REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL I (A)

ILO programme implementation

2014–15

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR CONFERENCE

105th Session, 2016

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR OFFICE GENEVA

Contents

Abbreviations

Executive summary

Introduction

Part I. Overview of progress and achievements

1. Enabling the ILO to meet contemporary challenges in the world of work

2. Results achieved

2.1. Country results

2.2. Knowledge products and capacity development

2.3. Review of lessons learned

3. Managing for delivery

3.1. Staffing and human resource development

3.2. Expenditure and financial delivery

3.3. Organizational effectiveness

Part II. Key areas of ILO action

4. Selected examples of ILO work during the biennium

4.1. Areas of critical importance

4.2. Strengthening employers’ organizations

4.3. Strengthening workers’ organizations

4.4. Strengthening governance through global social dialogue at the sectoral level

4.5. Gender equality and non-discrimination

4.6. Child labour and social dialogue

5. Regional highlights

5.1. Africa region

5.2. Latin America and the Caribbean region

5.3. Arab States region

5.4. Asia and the Pacific region

5.5. Europe and Central Asia region

Appendices

I. List of programme and budget (P&B) outcome indicators with targets and results for the period 2010–15

II. Regular budget expenditure by appropriation line, 2014–15

III. RBSA expenditure, 2014–15

IV. Expenditure on technical cooperation programmes by source of funding, geographical region and type of assistance, 2014–15 (excluding administrative expenditure)

V. Expenditure on technical cooperation by region and country, 2014–15 (in thousands of US dollars) (excluding administrative expenditure)

Abbreviations

ACE

ASEAN Confederation of Employers

ACI

area of critical importance

ADB

Asian Development Bank

AfDB

African Development Bank

ASEAN

Association of Southeast Asian Nations

ATUC

ASEAN Trade Union Council

AUC

African Union Commission

CEB

United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination

DWCP

Decent Work Country Programme

ECOWAS

Economic Community of West African States

EESE

Enabling Environment for Sustainable Enterprises

EPZs

export processing zones

ERM

Enterprise Risk Management

EU

European Union

FAO

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

GCC

Gulf Cooperation Council

HR

Human Resources

IAO

Office of Internal Audit and Oversight

IATI

International Aid Transparency Initiative

ICLS

International Conference of Labour Statisticians

IFAD

International Fund for Agricultural Development

IFC

International Finance Corporation

ILC

International Labour Conference

IMF

International Monetary Fund

IOM

International Organization for Migration

IRIS

Integrated Resource Information System

IT

information technology

MLC, 2006

Maritime Labour Convention, 2006

MSEs

micro- and small enterprises

NEDLAC

National Economic Development and Labour Council

NEPAD

New Partnership for Africa’s Development

OECD

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

OECD/DAC

OECD/Development Assistance Committee

OSH

occupational safety and health

P&B

programme and budget

RBSA

Regular Budget Supplementary Account

RBTC

Regular Budget Technical Cooperation

SADC

Southern African Development Community

SCORE

Sustaining Competitive and Responsible Enterprises

SDG

Sustainable Development Goal

SIMAPRO

System for Integrated Measurement and Improvement of Productivity

SIYB

Start and Improve Your Business

SMEs

small and medium-sized enterprises

UFW

unacceptable forms of work

UN

United Nations

UNAIDS

Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS

UNDAF

United Nations Development Assistance Framework

UNDG

United Nations Development Group

UNDP

United Nations Development Programme

UNECA

United Nations Economic Commission for Africa

UNESCO

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

UNICEF

United Nations Children’s Fund

UNIDO

United Nations Industrial Development Organization

UNPRPD

United Nations Partnership to Promote the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

WAEMU

West African Economic and Monetary Union

WESO

World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends

WHO

World Health Organization

XBTC

Extra-budgetary technical cooperation

Executive summary

This report on the implementation of the ILO programme for 2014–15 is the last performance report of the ILO under the Strategic Policy Framework 2010–15, structured around the four strategic objectives of the Decent Work Agenda – employment, social protection, social dialogue and rights at work – and 19 outcomes. The ILO programme during the biennium placed particular emphasis on eight areas of critical importance (ACIs), each seeking to address situations that are topical and of major concern in a high number of member States and where the ILO can make a difference. The biennium also witnessed the further consolidation of the reform programme initiated by the Director-General in 2012.

Over the course of the biennium, many countries across the globe have continued to be confronted with realities that have been changing at unprecedented speed and that for many have been harsh. As the report shows, the ILO has continued to strengthen the role of governments, employers’ and workers’ organizations to meet contemporary challenges in the world of work and to bring the world back on a sustainable path of equitable growth and development.

Progress was made globally, regionally and at the country level on enhancing policy coherence and convergence on issues central to the ILO mandate, through tangible cooperation with the United Nations (UN) and its entities, the G20, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and regional organizations, including development banks and economic commissions. The ILO contributed strongly to the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in general, and Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8 in particular.

Improvements towards continuously upgrading ILO analytical, statistical and information dissemination capacity continued to constitute a cornerstone of the strategy for delivering on the ILO programme in the biennium, both globally and at the country level. Among the series of knowledge products, the three flagship reports – the World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends (WESO); the World Social Security Report and the Global Wage Report – attracted widespread interest, informed global policy debates and guided the provision of services to constituents in member States. A total of 774 country outcome results were achieved across 137 member States. This was above the 721 targets set at the beginning of the biennium but slightly less than the 840 results recorded in 2012–13, which bears witness to the deliberate effort to concentrate resources on fewer and better integrated interventions underpinning the ACIs. The details of these country-level results, by outcome and region, can be found online at: www.ilo.org/program.

While illustrating how the ILO has built on the lessons learned in 2012–13, the report outlines key lessons learned in 2014–15 from work on the ACIs and from capacity development for constituents, underscoring the important and growing role played by the International Training Centre of the ILO in this regard. Highlights of major aspects of implementation of the ILO programme, including work under the ACIs and work in all five regions, including an overview of the status of the Decent Work Country Programmes (DWCPs) and examples of ILO engagement and results through integrated DWCPs are presented in the report.

A number of reforms were initiated or strengthened in order to enhance organizational effectiveness in such fields as human resources development, development cooperation and in information and communications technology. Institutional reforms of the ILO’s governance structures and processes resulted in new arrangements for the 2015 session of the International Labour Conference (ILC) and reforms of the Governing Body, which yielded improvements in terms of effectiveness and efficiency.

In response to constituents’ demands in member States, the ILO delivered some US$606 million under the regular budget in 2014–15, US$430 million in extra-budgetary voluntary funding, and US$32 million under the Regular Budget Supplementary Account (RBSA). The share of domestic funding in total extra-budgetary voluntary funding increased from 3.8 per cent in 2012–13 to 5 per cent in 2014–15. By the end of 2015, the ILO had a portfolio of 600 projects with 120 development partners in more than 100 countries. A total of 92 new private–public partnerships were signed over the course of the biennium and ten new partnerships were signed with middleincome countries and South–South and triangular cooperation partners.

Introduction

- 1.    This report has been prepared in accordance with the Governing Body’s decision of November 1999. As usual at this stage of each biennium and following the usual procedure, it is being submitted first to the Governing Body and thereafter to the ILC. The report reviews the implementation of the ILO’s programme for the years 2014–15 in line with the programme and budget for the biennium.

- 2.    The content and format of the report reflect the Governing Body’s request, in response to the last two implementation reports, for accessible information on the progress made during the biennium against performance indicators and on the Office’s specific contribution to results.

- 3.    Thus, the report for 2014–15 draws on an analytical approach which outlines the key factors in the achievement of the results. It elaborates on the lessons learned during the biennium and highlights significant results at the country level. This is complemented by additional information, available online at: www.ilo.org/program and referenced throughout the report.

- 4.    The report is organized into two parts:

- •  Part I assembles performance information in the aggregate under three subheadings: enabling the ILO to meet contemporary challenges in the world of work; results achieved covering country results, knowledge products and capacity development, and a review of lessons learned; and managing for delivery, including staffing and human resource development, expenditure and financial delivery, and organizational effectiveness.

- •  Part II provides more detailed coverage of the major aspects of ILO programme implementation during the biennium. It comprises two subsections: narratives covering key areas of work, including each of the ACIs, and regional highlights on the work in all five regions, including an overview of the Decent Work Country Programme (DWCP) for each region.

Part I

1.Enabling the ILO to meet contemporary challenges in the world of work

- 5.    During the biennium 2014–15, uncertain and incomplete recovery from the dramatic effects of the financial crisis, slow global economic growth, and rapid change in the world of work have posed major challenges to ILO constituents in all regions.

- 6.    Global unemployment exceeded 200 million in 2014 and, with 40 million new entrants to the world’s labour markets annually, continues to rise. Moreover, the nature of work itself raises important issues which the ILO has sought to address. Informal work continues to occupy half the world’s working people, while less than 25 per cent are covered by a full-time, permanent employment contract and nearly 75 per cent do not have access to adequate social protection. Furthermore, with 168 million child labourers and 21 million victims of forced labour, the fight for universal respect for fundamental principles and rights at work remains to be won.

- 7.    Against a background of weak labour markets, sluggish output, insufficient demand and growing inequality, the ILO has contributed, within the scope of its mandate, to addressing other global challenges that have been prominent during the biennium. The panel discussion on “Climate Change and the World of Work” held in the context of the World of Work Summit during the 104th Session of the ILC foreshadowed the ILO’s involvement in the Paris Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21) in December 2015. In addition, the ILO responded actively to migration and refugee issues which became more acute with the intensification of conflicts in different parts of the world.

- 8.    The gravity of the economic situation has increased pressure on the multilateral system as a whole to demonstrate its effectiveness and to show that it is fit for purpose. The ILO has sought to do so by continuing the implementation of the reform programme initiated by the Director-General on taking office in October 2012. Those reforms are increasing the efficiency of the Organization, enabling it to better serve its constituents and to play a more effective role in pursuing its policy mandate in the global policy environment. The enhanced responsiveness of the ILO to urgent need was evident, for example, in its reaction to the tragic collapse of the Rana Plaza factory in Bangladesh in April 2013. During the course of 2014–15, the ILO has continued to provide significant technical and financial support, including by encouraging social dialogue and assisting with the compensation process for survivors and relatives, as well as with building safety and labour inspection process.

- 9.    Against this background, the global community has recognized the value and importance of various aspects of the Decent Work Agenda in a number of forums, including the UN and the G20. The growing influence of the ILO can be attributed to a number of factors. These include the production of quality statistics, enhanced research and policy analysis on highly relevant topics – reflected in flagship reports such as the Global Wage Report, the WESO and the World Social Protection Report – as well as other analytical and policy work, in addition to improved internal coordination and policy coherence across the Office as a result of its new organizational structure. These factors have increased the capacity of the Office to leverage policy influence in the multilateral system.

- 10.  The UN continued to work during 2014–15 towards the realization of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); the UN summit for the adoption of the post-2015 development agenda adopted a new agenda entitled “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” in September 2015. The Agenda has created a major opportunity for the UN as a whole, and the ILO in particular, to support member States in their commitment to attain ambitious SDGs that reflect a broad consensus on a wide range of urgent and interconnected priorities. SDG 8, “Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all”, serves as the pivot linking the social, economic and environmental elements of the Agenda. In addition, nearly all of the SDGs are either directly or indirectly connected with the ILO’s mandate and the four pillars of the Decent Work Agenda. This presents the ILO with a real opportunity to influence global development over the next 15 years.

- 11.  The ILO contributed strongly to the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in general and SDG 8 in particular, following the decision by the Governing Body in November 2012 to set this as an objective for the Organization. Its contribution included the activity of the Group of Friends of Decent Work for Sustainable Development, co-chaired by Angola and Belgium and consisting of 34 member States, which was instrumental in mobilizing and coordinating political and technical support to advance employment and social protection issues within the 2030 Agenda. It also supported the successful integration of decent work elements in the outcome document of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in July 2015. In addition, the Office issued a number of reports during the three-year preparatory period analysing how progress towards decent work contributes to poverty reduction and the transformation of economies towards a path of sustainable development.

- 12.  At the G20, the ILO has been increasingly active, at the request of member States, in providing research, empirical evidence, policy analysis and best practices in relation to a wide range of employment and social issues. The G20 labour and employment ministers now meet every year and their ministerial declarations reflect a range of ILO positions in clear and compelling language. The G20 Employment Working Group was created in 2014. In this context, the ILO has consistently called for an integrated and coherent policy approach to employment and social policies on the basis of the 2008 ILO Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalization. This work was strongly reflected in the Leaders’ Communiqué adopted at the 2014 G20 Summit in Brisbane, Australia, and the 2015 G20 Summit in Antalya, Turkey, and in a number of reports prepared by the Office, often in collaboration with other international organizations. These are available on the G20 and ILO websites.

- 13.  The ILO’s analytical work, often conducted in cooperation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) or the World Bank, has also had an impact on the broader multilateral system, leading to a growing convergence on issues central to the ILO mandate such as the negative impact of income inequality on growth, or the key role played by social protection and labour market policies in addressing inequality. The ILO has brought special policy attention to the needs of women, young people, minorities and migrants, and advocated successfully for the adoption of quantitative targets to provide incentives for, and measure progress on, the labour market participation of women and young people.

- 14.  At the same time as enhancing its capacity to address the international policy agenda, the ILO has continued to implement its mandate in the area of international labour standards. The ratification of 39 different international labour standards by 59 member States during the biennium bears witness to the continued relevance and usefulness of ILO instruments and the principles that they embody. In addition, two new instruments were adopted during this period. The Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930, adopted by the ILC in 2014, updates and reinforces global action to end forced labour, including trafficking in persons and slavery-like practices, and positions the ILO as a key player in the global effort to eliminate all modern forms of slavery. Niger became the first country to ratify the Protocol at the Conference in 2015, followed by Norway; with these two ratifications, the Protocol will enter into force in November 2016. In addition, the Transition from the Informal to the Formal Economy Recommendation, 2015 (No. 204), was adopted by the ILC in 2015. Recommendation No. 204 is the first ever international labour standard aimed specifically at tackling the informal economy.

- 15.  At the institutional level, active steps have been taken to ensure that the body of standards is up to date, relevant and responsive to the world of work. Efforts have continued to ensure tripartite ownership of international labour standards, and to extend and facilitate access to the rich resource of information derived from the supervisory system, including by ensuring that user-friendly publications are available in national languages. Moreover, after several years of contentious discussions with regard to standards policy, in particular concerning the right to strike, the Governing Body decided, in March 2015, to launch the standards review mechanism and adopted its terms of reference unanimously at its November 2015 session. Linked to this, the 1997 Instrument for the Amendment of the Constitution of the International Labour Organisation took effect on 8 October 2015, having been ratified or accepted by twothirds of member States, including at least five Members of chief industrial importance. That threshold was reached with the ratification of the Instrument by the Cook Islands, the newest Member of the ILO, which joined in 2015. The Conference will henceforth be able to abrogate obsolete Conventions acting on a proposal of the Governing Body.

- 16.  In the context of the Field Operations and Structure and Technical Cooperation Review under the ILO reform process, the ILO adopted a new Development Cooperation Strategy for the period 2015–17. The four central elements of the strategy are focus, effectiveness, capacity development and resource mobilization. It is designed to make full use of the ILO’s comparative advantages, including its tripartite constituency and its standard-setting function, in addition to its expertise, cutting-edge knowledge and operational tripartite experience.

- 17.  Institutional reforms of the ILO’s governance structures and processes resulted in new arrangements for the 2015 session of the ILC, including by reducing its duration to two weeks. The earlier reform of the Governing Body continued to produce shorter, better attended and more effective debates, and was reinforced further following a review by the Working Party on the Functioning of the Governing Body and the ILC. Two successful Regional Meetings were held in the Americas and in Africa during the period under review.

- 18.  As the ILO initiates the implementation of its Programme and Budget for 2016–17, it acts on the basis of a strong consensus with regard to the importance of the ten policy outcomes at its centre, supported by three enabling outcomes, and looks forward to its centenary in 2019. As part of the preparation for that event, the Governing Body has approved the implementation of seven centenary initiatives to give strategic direction, purpose and content to the ILO, its work and its mandate, with regard to the future of work; women at work; standards; governance; an end to poverty; and the green and the enterprises initiatives. Taken in conjunction with the aforementioned improvements in ILO capacities and building on the reform process launched in 2012, the ILO is endeavouring to put itself in the best possible position to carry its mandate for social justice forward with increased vigour into its second century.

2.Results achieved

- 19.  Detailed results tables corresponding to the 19 outcomes established in the Strategic Policy Framework 2010–15, broken down into the 50 outcome indicators, are available online at: www.ilo.org/program. A description of each outcome indicator is provided in the Appendix, which shows the corresponding targets for the full six-year cycle of the Strategic Policy Framework 2010–15 and the number of results achieved.

- 20.  This section of the report provides information on the geographic distribution of country-level results, highlights notable achievements with respect to knowledge management and capacity development and elaborates on lessons learned. Complementary narratives on key areas of work and regional highlights, which further substantiate the aggregate results reported below, are contained in Part II.

2.1.Country results

- 21.  Table 1 summarizes the country results over the biennium by indicator and by region and allows for comparison with the targets for the biennium and the results achieved during the previous biennium. A total of 774 results in 137 member States and territories across all regions were achieved; a further three results related to international organizations were reported under indicator 19.2. A total of 69 member States achieved at least five results, 28 member States achieved ten or more results and eight (Cambodia, China, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Philippines, Viet Nam and Zambia) achieved 15 or more results.

- 22.  Figure 1 shows the regional distribution of the results. Africa had the highest number of results with just over a third of the total, followed by Asia and the Pacific with slightly over a quarter, and the Americas with just under a quarter. This largely reflects the distribution in the number of country programme outcomes: Africa has more than any other region while Europe and Central Asia and the Arab States have the fewest.

- 23.  The 774 outcome results recorded in 2014–15 exceeded the 721 targets set for the biennium. The total results were slightly lower than for the previous biennium, a fact that partly reflects a deliberate effort to concentrate resources on fewer and better integrated interventions and build on lessons learned from the previous programme exercise, as well as the introduction of the ACIs.

2.2.Knowledge products and capacity development

- 24.  Strengthening the ILO’s knowledge base, including in the field of statistics, and capacity development have continued to be a cornerstone of the strategy for delivering on the priorities of the ILO programme for the biennium, both globally and at the country level.

2.2.1.Evidence-based research and knowledge products

- 25.  In the context of the Global Research Agenda, the Global Employment Trends and the World of Work publications were merged into the new WESO, published twice a year. The World Social Security Report and the Global Wage Report have continued to attract growing interest and to influence and inform policy debates globally. For the first time, a supplement to the Global Wage Report was issued for Asia and the Pacific. Together with the Global Wage Report and the Global Wage Database, which was further expanded to 130 member States, it was used to guide the provision to member States of advisory services on wage policies, the collection of wage-related data and the delivery of informed training on wage policies to 600 participants, half of them from Asia and the Pacific, from at least 27 member States.

Figure 1. Country results by region

- 26.  A move towards more evidence-based analysis has been achieved by focusing on ways to create more and decent jobs, and establishing an independent Research Review Group at the end of 2014 to review research released through the WESO. Knowledge networks have been developed to exchange up-to-date research findings and methods, and councils of experts have been established to provide detailed technical comments on research before publication.

- 27.  Other evidence-based research included the Studies on Growth with Equity series, which includes reports on European crisis countries; projects on such issues as the future of work and trade, investment and labour markets; a poverty and policy inventory carried out during the crisis; and an impact evaluation of active labour market policies in Latin America. This work strengthened ILO engagement with the G20 through the use of timely, evidence-based research that was disseminated and discussed through the ILO Research Seminars Series, at joint conferences organized with external partners and through dialogue with the Research Review Group. Information was also made available through the ILO research newsletter and web portal.

- 28.  Box 1 provides a selection of knowledge products and tools produced during the biennium to support country-level work (more detailed information is available online at: www.ilo.org/program). The examples are categorized into four broad groups of products but, in most cases, these products derive from the outputs of applied research, which, in turn, feeds into demand-driven capacity-building tools and training products and/or information management or advocacy tools.

Box 1.Selected products from the 19 outcomes

Capacity-building tools

- •  National employment policies: A guide for workers’ organisations

- •  Monitoring and Learning from Policy Engagement: A Toolkit for Employers’ and Business Organizations

- •  Trade union guide on model legislative provisions on freedom of association and collective bargaining

- •  Resource guide on gender issues in employment and labour market policies

- •  Guide on minimum wage fixing

- •  Labour inspection and other compliance mechanisms in the domestic work sector

Research outputs

- •  Effective responses to HIV and AIDS at work: A multi-country study in Africa

- •  Better Work: Global Compliance Synthesis Reports

- •  Inter-agency reports for the G20 presidencies

- •  World Report on Child Labour 2015: Paving the way to decent work for young people

- •  Diagnostic reports on freedom of association and collective bargaining in the rural sector, export processing zones (EPZs) and domestic work

Information resources

- •  A knowledge-sharing platform on skills development

- •  The ILO Helpdesk for Business on International Labour Standards

- •  Social Protection Knowledge Sharing Platform

- •  Global database on occupational safety and health legislation (LEGOSH)

- •  International labour migration statistics database for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

- •  International Association of Economic and Social Councils and Similar Institutions (AICESIS)–ILO database on national tripartite social dialogue institutions

- •  Online reporting system for international labour standards

Advocacy tools

- •  50 for Freedom: Sign up to end modern slavery public awareness campaign

- •  iPad app: InfoStory on tackling sex discrimination through equity

Table 1.Summary of results by outcome indicator and region

P&B outcome

P&B indicator

2012–13 results

2014–15 targets

2014–15 results

Africa

Americas

Arab States

Asia and the Pacific

Europe and Central Asia

Strategic objective: Create greater opportunities for women and men to secure decent employment and income

- 1.    Employment promotion

1.1

12

18

25

14

2

0

7

2

1.2

11

8

4

1

2

0

1

0

1.3

16

11

17

10

1

1

5

0

1.4

6

11

7

2

1

2

2

0

1.5

7

20

13

6

1

0

6

0

1.6

5

14

11

3

6

1

1

0

- 2.    Skills development

2.1

12

17

17

6

6

0

4

1

2.2

7

7

8

5

0

0

3

0

2.3

3

5

5

2

0

0

3

0

2.4

8

6

11

6

2

0

2

1

2.5

15

15

23

9

4

2

5

3

- 3.    Sustainable enterprises

3.1

5

7

4

3

1

0

0

0

3.2

32

29

31

14

7

2

8

0

3.3

5

14

12

2

4

2

3

1

3.4

1

2

4

3

1

0

0

0

Strategic objective: Enhance the coverage and effectiveness of social protection for all

- 4.    Social security

4.1

18

10

11

3

4

1

1

2

4.2

11

12

25

8

4

5

7

1

4.3

20

8

17

3

2

4

6

2

- 5.    Working conditions

5.1

12

10

18

4

8

1

3

2

5.2

9

8

16

5

1

0

6

4

- 6.    Occupational safety and health

6.1

17

11

11

5

1

1

4

0

6.2

13

11

8

1

2

1

3

1

- 7.    Labour migration

7.1

8

8

15

3

2

1

9

0

7.2

11

9

8

1

1

1

4

1

- 8.    HIV/AIDS

8.1

12

6

3

2

0

0

1

0

8.2

37

30

33

17

7

0

7

2

Strategic objective: Strengthen tripartism and social dialogue

- 9.    Employers’ organizations

9.1

10

15

13

6

2

0

3

2

9.2

33

25

41

13

12

3

8

5

9.3

27

20

34

8

11

1

10

4

- 10.  Workers’ organizations

10.1

39

49

38

11

15

2

7

3

10.2

24

29

28

10

6

3

6

3

- 11.  Labour administration and labour law

11.1

9

10

4

1

3

0

0

0

11.2

11

13

14

4

4

1

5

0

11.3

9

9

4

1

0

1

2

0

- 12.  Social dialogue and industrial relations

12.1

14

13

12

8

2

1

1

0

12.2

12

10

16

6

2

1

5

2

- 13.  Decent work in economic sectors

13.1

12

4

7

2

1

0

2

2

13.2

19

10

12

2

4

1

5

0

Strategic objective: Promote and realize standards and fundamental principles and rights at work

- 14.  Freedom of association and collective bargaining

14.1

7

16

9

3

2

0

3

1

14.2

3

3

2

0

0

1

1

0

- 15.  Forced labour

15.1

8

8

8

1

3

0

4

0

- 16.  Child labour

16.1

50

30

39

9

15

3

8

4

16.2

66

32

61

17

17

3

14

10

- 17.  Discrimination at work

17.1

7

16

12

3

4

1

4

0

- 18.  International labour standards

18.1

125

40

36

8

13

2

8

5

18.2

10

5

3

0

0

1

1

1

18.3

1

20

1

0

0

0

1

0

18.4

20

16

17

10

1

0

5

1

Policy coherence

- 19.  Mainstreaming decent work

19.1

9

16

6

3

1

0

2

0

19.2

2

5

3

0

0

0

0

0

2.2.2.Strengthened statistical capacities of constituents and the Office

- 29.  The statistical capacities of constituents were strengthened through regional and global initiatives. In 2015, through the International Training Centre in Turin (Turin Centre), the ILO launched a new Labour Market Statistics and Analysis Academy targeting labour statisticians, policy-makers and senior managers. In follow-up to resolutions adopted in 2013 at the 19th International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS), tripartite working groups were formed for specific purposes, such as revising the International Classification of Status in Employment (ICSE–93), sharing good practices and developing a workplan for setting international standards on labour migration statistics, and preparing a manual on methodologies to measure earnings and other work-related income. In follow-up to the resolution concerning statistics of work, employment and labour underutilization, pilot studies were launched in ten countries to test various question sequences and identify the best basis for measurement in line with the new standards. This initiative was launched in collaboration with the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the United Nations Foundation. Recommendations based on these areas of work will be submitted in 2018 at the 20th ICLS.

