown in social services.

In addition, all these countries have been confronted with new challenges related to overall globalization, interdependence, increased competition and rapid technological progress. They have been required to forge ahead with development and provide effective market-oriented governance, while seeking to combine increased economic efficiency with policies fostering social cohesion. The growth and flourishing of civil society will be crucial to the success of the political, economic and social transition and transformation in the region.

It is against this background and in response to emergency situations (Russian financial crisis and the situation in Kosovo) that the Office decided to reorganize the operational structure of the region. In early 1998, it was decided to assign the functions of an area office to the already established Central and Eastern European Multidisciplinary Advisory Team (CEET), located in Budapest. The Budapest Office is now responsible for identifying the needs and priorities on which ILO country objectives are based: developing, implementing and evaluating ILO activities in the countries concerned; and maintaining relations with the ILO's constituents and its operational counterparts. The main function of the MDT continues to be to provide policy advice and practical guidance on technical issues to the ILO's constituents. The Budapest Office continued to be staffed by seven technical specialists, including the director.

In addition, the ILO Branch Office in Moscow was transformed into a combined Area Office and Multidisciplinary Team. In January 1998, the ILO opened the Eastern European and Central Asia Multidisciplinary Advisory Team (EECAT) and Moscow Area Office. The Moscow Office now covers a total of ten countries ⁽³⁰⁾ and is staffed by five technical specialists, including the director. Considerable emphasis has been placed on drawing up country objectives in the former CIS countries as a means of establishing relations with these member States. Country objectives have been drawn up and agreed to by the ILO constituents for the following countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russian Federation and Uzbekistan. In March 1998, a new programme of cooperation between the ILO and the Russian Federation was signed by the Director-General for the two-year period 1998-99 which included activities in the following fields: capacity building among constituents, legislative work, employment, living standards, health and safety, social protection, enterprise management and child labour.

A special RBTC allocation for 1999 was provided to the Moscow Office to carry out research and conduct workshops on social dialogue and labour legislation, wages and living standards, employment promotion and social protection for the Russian Federation. Four workshops were held simultaneously and immediately followed by an International Conference on Social and Labour Issues: Overcoming adverse consequences of the transition period in the Russian Federation. Each of the workshops drafted a set of conclusions and recommendations that in turn were considered by the international conference which was attended by representatives of the tripartite constituents of the Russian Federation, the National Tripartite Commission, both parliaments, ministries, representatives of the European Communities, OECD, UNDP and the World Bank. The conclusions were all aimed at identifying ways and possibilities to improve the overall situation in the labour and social spheres in the Russian Federation. It is expected that the conclusions of the conference, as well as those of the workshops, will significantly contribute to the elaboration of the programme of cooperation between the ILO and the Russian Federation for the years 2000-01 and will strongly influence the respective programmes of cooperation of other international organizations active in the Russian Federation. The ILO has been requested to disseminate the results of the conference, to consider possible action for appropriate follow-up and implementation as well as to convene a second conference for reviewing progress made.

A full-time national correspondent was created in 1998 in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The national correspondent is responsible for keeping the Area Office/MDT and the Regional Office regularly informed of economic and social developments in the country; maintaining relations with the ILO constituents; facilitating missions of ILO officials; representing the ILO in meetings or conferences; and, upon request, coordinating and implementing technical cooperation activities in the country. Two additional national correspondent positions were also established in Belarus and Kazakhstan.

International labour standards and the reform of labour legislation

Efforts were made during the biennium to assist member States in their efforts to ratify ILO Conventions by providing constituents in a number of member States with local language versions of basic ILO instruments. The Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia contributed to the translation of fundamental ILO Conventions into the following languages: Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Hungarian, Georgian, Azeri and Croatian.

Ratification of the fundamental Conventions by European and Central Asian countries

During the biennium, the following European and Central Asian member States registered their ratifications of the ILO's fundamental Conventions:

Convention No. 29: Turkey;

Convention No. 87: Georgia;

Convention No. 98: Switzerland;

Convention No. 100: none;

Convention No. 105: Bulgaria, Kyrgyzstan, Romania, Russian Federation, Tajikistan;

Convention No. 111: Ireland, United Kingdom, Kazakhstan;

Convention No. 138: Albania, Hungary, Ireland, Lithuania, Portugal, Switzerland, Turkey;

Convention No. 182: Ireland, Slovakia.

