How can countries harness the potential of FDI to advance national priorities?

How can companies create more and better jobs where they operate?

How can governments and companies collaborate more effectively on labour and employment issues?

In a world characterized by a rapid increase of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and globalized systems of production, these are questions that governments, business and employers’ and workers’ organizations are increasingly dealing with.

The Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy (MNE Declaration) provides recommendations to governments, enterprises, and employers’ and workers’ organizations on how to maximize – each with different roles and responsibilities - the positive contribution of multinational enterprises to socioeconomic development and decent work, more specifically in the areas of employment, training, conditions of work and life and industrial relations.

The Business and Decent Work: an introduction to the MNE Declaration is a self-guided E-learning module providing an introduction to the MNE Declaration, using real cases that highlight how the recommendations can be put into practice and address a range of labour and employment issues in different contexts.

It also describes how the MNE Declaration relates to other international instruments which can also guide business behaviour, such as the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, the UN Global Compact, the UN Business and Human Rights Framework and Guiding Principles, and ISO 26000.

The module is designed for government officials, and staff in employers’ organizations and workers’ organizations that deal with issues related to investment, MNEs and decent work. It also targets managers in multinational enterprises (MNEs), responsible for human resources, corporate social responsibility (CSR), community development programmes, public affairs, procurement, and labour relations. Those interested in MNEs, CSR, the role of the private sector in development and FDI more broadly, may also find this module useful in their work.

The E-learning module takes around 40 minutes to be completed and covers:

• Introduction to the module (learning objectives and approach, timing and structure)

• Introduction to the MNE Declaration: an overview of its background, objective, and main areas of recommendations

• The MNE Declaration in practice: real cases, including exercises for participants

• The MNE Declaration and other related international instruments compared

• Final summary

• List of relevant resources

You can access the E-learning module at the E-campus of the International Training Centre of the ILO, at www.ilo.org/mnelearning

You can access the e-learning module directly, click on “login as guest user”, or do a quick and free registration.