- 30.  Efforts to collect and disseminate statistics on each of the four pillars of the Decent Work Agenda were intensified and, as a result, the central statistics database, ILOSTAT, was expanded from 8 million to over 35 million data values. This work entailed disseminating new data collections for the Global Wage Report, social security indicators, and labour migration data on the ASEAN countries and updating and consolidating the collection of yearly indicators, labour force estimates and projections and the global database on youth labour market indicators, Youthstats. In addition, the Key Indicators of the Labour Market (KILM), ninth edition, was produced.

- 31.  The incorporation of the Decent Work Agenda into the SDGs will offer new opportunities as the Office begins to collect statistics for measuring progress. During the first part of the 2016–17 biennium, the Statistics Department will carry out detailed preparatory work to finalize the specific indicators against which progress will be measured.

2.2.3.Increased visibility and accessibility of the ILO’s work through communication and knowledge sharing

- 32.  In 2014, the Office released the ILO knowledge portal (http://www.ilo.org/global/regions/lang--en/index.htm), which enables the collection, aggregation and sharing of country-specific information and data in areas of strategic knowledge. Accessible through a single entry point, it can be navigated by region, country and country grouping.

- 33.  The number of visitors to the fully integrated ILO website increased steadily during the review period; it receives 980,000 visits, representing 670,000 people, and 3.5 million page views per month. Its content has been enhanced through well-defined thematic and country portals that break down information silos. The website can be viewed through a range of devices, enhancing user experience and content accessibility. New agreements with digital partners will continue to expand the dissemination of specific ILO applications and “mobile-friendly” electronic publications. These mobile applications and interactive digital narratives communicate the Organization’s technical advice, statistics, research and policy to a broad range of constituents in innovative and engaging ways. The ILO InfoStories are an example of this new approach.

- 34.  Dissemination of ILO materials through the website and on mobile platforms is enhanced by an integrated social media presence on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Flickr and YouTube. The initial Twitter following of 25,000 in April 2013 has grown to more than 62,500 as at September 2015. ILO publications and applications accounts have been created with Amazon, Apple and Google and e-books and applications are available on these major platforms. Framework agreements have been established with nine digital vendors with a view to the inclusion of over 400 ILO publications in their subscription databases, thematic collections or individual loan or sale services. These partnerships are particularly effective in increasing the visibility of ILO research through libraries and academic institutions in Anglophone Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and North America.

- 35.  The ILO Microdata Repository was fully introduced and updated in 2014 to provide a single point of access to microdata files for researchers and analysts. The catalogue includes microdata sets for some 700 studies with descriptive metadata and related resources, documented according to international standards. The aim of a centralized repository is to avoid duplication of efforts when several officials require the same microdata files.

2.2.4.Capacity development through the International Training Centre of the ILO, Turin

- 36.  In 2014–15, the Turin Centre hosted 23,422 students from 196 countries and territories in courses that covered the Organization’s main policy areas and the broader international development agenda. The largest group of participants came from Africa, followed by the Americas, and Asia and the Pacific (figure 2). Government, employer and worker participants numbered about 16,000, distributed as indicated in figure 3. In addition to the programme of standard courses, offered primarily on the Turin campus, tailor-made training activities were delivered both on the campus and at the regional, subregional and country levels.

- 37.  The Turin Centre’s role in ILO staff development expanded considerably during the review period with 1,686 staff members attending its training courses.

Figure 2. Distribution of participants by region (2014–15)

Source: International Training Centre of the ILO, Turin.

Figure 3. Distribution of participants from tripartite constituent organizations (2014–15)

Source: International Training Centre of the ILO, Turin.

- 38.  The Turin Centre made a proactive contribution to the development and implementation of each ACI. This included reorganizing its training offer and monitoring implementation (40 per cent of the Centre’s activities during the biennium were related to one or more of these areas), developing relevant training tools and services and upgrading and updating existing ones. For example, in close collaboration with ILO technical departments and field offices, it launched new global academies on Formalization of the Informal Economy and Decent Work in the Rural Economy.

- 39.  In 2014, the Centre continued to strengthen its quality assurance by introducing annual independent evaluations of its training services and refining its tools for tracking customer satisfaction. It also enhanced the quality of participants’ service experience by introducing IT-enhanced training. Online learning platforms were expanded to facilitate communication and information dissemination and Massive Open Online Courses were offered to expand outreach while bringing down service costs.

- 40.  The regional dimension of the Centre’s activities remains one of its major comparative advantages. It complements the portfolio of interregional training courses offered on campus and adds to the relevance of the Centre’s training portfolio, thus contributing to regional, subregional and country-specific outcomes.

- 41.  The Turin Centre is further aligning its learning and capacity development efforts with the ILO through a new strategic plan (2016–17), approved by the Governing Body in November 2015, which takes into account lessons from the previous plan and is based on a sustainability strategy with three interdependent and mutually reinforcing pillars: development, financing and management. It places increased emphasis on greater involvement of the Centre in: scheduling and planning ILO activities; large-scale and longer-term projects; more strategic focus on resource mobilization; development of new products and services; increased use of learning technology; and improvement of infrastructure by greening operations.

2.3.Review of lessons learned

2.3.1.Building on lessons learned from the 2012–13 outcome strategies

- 42.  In 2014–15, the strategies of the 19 outcomes built on the lessons learned, identified in ILO programme implementation 2012–13 prioritize with fewer, bigger and better integrated programmes; achieve more by working in partnership with others; results take time and interventions should be planned and coordinated accordingly; and develop core tools and products which can be used rapidly to scale up and expand outreach.

- 43.  Among the examples of prioritization with fewer, bigger and better integrated programmes, the activities carried out under outcome 15, on forced labour, covered over 20 member States but focused on achieving results in a subset of eight countries with technical assistance tailored to and targeting four key sectors: agriculture and food processing; fishing; manufacturing; and domestic work. Experience in countries such as Jordan, Myanmar and Tunisia illustrates how work is undertaken with interrelated, interdependent and mutually supportive interventions that can yield more significant results across different outcomes, each completing and reinforcing the others. Under outcome 17, efforts to address discrimination at work have paid particular attention to three areas: gender, indigenous people and disability. Although results were achieved in 12 countries, many more have benefited from ILO training and promotional materials on non-discrimination in employment.

- 44.  Disability is one area in which results have been leveraged through partnerships. The United Nations Partnership to Promote the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNPRPD) funded programmes in China, Indonesia and Viet Nam, complementing the work done by the ILO in these countries. The UNPRPD has strengthened cooperation with the UN agencies that promote the rights of persons with disabilities and increased the impact of the ILO’s work in this area. With regard to outcome 16, strong partnerships have strengthened the efforts of constituents and other actors to ensure sustained progress towards the elimination of child labour; the work conducted under the Organization’s business-led Child Labour Platform is one such example. Platform members have agreed to share their successes and failures in addressing child labour in their industries and companies as lessons learned.

- 45.  Policy work cuts across all outcomes and builds on coordinating approaches based on realistic time frames, many of which span more than one biennium. For example, work under outcome 14 on the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining typically involves not just policy or legislative, but also attitudinal change, modifying and/or implementing the policies relating to these rights. During the biennium, while many countries made progress with regard to freedom of association and collective bargaining in the EPZs, this did not always translate into reportable results. In the exceptions, such as Bangladesh, these results built on sustained technical assistance and capacity-building support over a period of several years. Advances were also made in the understanding and promotion of freedom of association and collective bargaining in the rural sector and the agrifood value chain, including the development of an intervention model that guides plantation constituents’ efforts to give effect to these rights. In Tunisia, with ILO assistance, the nation’s first collective agreement, which covers over 500,000 agricultural workers and builds on interdisciplinary work in various technical areas over a number of biennia, was signed in October 2015.

- 46.  For many outcomes, a set of core tools and products has been developed in order to achieve scale and outreach, including by strengthening the capacity of workers’ and employers’ organizations. The Enabling Environment for Sustainable Enterprises (EESE) methodology and toolkit have proved their usefulness in constituents’ efforts to develop and promote policy agendas for improving the enabling environment for sustainable enterprises. For example, they have helped employers’ organizations to engage with policy-makers and propose change on the basis of empirical evidence and have led to studies on monitoring and learning as critical elements that can maximize the effectiveness of the policy process. The Office has also increased scale and outreach of its interventions through the Massive Open Online Courses, administered by the Global Labour University, which provide a comprehensive introduction to international labour standards from a multidisciplinary perspective. With over 3,000 participants from more than 50 countries, these courses have facilitated the development of new forms of international networking between trade unionists and the inclusion of young workers and activists who are often difficult to reach with more traditional forms of adult education.

- 47.  More detailed information on lessons learned, achievements and deliverables for each of the 19 outcomes is available online at: www.ilo.org/program.

2.3.2.Lessons learned from the areas of critical importance

- 48.  An important component of the Office’s work in 2014–15 concerned the eight ACIs, each of which combines work under several of the 19 outcomes. They were formulated to address the multidimensional challenges confronting ILO constituents in the world of work, drawing on expertise from several technical units at headquarters and from field offices.

- 49.  Knowledge sharing in these areas involved online resource platforms and e-dialogues, regular team meetings using videoconferencing, and periodic town hall meetings that brought field and headquarters staff together in high-level dialogues. Later during the biennium, the establishment of relevant global technical teams further strengthened this modus operandi.

- 50.  Box 2 shows specific lessons learned in each ACI, although many of them resonate across multiple areas.

2.3.3.Lessons learned from the work on capacity development for policy reform

- 51.  The following practical lessons learned are derived from capacity development with constituents.

- 52.  Capacity development is not only a technical process, but also a results-driven project. External actors (such as donors, international agencies and consultancy firms) can do little to facilitate change; unless it is owned and led by constituents, it is unlikely to occur or to be sustainable and unless the Organization has a clear idea of where it is going and why, capacity development efforts may well fail.

- 53.  Workshops are not the answer; there is an over-emphasis on their ability to influence individual and organizational practices. Workshops and training modules can raise awareness about an issue, introduce new topics and develop skills but do not promote transformative change, which occurs only when individuals are able to test and reflect on tools, methods and approaches over a longer period of time. However, it is unlikely that workshop participants will take the initiative in using new tools, especially those that appear complicated; without follow-up support, they are likely to fall back on previous practices.

Box 2.Selected lessons learned from work in the ACIs

Promoting more and better jobs for inclusive growth entailed an integrated approach and close synergy between analytical research and its practical application to advisory services at the country level. Of particular importance was the need to balance mutually supportive initiatives with the need to avoid overlapping and duplication.

Jobs and skills for youth built on a substantial body of ongoing work, including with external partners, which called for sustained commitment to common goals, priorities and workplans. A significant investment of time and effort was needed in order to build awareness and foster the sharing of good practices for youth employment, including by organizing inter- and subregional capacity-building events as a complement to country-level work.

Creating and extending social protection floors involved extensive global collaboration and advocacy, facilitated by knowledge products such as: the World Social Protection Report, policy papers and briefs; global and regional policy initiatives and events; and strategic engagement in policy debates with other international organizations and stakeholders. In an observable multiplier effect, the UN and other multilateral agencies adopted the concept of social protection floors and promoted rights-based approaches with explicit reference to, or in the spirit of, the Social Protection Floors Recommendation, 2012 (No. 202).

Productivity and working conditions in SMEs were addressed through a sectoral approach that increased efficiency and specificity, allowing the ILO to tailor its services and tools to specific needs and national contexts. Embedding ILO approaches and methodologies in national institutional frameworks, implemented by governments and social partners as part of their agenda, enhanced continuity and scale. Integrated policy advice and technical support enriched these approaches and made them more relevant.

Decent work in the rural economy called for multidisciplinary and integrated interventions targeting the most vulnerable, and based on a longer-term strategic approach in order to enhance the sustainability and impact of interventions. The most effective efforts built on the ILO’s values and comparative advantage and combined thematic and sectoral empirical evidence, including data collection and dissemination, country-level policy development, dissemination of good practices and strong partnerships with national constituents and international institutions.

Formalization of the informal economy required a wide range of strategies and interventions attuned to national circumstances and to the complex and multifaceted nature of informality in different country settings. In order to ensure coordination and coherence across related policy areas, a unifying framework of formalization was used with a focus on clearly identified thematic priorities, leading to greater synergy, impact and economies of scale.

Strengthening workplace compliance through labour inspection fostered innovative and integrated approaches with ongoing dialogue among tripartite constituents that enhanced commitment and ownership and demonstrated that compliance can only be achieved when considered in a holistic manner that extends beyond labour inspection.

Protecting workers from unacceptable forms of work involved pioneering efforts to develop a solid conceptual foundation for unacceptable forms of work (UFW), clarify its operational implications and ensure ownership of related initiatives. These efforts confirmed that UFW are the result of failures in several policy domains, beginning with denial of fundamental principles and rights at work. It also showed that a focus on the workers and sectors in which protection needs are most acute pays off. Sustainable results require both eliminating egregious labour practices and changing the conditions that render particular workers powerless and vulnerable. Consistent attention to the causes underlying UFW and the concerns expressed by ILO supervisory bodies has created a virtuous cycle of the latter’s comments and the Office’s policy advice and assistance.

- 54.  Not only technical skills, but also relationships, are important. Because other staff members and colleagues are critical in making change happen, it is difficult for workshop participants to put theory into practice. Therefore, capacity development should focus not only on the skills used to produce technical results, such as policy engagement plans and monitoring tools, but also on those needed in order to build more effective interpersonal relationships within the organization.

- 55.  Organizational constraints must be acknowledged. Constituents will have other concerns besides policy engagement; in particular, many social partners face resource constraints, have limited staff and allocate most of their capacity to providing services to their members. Plans, if made, are rarely implemented and organizations usually react to issues as they emerge.

- 56.  It is important to clarify demand; during the inception phase of a capacity development process, sufficient time should be devoted to discussing its ramifications within the organization. The time and resources to be allocated, the people to be involved and their responsibilities, must be clarified at the outset. Staff need to have a clear idea of their capacity development needs in the context of the organization’s policy engagement.

- 57.  The organizational context must be understood and existing capacities built on. Understanding the organizational culture is vital in ensuring that tools and approaches are appropriate. It is often better to improve on what an organization is already doing, or introduce new approaches that build on those with which it is already comfortable, rather than introducing comprehensive new initiatives. It is sometimes more effective to promote peer-to-peer exposure through, for example, exchanges between social partners in different countries and to focus on strengthening not only technical expertise, but also relationships and trust.

2.3.4.Lessons learned from evaluations

- 58.  The evaluation function in the ILO provides a wealth of insight into the Office’s effectiveness in achieving its objectives through a set of harmonized evaluation practices. Box 3 highlights critical gaps affecting the monitoring and evaluation of large-scale ILO projects.

- 59.  The Annual Evaluation Report 2014–15 underscores the continued need to invest in more robust theories of change in project documents, combined with reliable and regular monitoring and reporting mechanisms. It further notes that there has been a marked improvement in the way in which lessons learned and good practices are formulated and captured in project evaluations. The launch of a new Evaluation Office (EVAL) Knowledge Sharing Platform marked a substantial improvement in connecting regional and headquarters evaluation networks and strengthening the ILO evaluation culture. The Platform has become a repository for the collection of emerging good practices.

Box 3.Critical gaps identified through evaluability assessments

- •  An explanation of the programme’s theory of change is generally absent or insufficient.

- •  Logical frameworks fail to identify all results, often confusing outputs with outcomes.

- •  The clarity and completeness of performance indicators are often problematic.

- •  The performance measurement strategy has serious gaps with data/information sources and feasible measurement strategies are not identified.

- •  There is little or no monitoring of factors other than project activities that might influence movement along the results chain and, ultimately, the success of the project.

- •  Monitoring and evaluation plans often require a more systematic, structured and comprehensive approach to data collection and reporting, including assigned accountability for data collection.

- •  Monitoring and evaluation plans are frequently ignored or given too low a priority during implementation.

3.Managing for delivery

- 60.  The effective use of human and financial resources is fundamental in delivering on the results outlined elsewhere in this implementation report.

3.1.Staffing and human resource development

- 61.  Table 2 shows the staffing situation as at 31 December 2015. The total ILO staff numbers 2,895, an increase of 78 as compared with 31 December 2014, with 1,705 (58.9 per cent) funded from the regular budget and 1,190 (41.1 per cent) from extra-budgetary resources. Of the staff members financed from the regular budget, 43.8 per cent are based in the regions and 56.9 per cent of the posts in the regions are financed from extra-budgetary resources.

- 62.  In 2014–15, the ILO spent US$6.7 million on centrally directed staff development activities for both regular budget and extra-budgetary staff (table 3). The total of just over 9,000 participants represents 2,558 individuals as many staff members were involved in multiple events (an average of 7.4 days per person). In the regions, some 34 per cent of the total number of training days were devoted to governance (including the internal governance e-learning programme) and 21 per cent to the accelerated roll-out of the Integrated Resource Information System (IRIS); at headquarters, language courses accounted for 58 per cent of the total.

Table 2.ILO staff as at 31 December 2015, by location and funding source

Regular budget

Extrabudgetary*

Total

Headquarters

958

204

1 162

Regions

747

986

1 733

Africa

220

265

485

Americas

173

105

278

Arab States

38

38

76

Asia and the Pacific

240

520

760

Europe and Central Asia

76

58

134

Total

1 705

1 190

2 895

* Including Junior Professional Officers.

Table 3.Staff development at the ILO – Centrally directed activities

Category

Amount (US$)

Number of days of training

Number of participants

GS staff

P staff and above (incl. National Officers)

Leadership

1 645 002

1 277

6

456

IRIS

1 598 527

2 280

1 860

1 593

Languages

924 199

6 750

362

771

Induction/personal effectiveness

902 150

1 574

415

309

Governance

467 372

3 502

735

1 281

ILOPeople

457 304

208

189

146

Global technical initiatives

346 616

1 257

42

265

Teamwork and collaboration

243 937

1 240

90

379

Communication

129 148

879

56

115

Research

20 509

58

0

14

Total

6 734 764

19 026

3 755

5 329

- 63.  A further US$4.5 million in staff development funds were devolved to departments and field offices and overseen by a worldwide network of learning coordinators. New tools introduced in 2014–15 have facilitated consolidated reporting on these funds. In line with the priorities for the biennium, about half (49 per cent) were used for technical upgrading, that is, learning activities related to enhancing the expertise of ILO staff in their respective fields of work, and 18 per cent were spent on teambuilding activities (for example retreats). Longterm training programmes such as language study and degree/certification programmes are among the most learning intensive activities. With regard to gender balance, 56 per cent of the participants were women compared to centrally directed activities, where women accounted for 61 per cent of the participants.

3.2.Expenditure and financial delivery

- 64.  In 2014–15, the ILO spent US$605.7 million under the strategic part of the regular budget, financed through the assessed contributions of member States; US$429.7 million from voluntary extra-budgetary technical cooperation (XBTC) resources; and US$32 million under the RBSA.

Table 4.ILO expenditure by outcome, 2014–15 (US$)

Regular budget

XBTC*

RBSA

Employment

Employment promotion

84 014 105

108 589 302

8 214 118

Skills development

43 809 336

41 656 007

2 901 818

Sustainable enterprises

54 900 307

51 043 642

3 170 865

Subtotal

182 723 748

201 288 951

14 286 801

Social protection

Social security

39 835 071

8 575 736

4 385 536

Working conditions

23 198 615

3 815 210

2 422 589

Occupational safety and health

34 751 709

1 970 594

248 078

Labour migration

14 510 687

22 276 107

1 629 860

HIV/AIDS

7 301 556

13 963 049

0

Subtotal

119 597 638

50 600 696

8 686 063

Social dialogue

Employers’ organizations

36 600 204

4 147 503

1 045 246

Workers’ organizations

50 279 069

6 931 728

360 720

Labour administration and labour law

24 307 711

22 649 854

1 712 738

Social dialogue and industrial relations

25 509 233

9 961 873

1 352 046

Decent work in economic sectors

26 988 030

24 794 343

1 913 700

Subtotal

163 684 247

68 485 301

6 384 450

Standards and fundamental principles and rights at work

Freedom of association and collective bargaining

17 283 430

10 566 016

265 370

Forced labour

5 268 211

7 823 244

129 297

Child labour

12 477 343

53 319 687

701 266

Discrimination at work

12 200 068

6 627 706

15 588

International labour standards

71 906 462

16 679 734

1 427 218

Subtotal

119 135 514

95 016 387

2 538 739

Policy coherence

Mainstreaming decent work

20 518 296

14 309 955

126 476

Total strategic objectives and policy coherence

605 659 443

429 701 290

32 022 529

* Figures exclude programme support income and governance, support and management outcomes.

- 65.  Some broad trends can be drawn from table 4. Regular budget expenditure is broadly in line with the budget established at the outset of the biennium in terms of both overall spending and the distribution of spending between strategic objectives. Extra-budgetary funding amounts to 71 per cent of the strategic regular budget. Some outcomes, including outcome 16 on child labour and outcome 8 on HIV/AIDS, are particularly dependent on voluntary funding (relative to the regular budget). Voluntary funding is concentrated in employment (47 per cent) and standards and fundamental principles and rights at work (22 per cent). The strategic objectives on employment and social protection received approximately 45 and 27 per cent of RBSA expenditure, respectively.

Table 5.Extra-budgetary technical cooperation contributions by source of funds (US$ thousands)

Source of funds

2012–13

2014–15

US$ thousands

% share

US$ thousands

% share

Multi-bilateral development partners

352 487

70.8

282 258

60.9

Domestic development funding

18 702

3.8

23 256

5.0

Public–private partnerships[1]

18 235

3.7

26 236

5.7

Social partners

650

0.1

1 300

0.3

International financial institutions (banks)

19 667

4.0

22 031

4.8

United Nations[2]

49 591

10.0

52 011

11.2

Other intergovernmental organizations[3]

38 535

7.7

56 392

12.2

Total

497 866

100.0

463 484

100.0

[1] Includes foundations, public institutions, private sector initiatives and others.

[2] Includes projects financed through multi-partner trust funds, joint programmes and One UN funds.

[3] Includes the European Commission, the Arab Gulf Programme for Development (AGFUND), the OECD, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

3.2.1.ILO extra-budgetary expenditure in 2014–15

- 66.  The Development Cooperation Strategy 2015–17, adopted by the Governing Body in November 2015, positions the ILO in the changing global development cooperation landscape and responds to evaluation findings, including the independent evaluation of the ILO’s strategy for Technical Cooperation 2010–15. The objective of the Strategy is to provide constituents with better services, including capacity development and the reinforcement of tripartism, in order to better deliver decent work outcomes at all levels. The Strategy calls for a greater focus on priorities, effectiveness for impact, capacity development for policy change and resource mobilization through mutual and accountable partnerships.

