NO 95 DECEMBER 2002 — JANUARY 2003 CALENDAR
| UN UPDATE | NGO AND OTHER NEWS | FOCUS |
| S-G Says
Global Response is Necessary WHO Nominates New Director-General UN Special Envoys Warn of HIV/AIDS and Famine UN Launches International Year of Freshwater S-G’s Message to World Social Forum S-G Calls for Women-Focused Strategies in Africa S-G Commemorates Morocco’s G-77 Leadership Population Conference Adopts Plan of Action Commission on Human Rights Elects Chairperson 2003 World Economic Prospects S-G’s Report on Children and Armed Conflict Security Council Considers Protection of Civilians Year in Review: UN Peace Operations 2002 ESCAP Predicts Sustained Regional Growth SIDS Comprehensive Review UNEP Releases Report on Occupied Territories UNEP Assessment of Afghanistan UNEP Conducts DU Assessment UN (Right to Know) Treaty on Pollution CITES Adopts Conservation Measures Basel Convention COP-6: Cell Phone Partnership Ramsar Convention COP-8 Meets 20th Anniversary of Law of the Sea ILO’s World Commission on Globalization UNICEF Opens Office for Public Partnerships |
UN/NGO
News Student Conference on Human Rights Held at UN Elimination of Violence Against Women NGO News MSF Top 10 List of Underreported Crises in 2002 Human Rights Watch World Report 2003 Kimberley Process Launched: NGOs Remain Cautious WTO TRIPs Council Fails to Reach Agreement Greenpeace Action to Protect Mahogany Pays Off International Conference on Conflict Prevention Interaction on the Millennium Challenge Account Other News EC Releases Communication on Non-State Actors WEF: Survey Points to Lack of Trust |
Chronic
Poverty and the Millennium Development Goals State of World Population 2002: People, Poverty and Possibilities UNCTAD Board Reviews Poverty Reduction in LDCs State of the World’s Children 2003: Child Participation ILO Report on Global Employment Trends 2003
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| Chronic Poverty and the Millennium Development Goals | |
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Deborah Ewing for the Chronic Poverty Research Centre (CPRC) writes about chronic poverty and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), saying that it is important to understand the links between long-term poverty, social exclusion, inequality and discrimination so that policy might be developed that helps the chronic poor to access not only the resources, but also the opportunities and social networks that will make them less vulnerable. Such an approach, CPRC says, has implications for the realization of all the MDGs.
At the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable
Development (WSSD), held in Johannesburg (South Africa), international
leaders recommitted themselves to the MDGs (see
NGLS Roundup 98) to address poverty and deprivation. It is
estimated that a minimum of US$50 billion a year—a doubling of
current international aid—is necessary to meet the goals. On
their past record, the chances of donors turning pledges into financial
transfers on this scale appear slim. However, let’s assume the
money will be forthcoming. There are other obstacles to achieving
the goals. Aid often fails to reach its intended beneficiaries; the
capacity to administer large amounts of additional funds is often
lacking; donor agencies are still battling to coordinate and make
more efficient the disbursement of funds; the goals do not take account
of the need for targeting resources; and achieving them depends not
just on spending money but also on realizing human rights and reducing
inequality and exclusion.
But let’s assume all these issues will be addressed also.
The first goal is to “Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.”
More than a billion people live on less than US$1 a day and the
target for 2015 is to halve the proportion of those in poverty.
But this will still leave at least 900 million who cannot meet their
basic needs in the next generation. Many of these people are living
in “chronic poverty”—unable to get above the poverty
line for several or many years, sometimes generations.
According to CPRC,
the percentage of people living in poverty for at least five years
is significant. By that measurement, 18-24% of people in South Africa,
25% in Ethiopia and 22-33% in India are chronically poor, and with
the impact of untreated HIV/AIDS, these figures are expected to
rise significantly. This raises many questions: what keeps people
in poverty? What obstructs their “escape routes” and why
are current development policies failing them?
A partnership of universities, NGOs and research organizations,
CPRC is trying to get such questions onto the agenda of policy makers.
CPRC argues that current methods of analysing poverty, based largely
on indicators of income and consumption, fail to reflect the dynamics
of poverty. So efforts to reduce poverty, focused largely on opportunity-based
policies and economic growth, might push some people above the US$1
a day line, but fail to reach those living in chronic poverty.
If Millennium Goal number two “Achieving universal primary
education” is achieved, 113 million out-of-school children
will be enrolled by 2005. But simple enrolment is not an exit from
poverty. Many children who do enrol are too hungry to concentrate
or have to drop out due to poverty. CPRC stresses the multi-faceted
nature of chronic poverty, and the need for policies that address
multiple deprivation.