Following the ratification of Convention No. 111 on 22 June 1999 by Ireland, the total number of European and Central Asian member States to have ratified seven of the ILO's fundamental Conventions rose to 37, while Ireland and Slovakia have ratified eight.

During the 1998-99 biennium, the ILO organized a series of tripartite seminars and meetings with those countries applying for membership to the European Union. Regional seminars included: tripartism and the role of tripartite bodies in Central and Eastern Europe (November 1997); and labour policy development and social dialogue in Central and Eastern Europe (October 1998). In November 1999, a seminar for EU accession countries was held in Cyprus and brought together the ministries of labour and the social partners of the 10 +1+1 accession countries, as well as the Chairperson and both Vice-Chairpersons of the Governing Body. The purpose of the meeting was to identify those fields and areas in which the ILO could assist the countries in terms of social and labour matters in their accession process. The seminar recommended that the cooperation between the ILO and the EU candidate countries should continue. The following areas of cooperation were recommended: social dialogue, active labour market policies, social security, free movement of workers, equal opportunities, training and safety and health. The countries were invited to elaborate country objectives for ILO assistance related to the EU accession process.

Tripartism, collective bargaining and labour disputes settlement

In May 1999, a tripartite national ILO council was established in Hungary. Its main objective is to promote ILO activities and support national measures in relation to international labour standards. The rules and procedures of this council were elaborated during a number of tripartite meetings, with the advisory assistance of the Budapest team.

In February 1999, a tripartite seminar took place in Warsaw to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the establishment of the Tripartite Commission for Economic and Social Affairs of Poland. The seminar was designed to provide all members of the commission, as well as independent academics, with an opportunity to clarify issues related to the functioning and role of the commission. This event, which was widely covered by the Polish media, was opened by the Prime Minister and closed by the Minister of Labour and Social Protection.

In Sarajevo a seminar was organized on collective bargaining and labour dispute settlement in Bosnia and Herzegovina as part of project activities on the promotion of social dialogue. It emerged from the seminar that the major concerns of the representatives of the social partners were, among other things: the approval of new labour laws which were still pending in Parliament; the development of a genuine collective bargaining system consonant with recently enacted privatization policies; and the establishment of smooth and speedy procedures of appropriate conciliation mechanisms.

A tripartite subregional seminar on the promotion of collective bargaining in Central and Eastern Europe was organized in Warsaw in June 1999 and attended by tripartite delegations from the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia. While the meeting did not adopt any formal conclusions, the discussions clearly revealed that collective bargaining was generally not yet as widespread as it should be and that there was a lack of articulation between various levels of bargaining, in particular at the sectoral level. While the situation was attributed to several convergent factors, it was recognized that stronger employers' organizations structured along the lines of industries or branches of the economy would contribute to a better collective bargaining environment.

An ILO study ⁽³¹⁾ on the settlement of labour disputes in Central and Eastern Europe, published in 1998, highlights recent legislative innovations introduced into the industrial relations systems of the countries. During the transition to a market economy, many of the countries recorded a substantial increase in the number of labour disputes. This situation induced many countries to introduce new legislation regulating the settlement of labour conflicts as well as to set up modern or updated procedures for conciliation, mediation and arbitration.

Social security and safety and health

In response to the needs outlined in Ukraine's country objectives concerning the improvement of the management and functioning of social protection schemes and programmes, the ILO elaborated a social budget model for Ukraine. A report ⁽³²⁾ was produced as a product of a Ukrainian inter-agency task force that was entrusted with drawing up a social budget model for Ukraine with the assistance of a small team of advisers from the World Bank and ILO. The report concentrated on the results of quantitative analysis of the complete national social protection system in Ukraine and described the first version of the social budget model. Similar exercises were carried out for Poland, Slovakia, Lithuania and envisaged in the Russian Federation.