- 67.  Extra-budgetary expenditure totalled just under US$430 million in 2014–15, exceeding the target of US$385 million established in the programme and budget. The financial delivery rate of extra-budgetary projects was maintained at around 80 per cent, higher than over the previous decade. Building on its engagement with the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) and the Development Cooperation Dashboard, the Office has made further progress in publishing data according to the IATI and OECD/Development Assistance Committee (DAC) reporting requirements.[1] Multi-bilateral contributions from selected ILO member States continue to dominate the Organization’s extra-budgetary funding with a total of US$463.5 million mobilized in 2014–15 (see table 5). However, new partners are also making contributions in the form of public–private partnerships and direct trust funds or within the framework of South– South and triangular cooperation, increasing the diversification of the ILO’s development cooperation portfolio.

- 68.  The top 20 donors account for 94 per cent and the top five donors for 47 per cent of total extra-budgetary approvals in 2014–15 (table 6).

- 69.  Further progress was made in 2014–15 in clustering projects to achieve economies of scale, grouping multiple donors to a single programme and decentralizing development cooperation management to the field offices. An example is the Ready-Made Garment Programme in Bangladesh where three donors (Canada, Netherlands and United Kingdom) are jointly funding a single programme with uniform reporting. Another example is the Sustaining Competitive and Responsible Enterprises (SCORE) programme, where Norway and Switzerland support a global programme and subprojects under one umbrella in a number of countries.

Table 6.Top 20 contributors to the ILO’s extra-budgetary funding in 2014–15

Contributor

US$ thousands

European Commission

53 434

United Nations

52 011

United States

49 092

Sweden

38 149

Public–private partnerships

26 236

Switzerland

25 105

Domestic development funding

23 256

International financial institutions (banks)

22 031

Netherlands

21 406

Norway

20 817

France

17 178

Australia

16 652

Canada

15 409

Japan

11 033

Denmark

10 211

Brazil

8 508

Republic of Korea

8 317

Germany

7 035

Italy

5 310

Finland

5 292

Total

436 484

- 70.  During the biennium, the ILO’s quality assurance mechanism for development cooperation projects reviewed 484 project proposals from the point of view of design quality, risk, field security and management arrangements in line with the renewed decentralization policy. In 2015, the Office piloted the first staff development Academy on Development Cooperation with some 70, mostly field-based, participants and about 40 resource persons from the ILO as well as from external organizations. The Academy was well evaluated and the assessment of its application in the workplace was positive.

3.2.2.The Regular Budget Supplementary Account (RBSA)

- 71.  The RBSA provides donors with a modality for contributing non-earmarked funding to the ILO in full compliance with the OECD–DAC guidelines. RBSA resources enable the Office to allocate funds within the strategic framework when and where they are most needed in an independent, flexible and rapid manner as a complement to other ILO resources. They also enable it to serve those thematic areas and member States that do not attract voluntary contributions as easily as others. RBSA expenditure in the biennium totalled US$32 million compared to a US$25 million estimate at the beginning of the biennium. Donors to the RBSA funding modality in 2014–15 are shown in table 7 below.

Table 7.Donors to the RBSA, 2014–15 (US$ million)

Donor country

US$ million

Belgium

11.208

Denmark

8.534

Netherlands

6.784

Norway

5.942

Sweden

3.050

Germany

2.341

Luxembourg

1.949

Italy

0.485

Total

40.293

- 72.  In 2014–15, the primary focus of RBSA allocations was to support work under the eight ACIs, giving priority to low- and lower-middle-income countries and fragile States. About a fifth of all country programme outcome results received funding through the RBSA and over 90 per cent of those allocations fell within the ACIs.

3.3.Organizational effectiveness

- 73.  Improving organizational effectiveness with a view to enhancing service delivery to constituents has been a key objective of the reform agenda. Under the results-based management principles, governance, support and management functions pursue two general objectives: effective and efficient use of all ILO resources, and effective and efficient governance of the Organization.

- 74.  The 2014–15 biennium saw the end of the implementation period for the five management strategies covering knowledge, information technology, human resource development, technical cooperation and evaluation. Progress in four of these areas is addressed in this chapter; information on the knowledge strategy is included in section 2.2 above.

- 75.  The results tables for the two outcomes, together with detailed tables for the information technology, human resource development, technical cooperation and knowledge strategies, are available online at: www.ilo.org/program. Detailed reporting information on the evaluation strategy can be found in the Annual Evaluation Report 2014–15, available online at: www.ilo.org/gb/GBSessions/GB325/pfa/WCMS_413814/lang--en/index.htm.

3.3.1.Outcome 1: Effective and efficient use of all ILO resources

Programming

- 76.  Efforts have focused on strengthening the role of DWCPs as the primary framework for ILO support at country level. By the end of 2015, DWCPs were active in 69 member States with another 33 country programmes under development. Eleven new DWCPs became active during the biennium with the full participation of the tripartite constituents. The major factors influencing the Office’s capacity to promote DWCPs are still the social dialogue environment and practices in each country. Support in this area, along with efforts to strengthen constituents’ capacity and increase their involvement in the monitoring and oversight of DWCP implementation, will be key areas of the ILO’s work during the period 2016–17 with a view to enhancing ownership and impact.

- 77.  The Office has continued to monitor progress towards the targets established in the programme and budget for the biennium. This is handled through twice-yearly outcome-based workplan reviews and regular expenditure reviews based on discussion and collaboration on work planning and resource allocation between staff in the regions and at headquarters. In 2014–15, special emphasis was placed on reviewing progress in fulfilling commitments on the ACIs and taking stock of lessons learned from the implementation of DWCPs.

- 78.  The Office continues to invest in developing the results-based management capacity of its staff. An internal governance manual on programming was issued to complement an e-learning module developed in 2012–13. Pursuant to field reform decisions, a specific training course for programme officers was developed and piloted, in collaboration with the Turin Centre and the Human Resources Department, in order to enhance the programming capacity of local staff in Africa, the Arab States, and Europe and Central Asia. In 2016–17, the course will be rolled out in Asia and the Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean.

- 79.  The Office has stepped up its cooperation with the UN system as a whole in preparing for implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The ILO participated actively in the United Nations High-Level Committee on Programmes and in the United Nations Development Group (UNDG) Programme Working Group to ensure that issues related to the world of work are reflected in papers submitted to the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB) for adoption. ILO leadership contributed to the strategy document for the Global Initiative on Decent Jobs for Youth, which was endorsed by the CEB in November 2015. The Programme Working Group, in particular, has reviewed the guidance for UN country teams on common country programming in the context of the SDGs through enhanced integration of planning, programming and policy support. In parallel, the ILO guidelines for DWCPs have been reviewed and new guidance on their preparation will be issued in early 2016.

- 80.  Drawing on lessons learned from the implementation of the Strategic Policy Framework 2010–15, the results framework for 2016–17 has been refocused on a limited number of outcomes; the goal is to bring critical mass and interdisciplinary approaches to bear in order to ensure real impact. The new framework continues to be backed by a firm commitment to results-based management accompanied by a strengthened measurement methodology. Work was undertaken to introduce a marker system for assessing the contribution of country programme outcomes, and of global policy outcomes in the aggregate, to the cross-cutting policy drivers of gender equality and non-discrimination, international labour standards and social dialogue. The IRIS Strategic Management Module has been revised to reflect these improvements.

Human resource development

- 81.  In 2014–15, significant progress towards the four key Human Resources (HR) Strategy outcomes was made. A wide range of talent and leadership initiatives enhanced managerial capacity to engage, motivate and develop the Office’s staff and new recruitment, and selection and mobility procedures introduced new tools for promoting diversity and improving geographical distribution. The Office has developed a variety of capacity-building activities that empower managers to tackle performance issues, as well as specific programmes to enhance internal governance and overall accountability.

- 82.  These activities were implemented in connection with the overall reform process, which also led to a significant number of new initiatives in the area of human resource management. In addition to the outcomes established at the outset of implementation of the HR Strategy, the Office updated key HR policies to create an enabling environment for the overall aims of the reform by removing internal constraints, facilitating change management and encouraging team work; this added complexity to the planning and monitoring of the Strategy. Efforts were also made to ensure that new activities involving changes in key HR policies were carried out within the Office’s internal industrial relations framework after consultation with staff representatives in the Joint Negotiating Committee and other internal bodies.

- 83.  The Office has reviewed working methods and cooperation between headquarters and field offices with a view to improving overall delivery and fostering collaboration, particularly between ongoing programmes and specific development cooperation activities. The main roles and responsibilities of all structures, from country offices to Decent Work Teams, regional offices and headquarters services, were examined. A new staff mobility policy was introduced with the goal of building a sustainable staffing model that, within the framework of the Staff Regulations and the rules established by the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), provides real opportunities and incentives for geographical and functional mobility. A dedicated capacity-building and support programme for field office managers and staff was developed with the Turin Centre and other activities are being planned in order to ensure the ongoing technical upgrading of specialists at both headquarters and field level, using the new Global Technical Team approach to strengthen cooperation, increase impact in the regions and facilitate knowledge sharing.

- 84.  One of the lessons learned from the implementation period is that information technology (IT), properly geared to meet HR management needs, is a key requirement in streamlining processes and improving effectiveness. Achieving a critical mass with regard to technological capacity will be instrumental in achieving further HR targets.

Information technology

- 85.  Synergies have been achieved by consolidating and streamlining IT resources and functions in implementation of the reform agenda. A staff survey showed overall satisfaction with IT services increased by 14 per cent over 2012–13.

- 86.  The ILO’s revised IT Governance Committee (ITGC) adopted a charter and met frequently over the course of the biennium to set strategic priorities and ensure that long-term costs and risks associated with all proposed IT initiatives were carefully analysed and considered before approval was granted.

- 87.  Eighty-five per cent of all initiatives linked to the five-year (2012–16) IT infrastructure transformation project have been completed. The ILO’s Data Centre has been modernized to protect ILO information assets and investment in technology and ensure that its IT infrastructure is better positioned to improve service delivery, bring added value, support new ways of working and facilitate innovation. An integrated set of technologies to support email, instant messaging, videoconferencing to the desktop, file sharing, single sign-on and other services at headquarters and field offices has also improved communication, collaboration and knowledge sharing across the Office.

- 88.  The roll-out of IRIS human resources, payroll, self-service leave, strategic management and certain technical cooperation functionalities to all ILO field offices was completed in October 2015 as planned. The consolidation of all staff information in IRIS improved the accuracy of data, facilitated the harmonization of contracts management across the Office and enhanced reporting on staff resources. The replacement of 41 local systems by a single IRIS payroll made it possible to redeploy local finance staff to other important activities.

- 89.  The implementation of IRIS in 41 external offices during the biennium required strict adherence to established timelines, which put a strain on external offices. In some cases, local operations took precedence over the IRIS rollout activities and, as a result, key staff missed critical training and were thus unprepared to operate in a new environment. The IRIS user base doubled in size, requiring the implementation team to provide extensive operational support to live offices while planning the rollout to remaining locations. In addition, most regional offices did not have the capacity to provide effective first-level support to the offices in their regions, thereby increasing the support burden on headquarters.

- 90.  Planning is under way in an effort to accelerate the roll-out of the remaining finance, budget and procurement modules to all field offices, taking into account the lessons learned from the 2014–15 implementation.

- 91.  In addition to the projects associated with infrastructure transformation and the rollout of IRIS to field offices, over 100 other IT initiatives in support of the Office’s administrative and substantive work were implemented during the biennium. A detailed listing of these projects is available online at: http://www.ilo.org/public/english/support/itcom/index.htm.

- 92.  During the biennium, a number of new priorities significantly increased the demand for ITenabled solutions. The results of the 2015 administrative review survey also highlighted the increased importance of IT for the Organization’s digital future. The remaining challenges include the search for a balance between centralized and decentralized IT infrastructure, functions and services.

- 93.  Addressing a significant increase in cybercrime, malware and other cyberthreats during the biennium required significant investment and effort. In addition to remedial action in response to 60 IT-related findings from 22 internal and external audits, the Office introduced a number of other controls to monitor, assess and prevent cyberattacks. These included implementing a host-based intrusion prevention system; locking down the desktop; improving anti-virus software and spam filters; modernizing and consolidating the field IT infrastructure; improving the recovery of data in the event of a disaster; running real-time predictive analytics on log files captured from PCs, servers and network equipment; and strengthening the Organization’s password policy and developing an information security staff awareness programme. The ILO also partnered with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in the development of the UN cyberintelligence threat platform, which improved the Office’s ability to take preventative measures in the event of a cyber-attack within the common system. Demand for improved information security assurance and compliance will increase with the proliferation of consumer devices in the workplace and the provision of IT services in the cloud in support of mobile working.

Development cooperation

- 94.  The Office has expanded core voluntary funding under the RBSA from US$36 million in 2012–13 to over US$40 million in 2014–15 and has maintained existing longstanding partnerships. By the end of 2015, it had a portfolio of 600 projects with 120 development partners in more than 100 countries. Diversification of the ILO’s partnership base is ongoing; 92 new public–private partnerships were signed in 2014–15; the share of domestic development funding in total XBTC increased from 3.8 per cent in 2012–13 to 5 per cent in 2014–15; and ten new partnerships were signed with middle-income countries and South–South and triangular cooperation partners, as compared with six in 2012–13. South–South and triangular cooperation is a growing and complementary modality for development cooperation and has gained momentum, especially under the impetus of Brazil, Russian Federation, India, China and South Africa (the BRICS countries). South–South and triangular cooperation contributions accounted for over US$15 million, primarily from Brazil, India and South Africa but also including contributions from Algeria, Panama, the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) and other partners.

- 95.  ILO allocations under UN-pooled funding, especially in development funds, decreased with approvals in the amount of US$23 million reflecting an overall decrease in contributions to these multi-partners development trust funds. However, the centrality of ILO policy priorities in UN government programme assistance (under the United Nations Development Action Framework (UNDAF) and UN One Programmes) led to the development of numerous inter-agency projects at the country and global levels. Global partnerships with UN agencies are expanding; the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), the United Nations Office for South–South Cooperation (UNOSSC) and the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) have approached the ILO to request cooperation through the renewal of agreements, including for work on the SDGs.

- 96.  As a member of the UNDG, the ILO continues to engage actively in operational policy aspects of cooperation, especially within the framework of the second generation of Delivering as One countries and joint programming for UN system-wide coherence. It has endorsed the UNDG standard operating procedures for countries adopting the Delivering as One approach, participated in the review of the UNDAF guidance to support UN country teams in developing UNDAFs in the context of the SDGs and collaborated in the review of both the standard pooled funding mechanisms and the harmonization of business operations of the UN system.

- 97.  With regard to UN system-wide coherence, the Office continues to be actively engaged in joint programming as a means of leveraging partnerships and resources for greater impact and advancing the Decent Work Agenda at country level. While challenges in joint programming remain, a review of UNDAF and One Programme implementation carried out by the ILO in 2015 in 43 countries in five regions showed progress in mainstreaming the Decent Work Agenda into these frameworks and programmes. All of the UNDAFs analysed included at least one pillar of the Decent Work Agenda and most of them incorporated employment generation, access to income and social protection. Seventy per cent included references to social dialogue and 60 per cent to international labour standards and other normative approaches linked to the world of work, an increase of 6 and 10 per cent, respectively, since the previous review, conducted in 2012.

- 98.  The quality assurance of development cooperation proposals has been extended to include RBSA proposals, strengthening the focus on results in development cooperation operations and on resource integration for decent work outcomes. In order to enhance Officewide development cooperation capacity, staff development courses and clinics have been offered, particularly at field offices, enhancing value for money practices. An updated version of the Technical Cooperation Manual, the Development Cooperation Internal Governance Manual, was issued in 2015. In collaboration with the Turin Centre, the Office piloted a Staff Academy on Development Cooperation. A review of its effectiveness in terms of application in the workplace found that more than 60 per cent of the respondents reported applying the Academy learning in their work, especially in the learning clusters identified as most relevant by the preceding learning needs assessment.

- 99.  The Development Cooperation Strategy for 2015–17 reflects changes in global development cooperation and takes stock of the lessons learned from various reviews (including the 2013 Field Operations and Structure and Technical Cooperation review) and the findings of the independent evaluation of the ILO’s strategy for Technical Cooperation 2010–15. The Office has strengthened integrated resource management with a view to common and sustainable development results at the country and global levels. Emerging partnerships and changing development cooperation environments were also highlighted in the Strategy and the 2012 South–South and Triangular Cooperation Strategy was reaffirmed. The holistic approach to impactful capacity development addresses changes in systems and policies. With regard to development effectiveness, the Office continuously takes action and compares approaches with other UN agencies to ensure data transparency and value for money.

- 100.  The Office has also streamlined major project cycle management functions by piloting the automated online processing of project proposals for appraisal, approval of funding agreements with partners and preparation of technical and financial reports for submission to partners. This pilot is intended as a first step in the development of a more extensive online knowledge-sharing system for headquarters and the field structure with comprehensive project data and more interactive access to the development cooperation intranet.

Internal services

- 101.  Office facilities: The upgrading of the headquarters building proceeded as planned. The Office provided regular updates on the status of the renovation project to the Governing Body. More detailed information is available online at: www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_norm/---relconf/documents/meetingdocument/wcms_413825.pdf.

- 102.  Security: Capacity-building activities for local security assistants were carried out across the regions with support from the United Nations Department for Safety and Security (UNDSS). Security and fire safety procedures were adapted to take the building renovation project into consideration in order to ensure the security for staff and visitors.

- 103.  Climate neutrality: The Office continued its active participation in several UN system-wide initiatives, including as part of a task force on waste management practices in UN entities located in developing countries. It continued to monitor its carbon dioxide emissions and report through the Greening the Blue initiative. Office measures implemented with a view to climate neutrality include the paper-smart policy for the production and distribution of documents for official meetings, replacement of old IT servers with more modern, energyefficient models and increased use of videoconferences. Detailed information on ongoing efforts to achieve climate neutrality are available online at: https://www.ilo.org/intranet/english/support/facilities/about/greening.htm.

3.3.2.Outcome 2: Effective and efficient governance of the Organization

Governance organs

- 104.  At the March 2015 review of the implementation of the Governing Body reform, there was a general consensus among constituents that significant progress had been made in meeting the objectives of the reform and, specifically, its four pillars: an improved agendasetting mechanism; a new structure for the Governing Body; enhanced transparency and Office support to tripartite constituents; and improved presentation and timely distribution of documentation. Governing Body members recognized that the measures put in place by the Office had progressively addressed their concerns. The improved consultation process has facilitated consensus-building among constituents and played an important role in implementing the new agenda-setting mechanism and demonstrating the enhanced transparency of the decision-making process. The plenary structure of the Governing Body and improved time management has facilitated more focused and strategic discussions and the active involvement of delegates.

- 105.  New tools placed at the disposal of constituents include the Governing Body’s rolling consolidated programme, accessible in real time on the ILO website. The use of screens to view and discuss amendments at the sessions of the Governing Body and the ILC was welcomed and has contributed to the efficient management of meetings.

- 106.  The successful trial implementation of the two-week Conference and the reform of the Governing Body have shown that, with strong commitment from constituents and the Office, progress can be achieved. The value of thorough preparation by the Office and advance consultation with the concerned parties to ensure participation and transparency has been demonstrated. A key lesson learned from this experience is the need to ensure that the proposals presented are necessary and innovative, yet practical and realistic.

- 107.  The dedicated support facility for governments has been expanded into a Governing Organs and Government Support Team, which has strengthened contact between the permanent missions and the Office, and continues to organize, among other activities, the ILO orientation seminar for newly arrived diplomats in Geneva.

- 108.  While there is still room for improvement, progress in the timely distribution of documents has been accomplished except on rare occasions when documents for informal consultations were released less than 48 hours before the meeting. Although the average percentage of documents posted online and on time – 83.4 per cent – is lower than the target for the biennium, better results were achieved for certain categories of official documents. In the case of papers submitted to the Governing Body, for example, the proportion of documents published on time was 97 and 100 per cent for the two March sessions of the biennium and 70 and 92 per cent for the two November sessions, respectively.

- 109.  Since the issuance of the ILO official document service policy at the end of 2013, there has been considerable progress in reducing the length of official documents. The paper-smart initiative for meetings is becoming a papersmart culture with a decrease in paper consumption for official documents of over 30 per cent as compared with 2012–13. This has been achieved by limiting the automatic distribution of paper (“hard”) copies of official documents; enhancing websites, including through e-published versions of some documents; distributing documents by email; and expanding the use of technology during meetings. The development of collaborative space and mobile applications with a view to the exclusive electronic distribution of official documents is planned for the future.

- 110.  The trial implementation of the two-week Conference provided new opportunities for improving current methods of work. Nevertheless, some areas of concern remain, including the difficulty of reconciling groups’ requests for sufficient meeting time with resource constraints on interpretation and full observance of the policy on official document production.

- 111.  Improving the work of ILO Regional Meetings will be the subject of discussion in the Working Party on the Functioning of the Governing Body and the International Labour Conference Body in 2016. The measures taken during the 2014–15 biennium with regard to the Regional Meetings in the Americas (Lima, October 2014) and Africa (Addis Ababa, November 2015) had a positive impact on the nature of the debates and on the recommendations adopted.

Oversight functions

- 112.  The External Auditor delivered an opinion on the ILO’s consolidated financial statements for the years ending 31 December 2013 and 31 December 2014, stating that the Office’s financial statements were fully compliant with International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS).

- 113.  In line with the recommendations made in the report of the External Auditor to the Governing Body at its 320bis Session in June 2014, the Office incorporated key elements of a management responsibility statement into its financial report for the year ending on 31 December 2014. A Statement of Internal Control will be issued during the 2016–17 biennium.

- 114.  Each year, the Chief Internal Auditor reports to the Governing Body on the significant findings and investigations of the Office of Internal Audit and Oversight (IAO) and the Office reports to the Governing Body on follow-up action taken to address the recommendations contained in the previous year’s report. The average time period required for the implementation of these recommendations has been significantly reduced with the majority implemented within the six-month target, and the percentage of recommendations that are implemented in full has increased, demonstrating an Office-wide commitment to a timely and effective response to the IAO’s quality assurance on internal control issues.

- 115.  In April 2015, the Office published its Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) framework. A Risk Management Committee was established to oversee ERM implementation in the Office and training sessions, including facilitated workshops on the development of risk registers, were offered for managers and staff. Initial regional, country and departmental risk registers were established by the end of 2015 and will be monitored on an ongoing basis.

- 116.  Part II provides more detailed coverage of the major aspects of implementation of the ILO programme during the biennium. It examines the key areas of work, including the ACIs, that were introduced with a view to increasing quality, critical mass and impact. It also considers work in all five regions with an overview of the status of the DWCPs and examples of ILO engagement and results through integrated DWCPs.

1. Available online at: https://dashboard.ilo.org/developmentcooperation/faces/home.jsp.

Part I

4.Selected examples of ILO work during the biennium

4.1.Areas of critical importance

4.1.1.Promoting more and better jobs for inclusive growth

- 117.  Work in this ACI focused on four policy areas: (1) employment-friendly macroeconomic frameworks; (2) sectoral policies and structural change; (3) labour market institutions; and, drawing on all three areas (4) country-level coherence and comprehensive policy frameworks. The work relies on a two-pronged approach that combines expansion of the knowledge base and related practical tools at the global level with the provision of cutting-edge and customized policy advice and capacity building for constituents at the country level. These efforts, together with the “What works for youth employment” initiative in the ACI on jobs and skills for youth, have significantly strengthened the ILO’s evidence base and allowed for testing of the dialogue processes needed for more integrated and comprehensive approaches to employment policies pursuant to the resolution and conclusions of the second recurrent discussion on employment, adopted at the 103rd Session of the ILC in 2014.

- 118.  A total of 15 member States have received targeted support across the four policy areas and additional countries have benefited from the research and tools developed in this ACI.