The third goal is to “Empower women and promote equality between
women and men.” The target is to eliminate gender disparities
in primary and secondary education. Access to education is certainly
an indicator of equality but the level of education is only one
factor in discrimination against women. In many countries, women
are excluded from social, political and economic structures; they
are discriminated against on the grounds of marital status, pregnancy
and widowhood so that they are vulnerable to entrenched poverty.
CPRC argues that many
chronically poor people are unable to take advantage of opportunities
because of intractable structures, isolation or exclusion. Effective
poverty policy needs to make clear provision for the special circumstances
of those whose poverty is persistent.
The sixth goal is to “Reverse the spread of killer diseases,
especially HIV/AIDS and malaria.” Among the people especially
vulnerable to chronic poverty are those with health problems and
disabilities, and those in remote and isolated areas. Efforts to
stem the spread—let alone the impacts—of HIV/AIDS are
least likely to reach those already devastated by the pandemic and
by those in rural or inaccessible communities. Action must be taken
now if HIV/AIDS is not to become another route into poverty that
persists from generation to generation.
CPRC’s case is that a focus on the chronic nature of many
peoples’ poverty is key to effective policymaking. An awareness
of chronic poverty will help to achieve the MDGs. But it will also
ensure that governments and aid agencies anticipate and make provision
for the needs of people—homeless, displaced, very old, excluded,
disabled or living in war zones—who we know will still be in
poverty even if the goals are met. This means vigorous anti-poverty
efforts to eliminate poverty where possible by 2015, and properly
planned and financed social protection for those people whom we
know will remain vulnerable. CPRC will produce
its first Global Chronic Poverty Report in January 2004, and is
seeking examples of individual case studies from organizations who
feel that their work could be used to illustrate the experience
of chronic poverty, including photographs, quotes, life stories,
oral histories, and individual experiences.
Contact: Judith Randel or Tony German, Chronic Poverty Research
Centre (CPRC),
IDPM, University of Manchester, Crawford House, Oxford Road, Manchester,
M13 9GH, telephone +44-1612/752810, fax +44-1612/738829, e-mail
<cprc@devinit.org>,
website (www.chronicpoverty.org).
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| State of World Population 2002: People, Poverty and Possibilities | |
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The latest State of World Population 2002, published by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), is entitled People, Poverty and Possibilities. The 2002 report examines poverty and its relationship to population questions, including gender, health and education. The report also presents research-based evidence that promoting better reproductive health also promotes economic growth and reduces poverty.
State of the World Population 2002 finds
that attacking poverty directly to accelerate development and to reduce
inequality within and among nations has become a pressing global priority.
The report argues that population concerns must be addressed in order
to meet the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of cutting global
poverty and hunger in half by 2015, reducing maternal and child mortality,
curbing HIV/AIDS, advancing gender equality and promoting environmentally
sustainable development.
The report says that in order to meet these goals in developing
countries, urgent action is needed to combat poor reproductive health,
unwanted fertility, illiteracy and discrimination against women.
Countries that invest in health, including reproductive health and
family planning, and in education and women’s empowerment,
register slower population growth and faster economic growth. UNFPA
says a decline in birth rates increases the proportion of working-age
people in the population, giving developing countries a one-time
opportunity to increase productivity and savings, providing the
basis for future progress.
On the other hand, the report states that inadequate efforts to
provide reproductive health services and combat gender inequality
result in continued high fertility among the poor; perpetuating
poverty and inequality within both households and nations.
By most measures, the gap between rich and poor, globally and within
countries, has been widening, the report notes, with the difference
in per capita income between the world’s wealthiest 20% and
the poorest 20% growing from 30 to 1 in 1960, to 78 to 1 in 1994.
It fell slightly to 74 to 1 in 1999. Poverty, poor health and fertility
remain highest in the least developed countries where population
has tripled since 1955, and is expected to triple again over the
next 50 years.
The report calls for a combination of income-based, indicator-based,
and participatory-based information to be used to assess poverty
and derive policy implications, and says that institutions should
have incentives to use this information for planning purposes.
Poverty and Gender Poor Health: A Consequence and Cause of Poverty Poor women face a risk of dying during pregnancy and birth that
is up to 600 times higher than for women in developed nations. A
woman’s lifetime risk of dying due to maternal causes is one
in 19 in Africa, one in 132 in Asia, one in 188 in Latin America,
compared to one in 2,976 for women in more developed countries.
The report says that investment in basic health services in developing
countries is only a fraction of what is needed. On average, developing
countries are spending only 34 cents per capita for basic health
services compared with an estimated US$3.26 for the recommended
package of public health interventions.
Pointing out that high prevalence of disease goes hand in hand
with poor economic performance, the report warns that productivity
losses from ill health could amount to roughly US$360 billion per
year in developing countries within two decades. In countries where
a high proportion of the population is at risk of severe malaria,
average income is less than one-fifth that of non-malarial countries.