The ultimate goal of the UNDP-funded project in support of the pension reform in Belarus is to design a fair, socially efficient and financially sustainable pension system, functioning to the satisfaction of both beneficiaries and contributors. The major expected outputs are a draft law and a plan of stage-by-stage implementation of the reform. The intermediate results of the project are regularly submitted to a consultative committee (high-level representatives from the social partners and institutions involved) for discussion and approval.

Considerable progress has been made on the translation into the Russian language of the Encyclopaedia of Occupational Health and Safety, which will be made available in early 2000 in CD-ROM form. The fourth revision of the ILO Encyclopaedia in Russian will provide a much-needed source of recently updated information on all aspects of the multidisciplinary field of occupational safety and health. Key questions for the Russian Federation and for the CIS relate to ways to manage an effective occupational safety and health service in an economy in transition; the visions needed in the health and safety sector to enter into a market economy; and ways to develop a holistic, tripartite approach to occupational safety and health. Ministries of labour and social partners of many Russian-speaking countries have requested ILO assistance in the translation of the Encyclopaedia into Russian as it will increase their capacity to prevent occupational accidents and diseases, and improve the social protection of workers.

Employment

As part of the ILO's response to Commitment 3 of the Copenhagen Declaration adopted by the World Summit for Social Development, the Governing Body, at its March 1997 session, requested the Office to launch a series of country employment policy reviews (CEPRs) which would assist the governments and social partners of the selected countries to make an appropriate choice of economic, social and institutional policies, with a view to promoting the goal of full employment and improving the quality of working life. Among transition countries, Ukraine was selected to be the subject of country employment policy review. The Ukraine report was drafted in close collaboration with the Government and the social partners and its policy recommendations discussed and adopted at a national tripartite seminar in Kiev in October 1998. One of the recommendations made at the seminar was that the Government's commitment to implement the Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) should be fully reflected in the national employment programme which has to become an integral part of a complex and internally consistent macroeconomic development strategy and policy. The macroeconomic strategy and policy should stimulate sustainable employment-intensive economic growth, generating sufficiently high demand for labour. More detailed recommendations deal inter alia with investment policies, privatization, regional policy, small and medium-sized enterprises, wages, education and training, employment services and social protection.

Poland was included as one of the country studies (1999) on the social impact of globalization.⁽³³⁾ The study examines several policy issues in some depth and documents recent government initiatives that should contribute to address the problems. It considers the development of physical infrastructures and human capital as a relatively urgent policy priority for the country, especially to tackle the problems of regional imbalances. The issue of tax reform deserves extensive dialogue within the framework of national tripartite institutions.

Tripartite delegations from ten selected transition economies were invited for a three-day discussion on actions taken and results achieved concerning the follow-up on the World Summit for Social Development. A report focusing on ten transition economies (Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Poland, Russian Federation and Ukraine) was prepared for the meeting and subsequently published.⁽³⁴⁾ It highlighted the achievements and problems concerning employment, unemployment, wages and incomes, and social security and outlined an employment-promotion strategy. The report also revealed that there are great doubts as to how to achieve the objectives of the Social Summit adequately. Although all participants concurred that full and productive employment was a major goal, it was agreed that the countries faced enormous problems in designing and implementing effective employment promotion policies. Most countries have set up an institutional framework for labour market policies but find it difficult to come up with comprehensive employment promotion strategies and practical employment promotion programmes. Setting up institutions has proved not to be enough and there is an urgent need to strengthen their capacities. Furthermore, there is little coordination between the different policy areas in most countries. Monetary policy, fiscal policy, industrial policy, educational policy, labour market policy, and other policy areas which have a strong effect on a country's employment situation generally have no clearly pronounced common objectives and are not harmonized. There is a need for a comprehensive employment promotion strategy, capable of fine-tuning the actions in these policy areas so that they might mutually reinforce each other and help attain the common goal of full and productive employment. This implies as well that the responsibility for employment promotion is a shared responsibility of many different areas of government and society and not only of labour ministries and employment services. Promoting employment should encompass the creation of an enabling environment for enterprise activity and investment combined with a strong social dimension, assuring adequate remuneration and social security and a decent living standard. Special attention is needed to support small enterprises and to restructure uncompetitive sectors and enterprises in order to modernize the economies in the region. Employment promotion should include a continuous upgrading of the quality and competitiveness of human resources through adequate training and education. The conclusions and recommendations of this meeting were subsequently examined in the context of the International Consultation concerning the Follow-up to the World Summit for Social Development, held in Geneva in November 1999.