- 119.  Employment-friendly macroeconomic frameworks: The ILO conducted a series of country-level analyses aimed at deepening policy-oriented research on the linkages between macroeconomic frameworks and employment outcomes in Algeria, Colombia and Ghana. New global research products include the January 2015 issue of WESO, which explores the labour market dynamics and key socio-economic challenges arising from the slowdown in global growth. In addition, capacity was strengthened and awareness of pro-employment macroeconomic policy raised among constituents through knowledge exchange/learning events, including on the role of central banks in meeting development and employment challenges. In followup to this event, several participating countries (including Bangladesh and India) requested ongoing ILO support for the implementation of employment-friendly macroeconomic frameworks. The impact of these knowledge and capacity-building efforts was most evident in countries where national employment policies were at the design stage. In Ghana, ILO support led to the adoption of a national employment policy, which reflects input from the social partners on employment-friendly macroeconomic policies and other issues, in 2015. Technical input on such policies also informed the Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda II (2014–17), adopted in December 2014. The ILO also provided evidence-based policy advice and advisory services with a view to the formulation of the National Employment Strategy in Morocco, underscoring the importance of macroeconomics for employment growth. The establishment of an inter-ministerial implementation committee also demonstrates recognition that Morocco’s goal of creating 200,000 jobs per year can only be achieved if all ministries, including those responsible for macroeconomics, work together.

- 120.  Sectoral policies and structural change: The ILO carried out new research on the linkages between employment and productivity in order to better understand sectoral dynamics and their impact on employment creation and job quality, as well as to identify industrial policies and sectoral approaches that can translate structural change into more and better jobs. The researchers took into account the importance of an enabling environment for enterprises and confirmed that well-designed sectoral policies can have a major impact on decent job creation if key conditions, such as an enabling environment for enterprises, are present. As a result of country-level studies, such policies are often incorporated into national development plans. In Indonesia, for example, the National Medium-Term Development Plan 2015–19, developed with ILO support, includes comprehensive strategies for promoting growth and jobs in four key sectors.

- 121.  Employment impact assessments of trade policies and sectoral and infrastructure investment have been conducted in over 15 countries. Such assessments help constituents to evaluate policies and programmes and carry out informed policy discussions. As part of this approach, the ILO supported the sharing of knowledge and good practices among countries. These efforts were strengthened by new technical cooperation agreements with the European Union (EU), the European Investment Bank and other regional development banks, enabling the Organization to reach out to more countries. With regard to advocacy, an analytical note on challenges and opportunities for infrastructure investment in low-income countries and a policy brief on addressing the skills gaps in infrastructure investment in those countries was presented at a meeting of the G20 Development Working Group, held in Hobart, Australia in May 2014.

- 122.  Labour market institutions: ILO research on factors affecting new forms of work and the impact of recent policy initiatives and reforms on labour markets and income security has progressed through case studies of Argentina, China, Ghana and Indonesia. In Argentina, recent policy changes and their impact on the labour market, including the role of minimum wages and collective bargaining, were examined. In Indonesia, the focus was on wage trends, minimum wages and their implications for productivity. The June 2015 edition of WESO includes an analysis of the diversification of employment and work patterns with related policy implications. To that end, changes in employment protection legislation in various countries were monitored. This led to the establishment of an ILO database that records, summarizes and assesses the impact of significant legislation adopted since 2008.

- 123.  Country-level coherence and comprehensive policy frameworks: With ILO support, six countries (Cambodia, Morocco, Nepal, Paraguay, Rwanda and Zambia) completed the development of context-specific, integrated and comprehensive policy frameworks that cover the three thematic areas mentioned above and take into account the need to create an enabling environment for enterprises. The findings were presented and discussed in tripartite forums. On the basis of close collaboration with constituents, national employment policies were adopted in Cambodia, Morocco and Nepal and are under discussion in Rwanda, Paraguay and Zambia. In Nepal, ILO support focused on strengthening national capacities for evidence-based national development planning by helping constituents to design and implement pilot projects on various aspects of employment generation. National officials were trained to understand and address the employment challenges in their countries. Subsequently, the National Planning Commission developed an approach paper for the new threeyear development plan, which gives priority to productive employment, decent work and income generation. All country-level interventions benefited from the ILO extended global database on national employment policies, which provides up-to-date information and best practices. This work was complemented by regional capacity-building activities for trade unions and by the Turin Centre’s course on national employment policy, which was offered twice during the biennium.

4.1.2.Jobs and skills for youth

- 124.  The unprecedented youth employment crisis in many countries has increased the demand for support in this area. Guided by the resolution on “The youth employment crisis: A call for action”, adopted at the 101st Session of the ILC in 2012, work in this ACI focused on deepening the evidence base and disseminating knowledge on “what works for youth employment”, including by strengthening constituents’ capacity to design and implement effective policies and programmes.

- 125.  At the global level, research and the exchange of good practices and lessons learned supported the development of up-to-date tools for policy and technical advice, as well as the upgrading of the ILO’s capacity-building programmes for constituents.

- 126.  Enhancing the knowledge base on what works for youth employment: During the biennium, partnerships were strengthened and other organizations were encouraged to focus on what works for youth employment, particularly through the United Nations Inter-Agency Network on Youth Development and its System-Wide Action Plan on Youth. The ILO/Swedish International Development Cooperation Partnership on Youth Employment was instrumental in building knowledge and testing evidence-based approaches while the ILO/MasterCard Partnership supported the collection and analysis of youth labour market information in 34 countries around the world and informed policy-making.

- 127.  Research addressed the thematic priorities set out in the aforementioned resolution. New empirical evidence drawn from a systematic review of the effectiveness of active labour market programmes shows that youth employment interventions, particularly those that provide skills training, promote entrepreneurship, subsidize employment or support jobseekers through employment services, have a positive and statistically significant impact on youth labour market outcomes. A sample of 113 evaluations suggests that this impact is maintained across employment and earnings outcomes. Skills training interventions boost labour market outcomes, particularly when combined with employment services, and play a long-term catalytic role through investment in human capital. Public employment programmes that target youth hold great promise as an immediate job creation measure with the ability to affect employability, education and community development.

- 128.  With regard to economic policies, the systematic review demonstrated that counter-cyclical fiscal policy is an effective instrument for reducing youth unemployment and that its remedial effect is greater under specific conditions. The importance of interaction between labour market institutions was established and wage subsidy programmes were found to absorb unemployed youth and contribute to their skills development. The review also made recommendations regarding a number of design and implementation features of these types of interventions.

- 129.  Strengthening capacity through knowledge sharing, advocacy and outreach at the regional level: In the Latin America and Caribbean region, efforts focused on promoting formal employment among youth with the analytical findings disseminated through regional media and events. In Europe and Central Asia, the establishment of a regional youth employment network fostered mutual learning and knowledge sharing and strengthened the capacities of the ministries of labour and social partners of nine countries. In the Arab States, regional activities focused on the development and implementation of quality apprenticeship systems and good practices in recruitment; this led to a better understanding of the barriers that young jobseekers face when entering the labour market. In Africa, the ILO supported the development of an intervention model for youth employment in the region, as well as capacity development for constituents and regional institutions.

- 130.  Policy recommendations were formulated and disseminated following a series of tripartite capacity-building and mutual learning interregional events, which brought together the knowledge gained at the country, regional and global levels. The themes for the events were: employment services for youth (Europe); youth transition to formality (Latin America); boosting youth employment through public works (Africa); youth employment in the transition to a green economy (Asia); quality apprenticeships and work experience measures to improve the school-to-work transition (Asia); and the role of structural transformation in boosting youth employment (Africa).

- 131.  Effecting change at the country level: At the national level, youth employment inventories in Brazil, China, Egypt, Kenya and Tunisia are expanding the knowledge base on good practices and guiding policy decisions and strategic investment in youth employment.

- 132.  In Brazil, the ILO supported the establishment of an intergovernmental advisory group to conduct and disseminate ILO research on what works in facilitating the transition from school to work, following a national survey undertaken on the issue. Related efforts at the federal and state levels led to tripartite approval of the National Plan on Decent Work for Youth and the development of a National Agenda of Decent Work for Youth in Rio Grande do Sul.

- 133.  In Uganda, the Office conducted an impact evaluation to test the differential impact of loans, grants and ILO Start Your Business (SYB) entrepreneurship training on young entrepreneurs. The findings suggest that while a combination of loans and training increases profit in businesses owned by young men, this is not true for women; an ongoing study is being carried out, with ILO support, in order to develop more suitable instruments for supporting young women entrepreneurs.

- 134.  In the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, a model for integrated youth employment services and programme delivery, designed with ILO support, was a major component of the second national Action Plan on Youth Employment, adopted in August 2015. A new profiling system targeting unemployed youth was approved in June 2015, together with a new approach to individual employment planning and a dedicated line of youth employment services.

- 135.  In Jordan, a national apprenticeship programme, which includes upgraded informal apprenticeships that will benefit young Jordanians and Syrian refugees, was established. As a result of technical support, the country’s primary technical and vocational education and training agencies improved their capacity to report using key performance indicators.

4.1.3.Creating and extending social protection floors

- 136.  Work in this ACI has been guided by the Social Protection Floor Recommendation, 2012 (No. 202), and the 2011 Social Security Plan of Action.[1] Given that 73 per cent of the world’s population lack adequate social protection, the challenge is great and complex. With the adoption of the SDGs, social protection is high on the development agenda and features prominently under several Goals. Building on the work carried out in 2014–15, the Office has developed a Global Flagship Programme on Social Protection Floors in order to achieve more consistent and integrated interventions with greater scale and impact.

- 137.  Transforming the ILO into a lead knowledge agency on social protection: Efforts in this regard have advanced rapidly through investment in knowledge products, including the World Social Protection Report 2014–15, policy papers, country and policy briefs, practical tools and an online Social Protection Platform. This community of practice, facilitated by the ILO, offers debates between leading experts in the field of global social policy. A communications website and online campaign reached over 100,000 people.

- 138.  Filling knowledge gaps yielded products that gauged regional perspectives on expanding fiscal space, explored innovations in public employment policies and social protection, built global evidence on inequities in rural health protection, clarified linkages with food security and addressed coverage of migrant and domestic workers. These products were used in South–South exchanges and disseminated at the Turin Centre and have enabled the Office to strengthen its evidence-based advisory services.

- 139.  Supporting the design and implementation of policies and interventions at country level: The provision of support to constituents has taken various forms. In cooperation with the Turin Centre, the ILO has provided regular and tailored training programmes in the field of social protection to over 850 people. In addition, support has been provided through assessment-based national dialogue exercises to assess gaps and facilitate financially costed policy options. This has yielded concrete results in a number of countries with broad participation at the national level involving UN agencies and social and development partners. This approach facilitated the development of a National Social Protection Strategic Plan in Myanmar and the development of a National Medium-term Development Plan that will add 2.2 million informal economy workers to social security programmes in Indonesia.

- 140.  With ILO support, various countries have developed national social protection policies, laying the foundation for implementation of elements of the social protection floor. Ethiopia introduced a non-contributory pension scheme for older persons; Zambia and Peru adopted national social protection policies that extend coverage to previously excluded groups; Cameroon adopted a plan of action for the implementation of universal health protection; and Cambodia adopted the legal framework for the National Health Insurance Scheme.

- 141.  Other countries have extended benefit coverage to additional groups of workers pursuant to the Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952 (No. 102). A new public pension scheme targeting private sector workers (including documented migrant workers) was implemented in Indonesia; Honduras adopted a framework social protection law that provides coverage to self-employed workers and their families; and the Occupied Palestinian Territory’s first social security law for private sector workers and their families will provide coverage to 82,646 such workers in 2016, with the aim of reaching 336,440 workers by 2030.

- 142.  Responding to the needs of vulnerable groups, several countries have promoted social protection coverage for those groups. Rwanda drafted a law extending maternity benefits, and Ghana incorporated a maternity protection policy into its National Social Protection Strategy. Extending social protection coverage through child benefits and old-age benefits for informal sector workers is the focus of Jordan’s social protection floor policy. The challenge of vulnerability in Niger is being addressed through a draft law on social protection that lays the ground for a national social protection floor. This work has been coordinated with, and underpinned by, related support on employment-intensive investment and food security, strengthening the sustainability of the interventions.

- 143.  Country-level interventions encouraged the formalization of employment through awareness-raising and legislative drafting support. In Argentina, the Office developed tools and capacity building for workers’ and government representatives in order to expand coverage and register migrant domestic workers.

- 144.  Expanding ILO influence on the social protection floors through partnerships: Inter-agency cooperation created an observable multiplier effect with other organizations taking up the social protection floors concept and advancing rights-based approaches that refer explicitly to, or are in the spirit of, Recommendation No. 202. The ILO and World Bank, which co-lead the Social Protection Inter-agency Cooperation Board, have developed a set of social protection assessment tools for joint country advisory services, which were pilottested in Viet Nam and the Philippines.

- 145.  The Office influenced the incorporation of social protection floors into the agendas of many UN agencies and multilateral organizations. Through the UN Chief Executives Board’s Social Protection Floor Initiative, UN country teams were made aware of the need to support the implementation of Recommendation No. 202 in joint country work. Country-level partnerships are in place, including in Myanmar, to facilitate national social dialogue; in Ethiopia, on the social protection policy framework; in Niger, with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on food security; and in Peru, on the assessment of social protection gaps. The commitment to enhancing partnerships, including with economic and social councils and similar institutions, to promote social protection floors was reaffirmed in the Seoul Declaration on Promotion of National Social Protection Floors for All by Economic and Social Councils and Similar Institutions.

4.1.4.Productivity and working conditions in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)

- 146.  In this ACI, a multidisciplinary integrated approach has been used to test the hypothesis that investment in workers and working conditions can lead to substantial improvements in SMEs’ productivity and hence have a positive impact on social and employment indicators, as well as economic growth. Intervention models have addressed SMEs generally and have been customized for economic sectors: tourism, the agro-food industry and construction. A total of 16,297 workers, 18,740 micro-enterprises, 505 enterprises and 1,143 members of tripartite constituents in 12 different countries have benefited from these efforts.

- 147.  Devel oping knowledge for effective policy-making: New knowledge has been generated at the macro, institutional and firm levels. Macro-assessments were carried out in Plurinational State of Bolivia, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico and Zambia to inform policy recommendations on legislation and government programmes leading to initiatives such as national green building guidelines for the Ministry of Local Government in Zambia and guidelines to support the Ministry of Labour in the design and implementation of a new wage policy in Kenya. A training guide to promote sound labour relations in SMEs has been developed, drawing on policy research in Indonesia, Kenya and other countries. In Cambodia, Honduras, Jordan, Lebanon, Mexico, the Philippines and Turkey, in-depth assessments of the business functions affecting productivity have been combined with targeted capacity building on workplace improvement, business management, marketing, human resource management, skills training and occupational safety and health (OSH) through programmes such as SCORE, the ILO System for Integrated Measurement and Improvement of Productivity (SIMAPRO) and Community-based Enterprise Development (C-BED).

- 148.  Promoting social dialogue as a key driver of change: Social dialogue has been promoted at the national level and in the workplace. With ILO support, national social dialogue has taken place through national commissions on productivity or similar bodies in Mexico and the Plurinational State of Bolivia and through consultations on topics related to productivity or working conditions in SMEs in Kenya and Indonesia. This has helped to establish the issue as a priority in national agendas, for example in Mexico and Zambia. In Mexico, the ILO combined its methodologies and tools with the provision of technical support to the federal and state governments. It participated in the National Committee on Productivity and the Chihuahua and Nayarit State Commissions on Productivity, in which tripartite constituents and academics address issues of productivity and working conditions in SMEs. It also helped the Ministry of Labour and Social Security to put in place a publicly funded Labour Productivity Management Programme (SIGPROL) for SMEs based on the SIMAPRO, in which over 1,700 workers have participated. Together with the National Council for Standardization and Certification of Labour Competence (CONOCER), the ILO has supported the setting of skills standards and their validation by the private sector. Work with constituents in the sugar industry has enabled them to meet the social criteria for certification under the international Bonsucro label. In Zambia, a multidisciplinary approach helped to develop a sustainable housing construction value chain centred on SMEs. In cooperation with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the ILO reviewed the national Construction Code and policy and introduced a good practice framework that stimulates demand for green building materials and construction among private and public developers in response to the rising demand for housing. In Indonesia, the ILO facilitated the consultation process and provided the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration, the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, trade unions, and the Indonesian Employers’ Association (APINDO), with technical inputs on a new wage bargaining concept in various sectors.

- 149.  Social dialogue in the workplace has also been fostered by the implementation of SCORE (Plurinational State of Bolivia, Indonesia, Kenya and Turkey) and SIMAPRO (Mexico). These programmes have increased the output of SMEs and the number of new jobs. Between 40 to 55 per cent of enterprises report cost savings; reduction of waste and defects; and improvements for workers, such as salary increases (28–61 per cent of enterprises), reduction of absenteeism (22–33 per cent), and accidents (20–50 per cent).

- 150.  Strengthening the institutional framework: As a result of these efforts, ILO methodologies have been embedded in institutional frameworks such as national legislation, development plans, programmes and strategies. In Cambodia and the Philippines, the ILO provided technical inputs to the entrepreneurship components of the national youth action plans for the period 2014–18. In Honduras, it developed a training manual for improved productivity and working conditions in small hotels that has been adopted by public and private institutions, including the National Institute for Professional Training (INFOP). In Mexico, it supported the publicly funded Labour Productivity Management Programme (SIGPROL) for SMEs.

4.1.5.Decent work in the rural economy

- 151.  The work in this ACI has been guided by the conclusions on the promotion of rural employment for poverty reduction, adopted by the ILC in 2008, which underscore the need for multidisciplinary and integrated interventions. Three interrelated priority areas were addressed: (1) decent work for disadvantaged, marginalized and vulnerable rural populations; (2) decent work for rural workers in supply chains; and (3) decent work in plantations. The strategy takes a three-pronged approach that entails capacity building within the Office and among constituents, advocacy and policy coherence at the global level, and country-level interventions.

- 152.  Gathering and strengthening evidence: The Office enhanced its knowledge base with a portfolio of 16 policy guidance notes illustrating the ILO’s holistic approach to promoting decent work in the rural economy and providing guidance to policy-makers, social partners and development practitioners. To strengthen the evidence base in this field, the ILO collected data on 22 indicators in 195 countries, disaggregated between rural and urban and covering, among other issues, working time, earnings, poverty, social security and health. Most of these indicators were included in ILOSTAT. Household survey microdata were processed to improve coverage and a report on good practices in statistical methods for rural-urban data and an analytical report summarizing key trends were published.

- 153.  An analysis of the drivers of rural vulnerability and their impact on decent work was carried out in order to inform country-level policy and programme design and implementation. A study on deficits in rural health coverage and policy responses to address them fed into the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Strategy on Human Resources for Health: Workforce 2030 and the ILO Global Flagship Programme on Social Protection Floors. New policy-oriented research on the recruitment and retention of teachers in rural areas was conducted with a view to building constituents’ capacity and influencing the Education 2030 agenda, of which the ILO is a co-convenor. The results of a study on the role of unpaid work by women in the areas of water supply and sanitation were included in the World Water Development Report 2016: Water and jobs.

- 154.  An innovative approach combining qualitative and quantitative survey methods was developed in order to update the ILO’s knowledge of plantations and promote decent work in line with the Plantations Convention, 1958 (No. 110). A global report was prepared and country studies and field surveys conducted for three commodities in four countries: the Dominican Republic (bananas), Ghana and Indonesia (palm oil), and Sri Lanka (tea) with a view to the preparation of national action plans on decent work on plantations.

- 155.  Fostering effective partnerships: The ILO strengthened synergies with development partners, including the World Bank, FAO, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and regional development banks. The ILO was active in the work of the FAO-hosted Committee on World Food Security, which reached a global consensus on the Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems. Decent work featured prominently in the planning, advocacy and operational instruments of the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Task Force on Global Food Security, where the ILO, IFAD and UNDP led a working group on the Zero Hunger Challenge initiative in relation to attaining a 100 per cent increase in smallholder productivity and incomes, and in the G20 Development Working Group’s Implementation and Action Plans on Food Security and Sustainable Food Systems.

- 156.  Unlocking the potential of rural areas to create employment and decent work: Ten country studies on rights-based approaches to labour-intensive infrastructure programmes were completed and a conceptual framework and guidelines developed. The intervention models based on an integrated approach targeting the most vulnerable were piloted in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Lebanon, Mali, Niger and Sri Lanka. In Lebanon, emergency employment service mechanisms, vocational training programmes and local economic development in specific sectors strengthened the resilience of rural host communities affected by the Syrian refugee crisis.

- 157.  Draft policy guidelines on the promotion of sustainable rural livelihoods targeting agrofood sectors were developed, drawing on pilot interventions. In Indonesia’s Nusa Tenggara Timur province, these interventions improved productivity, working conditions and entrepreneurship in selected agro-food value chains, and in Zimbabwe, the capacity of rural communities to access business development services in horticulture and meat production was enhanced while supporting the application of OSH standards. In the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, a comprehensive local strategy to promote rural employment among vulnerable and disadvantaged groups was piloted in six villages; its demonstrated success in addressing poverty reduction has given rise to requests to replicate the model in other provinces.

- 158.  Strengthening constituents’ capacity: The Turin Centre’s Rural Development Academy provided a knowledge-sharing and learning opportunity for constituents from 37 countries. A knowledge-sharing workshop for employers, hosted by the Centre in November 2015, resulted in draft guidelines on strategies for employers’ organizations to support and promote decent work in the rural economy. A global conference on palm oil, organized in March 2015 in Bogota, brought together representatives of 16 affiliates of the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Association to discuss regional and national perspectives and working conditions in the sector. The participants identified priority areas of work, including organizing activities at the national and international levels in support of the Stop Paraquat! campaign, carrying out research and mapping palm oil supply chains with a focus on major companies.

4.1.6.Formalization of the informal economy

- 159.  In this ACI, the ILO worked with more than 15 member States in accordance with the provisions of the Transition from the Informal to the Formal Economy Recommendation, 2015 (No. 204). This support strengthened the capacity of constituents to design and implement policies for incorporating informal economic units and workers into the formal economy while preventing the informalization of formal employment and enterprises. ILO interventions promoted coordinated action within a unifying framework and focused on the most vulnerable groups of workers and on micro- and small enterprises (MSEs).

- 160.  Strengthening employers’ and workers’ organizations: Efforts to promote the organization of workers and employers and to build their capacity to support policies and interventions related to formalization underpinned all aspects of the ILO’s work. The Office facilitated consultations among workers’ and employers’ organizations at the country and regional levels in order to set formalization priorities. It also provided support for the development of workers’ databases in Latin America, which have proved to be an invaluable platform for peer support on issues such as trade union bylaws and mapping the legal obstacles to formalization. An employers’ database, which includes formalization indicators, was established in Latin America and replicated in Africa and Asia, and guidelines on how employers’ organizations can support the formalization of informal businesses were drafted.

- 161.  Supporting formalization and enforcement: With ILO support, six countries introduced enterprise, employment, labour and social policies to promote formalization: Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Jordan, Mexico, Nepal and Peru developed policies to address different types of informality and mandate policy coordination. Madagascar is preparing a national action plan on this issue and a number of countries, including Colombia, Nepal, Peru and the Philippines, introduced legal reforms to address the exclusion of specific groups of workers, such as those in MSEs and domestic workers, from existing labour and social security laws. Other countries pursued sectoral approaches to specific vulnerabilities of target groups resulting from the nature of their work; for example, South Africa launched a decent work programme for contract cleaners that includes such issues as skills development, employment security, conditions of employment, organizational rights and social protection.

- 162.  The Dominican Republic and Nepal adopted simplified enterprise registration procedures to promote formalization. Policy-targeted support for MSEs linked modernization with formalization and promoted local economic and value chain development in Argentina, India, Jamaica, Senegal and South Africa.

- 163.  In Argentina, stronger enforcement measures combining incentives, sanctions and responsive labour inspections were put in place. Argentina and the Republic of Moldova also stepped up measures to enhance the capacity of labour inspectorates to reach out to unregistered workers. Collaboration and shared databases among enterprise, tax, labour and social security agencies in the Dominican Republic and Peru have proved to be effective for targeted enforcement.