Poverty and Education While the “gender gap” in education has narrowed over
the last decade, the relative disadvantage still keeps girls from
enrolment in secondary education in most of South Asia, sub-Saharan
Africa and several other developing regions. About 31% of women
were without any formal education in 2000, compared to 18% of men.
The evidence from a range of developing countries suggests that
a larger percentage of public spending on education goes to government
actions that benefit the wealthy. Many countries would reach the
goal of universal primary education by raising enrolment among the
poor, the report suggests.
Population, Poverty and Global Development Goals Reproductive health-care during pregnancy and birth, safe delivery,
family planning and the prevention of sexually transmitted infections
(STIs) and HIV/AIDS is most effective as part of an integrated package,
the report finds. Specific action is needed to protect preventive
services like reproductive health. The poor cannot afford to pay
user fees, which have deprived millions of poor people, particularly
women and children, of the care they need. Integrated approaches,
covering different needs, empower people to set their own course
out of poverty. Microcredit schemes are among the most effective
and often include other services such as literacy and family planning.
HIV/AIDS and Poverty The report highlights the need for comprehensive reproductive health
programmes as a way to prevent unwanted pregnancies and to turn
the course of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. UNFPA is calling for increased
donor support for contraceptive commodities and condoms for preventing
sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS, saying current
funding is far below the approximately US$1 billion required annually.
Taking Action Against Poverty Spending on basic reproductive health and population programmes
in 2000 was US$10.9 billion, US$6.1 billion short of the US$17 billion
the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development
(ICPD) agreed was needed to move
towards universal access to reproductive health care by 2015. Donor
countries contributed US$2.6 billion in 2000, less than half of
their US$5.7 billion commitment. Contact: Kristin Hetle, Chief, Media Services Branch, UNFPA,
220 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017, USA, telephone +1-212/297
5020, fax +1/212/557 6416, e-mail <hetle@unfpa.org>,
website (www.unfpa.org).
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| UNCTAD Board Reviews Poverty Reduction in LDCs | |
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The Trade and Development Board of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) held its first Executive Session on Least Developed Countries (LDCs) from 2-4 December 2002 in Geneva. One of the main issues discussed was whether current national and international development policies could meet the challenge of poverty reduction in LDCs.
The meeting was informed by the analyses
of UNCTAD’s Least Developed Countries Report 2002 entitled “Escaping
the Poverty Trap” (see Go Between 92),
as well as a series of panels composed of trade and finance ministers
and high ranking government officials from LDCs, representatives of
various international organizations, including the World Bank, research
institutions and NGOs. The “Poverty Trap” Unsustainable Debt Burdens Some participants argued that it is necessary to rethink debt sustainability
analysis. If measured against the costs of achieving the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs, see
NGLS Roundup 98) by 2015, some said it would require not
only total cancellation of all debt owed by LDCs, but dramatic increases
in official development assistance (ODA) as well. One participant
stressed the fact that a very sizeable proportion of ODA to LDCs
is not used for development purposes but to service existing debt
obligations.
The PRSP Approach One NGO participant argued that there was obvious tension between
the need to reach completion point for debt relief as quickly as
possible, while, on the other hand, a considerable amount of time
was needed to engage in a genuine, well-informed and participatory
PRSP process (particularly given LDCs’ dramatically reduced
State capabilities, notably as a result of past structural adjustment
programmes). A logical conclusion, she said, was to de-link debt
relief/cancellation from completion of a PRSP. A senior World Bank
representative noted that the governments that fund HIPC relief
do not apparently share the same opinion.
Falling Commodity Prices Some participants emphasized the need to identify elements of an
international commodity policy that can support the achievement
of international poverty reduction goals, which would include initiating
concrete measures required to mitigate the adverse consequences
of excessive price instability and long term decline in world commodity
prices on the economies of the LDCs. The absence of international
measures and policies to address the problems of low and unstable
commodity prices was found to be a key missing link in the current
international approach for poverty reduction in LDCs. The international
community should take concrete initiatives including resuscitating
compensatory financing facilities to offset the effects of commodity
price shocks on the economies of the LDCs, participants proposed.
Contact: Charles Gore, Senior Economic Affairs Officer, UNCTAD,
Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/917
5944, fax +41-22/917 0046, e-mail <charles.gore@unctad.org>,
website (www.unctad.org).
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| State of the World’s Children 2003: Child Participation | |
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This year’s report, about child participation, focuses on the responsibility of adults, calling for governments worldwide to consult children when developing policies or to involve them in community measures. “Children and adolescents have proved that when they are involved, they can make a difference in the world around them. They have ideas, experiences and insights that enrich adult understanding and make a positive contribution to adult actions,” State of the World’s Children 2003 says.