The Sofia Declaration

Labour ministers and heads of employers' and workers' organizations from eight countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Romania and Turkey) adopted the Sofia Declaration on 22 October 1999 which endorses the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe and underscores the need for "sound economic and social policies and of social justice" in coping with the fall-out from the civil and economic crises affecting workers and employers throughout the region. The Sofia Declaration was unanimously adopted after two days of discussions at the Tripartite Conference of ILO Constituents on Employment, Labour and Social Policy in South-Eastern Europe. The Declaration says that economies of the region are faced with poverty and inadequate systems of social protection, which "have been the result of protracted conflicts in the region culminating in the recent Kosovo crisis, which hampered to a very large extent our efforts towards transition to a market economy with social stability". The Declaration highlights the need to provide decent work, meaning productive work in which rights are protected, and which generates an adequate income with adequate social protection.

The Sofia Declaration calls for social partners to become active participants in the preparation of implementation of the Stability Pact, which was adopted in Cologne, Germany in June 1999 and subsequently endorsed in the Sarajevo Summit Declaration of July 1999. The Declaration urges that the Stability Pact be developed as a "concrete instrument fostering democracy and human rights" and calls for the following objectives to be taken into account: promotion and realization of fundamental rights at work; increased opportunities for women and men to secure decent employment and income; enhanced social protection for all and strengthened tripartism and social dialogue. The Declaration requests the ILO to organize a tripartite meeting of the countries involved during the next International Labour Conference in June 2000 to discuss the progress achieved in the meantime.

ILO Balkan task force

At the high-level inter-agency meeting on 14 May 1999, chaired by the United Nations Secretary-General, the Director-General of the ILO gave his view on ILO orientation and activities supporting the process of reconstruction and reconciliation in Kosovo. All activities should be based on --

fundamental principles and values, from basic human rights to specific technical standards. These should be pragmatically integrated and kept in mind throughout the process ... The ILO technical cooperation programmes and other assistance to conflict-affected regions will seek to promote the principles and rights inspired by international labour standards, as integral components of basic human rights and of people's rights to development. The ILO also emphasizes the importance of full involvement of social partners and civil society, alongside government, in any policy and development dialogue ... I believe that it is equally key to ensure "local ownership" of programmes in post-conflict situations.

ILO's comprehensive response to the crisis in Kosovo

The International Labour Organization's principal role in South-East Europe --and more specifically in Kosovo -- is to participate in the creation of opportunities for women and men in securing decent employment and income. The international community has the responsibility of reintegrating the war-affected population into a new, peaceful and civil society. The ILO has developed a comprehensive response to the crisis, composed of the following elements:

Emergency employment creation through labour-intensive methods. Employment-intensive work programmes are often the first interventions requested by a country emerging from conflict. Such programmes provide employment and opportunities to relieve acute distress. At the same time they will help to rebuild the key infrastructures which will, in turn, bring about further development and create new jobs and provide income.
Vocational training and promotion of small and medium-sized enterprises including training and skills retraining of returnees and ex-combatants, microfinance, small enterprise development and local economic development.
Social protection schemes including social security, social assistance and social safety nets. Both short-term social safety nets and social protection are vital to consolidate peace. The safety nets and social protection systems that existed before the conflict will require revision, taking into account the increase in the number of vulnerable groups and the inadequacy of existing social insurance to address this need.
Institutional capacity building, the promotion of social dialogue, reconciliation and social healing and appropriate labour law framework. A solution must also be found to the social inequality, clearly one of the root causes of the conflict, that previously characterized Kosovar society and workplaces. In order to avoid discrimination, especially in the labour field, measures should be taken at the legislative, institutional and administrative levels, but above all, by way of a broad-based social dialogue amongst key social partners.