- 164.  Building evidence and fostering knowledge sharing: With ILO support, Jordan and ten countries in Latin America aligned their statistical methods with the guidelines established at the 17th ICLS. Capacities in this regard are being built in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

- 165.  In Asia and Latin America, the ILO conducted research on non-standard forms of employment with a focus on circumstances that can lead to informality. Comprehensive studies of the impact of labour market institutions on formalization addressed the minimum wage in Cabo Verde and Mexico and domestic work legislation in the Philippines where it led to a comprehensive reform of the country’s legislation on domestic workers.

- 166.  The ILO supported knowledge-sharing forums at the regional level in Asia, Latin America and Africa and at the global level. The Academy on the Formalization of the Informal Economy, held in Turin in November 2014, fostered the sharing of experience and lessons learned among constituents from different countries. New analytical and learning tools and policy briefs have been produced on such issues as integrated policy packages for country application; formalization of MSEs; formalizing employment relationships in domestic work; non-standard forms of employment and informality; extension of employmentbased social security coverage to non-covered groups; labour inspection outreach strategies and measures for addressing undeclared work; and the impact of minimum wages on formalization.

4.1.7.Strengthening workplace compliance through labour inspection

- 167.  Work in this ACI focused on enabling constituents to improve workplace compliance with national labour laws and regulations, international labour standards and applicable collective agreements. A multi-pronged implementation strategy included enhancing employer and worker collaboration in compliance; strengthening the enforcement and prevention functions of labour inspection and administration; technical assistance and capacity building for government institutions and social partners; and the design or reform of labour legislation, dispute prevention and resolution mechanisms and social dialogue institutions.

- 168.  Strengthening global knowledge and advocacy: At the global level, a new ILO strategy to promote compliance with the fundamental principles and rights at work was developed on the basis of a survey and the outcome of a meeting of experts, and a specific compliance strategy on undeclared work and the informal economy was developed and applied in countries such as Burkina Faso and Colombia. Building on the experience gained in Burkina Faso, the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) financed the replication in other countries of good practices on labour inspection in the informal economy.

- 169.  New research and methodological tools for use by labour administrations developed during the biennium, include a study on the use of information and communication technology, a resource book on strategic planning and performance management in labour inspection and a guide on management issues. One study on the interaction between the ILO–International Finance Corporation (IFC) Better Work programme and the public labour inspectorate in Indonesia found that the programme did not displace the public labour inspectorate but complemented and strengthened it. A comparative study of how national labour administrations in Brazil, China, Colombia and Indonesia have developed, implemented and evaluated new strategic approaches to workplace compliance enhanced the knowledge base on this matter.

- 170.  Global events to share good practices and challenges included an International Conference on Promoting Workplace Compliance including in Global Supply Chains, held in The Hague and organized in cooperation with the International Association of Economic and Social Councils and Similar Institutions and the Dutch Economic and Social Council. On that occasion, representatives of social dialogue institutions from 31 countries from all regions adopted a Declaration in which they undertook to promote workplace compliance at the national and supra-national levels. In the follow-up to this Hague Declaration, a policy tool designed to build the capacity of social dialogue institutions to promote workplace compliance was developed. A global knowledge-sharing workshop was also organized in collaboration with the Turin Centre to present and share the global products delivered and the progress achieved at national level.

- 171.  Addressing common challenges through concerted subregional approaches: At the subregional level, a ministerial meeting on workplace compliance resulted in the production of a roadmap for the eight WAEMU member countries. With ILO support and in cooperation with the WAEMU Commission, new curriculums for training labour inspectors were developed. A study on social conflicts in the WAEMU countries, accompanied by an action plan for the prevention of labour conflicts, was adopted by the WAEMU tripartite Labour and Social Dialogue Council; a toolkit on labour inspection in the informal economy was piloted in West Africa; and good practices to promote compliance with international OSH standards were developed and facilitated synergies with work under the ACIs on productivity and working conditions in SMEs and formalization of the informal economy, respectively.

- 172.  Targeting responses to differentiated country needs: In Burkina Faso, efforts focused on improving knowledge of the main occupational hazards through national mapping of sectors and associated risks; enabling better government responses to address those risks; and providing capacity building for labour inspectors, health authorities, insurance professionals and social partners on risk assessment, investigation of work accidents and occupational diseases. A manual on workplace accident investigations was prepared by the ILO and led to revision of the procedures for the investigation of such accidents.

- 173.  In Colombia, a new training programme and tools for labour inspectors were designed and rolled out, improved methods for determining the nature of and actors in employment relationships using contract and process mapping tools were introduced and an updated labour inspection information system was established.

- 174.  In Viet Nam, the focus was on identifying and addressing gaps in compliance, through consultation and dialogue with constituents. Building on enhanced coordination between existing projects, the ILO responded promptly to specific requests by strengthening the capacity of members of the tripartite National Wage Council; supporting the development of the first OSH law, adopted in 2015; helping to extend benefit coverage to 30 million informal economy workers; launching a labour inspection campaign in 360 garment enterprises with targeted visits as a complement to a more traditional enforcement approach; providing legislative drafting assistance to a team of lawyers and lawmakers; and training constituents in the implementation of a tripartite code of conduct on sexual harassment.

- 175.  In Turkey, following the Soma mining disaster, the ILO facilitated the adoption of a national tripartite plan of action and supported the design and implementation of a short-term OSH project that laid the groundwork for a larger project with the European Union. The activities included follow-up to the comments of the ILO supervisory bodies and assistance with new ratifications. Turkey ratified the Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 2006 (No. 187), in 2014, and the Safety and Health in Mines Convention, 1995 (No. 176), and the Safety and Health in Construction Convention, 1988 (No. 167), in 2015.

4.1.8.Protection of workers from unacceptable forms of work (UFW)

- 176.  The concept of UFW was introduced by the ILO in 2013. The Programme and Budget for 2014–15 defines UFW as “work in conditions that deny fundamental principles and rights at work, put at risk the lives, health, freedom, human dignity and security of workers or keep households in conditions of poverty”. Work in this ACI has sought to enhance the understanding of what constitutes UFW, how the phenomenon manifests itself and how to address it, including by promoting integrated approaches at the country level.

- 177.  Building the knowledge underpinnings for and a common understanding of the concept: A global study conducted in order to enhance understanding of UFW examined the commonalities and differences between such work and related concepts developed by academics and international organizations in order to determine its value added. Through a Delphi survey involving 100 experts from 33 countries, seven dimensions and a set of descriptors were identified and subsequently provided guidance for rapid country assessments in sectors identified by ILO constituents in Benin (mining, quarrying and manual scavenging) and Malawi (tobacco plantations). These assessments highlighted the features and causes of UFW, measured against benchmarks agreed on a tripartite basis at the national level and taking into account the comments of the ILO supervisory bodies. They also informed the development of tripartite follow-up action plans attuned to national needs and capacities. A global review of gaps in the application of relevant international labour standards drew on comments made by the ILO supervisory bodies.

- 178.  Building on the ILO–IFC Better Work programme’s unique database on factory working conditions in the apparel sector in Cambodia, Jordan and Viet Nam, a statistical analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between worker welfare and respect for fundamental principles and rights at work; national OSH legislation; hours of work; wages; contracting procedures; violence at work; and how factorylevel measures and national policies shape conditions of work. The study revealed that a set of policies are needed and can generate important synergies in addressing UFW. In the Plurinational State of Bolivia, by adapting an ILO diagnostic tool initially developed in 2012–13 for the agricultural sector, the factors that prevent domestic workers and their employers from joining representative organizations were identified, and training on how to conduct workplace negotiations was provided. This experience provided inputs to a policy brief on innovative approaches to collective bargaining and other forms of negotiation in the domestic work sector.

- 179.  Testing integrated approaches in countries: Thailand’s fishing industry is dominated by migrants, most of them with irregular legal status. With ILO support, working conditions were improved, respect for fundamental principles and rights at work was enhanced and labour migration governance was strengthened. This contributed to the adoption in 2014 of a ministerial regulation that provides for application of the minimum wage, introduces minimum rest hours and raises the minimum age for admission to employment for work to 18 years. This and other experiences informed the production of the ILO Minimum Wage Resource Package, which examines feasible ways to extend protection to workers who are typically excluded from minimum wage coverage.

- 180.  In preparation for the 2014 World Cup, ILO action in Brazil focused on facilitating social dialogue mechanisms at the federal, state and municipal levels to promote decent work in the construction and other sectors. This resulted in the development of an intervention model on promoting decent work in connection with future sport and other mega-events in Brazil and elsewhere. In Costa Rica, the Office addressed UFW in the context of migrant workers by supporting the country’s migration policy, including by improving migrant workers’ access to justice, strengthening labour inspection and regularizing undeclared migrant workers. This pilot intervention was expanded to the Northern Triangle (El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras), where migrant workers are in great need of protection.

- 181.  In Uzbekistan, in response to concerns voiced by the ILO supervisory bodies regarding alleged instances of child labour and forced labour in the cotton harvest, technical assistance was intensified and the country’s first DWCP (2014–16) was adopted. One of its priorities is to strengthen partnerships with a view to increasing respect for fundamental principles and rights at work and improving working conditions and social protection.

4.2.Strengthening employers’ organizations

- 182.  To deliver on its commitment to strengthening business and employer organizations, the ILO continued to implement global initiatives, knowledge development and capacitybuilding programmes.

- 183.  The Global Report on Women in Business and Management: Gaining momentum, published in 2015, brings together data and ILO statistics to provide a comprehensive, up-to-date picture of women in business and management positions. The report’s main messages – the business case for promoting gender equality and diversity in the workplace, increased participation of women in governance structures and fostering women entrepreneurship through an adapted business environment – were promoted in various national and international forums, including high-level events in London and Singapore.

- 184.  At a research symposium on the theme “The future of Employers’ and Business Organizations: Adaptations and Transformations”, held in December 2015, the participants discussed related findings with experts and practitioners and identified issues for future research. The outcomes of the symposium will contribute to the Office’s work on the future of work centenary initiative in the areas of labour market governance and the role of the social partners.

- 185.  The ILO Global Business and Disability Network was strengthened; new and existing national networks were supported in China, Egypt, Peru, Saudi Arabia and Zambia. In October 2015, 11 major international companies became the first signatories of the newly created Business Charter on Disability. A tool to promote the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the world of work, the Charter is the first of its kind to be initiated by companies. It covers a wide range of areas, from protecting staff members with disabilities from discrimination to progressively making company premises and communications accessible to all employees.

- 186.  Under the ILO’s wider engagement with the private sector, efforts to establish the entry point function and increase opportunities for the Office to work with enterprises continued, including through direct Enterprise Encounters with companies that were invited to make presentations on their company’s policies or activities to ILO staff. In cooperation with employers and their organizations, new areas of engagement, such as the Global Business Network for Social Protection Floors, were established and new avenues of outreach to companies pursued, including through conferences and individual meetings.

- 187.  In response to the growing demand for policy engagement by employers’ organizations, evidence-based strategies for promoting an environment conducive to enterprise growth and employment generation were supported in numerous countries with results linked to application of the EESE toolkit. In addition to producing specific policy results, some of these interventions increased the capacity of employers’ organizations to participate in and sustain policy dialogue with the government, such as in Botswana, Malawi, Swaziland and Zambia. With ILO support, the Private Enterprise Council of Honduras (COHEP) submitted to the Office of the President and the legislature a report, based on input from a broad survey of companies, with proposals for public policies to improve the conditions for investment and employment. Many of these proposals were accepted and, with technical support from the Organization, COHEP designed, implemented and hosted on its website an electronic tool that tracks and monitors their implementation and impact.

- 188.  In order to enhance user capacity to monitor and assess policy results, the EESE toolkit was strengthened to include a specific resource on the monitoring and evaluation of policy engagement so that employers’ organizations can track systematically the results and impact of advocacy strategies for improving the business environment. The resource was developed in collaboration with the United Kingdom think tank, the Overseas Development Institute, and is accompanied by a training programme which was tested in Asia and southern Africa. It helps employers’ organizations to better plan, monitor and learn from their policy engagement in order to better leverage their impact.

- 189.  At the regional level, a report entitled The road to the ASEAN Economic Community 2015: The challenges and opportunities for enterprises and their representative organizations was launched at the ASEAN Confederation of Employers (ACE) board meeting in May 2014 with ILO–Norway partnership support. The report was presented by ACE members at five national events in order to raise awareness and help member companies and stakeholders to better respond to new challenges, including in the areas of labour mobility, employment relations, skills and social dialogue, as the ASEAN becomes integrated. Follow-up national policy work with employers’ organizations included national surveys on skills gaps in the Philippines, skills and productivity in Viet Nam, and the identification of specific challenges that companies face in responding to regional integration in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic.

- 190.  Strengthening the capacity of employers’ organizations to advocate for legislative reform figured prominently during the biennium. The Employers’ Organization of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (UPFBiH) carried out an assessment of the current Labour Act through primary (membership surveys) and secondary (international labour standards, European Union directives and comparative studies) research. This resulted in the development of a comprehensive report, issued in June 2015, with key policy recommendations for amendments to the Act. Following successful advocacy events and a communications strategy designed to attract the attention of the media and policy-makers, a new Labour Act was adopted on 31 July 2015 and came into force on 20 August 2015. It lowers the administrative burden on employers, introduces a performance-based element into the mandatory wage structure, and extends the maximum duration of fixed-term employment agreements from two to three years.

- 191.  Capacity-building products were produced or updated during the biennium. The Turin Centre’s training package for employers’ organizations on the Essentials of Occupational Safety and Health led to a number of new and improved membership services that produced stronger results at the country level. A new tool, the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) database software, was introduced in over 40 countries. It helps organizations to better assess their membership needs and professionalize membership management with a view to improved member services.

4.3.Strengthening workers’ organizations

- 192.  With the overall goal of strengthening the capacity of trade unions to fulfil their responsibilities as organizations that promote the interests of workers, the strategy focused on the protection of workers through international labour standards and crisis response with the latter including increasing membership, enhancing the quality and breadth of services to members and promoting trade union unity through common action platforms.

- 193.  This approach has underpinned many successful campaigns designed to influence national labour law and ensure the ratification or implementation of international labour standards. In India, a national platform provided the basis for the Centre of Indian Trade Unions’ 12-point charter of demands. In the Bahamas, a platform established to review the Industrial Labour Relations Act and institutionalize social dialogue in the country led to the establishment of a National Tripartite Council and made tripartite social dialogue a permanent feature of national policy dialogue. In Mongolia, the Confederation of Mongolian Trade Unions, with the endorsement of the National Tripartite Committee on Labour and Social Consensus, successfully campaigned for ratification of the Safety and Health in Mines Convention, 1995 (No. 176). In parallel, the Ministry of Labour submitted to Parliament a consolidated draft of the revised Labour Law, which includes provisions in line with the Convention.

- 194.  Workers’ organizations continually seek to expand their membership and the Office has been active in supporting trade union outreach to vulnerable workers, including those in the informal economy and domestic workers. In Egypt and Lebanon, new unions were created to represent domestic workers. In the Philippines, the main trade union federations established a working group on informal workers, drafted a Magna Carta of Workers in the Informal Economy and established an apprenticeship programme for organizing in the twenty-first century that includes a strategy for organizing informal workers. ILO work in Latin America and the Caribbean, where the informal economy is widespread, has paid special attention to enabling national workers’ organizations to better understand and address the needs of workers in the informal economy. In Mexico, trade unions have completed a detailed mapping of the relevant grass-roots organizations so that they can better tailor their services and advocacy.

- 195.  Efforts to ensure that labour law is drafted and implemented in line with international labour standards has been a mainstay of the Organization’s support for workers’ organizations. In the Republic of Moldova, trade unions have enhanced their capacities to make use of the ILO supervisory mechanisms. Following a representation submitted to the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR) in 2013, the National Trade Union Confederation of Moldova used the Committee’s conclusions to campaign for changes in amendments to the legislation on labour inspections. As a result, the Government decided to bring these amendments into line with international labour standards. In the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the trade union federation played an active part in the negotiations on amendments to the Labour Law in order to ensure its compliance with international labour standards and trade union rights, and in the drafting of a new social security law in line with the principles laid out in the Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952 (No. 102).

- 196.  The ILO fostered cross-border collaboration between national trade union federations as a means of addressing common issues and challenges and achieving results in an effective and efficient manner. In the Americas, a shared platform on ratification of the Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189), led to six ratifications during the biennium (Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic and Panama). The All-China Federation of Trade Unions developed a cooperation platform between Chinese companies and trade unions in Africa in order to promote awareness of international labour standards and the Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy (MNE Declaration) among Chinese companies operating in Africa.

- 197.  Networking and cross-border cooperation were pursued in order to increase the effectiveness of trade unions’ services to their members, particularly in relation to migration. Building on the interregional advocacy for trade union cooperation on labour migration in origin and destination countries, supported by the ILO in 2013, many unions have concluded bilateral agreements in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa. The Arab Trade Union Confederation, the ASEAN Trade Union Council (ATUC) and the South Asian Regional Trade Union Council signed a Memorandum of Understanding to promote interregional cooperation on migration and elaborate an interregional trade union position on ongoing migration initiatives. This initiative was underpinned by an ILO regional media campaign on migration and trafficking in the Middle East involving trade unionists, media professionals and rights-based non-governmental organizations working on migration issues, which raised awareness of rights issues and built bridges between organizations that support migrant workers’ rights. A number of initiatives have also strengthened unions’ capacity to address the needs of migrant workers in South-East Asia. In Myanmar, trade unions established a migration resource centre that focuses on addressing human trafficking, adopted a plan of action on the protection of migrant workers and provided input to the Government’s draft migration policy. They also established specific communication networks on migration with union federations in Malaysia and Thailand. Building on earlier efforts to organize migrant workers, Cambodian and Thai unions signed a Memorandum of Understanding on joint initiatives to protect migrant workers’ rights, including in cooperation with civil society organizations. Cambodian unions set up a migration helpdesk with dedicated staff to assist migrant workers.

4.4.Strengthening governance through global social dialogue at the sectoral level

- 198.  The Office promotes sectoral social dialogue through global, regional and country-level meetings, which provide a vital platform for constituents to address key emerging issues in a number of economic sectors. This provides a unique opportunity for ILO constituents to better understand each other’s positions on these issues, develop common positions and adopt guidance documents or recommendations for action by both the Office and constituents.

- 199.  In 2014–15, global social dialogue was promoted through 12 tripartite sectoral meetings, global dialogue forums and meetings of experts.

- 200.  Key emerging issues were addressed at seven global dialogue forums and one tripartite sectoral meeting on such issues as construction and infrastructure; electronics; media and culture; public service; retail commerce; road transport; telecommunications services and the call centre industry; and the textile, clothing, leather and footwear industries. At each of these events, the constituents made recommendations that provide guidance on priority concerns in specific sectors in order to influence policy-making and programme development. In follow-up to global sectoral meetings held during previous biennia, regional workshops were organized in Africa (on education), Asia and the Pacific (on financial services and mining) and the Americas (on chemicals).

- 201.  The Office also organized meetings of two standing tripartite committees in the maritime and education sectors: the Subcommittee on Wages of Seafarers of the Joint Maritime Commission and the 12th Session of the Joint ILO/UNESCO Committee of Experts on the Application of the Recommendations concerning Teaching Personnel (CEART). In addition, two tripartite meetings of experts adopted sectoral codes of practice on maritime occupational safety and health and on flag State inspections on fishing, respectively, to assist in the application of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC, 2006), and the Work in Fishing Convention, 2007 (No. 188). The Special Tripartite Committee of the Maritime Labour Convention held its first meeting and adopted amendments to the Convention, which were approved by the ILC at its 104th Session in 2015.

- 202.  The outcomes of sectoral meetings are also used to enhance policy and programme coherence and strategic partnerships with other UN agencies and international and multilateral organizations, many of whose mandates are sectoral. Such partnerships are an important driver of the ILO’s global work, ensuring the mainstreaming of decent work and adding to the impact of sectoral interventions in the field. During the 2014–15 biennium, the Office promoted policy coherence through strategic partnerships with 33 intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations with a view to the promotion of decent work in various sectors.

- 203.  The ILO stepped up its engagement on climate change and mobilized its tripartite constituency to engage actively in climate change dialogues and processes. A key achievement was the High-Level Panel on “Climate Change and the World of Work”, held during the 104th Session of the ILC. This event increased understanding of, and strengthened advocacy for, the inclusion of decent work in climate change policy dialogues, including the agreement on climate change reached at the 2015 Paris Climate Conference.

4.5.Gender equality and non-discrimination

- 204.  At the global level, the Office advocated for the inclusion of gender equality and non-discrimination in the SDGs, particularly SDGs 8 (on decent work) and 5 (on gender equality). The ILO was also active in the Beijing +20 process, ensuring that the conclusions of the regional reviews highlighted the importance of decent work. In partnership with the OECD, the IMF and the World Bank, it made recommendations that led to a G20 Summit commitment to reduce the labour force participation gender gap by 25 per cent by 2025; this is expected to bring more than 100 million women into the labour force. The Organization collaborated with other UN agencies in the context of the UNPRPD and the UN Indigenous Peoples’ Partnership with a view to more inclusive rights-based country policies, legislation, development programmes and strategies.

- 205.  The ILO Action Plan for Gender Equality 2010–15 is the operational tool for implementing the Organization’s policy on gender equality with the women at work centenary initiative as an overarching framework for advancing gender equality and non-discrimination in the world of work. These two issues have been addressed through targeted initiatives and mainstreamed throughout the outcome areas. Following advocacy campaigns for the nomination of more women to the ILC, the proportion of women delegates and advisors increased from 27 per cent in 2013 to 30 per cent in 2015, the first time that this target has been reached. Another target, the inclusion of gender-inclusive indicators in at least 35 per cent of DWCPs, was met and exceeded in 2014–15; 50 per cent of these indicators were gender inclusive as compared with less than 10 per cent in 2008–09. A significant number of country programme outcomes linked to programme and budget outcomes also address gender equality and non-discrimination.

- 206.  The ILO’s Disability Inclusion Strategy and Action Plan 2014–17, the first of its kind, was also launched during the biennium. The Plan combines mainstreaming and disabilityspecific actions. In 2015, the ILO also published its first issues brief and working papers, based on original country-level research, on discrimination faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender workers.

- 207.  The following are examples of country results achieved through ILO support for gender equality and non-discrimination:

- •  In Jordan, a campaign to promote equal wages between women and men teachers in private schools, supported by the National Committee for Pay Equity, was launched in 2015.

- •  In Viet Nam, a tripartite Code of Conduct on Sexual Harassment in the Workplace was launched in May 2015 to improve labour law compliance.

- •  In the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, March 2015 amendments to the Labour Relations Law extended maternity protection for workers with fixed-term contracts.

- •  The new Bangladesh National Technical and Vocational Qualifications Framework enables women motorcycle mechanics to participate in nationally recognized training programmes.

- •  In Senegal, an action plan for ratification and implementation of the Maternity Protection Convention, 2000 (No. 183), was adopted by tripartite consensus in December 2014.

- •  In South Africa, training gender focal points, educators, negotiators, and women leaders of trade unions received training in order to strengthen their capacity to reach out to and inform women rural workers of their right to freedom of association.

- •  Under Costa Rica’s National Employment Strategy, gender issues were incorporated into initiatives such as the Creating Entrepreneurs Programme, which trains and advises 5,000 enterprises led by women; and trade unions conducted an ILO Participatory Gender Audit and are implementing its recommendations.

- •  In Costa Rica, Guatemala and Peru, ILO research documented the specific challenges faced by indigenous women in rural areas as a basis for formulating policy responses.

- •  In El Salvador, the Ministry of Economy launched its institutional policy on gender equality in 2015.

- •  The Government of Pakistan has developed its first specific model law on non-discrimination at workplaces for implementation at the provincial level. The Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province has reviewed all new labour laws (enacted in 2013) from a gender perspective.

4.6.Child labour and social dialogue

- 208.  In 2014 and 2015, the Nobel Peace Prize provided global recognition of some of the core values of the ILO: combating child labour and promoting national social dialogue.

- 209.  A leading advocate for universal education and children’s participation in the campaign against child labour, Kailash Satyarthi, and Malala Yousafzai were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 for their struggle against the oppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education.

- 210.  The Organization’s collaboration with Mr Satyarthi began in the early 1990s through the Child Workers in Asia Foundation and ILO support for the work of Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA (Save the Childhood Movement)), the community-based organization that he founded. The BBA’s pioneering child-friendly villages contributed to the development of the ILO’s integrated area-based approach to child labour.

- 211.  Since then, the principal area of collaboration has been at the advocacy level through the Global March against Child Labour. Established with ILO support for its international secretariat and member organizations, the Global March joined the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, Education International and numerous civil society organizations in an alliance to advocate for a new ILO Convention to combat the worst forms of child labour. In June 1998, a global march against child labour reached Geneva after crossing 107 countries. Mr Satyarthi worked with the Workers’ group of the ILC, which unanimously adopted the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182), in 1999. With 180 ratifications and a campaign supported by national Global March alliances, it has swiftly become the most ratified ILO Convention.

- 212.  In Tunisia, the ILO, assisted by the Governments of Belgium and Norway, contributed to the institutionalization of tripartite social dialogue and facilitated agreement between the Government, the employers’ organization (the Tunisian Union for Industry, Commerce and Handicrafts (UTICA)) and the workers’ organization (the Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT)) on a social contract signed in January 2013. The contract commits the Government and the social partners to working together to achieve five major goals of political transition, including the establishment of a national council for social dialogue.

- 213.  In 2014, with ILO support, the Ministry of Social Affairs of Tunisia formulated a draft law establishing the primary functions and modalities of the National Labour Council. Five tripartite committees have been created and are following up on implementation of the reforms identified in the social contract, namely the institutionalization of social dialogue; social security; industrial relations and vocational training; labour legislation; and regional development.

- 214.  The Organization’s support for social dialogue helped the tripartite constituents to explain the objectives and spirit of the future social contract to government officials, employers and workers at all levels and in all regions and to raise awareness of decent work and the importance of tripartite consensus as the primary method for addressing the social and economic challenges facing Tunisian society during the critical period of building a sustainable democracy and a fair society.

- 215.  The successful tripartite negotiations that resulted in the social contract also strengthened the position of the two social partners, UTICA and UGTT, and facilitated the emergence of a new model of national dialogue involving two other civil society organizations as well: the Tunisian Human Rights League and the Tunisian Order of Lawyers. These four organizations comprise the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet, which facilitated peaceful negotiation and agreement on the new Constitution (adopted in 2014) and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2015.

1. GB.316/INS/5/1(&Corr.).

5.Regional highlights

- 216.  This section provides a selection of key achievements by region. It includes an overview of the status of DWCPs and, for each region, a more detailed examination of a specific country where the ILO is engaged in the implementation of a number of programmes with constituents through an integrated DWCP. Complementary information on country results is available online at: www.ilo.org/program.

5.1.Africa region

- 217.  Despite the economic growth seen in many African countries, unemployment and underemployment, especially among young women and men, remain key decent work challenges for the region. Anchored in the Decent Work Agenda in Africa, decisions of the 11th and 12th African Regional Meetings, another priority for ILO work during the biennium has been to improve protection and conditions of work for the increasing number of people who are migrating in search of decent work opportunities within and outside the continent, and those excluded from social protection coverage.

- 218.  Key achievements delivered through ILO-supported regional interventions, which have had a cascade effect in regional economic communities and selected countries in Africa, are summarized below.

- 219.  Strengthening labour migration governance: There has been significant progress in establishing effective and inclusive labour migration governance arrangements in the region and the strengthening of partnerships with regional and international organizations has been critical in that regard. The results of these partnerships include the endorsement by the Assembly of the African Union, in January 2015, of a joint programme on Labour Migration Governance for Development and Integration in Africa, which is supported by the African Union, the ILO, IOM and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and is based on international labour standards. In April 2015, the tripartite African Union Labour Migration Advisory Committee, which provides the first tripartite continental social dialogue forum for labour migration, was established. In June 2015, the Assembly of the African Union adopted a forward-looking Declaration on Migration, which, among other issues, establishes a harmonized mechanism to ensure that higher education in Africa is compatible, comparable and enables recognition of credentials, thus facilitating transferability of knowledge, skills and expertise within the continent. In October 2015, the first Specialized Technical Committee on Education, Science and Technology of the African Union endorsed the Skills for Africa initiative, designed to facilitate the movement of talent and skills within the region. Based on the agreed harmonization of labour migration statistics methodologies and drawing on data gathered from 32 countries, the first comprehensive ILO report on labour migration statistics in Africa was prepared in 2015.

- 220.  At the subregional level, with ILO support, the Ministries of Labour and Employment of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) adopted the SADC Labour Migration Policy Framework in 2014. In addition, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) adopted an action plan for enhanced labour market and migration statistics in 2014.

- 221.  Tackling youth employment: In September 2015, the Joint Youth Employment Initiative for Africa, supported by the African Union Commission (AUC), the AfDB, the UNECA and the ILO, was reworked and thereafter endorsed for implementation by the new AfDB President and the Director-General of the ILO. Youth employment has been mainstreamed into the African Union Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa, which is led by the AUC, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) secretariat and the AfDB. A new partnership on youth employment has been developed with NEPAD. The ILO also contributed to operational aspects of the African Union skills policy and to the mid-term review of the operational plan of the Africa Youth Policy.

- 222.  Extending social protection: As part of the strategy for extending social protection to the informal economy and rural workers as envisaged in Recommendation No. 202, the ILO, in partnership with the FAO, supported African Union efforts to mainstream social protection into the NEPAD Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme. This is largely a targeted capacity enhancement programme with a view to enhanced collaboration between national departments of agriculture and the authorities responsible for social protection and is being piloted in, among other countries, Ethiopia and Kenya. The ILO also supported efforts to strengthen the capacity of the regional economic commissions, notably ECOWAS and the East African Community, to facilitate inter-ministerial cooperation.

- 223.  Partnerships with regional institutions and the UN: Cooperation between the African Union and the ILO has focused on support for the adoption and implementation of high-priority decent work policies and programmes. In January 2015, the Assembly of the African Union adopted a Declaration and Plan of Action on Employment, Poverty Eradication and Inclusive Development. This ten-year continental decent work initiative focuses on youth employment, labour migration and social protection for systematic, resourced and coordinated implementation within the African Union’s Agenda 2063. The ILO cochairs with the AUC, the Employment and Labour Sub-Cluster of the UN Regional Coordination Mechanism. The existence of a well-established continental decent work framework and strategic coordination with the UN have significantly contributed to the continental results reported above. The ILO has also partnered with the UNECA and the AfDB on the development of labour statistics, including guidelines and training materials on labour force survey methods for constituents and capacity building for labour force surveys.

Decent Work Country Programmes (DWCPs)

- 224.  Throughout the region, country-level tripartite mechanisms for the preparation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of DWCPs have played an important role in promoting and stimulating social dialogue and, in some instances, revitalizing existing social dialogue mechanisms and structures. In Kenya, the DWCP Implementation Committee has been given legal status as a subcommittee of the National Labour Board. In South Africa, the DWCP is overseen by a Steering Committee within the National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC); in Nigeria, Mauritius, South Africa, United Republic of Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, a National Tripartite Steering Committee acts as the mechanism for guiding implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the DWCP; and, at the subregional level, the SADC uses its tripartite social dialogue structure to oversee and monitor its decent work programme.

Table 8.Status of DWCPs in 2014–15

Countries with a DWCP that became active during the biennium

7

Angola, Cameroon, Comoros, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Nigeria, Somalia

Countries with a DWCP under implementation

38

Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cabo Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Gabon, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, Swaziland, United Republic of Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Countries where the preparation of a new DWCP is under way but has not yet been completed

8

Algeria, Djibouti, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tunisia

- 225.  In many countries, DWCPs have significantly shaped the world of work dimensions of national development frameworks and UNDAFs and provided a platform for improved collaboration between the ILO and other UN entities. In the United Republic of Tanzania, through the UN Development Assistance Plan (UNDAP), regional authorities have adopted a Youth Employment Creation Declaration in which they undertake to execute a time-bound plan. In Madagascar, an ILO partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) led to the adoption of a Code of Conduct to combat the commercial sexual exploitation of children in the tourism sector. In Mozambique, as part of a UN joint programme, the ILO, together with the UNDP, the UNIDO and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), has been supporting the creation of job opportunities for young men and women and the development of sustainable SMEs. In Cameroon, the ILO, in collaboration with the UNDP, WHO and UNICEF, provided technical inputs for the development of a basic social security plan, which was endorsed by the social partners and subsequently adopted by government decree in August 2014.

Country achievements through the DWCP in South Africa

- 226.  The DWCP 2010–15 for South Africa is the culmination of a highly consultative process between the Government, the social partners and the ILO involving all constituents represented in the NEDLAC. The agreed priorities are aligned with the four strategic objectives of decent work: strengthening fundamental principles and rights at work through the ratification and application of relevant up-to-date international labour standards and improved labour administration for effective employment services; promoting employment creation through an enabling environment for job-rich growth and sustainable enterprises, including formalization of the informal economy; broadening social protection coverage; and strengthening tripartism and social dialogue.

- 227.  The formulation, implementation and management oversight roles of South Africa’s DWCP are played by a NEDLAC National Steering Committee comprising representatives of the Government and the social partners. The Steering Committee provides a platform that the South African constituents have increasingly used to prepare for effective participation and engagement in subregional and regional events organized by the SADC and the African Union, and in the ILC.

Table 9.Country results chain for South Africa

ILO contribution

Results (action taken by the country)

- •  Provided technical assistance and coordination support to the Employment Equity Commission for drafting the criteria and methodology for assessing work of equal value.

- •  Provided technical advice and support for research on international good practices and methodologies to be applied in implementing equal pay for work of equal value.

- •  Provided technical advice and guidance to the Employment Equity Directorate of the Department of Labour for assessing work of equal value.

In August 2014, the Government adopted and published amendments to the Pay Equity Regulations with a view to implementation of the Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value principle; these amendments include criteria and methodology for assessing work of equal value. A Code of Good Practice for implementing the regulations on pay equity was also developed and published in June 2015.

- •  Supported the National Department of Small Business Development in provincial consultations with informal business traders and other key stakeholders in the small business sector in preparation for the drafting of the National Informal Business Upliftment Strategy.

- •  Provided technical advice and coordination support for drafting the Strategy.

- •  Supported the participation of representatives from the tripartite constituents in the Turin Centre Academy on Formalization of the Informal Economy in November 2014.

In February 2014, the Cabinet approved the National Informal Business Upliftment Strategy, which is based on intervention pillars aligned with the Decent Work Agenda and pays particular attention to women, youth and other vulnerable groups.

- •  Provided technical advice and guidance to Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) for the design and conduct of a survey to gather members’ views on the National Health Insurance (NHI) reform policy proposals.

- •  Facilitated a meeting of BUSA members and businesses to discuss health-care reforms, including by sharing international experiences.

The business position on the NHI reform policy proposals was adopted in late 2014.

- 228.  Substantive country results have been achieved throughout the DWCP planning cycle, and particularly during the period 2014–15, on such issues as the strengthening of employers’ and workers’ organizations; ratification and implementation of international labour standards; formalization of the informal economy; HIV/AIDS; and strengthening of the national labour market information system in order to monitor decent work trends, including in the informal economy (table 9).

- 229.  Total resources under the DWCP from the regular budget technical cooperation (RBTC), RBSA and XBTC for 2014–15, amounted to US$13,568,049.

5.2.Latin America and the Caribbean region

- 230.  In response to the priorities and challenges confirmed in the Lima Declaration, adopted at the 18th American Regional Meeting in 2014, ILO work during the biennium focused on addressing inequality, informality and respect for labour rights, especially freedom of association and collective bargaining, through policies to promote economic and social inclusion, productive employment and sustainable enterprises.

- 231.  Key achievements delivered through regional initiatives are highlighted below.

- 232.  Formalization of the informal economy: Half of the Latin American and Caribbean workforce operates in the informal economy. In this ACI, the ILO consolidated its regional Programme for the Promotion of Formalization in Latin America and the Caribbean (FORLAC), making it the main regional repository of knowledge on formalization policies by the end of the biennium. Through this initiative, the Office steered a wide range of innovative policies and practices in several countries of the region, facilitating policy and legislative changes in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, among other countries. In cooperation with the Turin Centre, it also supported the first regional forum organized in follow-up to the adoption of the Transition from the Informal to the Formal Economy Recommendation, 2015 (No. 204).

- 233.  Realizing labour rights: Work in this area was intense during the biennium. The Office sent high-level missions to Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, including through special envoys, in order to address issues identified by ILO supervisory bodies and provide assistance with labour law reform. Building on the Colombia experience, special committees for dispute prevention and resolution were established in Guatemala and Panama with ILO support.

- 234.  Strengthening workers’ and employers’ organizations: With the Trade Union Confederation of the Americas, the ILO implemented a capacitybuilding programme for workers’ organizations on freedom of association and collective bargaining with a focus on the public sector, legislation reform and gender equality. Among the initiatives that have helped employers’ organizations to analyse and influence policies for sustainable enterprises, is an online tool for comparing information on key indicators in this technical area, which is being replicated in other regions.

- 235.  Promoting youth employment and skills development: In this ACI (youth employment), the ILO has developed a knowledge-sharing platform allowing for the exchange of good practices and interventions on informality among young people, first jobs, entrepreneurship and labour rights. The Inter-American Centre for Knowledge Development in Vocational Training (ILO–CINTERFOR) was strengthened as a repository of technical experience with the capacity to provide substantive advice on competencies for the jobs of the future and to promote South–South cooperation.

- 236.  Eliminating child labour: Some 12.5 million children and adolescents in the region are still involved in child labour, most of them in hazardous work. The Crecer felices (Happy childhood) strategy, developed in Chile, is an example of action taken by governments and social partners to address this issue. As part of a strategy for accelerating progress, 25 countries launched a regional initiative in 2014 with the goal of achieving a region free of child labour by 2025. The ILO supported a South–South cooperation forum, held in July 2015, which led to more than 50 agreements between Latin American countries for the sharing of experience on matters such as school-to-work transition, child labour in agriculture, policy decentralization and child labour in value chains.

- 237.  Partnerships with regional institutions and the UN: The alliance with the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) was strengthened, resulting in leveraged capacity to provide updated information on regional labour markets and to conduct research on inclusive development policies in specific countries. As a member of the United Nations Development Group for Latin America and the Caribbean, the ILO has led inter-agency groups on youth and indigenous peoples and has participated in many others. The consolidation of partnerships on specific issues with several UN agencies and other multilateral organizations has enabled the Organization to mainstream elements of the Decent Work Agenda into their agendas, leading, among other things, to the preparation of joint policy reports.

Decent Work Country Programmes (DWCPs)

- 238.  As at the end of the biennium, a total of 16 DWCPs were at different stages of development and implementation in the region (table 10). Monitoring of active programmes is carried out through tripartite committees, often within existing national social dialogue institutions.

- 239.  The seven members of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) have been implementing and monitoring country-level work within the framework of a decent work programme for the subregion as a whole. ILO action in these countries has been designed and managed taking these national settings into consideration.

- 240.  During the biennium, DWCPs continued to be a powerful tool for fostering dialogue among ILO constituents on key labour market issues, identifying common priorities and mainstreaming the Organization’s agenda into national development and other programming frameworks. An internal Country Programme Review carried out in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in 2014 showed the usefulness of the DWCP for developing labour legislation, HIV/AIDS workplace policies and programmes, and a labour market information system. In Argentina, the DWCP has been instrumental in promoting better coordination with UNDAF and integration of the Decent Work Agenda into the workplans of other UN agencies.

- 241.  The major factors in the Office’s capacity to promote DWCPs continue to be the social dialogue environment and practices in each country. Support in these areas and efforts to train constituents in results-based management and to align DWCPs with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in order to increase their impact on the region will be key aspects of the ILO’s work in 2016–17.

Country achievements through the DWCP in Argentina

- 242.  As at the end of 2015, Argentina had completed its third consecutive DWCP since 2005, each of which built on the achievements of and lessons learned from previous exercises. All three country programmes were overseen and guided by a tripartite committee with technical support from the ILO.

- 243.  The priorities of the country’s DWCP 2012–15 were to reduce informal and precarious work, enhance employability, promote compliance with fundamental principles and rights at work, extend social protection coverage and improve social dialogue with gender equality as a cross-cutting theme.

Table 10.Status of DWCPs in 2014–15

Countries with a DWCP that became active during the biennium

0

Countries with a DWCP under implementation

5

Argentina, Bahamas, Belize, Costa Rica, Guyana

Countries where the preparation of a new DWCP is under way but has not yet been completed

11

Argentina, Chile, Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay

Table 11.Country results chain for Argentina

ILO contribution

Results (action taken by the country)

- •  Produced analytical studies to support policy-making ("Informalidad Laboral en Argentina: segmentos críticos y políticas para la formalización”; "Caminos hacia la formalización laboral en Argentina”).

- •  Facilitated tripartite discussion forums on formalization, particularly for hard-to-reach sectors.

- •  Provided technical advice and prepared tools to facilitate registration in rural areas through a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Labour.

A new law on the promotion of registered work and the prevention of labour fraud, adopted by Congress in May 2014, led to the introduction of special regimes to promote registered work; the establishment of a public registry of employers under labour sanctions; increased labour inspection competencies of the Ministry of Labour; and the establishment of a special unit for hard-to-reach sectors. The law is compliant with the Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81), and the Labour Inspection (Agriculture) Convention, 1969 (No. 129).
Within the framework of this law, the Government expanded the scope of the special bipartite agreements on access to social security for agricultural workers to include other activities performed in rural areas and additional crops.

- •  Provided technical assistance to tripartite social dialogue councils and fostered South–South exchanges of experience to facilitate skills recognition. This included an impact evaluation of labour placement of beneficiaries of skills training courses and a proposal to standardize skills evaluation and certification processes in the construction sector in cooperation with the Ministries of Labour of Argentina and Chile.

In 2014, the Government established a tripartite national skills council, consolidating its lifelong training strategy based on skills certification and matching. The Ministries of Labour of Argentina and Chile signed a bilateral agreement to standardize the certification of labour skills in May 2015.

- •  Provided technical advice on labour contracts with domestic workers in private homes.

- •  Produced working documents on care policies, social protection schemes and employment policies (2014) and on job placement for domestic workers from Paraguay (2015).

- •  Prepared three training handbooks for domestic workers in private homes and caregivers for children and older adults in cooperation with the Ministry of Labour and a brochure for migrant domestic workers with practical information on labour rights and obligations as migrants (2015).

In April 2014, having ratified Convention No. 189 in November 2013, the Government approved a special regime for labour contracts with domestic workers in private homes that reflects some of the ILO’s recommendations. To implement the new regime, the Government offered a series of awareness-raising and capacity-building activities using ILO products, among other inputs.

- 244.  In order to increase the impact of the DWCP, delivery in 2014–15 focused on three outcomes: employment policies, formalization of the informal economy and expansion of social protection. The strategy for achievement of these outcomes entailed coordinated design and implementation with resources allocated accordingly as a key factor in the Country Programme’s success (table 11). Support for formalization, for example, focused on the extension of social protection coverage to informal workers, especially in rural areas; skills training and certification, including for domestic workers; and labour migration in sectors such as construction, apparel, agriculture, trade and domestic work.

- 245.  Total resources for 2014–15 under the DWCP from RBTC, RBSA and XBTC resources amounted to US$900,000.

5.3.Arab States region

- 246.  Widespread political instability in the region continued during the biennium. The Syrian refugee crisis placed significant pressure on infrastructures and an already strained labour market, particularly in Lebanon and Jordan, while other countries struggled with the humanitarian and economic consequences of ongoing conflicts. The decline in oil prices resulted in a tightening of fiscal space in a number of oil-producing countries, including the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

- 247.  The ILO’s response to these challenges focused on integrated interventions. Regional and interregional knowledge-sharing events were a key element of its strategy for delivering on key priorities in the region within the framework of South–South and triangular cooperation. The key achievements are highlighted below.

- 248.  Responding to the Syrian refugee crisis: In Jordan and Lebanon, the ILO supported development-led and employment-driven interventions for refugees and host communities with the overarching goal of preserving social and economic stability. As part of this strategy, it was actively engaged in the formulation and implementation of the UN Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan (3RP) 2015–16, the Jordan Response Plan 2015 (JRP) and the Lebanon Crisis Response Plan 2015–16, which address both humanitarian and development aspects in an integrated manner. The ILO’s contribution to these plans has focused in particular on job creation and livelihoods, working conditions and elimination of the worst forms of child labour. An interregional dialogue on the labour market impact of the Syrian refugee crisis on host communities, convened by the ILO, strengthened coordination among tripartite constituents from Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey with a view to improved analysis and effective response to the crisis at the national and regional levels.

- 249.  Promoting fair labour migration: The ILO supported the sharing of good practices between sending and receiving countries with regard to domestic workers’ rights. An interregional policy dialogue on labour flows for constituents and experts from the Arab States, and Asia and the Pacific, led to the formulation of a common strategy for a fair migration agenda between the two regions.

- 250.  Extending social protection: A regional seminar on social protection, organized in mid-2014, resulted in regional buy-in to inclusive social protection policies by the tripartite constituents. It also facilitated progress towards concrete results in some countries, including the development of an action plan for establishment of the new social security administration in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the development of an unemployment insurance scheme, currently in progress in Oman.

- 251.  Social dialogue and institutional strengthening: In cooperation with the Arab Labour Organization, the ILO hosted a series of regional capacity development events that fostered social dialogue and strengthened workers’ organizations. As part of its support for the Arab Centre for Labour Administration and Employment, 28 ILO publications of relevance to labour administrations in the region were made available in Arabic. Joint efforts with the GCC Executive Bureau focused on providing support and encouraging cooperation among institutions in Council countries in the areas of dispute resolution, migrant workers’ rights, labour inspection, employment policy and entrepreneurship promotion.

- 252.  Partnerships with regional organizations and the UN: The ILO continued to work actively with UN partners within the framework of system-wide coherence, particularly in relation to UNDAFs (Iraq and Jordan), UN strategic frameworks (Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates), One UN Funds and UN frameworks related to the Syrian crisis. The UN Country Team’s work on the annual UNDAF review led to the integration of ILO emergency intervention in response to the Gaza crisis. The Organization also contributed to the UN Support Plan for the Transformation of the Gaza Strip and the Detailed Needs Assessment for Gaza with a focus on the economic and social protection sectors. The ILO participated in the post-2015 consultations, including the process led by the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) in support of the League of Arab States efforts to formulate an Arab perspective on the post-2015 development agenda.

Decent Work Country Programmes (DWCPs)

- 253.  DWCPs in the region have proved to be a powerful framework for revitalizing dialogue and strengthening constituent capacity for labour market governance. In Jordan, the promotion of social dialogue led to the establishment of collective bargaining mechanisms. With the emergence of independent workers’ organizations, the DWCP provided a framework for the promotion of freedom of association and collective bargaining and fostered debate on labour law and policy review. In Oman, the Country Programme focuses on integration of the national labour force into the economy, social protection and social dialogue. This resulted in significant achievements, particularly with regard to social dialogue in the oil and gas sector.

Table 12.Status of DWCPs in 2014–15

Countries with a DWCP that became active during the biennium

0

Countries with a DWCP under implementation

3

Jordan, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Oman

Countries where the preparation of a new DWCP is under way but has not yet been completed

1

Bahrain

Table 13.Country results chain for Jordan

ILO contribution

Results (action taken by the country)

- •  Provision of technical assistance, through the Better Work Jordan programme, to the Ministry of Labour, the apparel employers’ associations and the garment workers’ union in order to raise the competitiveness of the apparel sector within the global supply chain and build the capacity of the Ministry of Labour and the social partners to sustain this action.

- •  Provided support for the Ministry of Labour’s labour inspection unit to enhance working conditions in the apparel sector through improved compliance with international labour standards and national labour law.

Working conditions in the apparel sector were enhanced through improved compliance with international labour standards and Jordanian labour law based on data contained in Better Work Jordan compliance reports.
The Government, the apparel employers’ associations and the garment workers’ union developed a National Strategy to ensure the sustainability of Jordan’s apparel industry.

The sector-wide collective bargaining agreement entered its second year with a majority of factories found to be abiding by its provisions. An addendum to the agreement, signed by the parties, will fully eliminate discriminatory practices by August 2017.