To implement this action plan, a task force was set up which elaborated a number of project ideas and documents which were submitted to the donor conferences held in Brussels on 28 July 1999 and 17 November 1999. The identification of projects and coordination with UNMIK (United Nations Mission in Kosovo) and other international actors present in Kosovo are carried out by the ILO Pristina Support Unit which was set up in August 1999. At the moment of writing this report a number of governments had indicated their interest in financing ILO projects in the field of vocational training, SME development and social protection.

Technical cooperation

Technical cooperation within Europe has undergone far-reaching changes both in terms of the programming framework adapted to crisis situations and medium-term social and economic development. During the biennium, the ILO and UNDP worked together on poverty issues and support for policy and programme development (SPPD) projects were approved concerning development, employment promotion and the social integration of former military officers. A number of activities related to the promotion of social dialogue are being developed and implemented in Moscow, Saratov and Samara, as well as in Belarus and Ukraine. Two projects are currently in progress: the International Centre for Modular Skills Training, located in Moscow, and a training-of-trainers project in St. Petersburg. A similar project is under implementation in Ukraine. A three-year project on the management of trade union education systems is focusing on training methodology, information dissemination and management strategies for trade union education with the Russian Federation. Employers' organizations of Central Asia and the Caucasus are being assisted and workers' and employers' organizations of Central Europe are being assisted through projects. In Belarus, projects on poverty alleviation, pension reform and modular training systems are under implementation. The UNDP is financing anti-poverty projects in the three Baltic States, in Uzbekistan and in Kazakhstan, human development programmes in the Czech Republic, Hungary, the Republic of Moldova and Slovakia, a wage policy project in Albania and, jointly with the ILO, a project on social budget modelling in Ukraine. The ILO, through the UNDP, was able to mobilize over US$2.2 million for technical cooperation programmes in Bosnia and Herzegovina over the 1998-99 period, with support from several donors. Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB) projects are under implementation in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. A project on the management of social assistance systems is under implementation in Albania and a project on labour inspection was initiated in Bulgaria.⁽³⁵⁾

Child labour

IPEC has been active in Europe since the start of the programme. In Romania, following substantive preparatory work, a comprehensive programme to assist the Government of Romania was developed. The aims include: (i) preventing the increase of child labour; (ii) building the capacity of concerned governmental and non-governmental agencies; (iii) conducting quantitative and qualitative research to assess the extent and nature of the child labour problem; and (iv) raising public awareness about child labour within the country. It is expected that a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) will be signed in early 2000. In St. Petersburg (Russian Federation) a programme for working street children is being implemented. Relevant institutions in St. Petersburg will be given the capacity to deal effectively with the problem of working street children, and be provided with direct assistance. Preparatory activities are also under way in the Russian Federation to initiate action against child labour at the national level. In Albania, an MOU was signed between the Government of Albania and the ILO in June 1999. A summary programme document has been developed and approved by the Government of Albania to initiate a direct action programme on street children, children working in agriculture and child trafficking. Funding has been secured for the first phase of the programme. A child labour survey in Ukraine, supported by IPEC (SIMPOC), has been under way since the beginning of this year. During the presentation of the results of the first round, some ideas for concrete action were formulated. A child labour survey is currently being conducted in Georgia. A programme development mission was recently undertaken to Kyrgyzstan to initiate IPEC activities. National consultants have been identified to carry out a study on child labour.

Notes

1. ILO activities in Africa: 1994-96, report of the Director-General, Ninth African Regional Meeting, Abidjan, December 1999.

2. Decent work and protection for all in Africa, report of the Director-General, Ninth African Regional Meeting, Abidjan, December 1999.

3. Poverty-reducing employment strategies for Africa, OAU Labour and Social Affairs Commission, Twenty-Second Ordinary Session, 19-24 April 1999, Windhoek, Namibia. Ref. LSC/3b (XXII).