- •  Provided technical assistance to the Ministry of Labour and the social partners with a view to the development of a National Strategy for Jordan’s apparel industry.

- •  Provided technical advice and guidance to the apparel employers’ associations and the garment workers’ union for preparation of the collective bargaining agreement and technical support for the drafting of an addendum to eliminate discriminatory practices at work.

- •  Supported the efforts of the Ministry of Labour and the social partners with a view to the establishment of the Jordan Garment Sector Industrial Relations Joint Council in March 2015.

- •  Provided technical assistance for the establishment of the Al-Hassan Industrial Zone, which will provide social, health, and empowerment opportunities for migrant garment factory workers.

The Jordan Garment Sector Industrial Relations Joint Council was established in March 2015. Composed of representatives of the apparel employers’ association and the garment workers’ union, it will oversee implementation of the current agreement and provide a forum for the negotiation of future ones.
The first Workers’ Centre in the Al-Hassan Industrial Zone officially opened in February 2014.

The Government approved a new unified contract for all migrant workers in Jordan’s apparel sector in April 2015.

- •  Provided technical assistance and guidance for the development of a National Child Labour Database that links the Ministries of Labour, Education and Social Development in receiving and referring reports on child labour.

- •  Supported the roll-out of the National Framework to Combat Child Labour (NFCL) in the governorates and provided technical assistance and guidance for the design and implementation of the national child labour survey.

- •  Supported a pilot project to upgrade informal apprenticeships in the auto repair industry.

More than 200 officials from the three key Ministries (Labour, Education and Social Development) received training in the use of the Database and are increasingly using it to monitor child labour.
The NFCL has been activated in nine of the 12 governorates, and labour inspectors, social workers and education officials have begun to take action on child labour. As part of its Child-Friendly City initiative, the Greater Amman Municipality is using its municipal inspectors to monitor child labour, having trained them with ILO support.

As a result of the pilot project, a new model for upgrading apprenticeships, linking child labour and youth employment, was developed and 120 youth are being trained through a partnership with the International Youth Foundation.

- •  Carried out a social protection floor costing study, which assesses different scenarios and their costs with a view to the establishment of a national social protection floor; and prepared an impact assessment of such a floor on poverty, gender and women’s empowerment and child labour.

- •  Organized capacity-building workshops on social protection floors for the tripartite stakeholders.

- •  Prepared briefs and other awareness-raising materials on social protection floors.

- •  Provided technical assistance to the tripartite constituents with a view to ratification of Convention No. 102; assessed the compatibility of Jordan’s social security legislation with the Convention.

In 2014, Parliament approved an amendment to the Social Security Law, taking into account the results of the seventh actuarial valuation carried out by the ILO and the recommendations contained in the Organization’s legal review. With the adoption of the new Law, Jordan is seeking to extend social security coverage to the whole population.
The tripartite constituents began implementation of the social protection floor in May 2012 and subsequently set up a tripartite Social Protection Floor Advisory Board.

In February 2014, Jordan ratified Convention No. 102.

- 254.  Owing to, among other things, the political situation in the region, DWCPs have been applied with some flexibility to take account of national realities and the needs and priorities of specific labour markets. The Decent Work Programme 2013–16, endorsed by the tripartite constituents in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, facilitated the establishment of thematic tripartite committees, which in turn made important contributions to tripartism and social dialogue in areas such as social security, women’s employment and pay equity, OSH and labour law reform. The first Social Security Law for private sector workers and their families was endorsed by the National Tripartite Social Security Committee in October 2015 and submitted to the Cabinet for adoption.

- 255.  There are, however, recurring challenges that hinder the development and implementation of DWCPs, including differing levels of involvement of the tripartite committees in the oversight of the country programmes and the lack of up-to-date statistical information, which makes it difficult to monitor progress and results. As a result, the engagement of constituents in the development and monitoring of DWCP implementation has proved uneven and is a key area for continued improvement.

Country achievements through the DWCP in Jordan

- 256.  The DWCP 2012–15 for Jordan is the largest ILO programme in the region. It was developed through close consultations among the tripartite constituents and is fully aligned with national priorities, the National Employment Strategy, the country’s UNDAF 2013–17 and the most recent UNDAF 2015–17. Its three priorities are to improve decent work opportunities for young people, extend social security to the most vulnerable groups of society and enhance employment opportunities for all with a focus on young people.

- 257.  Key achievements include adoption of the ILO framework for combating the worst forms of child labour, recognition of the right to collective bargaining and adoption of an inclusive approach to social protection (table 13). The DWCP has also been central to the Organization’s response to the Syrian crisis and its impact on refugees and host communities. This response has included the establishment of a livelihoods task force, research into the impact of the crisis on the labour market, expansion of an ongoing child labour project to include Syrian refugee children and implementation of livelihoods projects in the most affected governorates. During the biennium, with ILO support, Jordan ratified the MLC, 2006, and Convention No. 102.

- 258.  Total resources under the DWCP from RBTC, RBSA and XBTC for 2014–15 amounted to US$16,800,000.

5.4.Asia and the Pacific region

- 259.  Commitments made in the context of the Asian Decent Work Decade (2006–15) and priorities set at the 15th Asia and the Pacific Regional Meeting (2011) remained the drivers for work during the biennium. In a region with some of the world’s highest levels of informality and labour mobility, ILO support has focused in particular on labour migration issues, social protection and working conditions.

- 260.  Key achievements delivered through regional initiatives are highlighted below.

- 261.  Managing labour mobility: Labour mobility remains a priority concern in all three Asia and the Pacific subregions and among the tripartite constituents. During the biennium, the ILO supported the development and launch of the international labour migration statistics database for ASEAN. The database contains official government data on the number and flows of migrant workers in the ten ASEAN countries, disaggregated by sex and nationality. With ILO support, the ATUC adopted a three-year capacity-building and research workplan, resulting in the development of the ATUC Inter-union Cooperation Agreement among ASEAN Unions as a Strategy to Promote Decent Work for Migrant Workers. A Memorandum of Understanding on the protection and wellbeing of migrant workers, with eight specific actions to be taken by the trade unions in these regions, was signed by the South Asian Regional Trade Union Council, the ATUC and the Arab Trade Union Confederation. ILO support for the ACE led to the adoption of a three-year Action Plan to widen the ACE policy footprint in ASEAN labour migration processes, strengthen its visibility among its members and other stakeholders and raise the level of institutional engagement among its members. The ACE has also developed and endorsed regional policy positions on four labour-mobility-related issues: skills mobility, OSH and productivity, recruitment and forced labour.

- 262.  Expanding the ILO knowledge base: The South Asia Research Network (SARNET) on employment and social protection for inclusive growth, of which the ILO is a member, has continued to be a key vehicle for leading research on employment and social protection issues in the subregion. Research papers on various topics, including manufacturing in South Asia, were produced and a training programme on labour economics for young South Asian scholars was launched. The ILO supported a ten-country ASEAN employers’ survey and its findings fed into the ASEAN employers’ report, The Road to the ASEAN Economic Community 2015: The challenges and opportunities for enterprises and their representative organizations, which was launched at the annual ACE meeting in May 2014. Six ILO-managed Communities of Practice continued to provide up-to-date information on knowledge resources and events. One of these is the Asia–Pacific Knowledge Network on Skills and Employability, which, with 704 members and 903 knowledge resources, had exceeded its end-of-biennium targets by 30 July 2015.

- 263.  Partnerships with regional organizations and the UN: Cooperation with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank was significantly expanded during the biennium and included the preparation of a joint report, ASEAN Community 2015: Managing integration for better jobs and shared prosperity, based on robust empirical evidence and consultation with the tripartite constituents in the ASEAN countries. The partnership with the ADB was further strengthened through the first technical assistance agreement between the two organizations, which was signed in 2015 in order to improve the performance of labour markets in the Pacific Island Countries (Fiji, Palau and Papua New Guinea). The ILO led joint efforts with other UN agencies to advance the Decent Work Agenda in Asia and the Pacific, including preparation of the UNDG–Asia–Pacific Social Protection Issues Brief for UN country teams by the technical working group on social protection under the UNDG–Asia–Pacific mechanism, and of a report on youth and sustainable development by the technical working group on youth under the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) Regional Coordination Mechanism.

Decent Work Country Programmes (DWCPs)

- 264.  By the end of 2015, the Office had provided support for over 20 country programmes at varying stages of development and implementation (table 14). In 12 of these countries, formal tripartite oversight committees were established to guide implementation while other countries are using existing tripartite institutions and dialogue platforms.

- 265.  DWCPs have proved extremely useful in highlighting areas of common interest and developing partnerships at all levels and in all countries, from economies as large and diverse as China and India to least developed countries and fragile States.

Table 14.Status of DWCPs in 2014–15

Countries with a DWCP that became active during the biennium

0

Countries with a DWCP under implementation

14

Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Sri Lanka, Vanuatu, Viet Nam

Countries where the preparation of a new DWCP is under way but has not yet been completed

8

Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Mongolia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste

- 266.  In the Pacific, where selected core areas of ILO work – such as labour law reform – resonate across several countries and opportunities for cross-fertilization are greater, a subregional approach was followed, including within the framework of Pacific regional institutions such as the Pacific Islands Forum, the Secretariat of the Pacific Community and the University of the South Pacific.

Country achievements through the DWCP in Pakistan

- 267.  The DWCP II (2010–15) for Pakistan is based on four priorities that have been fully endorsed by the tripartite constituents: labour law reform; employment generation through human resource development with a focus on employable skills; social protection extension, including in the informal economy; and tripartism and social dialogue promotion.

Table 15.Country results chain for Pakistan

ILO contribution

Results (action taken by the country)

- •  Provision of technical assistance, through the Better Work Jordan programme, to the Ministry of Labour, the apparel employers’ associations and the garment workers’ union in order to raise the competitiveness of the apparel sector within the global supply chain and build the capacity of the Ministry of Labour and the social partners to sustain this action.

- •  Provided support for the Ministry of Labour’s labour inspection unit to enhance working conditions in the apparel sector through improved compliance with international labour standards and national labour law.

Working conditions in the apparel sector were enhanced through improved compliance with international labour standards and Jordanian labour law based on data contained in Better Work Jordan compliance reports.
The Government, the apparel employers’ associations and the garment workers’ union developed a National Strategy to ensure the sustainability of Jordan’s apparel industry.

The sector-wide collective bargaining agreement entered its second year with a majority of factories found to be abiding by its provisions. An addendum to the agreement, signed by the parties, will fully eliminate discriminatory practices by August 2017.

- •  Provided technical assistance to the Ministry of Labour and the social partners with a view to the development of a National Strategy for Jordan’s apparel industry.

- •  Provided technical advice and guidance to the apparel employers’ associations and the garment workers’ union for preparation of the collective bargaining agreement and technical support for the drafting of an addendum to eliminate discriminatory practices at work.

- •  Supported the efforts of the Ministry of Labour and the social partners with a view to the establishment of the Jordan Garment Sector Industrial Relations Joint Council in March 2015.

- •  Provided technical assistance for the establishment of the Al-Hassan Industrial Zone, which will provide social, health, and empowerment opportunities for migrant garment factory workers.

The Jordan Garment Sector Industrial Relations Joint Council was established in March 2015. Composed of representatives of the apparel employers’ association and the garment workers’ union, it will oversee implementation of the current agreement and provide a forum for the negotiation of future ones.
The first Workers’ Centre in the Al-Hassan Industrial Zone officially opened in February 2014.

The Government approved a new unified contract for all migrant workers in Jordan’s apparel sector in April 2015.

- •  Provided technical assistance and guidance for the development of a National Child Labour Database that links the Ministries of Labour, Education and Social Development in receiving and referring reports on child labour.

- •  Supported the roll-out of the National Framework to Combat Child Labour (NFCL) in the governorates and provided technical assistance and guidance for the design and implementation of the national child labour survey.

- •  Supported a pilot project to upgrade informal apprenticeships in the auto repair industry.

More than 200 officials from the three key Ministries (Labour, Education and Social Development) received training in the use of the Database and are increasingly using it to monitor child labour.
The NFCL has been activated in nine of the 12 governorates, and labour inspectors, social workers and education officials have begun to take action on child labour. As part of its Child-Friendly City initiative, the Greater Amman Municipality is using its municipal inspectors to monitor child labour, having trained them with ILO support.

As a result of the pilot project, a new model for upgrading apprenticeships, linking child labour and youth employment, was developed and 120 youth are being trained through a partnership with the International Youth Foundation.

- •  Carried out a social protection floor costing study, which assesses different scenarios and their costs with a view to the establishment of a national social protection floor; and prepared an impact assessment of such a floor on poverty, gender and women’s empowerment and child labour.

- •  Organized capacity-building workshops on social protection floors for the tripartite stakeholders.

- •  Prepared briefs and other awareness-raising materials on social protection floors.

- •  Provided technical assistance to the tripartite constituents with a view to ratification of Convention No. 102; assessed the compatibility of Jordan’s social security legislation with the Convention.

In 2014, Parliament approved an amendment to the Social Security Law, taking into account the results of the seventh actuarial valuation carried out by the ILO and the recommendations contained in the Organization’s legal review. With the adoption of the new Law, Jordan is seeking to extend social security coverage to the whole population.
The tripartite constituents began implementation of the social protection floor in May 2012 and subsequently set up a tripartite Social Protection Floor Advisory Board.

In February 2014, Jordan ratified Convention No. 102.

- 268.  Key achievements during 2014–15 include the establishment of a tripartite supervisory mechanism at the federal and provincial levels to promote decent work; strengthened capacity of ILO constituents to apply the fundamental Conventions, fulfil reporting obligations and clear the backlog of reporting on ratified Conventions; increased engagement of the private sector in the promotion of decent work and international labour standard compliance; Government-owned and -funded initiatives on the elimination of child and bonded labour; extensive labour legislation reviews in all four provinces; renewed engagement with donors in support of a national international labour standard compliance programme; demonstrated good practices in promoting employment and skills among vulnerable populations; and an expanded knowledge base on the various dimensions of decent work in the country (table 15).

- 269.  Total resources under the DWCP from RBTC, RBSA and XBTC for 2014–15 amounted to US$6,327,380.

5.5.Europe and Central Asia region

- 270.  Much of this diverse and complex region is still struggling with the ongoing social and labour impact of the economic and financial crisis. In addition, it is now confronted by the impact of tensions, conflicts and profound changes at the global and regional levels.

- 271.  In line with the Oslo Declaration of the Ninth European Regional Meeting (2013), work in 2014–15 focused on addressing the youth employment challenge, strengthening social dialogue, promoting an enabling environment for sustainable enterprises and improving working conditions. In significant parts of the region, informality also emerged as a key issue. Migration re-emerged as a priority, particularly in the context of the Syrian crisis. The facilitation of knowledge and experience sharing, including by developing subregional networks and communities of practice among constituents, was a central feature of the ILO’s strategy at the national level. Key achievements are highlighted below.

- 272.  Addressing the labour market implications of crises in the region: The ILO is working with Turkish constituents to increase national and local capacity to deal with the massive influx of refugees from the Syrian Arab Republic, particularly through the labour market integration of vulnerable groups. This response also involves a platform for sharing knowledge and exchanging best practices on the labour market impact of the crisis (see the section on the Arab States for further details). The ILO is also involved in implementation of the Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan, launched in 2014 as a UN framework for a coordinated response among countries receiving refugees. In Ukraine, in order to address the issue of internally displaced people, the Organization supported employment promotion activities through capacity building for employment services and assistance with the implementation of active labour market policies.

- 273.  Improving employment prospects, particularly for young people: Employment is a priority concern in all countries of the region. The ILO supported the establishment of a regional knowledge-sharing and peer-learning platform in the Commonwealth of Independent States and Georgia, which has enabled constituents to conduct peer reviews of youth employment policies and led to the development of a toolkit on policies, labour market institutions and best practices for promoting youth employment. Another cooperation platform, covering the Western Balkan countries, focuses on employment and social affairs and is being used by those countries as a mutual learning and peer review mechanism during their EU pre-accession process. The Oslo Declaration also calls for action on employment in the Eurozone countries. The ILO supported the development and adoption of a national action plan on youth employment in Cyprus and a national youth guarantee scheme and framework for monitoring its performance in Portugal.

- 274.  Strengthening social dialogue: The ILO continued to promote social dialogue in the region through capacity building. It assisted with the development of legal frameworks and acted as a platform for research and the sharing of knowledge and good practices. One significant achievement was the re-establishment of social dialogue in Greece, particularly in relation to the legislation on collective bargaining and collective dismissals.

- 275.  Promoting an enabling environment for sustainable enterprises: In the Western Balkans, ILO support increased the capacity of employers’ organizations to advocate for improved conditions for SMEs. The knowledge base and capacity of such organizations in Armenia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have also been strengthened, enabling them to develop initiatives and measures for improving the business environment.

- 276.  Facilitating the transition to formality: The biennium saw an increase in ILO response to calls for assistance from constituents with regard to informality. One such response entailed the design and implementation of policies that will improve the quality and productivity of jobs in the Republic of Moldova. In preparation for, and followup to, the discussion on the transition from the informal to the formal economy at the 104th Session of the ILC in 2015, awareness-raising campaigns were initiated by the social partners, with ILO support, in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan and, at the regional level, in the Russian Federation. In Montenegro, the Organization facilitated the exchange of knowledge on the drivers and costs of, and possible remedies for, informality, best practices and steps towards the implementation of ILO Recommendation No. 204.

- 277.  Improving working conditions, in particular OSH: Following the tragic events in the Soma mine in Turkey, ILO assistance led to the development of a mid-term Tripartite National Plan of Action combined with short-term interventions. The country ratified Convention No. 187 in 2014, and Conventions Nos 167 and 176 in 2015. During the Latvian presidency of the European Union, the ILO provided a platform for debate and exchange on expanding the outreach and impact of OSH standards in MSEs.

- 278.  Partnerships with regional institutions and the UN: Cooperation between regional institutions and the ILO remained a cornerstone of the regional strategy and led to increased references to the Decent Work Agenda, including in the context of OSH in SMEs and undeclared work, in EU policy documents. Work with the European Commission, the European Parliament and the EU presidencies remains a priority and a new partnership with the European Investment Bank focuses on increasing the employment impact of investment. Political support from constituents – including the first Joint G20 Finance and Labour Ministers’ Meeting, hosted by the Russian Federation in 2013, and the first BRICS Labour and Employment Ministers’ Meeting, held in January 2016 – has been essential for promotion of the Decent Work Agenda. Work with the Turkish presidency of the G20 has also been important. The ILO has continued its participation in the UN Regional Coordination Mechanism, the Regional UNDG Team for Europe and Central Asia and in a number of associated thematic groups. Special efforts were made to promote the Decent Work Agenda through UN country teams, the 11 UNDAF roll-outs and Delivering as One programmes. Within the framework of regional consultations on the SDGs, the Organization led the process of establishing a UN-wide regional thematic working group on social protection floors.

Decent Work Country Programmes (DWCPs)

- 279.  DWCPs have provided an invaluable framework for targeted efforts and dialogue between the social partners and governments. In many countries, they have helped to position the ILO as an influential partner in UNDAFs and other UN programming frameworks, especially with a view to implementation of the SDGs. In Montenegro, the UNDAF development process began as soon as the new DWCP was in place. Two of the priorities included in the DWCP – youth employment and the informal economy – are reflected in the new draft UNDAF and the joint UN workplan, which in turn has opened opportunities for leveraging resources from the UNDG Delivering Results Together Fund in order to achieve greater impact.

- 280.  The quality of the second and third generation of DWCPs, and therefore their usefulness as programmatic instruments, has improved, particularly where their preparation has been grounded in sound ILO diagnostic tools. The Decent Work Country Profiles developed by the ILO with constituents in Armenia and Azerbaijan provided an analytical foundation for identification of the needs and priorities of the countries’ DWCPs. Similarly, the Decent Work Country Diagnostic methodology, developed by the ILO in 2015, proved useful in preparing the DWCP for Tajikistan.

Table 16.Status of DWCPs in 2014–15

Countries with a DWCP that became active during the biennium

4

Montenegro, Tajikistan, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Uzbekistan

Countries with a DWCP under implementation

9

Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republic of Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, Tajikistan, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan

Countries where the preparation of a new DWCP is under way but has not yet been completed

5

Albania, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republic of Moldova, Ukraine

- 281.  Ownership of the DWCPs by constituents has also improved, owing primarily to the latter’s increased involvement in the development, monitoring and evaluation of country programmes and enhanced responsiveness to results-based management principles and ILO programming. The negotiations and consultations during their preparation remain a key platform for tripartite social dialogue, as seen from the experience in the Republic of Moldova, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Uzbekistan. The Office’s recent efforts to strengthen consultations during the development of new DWCPs in Eastern Europe include individual and collective discussions with governments and employers’ and workers’ organizations, and are expected to further increase the constituents’ ownership of the country programmes.

Country achievements through the DWCP in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

- 282.  The biennium saw both the final year of the first generation and the first year of the second generation of the DWCP. The Country Programme 2010–15 for the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia had the following priorities: introduction of a national minimum wage; establishment of the national Economic and Social Council; development of a Strategic Policy Framework for employers’ organizations; development of a national action plan for youth employment; and ratification of Conventions. The DWCP 2015–18 was signed in March 2015; its priorities are to promote job-rich inclusive growth and sustainable enterprises, effective social dialogue and formalization of the informal economy.

- 283.  Building on work undertaken in previous biennia, the effectiveness and impact of the new Economic and Social Council has been improved at the national and local levels by strengthening the technical capacity of its members and technical secretariats to make and develop a tracking mechanism for high-quality recommendations and to raise awareness of their role in decision-making processes. Significant results have been achieved in the areas of employment and youth employment, including a comprehensive National Employment Strategy supported by the ILO, the World Bank and the UNDP (table 17).

- 284.  Total resources under the DWCP from RBTC, RBSA and XBTC for 2014–15 amounted to US$1,049,854.

Table 17.Country results chain for the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

ILO contribution

Results (action taken by the country)

- •  Provided technical assistance to the National Statistical Office in 2014 for the design and implementation of a school-to-work transition survey for young people aged 15–29.

- •  Provided technical assistance with the formulation of an evidence-based youth employment action plan.

In December 2014, the Government adopted a redesigned operational plan for active labour market measures, which was implemented in 2015.

Following implementation of the first Action Plan for Youth Employment 2012–15, the Government and the social partners have developed a second Plan for the period 2016–20.

- •  Provided capacity building to labour market institutions and the social partners so that they could implement, monitor and evaluate employment services and programmes targeting the needs of young jobseekers.

- •  Developed and made available guidelines, tools and other learning materials for profiling individuals at risk on the labour market and for individual employment planning, monitoring and evaluation.

In September 2015, a profiling system targeting the hard to employ, including young unemployed people, was put in place in all employment offices. Concurrently, the Employment Service Agency introduced a new approach to individual employment planning.

- •  Provided technical assistance with the drafting of legislation on the amicable settlement of labour disputes (ASLD).

- •  Developed a curriculum for training conciliators/arbitrators.

- •  Organized and delivered training of trainers for conciliators and arbitrators.

- •  Developed a case management system to improve the justice system by automating court processes, monitoring case activities and supporting decision-making through the use of real-time data and analytics.

In 2014, the Government adopted the amended law on ASLD, which has been in force since January 2015.
An operational system for the amicable settlement of labour disputes has been in place since September 2015. The new mechanism will help the social partners to prevent and resolve disputes that arise during collective bargaining.

- •  Provided training on the EESE toolkit and helped the Organization of Employers of Macedonia (OEM) and the Business Confederation of Macedonia (BCM) to prepare three position papers.

- •  Organized training in advocacy for the OEM and the BCM.

The OEM and the BCM prepared an assessment of the enabling environment for sustainable enterprises, a set of key priorities and three position papers for improving the business climate.
These joint efforts and evidence-based reports have enabled the employers’ organizations to speak with one voice with the Government on issues of common concern, which in turn has strengthened their position as policy actors.

Appendices

Appendix I

List of programme and budget (P&B) outcome indicators with targets and results for the period 2010–15

P&B outcome indicator

Total targets 2010–15[1]

Total results 2010–15[2]

Explanation in the case of significant underachievement

Outcome 1: Employment promotion
More women and men have access to productive employment, decent work and income opportunities

Indicator 1.1: Number of member States that, with ILO support, integrate national, sectoral or local employment policies and programmes in their development frameworks

40

47

The most notable difference between target and results was for work on social finance. This reflects the lower than anticipated country-level demand for work under indicator 1.2; the fact that social finance activities were often a component of other work and therefore contributed to results under other outcomes and indicators; and that important work over the Strategic Policy Framework period has been done at the global level and hence not captured in country-level results.

Indicator 1.2: Number of member States in which, with ILO support, national public authorities adopt social finance policies that encourage decent jobs and services to the working poor through local financial institutions

26

16

Indicator 1.3: Number of member States that, with ILO support, put in place or strengthen labour market information and analysis systems and disseminate information on national labour market trends

26

37

Indicator 1.4: Number of member States that, with ILO support, include the promotion of productive employment, decent work and income opportunities in their disaster risk reduction/recovery measures and in their conflict prevention, reconstruction and recovery programmes

25

21

Indicator 1.5: Number of member States that, with ILO support, show an increasing employment content of investments in employment-intensive infrastructure programmes for local development

32

26

Indicator 1.6: Number of member States where, with ILO support, governments, employers’ and/or workers’ organizations have taken initiatives in policy areas that facilitate transition of informal activities to formality

24

21

Outcome 2: Skills development
Skills development increases the employability of workers, the competitiveness of enterprises and the inclusiveness of growth

Indicator 2.1: Number of member States that, with ILO support, integrate skills development into sector or national development strategies

39

36

The most notable difference between target and results was for work related to accessibility of training for people with disabilities. In hindsight, the target may have been overambitious. Work on disability was often a component of other areas of work and therefore contributed to results under other outcomes rather than indicator 2.3. Also, much of the work on disability during the Strategic Policy Framework was focused on global rather than country-level work such as establishing and promoting the Disability Network with the private sector and hence not captured in country-level results.

Indicator 2.2: Number of member States that, with ILO support, make relevant training more readily accessible in rural communities

21

20

Indicator 2.3: Number of member States that, with ILO support, make relevant training more readily accessible to people with disabilities

20

10

Indicator 2.4: Number of member States that, with ILO support, strengthen employment services to deliver on employment policy objectives

18

26

Indicator 2.5: Number of member States that, with ILO support, develop and implement integrated policies and programmes to promote productive employment and decent work for young women and men

43

52

Outcome 3: Sustainable enterprises
Sustainable enterprises create productive and decent jobs

Indicator 3.1: Number of member States that, with ILO support, reform their policy or regulatory frameworks to improve the enabling environment for sustainable enterprises

21

15

The variance between target and total results under indicator 3.1 reflects the fact that much country-level work related to the enabling environment has been reported under other outcomes.
With respect to indicator 3.4 on the MNE Declaration, the underachievement relative to targets reflects, in part, an over ambitious target given the relatively few DWCPs that have suitable CPOs related to work in this field. During the Strategic Policy Framework period, Governing Body decisions have emphasized the need for country-level support to the constituents and hence for constituents to incorporate the promotion of the MNE Declaration in DWCPs. The first fruits of this were harvested in 2014–15 when four of the six results were obtained.

Indicator 3.2: Number of member States that, with ILO support, implement entrepreneurship development policies and programmes for the creation of productive employment and decent work

53

86

Indicator 3.3: Number of member States that, with ILO support, implement programmes to foster the adoption of responsible and sustainable enterprise-level practices

21

20

Indicator 3.4: Number of member States that, with ILO support, adopt policies that integrate the principles of the MNE Declaration

12

6

Outcome 4: Social security
More people have access to better managed and more gender-equitable social security benefits

Indicator 4.1: Number of member States that, with ILO support, improve the knowledge and information base on the coverage and performance of their social security system

46

49

Indicator 4.2: Number of member States that, with ILO support, develop policies improving social security coverage, notably of excluded groups

24

46

Indicator 4.3: Number of member States that, with ILO support, improve the legal framework, general and financial management and/or tripartite governance of social security in line with international labour standards

23

47

Outcome 5: Working conditions
Women and men have better and more equitable working conditions

Indicator 5.1: Number of member States in which tripartite constituents, with ILO support, adopt policies or implement strategies to promote improved or more equitable working conditions, especially for the most vulnerable workers

21

36

Indicator 5.2: Number of member States that, with ILO support, strengthen their institutional capacity to implement sound wage policies

16

28

Outcome 6: Occupational safety and health
Workers and enterprises benefit from improved safety and health conditions at work

indicator 6.1: Number of member States that, with ILO support, adopt policies and programmes to promote improved safety and health at work

30

36

indicator 6.2: Number of member States in which tripartite constituents, with ILO support, implement programmes to promote improved safety and health at work

29

34

Outcome 7: Labour migration
More migrant workers are protected and more migrant workers have access to productive employment and decent work

indicator 7.1: Number of member States that, with ILO support, adopt gender-sensitive labour migration policies to protect migrant workers that reflect the ILO Multilateral Framework and the provisions of relevant international labour standards

21

32

indicator 7.2: Number of member States that, with ILO support, adopt gender-sensitive labour migration policies and practices that reflect the ILO Multilateral Framework with a view to promoting productive employment and decent work for migrant workers

20

24

Outcome 8: HIV/AIDS
The world of work responds effectively to the HIV/AIDS epidemic

indicator 8.1: Number of member States that, with ILO support, develop a national tripartite workplace policy on HIV/AIDS, as part of the national AIDS response

84

57

During the biennium there occurred a significant change of strategy, approved both by the Governing Body and the ILO’s main partner UNAIDS, with a shift from "spreading thin” to focused programmes in priority countries.
In addition, this re-prioritizing was further enhanced by the "VCT@work" initiative launched by the Director-General in June 2013, an initiative that was best implemented through workplace programmes, rather than policies, the focus always being made on a relatively small number (about 30) of the so-called High-Impact Countries (and this work was reported against indicator 8.2 not 8.1).

Indicator 8.2: Number of member States where tripartite constituents, with ILO support, take significant action to implement HIV/AIDS programmes at workplaces

57

86

Outcome 9: Employers’ organizations
Employers have strong, independent and representative organizations

Indicator 9.1: Number of national employers’ organizations that, with ILO support, adopt a strategic plan to increase effectiveness of their management structures and practices

39

38

Indicator 9.2: Number of national employers’ organizations that, with ILO support, create or significantly strengthen services to respond to the needs of existing and potential members

58

107

Indicator 9.3: Number of national employers’ organizations that, with ILO support, have enhanced capacity to analyse the business environment and influence policy development at the national, regional and international levels

44

90

Outcome 10: Workers’ organizations
Workers have strong, independent and representative organizations

Indicator 10.1: Number of national workers’ organizations that, with ILO support, include the Decent Work Agenda in their strategic planning and training programmes

107

113

Indicator 10.2: Number of workers’ organizations that, with ILO support, achieve greater respect for fundamental workers’ rights and international labour standards through their participation in policy discussions at national, regional or international levels

69

77

Outcome 11: Labour administration and labour law
Labour administrations apply up-to-date labour legislation and provide effective services

Indicator 11.1: Number of member States that, with ILO support, strengthen labour administration systems in line with international labour standards

29

24

The most notable difference between target and results was for work on the adoption or improvement of labour law (indicator 11.3). This was attributable to the fact that governmental and/or legislative processes sometimes operated more slowly than anticipated and, in some cases, the political situation or broader operating environment became unconducive to achieving results against the measurement criteria and within the planned timeframes.

Indicator 11.2: Number of member States that, with ILO support, strengthen their labour inspection system in line with international labour standards

32

36

Indicator 11.3: Number of member States that, with ILO support, adopt new or improve existing labour laws in line with international labour standards, in consultation with the social partners

22

16

Outcome 12: Social dialogue and industrial relations
Tripartism and strengthened labour market governance contribute to effective social dialogue and sound industrial relations

Indicator 12.1: Number of member States that, with ILO support, strengthen social dialogue institutions and mechanisms in line with international labour standards

35

37

Indicator 12.2: Number of member States that, with ILO support, strengthen the machinery for collective bargaining and labour disputes settlement, in line with international labour standards, and in consultation with the social partners

30

33

Outcome 13: Decent work in economic sectors
A sector-specific approach to decent work is applied

Indicator 13.1: Number of member States that, with ILO support, implement sectoral standards, codes of practice or guidelines

34

42

Indicator 13.2: Number of member States in which constituents, with ILO support, take significant action for a specific sector to advance the Decent Work Agenda

31

49

Outcome 14: Freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining
The right to freedom of association and collective bargaining is widely known and exercised

Indicator 14.1: Number of member States that, with ILO support, improve the application of basic rights on freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining

37

24

The underachievement of results relative to targets for work related to freedom of association (outcome indicator 14.1) reflects the fact that relevant work was reported under a variety of other outcomes, including in particular outcomes 10 and 12 and that work undertaken in a number of countries – principally in Africa - has taken more time than expected to yield results against the measurement criteria. Thus, it is likely that results will be achieved only in 2016 and therefore not reportable under the Strategic Policy Framework 2010–15.

Indicator 14.2: Number of member States that, with ILO support, take significant action to introduce freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining in export processing zones

7

9

Outcome 15: Forced labour
Forced labour is eliminated

Indicator 15.1: Number of member States in which constituents, with ILO support, implement specific policies, programmes or actions leading to improved application of Conventions, principles and rights on the elimination of forced labour

26

24

Outcome 16: Child labour
Child labour is eliminated, with priority being given to the worst forms

Indicator 16.1: Number of member States in which constituents, with ILO support, take significant policy and programme actions to eliminate child labour in line with ILO Conventions and Recommendations

109

141

Indicator 16.2: Number of member States in which constituents, with ILO support, take action to adopt or modify their legislation or reinforce their knowledge base on child labour

128

197

Outcome 17: Discrimination at work
Discrimination in employment and occupation is eliminated

Indicator 17.1: Number of member States in which constituents, with ILO support, implement specific laws, policies, programmes or actions, leading to improved application of Conventions, principles and rights on non-discrimination

29

28

Outcome 18: International labour standards
International labour standards are ratified and applied

Indicator 18.1: Number of member States that, with ILO support, take action to apply international labour standards, in particular in response to issues raised by the supervisory bodies

132

228

The underachievement of results against indicator 18.3 reflects the very restrictive measurement criterion against which results could be recorded. In order to report a result, it was necessary for a member State (during the reporting period of a biennium) "as a result of new ratifications” to have "ratified at least the eight fundamental Conventions … and the four priority Conventions .”.

Indicator 18.2: Number of member States where, through ILO support, the principles and rights contained in international labour standards are incorporated in development assistance frameworks or other major initiatives

15

24

Indicator 18.3: Number of member States that, with ILO support, improve ratification of up-to-date Conventions to include at least the instruments classified as core labour standards, as well as those regarded as most significant from the viewpoint of governance

32

17

Indicator 18.4: Number of member States that have a Decent Work Country Programme which includes a normative component among the national priorities established by the tripartite constituents

46

60

Outcome 19: Mainstreaming decent work
Member States place an integrated approach to decent work at the heart of their economic and social policies, supported by key UN and other multilateral agencies

Indicator 19.1: Number of member States that, with ILO support, make the goal of decent work increasingly central to policy-making

41

27

The lower number of results compared to targets under outcome indicator 19.1 reflects the fact that much relevant work was captured in the results reported under other outcomes, especially outcome 1.
The shortfall of results relative to targets under outcome indicator 19.2 largely reflects the fact that the first of the two criteria became obsolete during the Strategic Policy Framework period due to a shift in focus away from the use of the CEB Toolkit for Mainstreaming Employment and Decent Work among multilateral agencies.

Indicator 19.2: Number of key international agencies or multilateral institutions that, through collaboration with the ILO, mainstream decent work in their policies and programmes

15

10

1. Cumulative total targets as set in the three consecutive programme and budget documents under the planning period of the Strategic Policy Framework 2010–15.

2. Cumulative total results as reported in the three consecutive ILO programme implementation reports under the planning period of the Strategic Policy Framework 2010–15.

Appendix II

Regular budget expenditure by appropriation line, 2014–15

Programme and Budget for 2014–15

Expenditure

A. Policy-making organs

82 469 403

74 351 452

B. Strategic objectives

612 291 619

605 659 443

Employment

190 829 942

188 731 357

Social protection

123 748 960

122 370 381

Social dialogue

174 13 2 3 7 8

172 279 749

Standards and fundamental principles and rights at work

123 580 339

122 277 956

C. Management services

61 994 971

61 929 478

D. Other budgetary provisions

46 802 013

43 460 647

Adjustment for staff turnover

–6 599 408

Total

796 958 598

785 401 020

Unforeseen expenditure

875 000

Institutional investments and extraordinary items

3 426 402

3 426 402

TOTAL

801 260 000

788 827 422

Appendix III

RBSA expenditure, 2014–15

Strategic objective

Global

Africa

Americas

Arab States

Asia

Europe

Total

Employment

1 437 781

2 443 654

3 791 824

2 357 848

3 148 973

1 106 720

14 286 801

Social protection

2 050 201

2 815 409

1 409 975

260 593

1 396 405

753 480

8 686 063

Social dialogue

1 522 342

852 265

1 144 868

294 950

1 518 936

1 051 090

6 384 450

Standards

3 952

212 917

278 506

18 565

1 601 606

423 193

2 538 739

Policy coherence

126 476

126 476

Support

343 954

422 516

425 783

190 542

506 552

214 167

2 103 514

Evaluation and oversight

416 825

347 363

98 019

76 744

206 159

47 261

1 192 370

Total

5 775 054

7 094 124

7 148 975

3 199 242

8 505 107

3 595 911

35 318 413

Appendix IV

Expenditure on technical cooperation programmes by source of funding, geographical region and type of assistance, 2014–15 (excluding administrative expenditure)

By source of funding

Source of funds

2014

2015

Total biennium

2014–15

US$’000

% share

US$’000

% share

US$’000

% share

% change

Extra-budgetary

Multi-bilateral development partners

149 987

63.4

145 163

62.4

295 150

62.9

–3.2

Domestic development funding

6 539

2.8

7 103

3.1

13 642

2.9

8.6

Public–private partnerships[1]

14 276

6.0

11 137

4.8

25 412

5.4

–22.0

Social partners[2]

370

0.2

772

0.3

1 143

0.2

108.6

IFIs (banks)

4 921

2.1

6 589

2.8

11 510

2.5

33.9

United Nations[3]

24 273

10.3

21 479

9.2

45 752

9.8

–11.5

Other intergovernmental organizations[4]

21 023

8.9

19 270

8.3

40 293

8.6

–8.3

Subtotal extra-budgetary[5]

221 389

93.5

211 513

91.0

432 902

92.3

–4.5

Regular budget (RBTC)

15 343

6.5

20 935

9.0

36 278

7.7

36.4

Total

236 732

100.0

232 448

100.0

469 180

100.0

–1.8

Note: Due to rounding off, some totals may appear incorrect.

[1] Includes foundations, public institutions, private sector initiatives and others.

[2] Includes trade unions, employers’ associations and joint initiatives.

[3] Includes projects financed through multi-partner trust funds, joint programmes and One UN funds.

[4] Includes the European Commission, the Arab Gulf Programme for Development (AGFUND) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

[5] Includes governance, support and management outcomes.

By geographical region

Region

2014

2015

Total biennium

2014–15

US$’000

% share

US$’000

% share

US$’000

% share

% change

Africa

69 776

29.5

58 334

25.1

128 110

27.3

–16.4

Americas

25 467

10.8

22 454

9.7

47 921

10.2

–11.8

Asia and the Pacific[1]

75 039

31.7

83 288

35.8

158 327

33.7

11.0

Europe[2]

9 420

4.0

9 436

4.1

18 856

4.0

0.2

Arab States, Middle East

8 504

3.6

7 826

3.4

16 330

3.5

–8.0

Interregional

2 080

0.9

2 573

1.1

4 652

1.0

23.7

Global

46 447

19.6

48 537

20.9

94 984

20.2

4.5

Total

236 732

100.0

232 448

100.0

469 180

100.0

–1.8

[1] Including Afghanistan and the Islamic Republic of Iran.

[2] Including Israel.

By type of assistance

Type of assistance

2014

2015

Total biennium

2014–15

US$’000

% share

US$’000

% share

US$’000

% share

% change

Experts

54 389

23.0

51 632

22.2

106 021

22.6

–5.1

Other personnel[1]

55 879

23.6

56 168

24.2

112 046

23.9

0.5

Training[2]

57 372

24.2

56 691

24.4

114 063

24.3

–1.2

Equipment

4 346

1.8

3 199

1.4

7 545

1.6

–26.4

Subcontracting

56 604

23.9

56 847

24.5

113 451

24.2

0.4

Miscellaneous

8 142

3.4

7 912

3.4

16 054

3.4

–2.8

Total

236 732

100.0

232 448

100.0

469 180

100.0

–1.8

[1] National experts, external collaborators, locally recruited project staff, United Nations Volunteers and other staff costs.

[2] Including principally fellowships, seminars and in-service training.

Appendix V

Expenditure on technical cooperation by region and country, 2014–15 (in thousands of US dollars) (excluding administrative expenditure)

Country or territory

RBTC

UN system

Trust funds

Total

Africa

Regional

3 304

147

13 702

17 153

Central Africa subregional

150

150

East Africa subregional

89

89

North Africa subregional

10

1 532

1 542

Sahel subregional

148

691

839

Southern Africa subregional

139

139

West Africa subregional

159

53

212

Algeria

164

227

727

1 118

Angola

68

68

Benin

103

2 038

2 141

Botswana

96

115

211

Burkina Faso

147

581

728

Burundi

89

38

450

577

Cabo Verde

56

484

47

587

Cameroon

178

44

1 382

1 603

Central African Republic

29

24

53

Chad

102

102

Comoros

82

576

2

661

Congo

53

2

55

Côte d’Ivoire

152

784

936

Democratic Republic of the Congo

145

2 975

3 120

Djibouti

41

41

Egypt

335

1 149

13 267

14 750

Equatorial Guinea

68

68

Eritrea

15

15

Ethiopia

173

1 214

2 072

3 458

Gabon

47

47

The Gambia

77

21

99

Ghana

166

100

666

932

Guinea

17

17

Guinea-Bissau

15

15

Kenya

177

789

1 595

2 560

Lesotho

46

1 231

1 277

Liberia

2

128

670

800

Madagascar

221

4 400

201

4 821

Malawi

198

31

1 826

2 055

Mali

80

80

Mauritania

43

20

480

543

Mauritius

157

157

Morocco

193

3 237

3 430

Mozambique

175

1 981

569

2 725

Namibia

132

233

365

Niger

151

322

473

Nigeria

236

62

298

Rwanda

145

487

52

684

Sao Tome and Principe

71

71

Senegal

170

484

1 134

1 788

Seychelles

95

95

Sierra Leone

9

–3

6

Somalia

72

9 172

3 813

13 057

South Africa

308

26

10 278

10 613

South Sudan

44

170

214

Sudan

183

–6

312

489

Swaziland

29

95

124

Tanzania, United Republic of

140

2 214

6 010

8 364

Togo

92

167

259

Tunisia

138

48

6 239

6 424

Uganda

210

495

1 241

1 946

Zambia

287

575

8 996

9 858

Zimbabwe

148

454

2 407

3 009

Total Africa

10 368

25 468

92 274

128 110

Americas

Latin America regional

2 108

5 669

7 777

Andean countries subregional

9

287

296

Caribbean subregional

427

520

946

Central America subregional

190

3 023

3 213

Antigua and Barbuda

2

2

Argentina

375

375

Bahamas

29

29

Barbados

11

11

Belize

4

4

Bolivia, Plurinational State of

152

110

638

900

Brazil

368

271

3 174

3 813

Cayman Islands

5

5

Chile

301

525

826

Colombia

185

7 494

7 679

Costa Rica

229

153

469

851

Cuba

39

39

Dominica

4

4

Dominican Republic

115

144

324

584

Ecuador

186

333

519

El Salvador

101

182

4 542

4 824

Grenada

5

5

Guatemala

227

671

898

Guyana

38

38

Haiti

130

1 205

4 145

5 480

Honduras

152

347

499

Jamaica

40

40

Mexico

355

398

753

Nicaragua

55

14

1 960

2 029

Panama

71

49

120

Paraguay

240

956

1 196

Peru

217

567

1 562

2 345

Saint Lucia

17

5

22

Suriname

23

6

30

Trinidad and Tobago

47

47

United States[1]

240

240

Uruguay

146

1 264

1 410

Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of

71

71

Total Americas

6 637

2 645

38 640

47 921

Asia and the Pacific

0

Regional

2 080

528

22 727

25 335

Eastern Asia subregional

158

158

South Eastern Asia subregional

249

249

Southern Asia subregional

17

17

Afghanistan

86

86

3 349

3 520

Bangladesh

306

290

26 485

27 081

Brunei Darussalam

8

114

122

Cambodia

186

5 212

5 398

China

501

62

1 518

2 081

Fiji

203

241

444

India

653

2 880

3 533

Indonesia

332

392

8 876

9 600

Iran, Islamic Republic of

23

23

Japan

8

8

Kiribati

28

28

Korea, Republic of

8

8

Lao People’s Democratic Republic

138

197

2 031

2 365

Malaysia

38

253

291

Maldives

73

241

315

Marshall Islands

15

15

Mongolia

253

1

597

851

Myanmar

57

1

8 394

8 452

Nepal

475

273

3 755

4 503

Pakistan

388

802

3 113

4 302

Palau

20

20

Papua New Guinea

89

89

Philippines

382

308

12 335

13 026

Samoa (Western)

58

285

343

Singapore

2

2

Solomon Islands

72

399

70

541

Sri Lanka

149

4 206

4 355

Thailand

43

20

2 932

2 995

Timor-Leste

129

28 768

28 898

Vanuatu

82

75

157

Viet Nam

522

1 200

7 480

9 201

Total Asia and the Pacific

7 674

4 557

146 096

158 327

Europe

Regional

170

5 502

5 672

Central and Eastern Europe subregional

202

31

233

Eastern Europe and Central Asia subregional

86

1 380

1 467

Albania

35

654

1 606

2 294

Armenia

34

37

71

Azerbaijan

30

1

30

Belarus

44

44

Bosnia and Herzegovina

95

95

Bulgaria

20

20

Cyprus

8

33

41

Estonia

4

4

France

304

304

Georgia

45

1 071

1 115

Germany

20

20

Greece

49

67

116

Hungary

20

20

Israel

14

14

Italy

107

107

Kazakhstan

14

12

26

Kyrgyzstan

4

1 688

1 692

Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of

97

585

682

Moldova, Republic of

53

80

132

Montenegro

36

18

54

Poland

6

6

Portugal[1]

10

134

144

Romania

26

26

Russian Federation[1]

223

145

368

Serbia

154

53

207

Slovakia

5

5

Tajikistan

8

8

Turkey

512

1 835

2 347

Ukraine

20

12

32

Uzbekistan

135

1 326

1 461

Total Europe

2 157

706

15 993

18 856

Arab States, Middle East

Regional

914

3 278

4 192

Occupied Arab territories

792

69

892

1 754

Bahrain

40

40

Iraq

152

432

166

751

Jordan

358

4 820

5 177

Kuwait

6

49

144

199

Lebanon

250

47

2 241

2 537

Oman

137

66

203

Qatar

6

6

Saudi Arabia

25

405

430

Syrian Arab Republic

18

18

United Arab Emirates

9

6

15

Yemen

170

96

741

1 007

Total Arab States

2 876

694

12 760

16 330

Total interregional

1 451

3 201

4 652

Total global

5 114

11 682

78 188

94 984

Total

36 278

45 752

387 150

469 180

Note: Negative figures indicate previous year adjustments. Due to rounding off, some totals may appear incorrect and under 500 appears as zero.

[1] Includes expenditure recorded for junior professional officers funded by these countries.

This report may also be consulted on the ILO website (www.ilo.org/ILC).

ISBN 978-92-2-129701-7 (print)

ISBN 978-92-2-129702-4 (web pdf)

ISSN 0074-6681

First published 2016

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