4. Draft Platform of Action on HIV/AIDS in the context of the world of work in Africa, Regional Tripartite Workshop on Strategies to Tackle Social and Labour Implications of HIV/AIDS, Windhoek, Namibia, 11-13 October 1999.

5. The Abidjan Platform, ILO subregional workshop on strategies to support mutual health organizations in Africa, June 1998.

6. Child labour in Africa: Targeting the intolerable, African Regional Tripartite Meeting on Child Labour, Kampala, February 1998.

7. Report and conclusions of the Fourteenth American Regional Meeting, Lima, 24-27 August 1999 (Governing Body doc. 276/4).

8. Estudio comparado: Tendencias y contenidos de la negociación colectiva: Fortalecimiento de las organizaciones sindicales de los países Andinos, by M. Rueda-Catry, J.M. Sepúlveda-Malbrán and M.L. Vega-Ruiz, 1998.

9. Investigación sobre negociación colectiva, diálogo social y participación en la formación profesional en Argentina, by B. Cappeletti (Montevideo, CINTERFOR 2000); Investigación sobre negociación colectiva, diálogo social y participación en la formación profesional en Uruguay, by J. Rosenbaum (Montevideo, CINTERFOR 2000); Investigación sobre negociación colectiva, diálogo social y participación en la formación profesional en Brasil, by S. Sochazczeweski (Montevideo, CINTERFOR 2000).

10. CD con la base de datos de acuerdos sobre negociación colectiva de Uruguay (Santiago, CINTERFOR ILO/MDT, 1999).

11. G. van Liemt: "Globalization and labour issues -- An international perspective"; V. Tokman: "Globalization and adjustment: New challenges for Latin America"; W. Momm: "Restructuring Caribbean labour markets in the context of globalization and trade liberalization"; E. Millett: "The impact of globalization on Caribbean export industries and economic processing zones", in W. Momm (ed.): Labour Issues in the Context of Economic Integration and Free Trade: A Caribbean Perspective, Port of Spain, 1999.

12. Restructuring and the loss of preferences: Labour challenges for the Caribbean banana industry, by D. Nii Addy, 1999.

13. Chile: Crecimiento, empleo y el desafío de la justicia social (Chile, 1998).

14. 1999 Labour Overview (Lima, 2000).

15. Cobertura de los riesgos del trabajo: Manual con experiencias actuales y alternativas, by A.H. Conte-Grand and C.A. Rodríguez, 1999.

16. IPEC: Trabajo infantil en los países del MERCOSUR: Argentina, Brasil, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, 1998; Trabajo infantil en los países Andinos: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Perú, Venezuela, 1998; Trabajo infantil en los países Centroamericanos: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, República Dominicana, Panamá, 1998.

17. World Employment Report 1998-99, 1998.

18. Report on the Tripartite Regional Consultation on Employment --Follow-up to the Social Summit (September 1999), Beirut, 2000.

19. Report on the National Tripartite Seminar on Employment in Lebanon (February 1999), Beirut, 1999 (available only in Arabic).

20. Arab women and work -- Review of progress since Beijing, Beirut, 1999 (available only in English).

21. Report on the Regional Seminar on the Role of Labour Administration in the Development of Training Policies and Programmes (October 1998), 1999.

22. Proceedings of the Regional Seminar on the Ratification and Application of Core Conventions (May 1999), Beirut, 2000 (available only in Arabic).

23. Towards full employment: Prospects and problems in Asia and the Pacific, Technical report for discussion at the Asian Regional Consultation on Follow-up to the World Summit for Social Development, Bangkok, 13-15 January 1999.

24. Combating trafficking in children for labour exploitation in the Mekong subregion: A proposed framework for ILO-IPEC action and proceedings of a Mekong subregional consultation, 1998; Combating trafficking in children for labour exploitation in South Asia: Report on South Asian Consultation, Kathmandu, Nepal, 12-14 October 1998.

25. I-WEB Trainers' Guide: Improve your work environment and business for micro manufacturers, and I-WEB Action Manual: Improve your work environment and business for micro manufacturers, 1999.

26. The impact of the Asian crisis on Filipino employment prospects abroad, by W.R. Böhning, 1998.

27. Skills in Asia and the Pacific: Why training matters, Technical report for discussion at the Tripartite Asian and Pacific Consultative Meeting on Human Resources Development and Training, Singapore, 30 June-2 July 1999.

28. Indonesia: A gender review of globalization, legislation, policies and institutional frameworks, by M. Hendytio et al., 1999; Gender dimensions of globalization and modern sector employment in Indonesia, by H.H. Aswicahyono and T. Feridhanusetyawan, 1999; Women's work in South Asia: A situational analysis and policy concerns, by S. Mukhopadyay, 1999.

29. Prevention and settlement of labour disputes in South Asia, A. Sivananthiran (ed.), 1998.

30. Countries covered by the Moscow Area Office/MDT are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

31. The settlement of labour disputes in Central and Eastern Europe, by G. Casale, 1998.

32. Social budgeting in Ukraine, Report of a joint task force in collaboration with the ILO, World Bank and UNDP in Ukraine, Budapest, 1999.

33. Studies on the social dimensions of globalization, Summary of country study on Poland (1999) by the task force on country studies on globalization. Abstract published as Governing Body doc. GB.276/WP/SDL/1.

34. Employment and labour market policies in transition economies, by A. Nesporova, 1999.

35. Governing Body doc. GB.276/TC/1.

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

Africa

Ninth African Regional Meeting

Social dialogue

Employment promotion and poverty alleviation

Conclusions of the 1999 Biennial Meeting of African Employment Planners

Jobs for Africa

Jobs for Africa -- Action in participating countries

Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB)

The protection of workers

HIV/AIDS at the workplace

Social protection systems

Health insurance and other mutual funds

The promotion of democracy and international labour standards

Child labour

The Americas

The introduction of competency-based skills training

Safety and health in the construction industry in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela

Promotion of women's employment in Yemen -- Strengthening institutional capacity

Palestinian employment programme: A medium-term strategy

Employment promotion through small enterprise development

Rehabilitation services for persons with disabilities

Labour administration

Promotion of international labour standards

Promoting labour standards in the Arab region

Ratification of the eight fundamental Conventions by Arab countries

Child labour

Assistance to employers' organizations

Strengthening workers' organizations

Special programme in support of the territories under the Palestinian Authority and employers' and workers' organizations

Social protection

Promotion of occupational safety and health

Syrian Arab Republic -- Occupational safety and health

Cooperation with regional and subregional organizations

Fundamental ILO Conventions ratified in 1998-99 by countries in Asia and the Pacific

Crisis response in East Timor

Workers' protection

Social security

Strengthening the Ministry of Labour in the Republic of Korea

Child labour

Asian Regional Meeting on the Worst Forms of Child Labour (Phuket, 8-10 September 1999)

Occupational safety and health

Strengthening occupational safety and health structures

Employment and reduction of poverty

ASIST-AP

Human resource development

Women workers

ILO Asian Regional Consultation on Follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women (Manila, 6-8 October 1999)

Small enterprise development

Disability issues

The promotion of social dialogue and tripartism

Strengthening social dialogue in response to the financial crisis

ILO/Japan Asian Regional Tripartite Seminar on Industrial Relations and Globalization (Bangkok, 31 August-2 September 1999)

The promotion of ILO standards and labour legislation

International labour standards and the reform of labour legislation

Ratification of the fundamental Conventions by European and Central Asian countries

Tripartism, collective bargaining and labour disputes settlement

Social security and safety and health

Employment

The Sofia Declaration

ILO Balkan task force

Technical cooperation

Child labour

Notes

Special programme in support of the territories under the
Palestinian Authority and employers' and workers' organizations

Fundamental ILO Conventions ratified in 1998-99
by countries in Asia and the Pacific

ILO Asian Regional Consultation on Follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women
(Manila, 6-8 October 1999)

ILO/Japan Asian Regional Tripartite Seminar on Industrial Relations and Globalization
(Bangkok, 31 August-2 September 1999)