The United Nations Children’s Fund
(UNICEF) report calls for optimizing
children’s participation, which it says will involve a “redrawing
of the adult world.” The report says it also means “children
being encouraged to develop and refine their competencies and put
democratic values into practice. It depends on adults sharing control,
power, decision making and information. If children are to have a
voice, they need access to information that is both timely and understandable
to their particular intellectual stage of development.”
A three-year survey of 40,000 children worldwide undertaken for
the report found that children “have doubts about the usefulness
of voting as a method of improving their lives and do not see government
leaders as role models.” The report suggests that child participation
can take various forms of involvement, engagement and commitment,
and not all child participation is active, social, purposeful, meaningful
or constructive. “Children need information, support and favourable
conditions in order to participate appropriately and in a way that
enhances their dignity and self-esteem,” the report says.
State of the World’s Children 2003 cites numerous examples
of how children, when listened to and given a chance to act, have
been able to bring positive change in their communities. In the
province of Baluchistan (Pakistan), where the female literacy rate
is 2%, local boy scout troops began lobbying education officials
to allow girls to attend their schools. Their efforts resulted in
2,500 new girls enrolling in school in the first year. In the Abia
state of Nigeria, students from a local high school organized a
campaign to educate the region’s 25,000 Afugiri population
about the importance of immunization, and hundreds of children were
immunized at local health clinics as a result.
“I think society gains from young people and children’s
participation because of the freshness that children and young people
bring to issues,” UNICEF
Executive Director Carol Bellamy said. “They might not have
the most feasible solutions all the time, but they rarely just assume
that it’s business as usual. So there are more opportunities,
broader ideas thrown on to the table. And from those opportunities
more success is possible.”
The reports says that full participation of children and young
people is necessary in order to meet the goals of “A World
Fit for Children,” adopted at the May 2002 Special Session
on Children, and for attaining the UN Millennium Development Goals,
six of which pertain directly to children (see
NGLS Roundup 98).
The report also asserts that there is a serious downside to leaving
children out. It cautions that when children are excluded from the
process of decision making and are provided few opportunities to
engage constructively in matters that directly affect their lives
as they mature, they fail to develop vital skills, such as the ability
to express themselves, negotiate differences and make responsible
life choices.
The report provides a number of economic and statistical tables
and finds that Iraq’s child mortality rate has nearly tripled
since 1990 to levels found in some of the world’s least developed
countries, from 50 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 133 in
2001. Iraq’s regression over the past decade is by far the
most severe of the 193 countries surveyed, with only two countries
outside Africa—Afghanistan and Cambodia—now ranking worse
than Iraq on UNICEF’s indicator.
The UNICEF report points out
that, globally, 150 million children still suffer from malnutrition,
that 120 million school-age children are not in school (the majority
girls), that 6,000 children and young people are infected with HIV/AIDS
every day, and that there are almost 13.5 million AIDS orphans around
the world. The report argues that engaging children and young people
and including them in the decision-making processes and in the prevention
efforts that affect their lives is essential to addressing these
problems. The reports also stresses that access to information is
a matter of survival in many situations, especially in the midst
of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. A lack of knowledge about the disease
is widespread among young people, and, based on surveys from 40
countries, more than 50% of young people aged 15-24 harbour serious
misconceptions about how HIV/AIDS is transmitted.
“Listening to the opinions of children does not mean simply
endorsing their views,” the report notes. “Rather, engaging
them in dialogue and exchange allows them to learn constructive
ways of influencing the world around them. The social give and take
of participation encourages children to assume increasing responsibilities
as active, tolerant and democratic citizens in formation."
“Enabling children and adolescents to participate constructively
in their communities and nations is crucial to nurturing their inherent
optimism and preparing them for a constructive and meaningful adulthood,”
said Ms. Bellamy. “If we fail to promote child participation
from an early age, we are missing an amazing opportunity to deepen
democracy and human dignity around the world.”
Contact: Cecelio Adorna, Chief, Office for Public Partnerships,
UNICEF, 3 UN Plaza, Room H8A, New York NY 10017, USA, telephone
+1-212/824 6466, e-mail <cadorna@unicef.org>,
website (www.unicef.org).
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| ILO Report on Global Employment Trends 2003 | |
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According to a new report issued by the International Labour Office (ILO) entitled Global Employment Trends, two years of economic slowdown have pushed the number of unemployed to new heights. ILO estimates that the number of unemployed worldwide grew by 20 million since the year 2000 to reach a total of 180 million at the end of last year. The report says the weakness of labour markets has reversed recent reductions in “working poverty” achieved in the late 1990s.
“The world employment situation
is deteriorating dramatically,” says ILO Director-General Juan
Somavía. “While tens of millions of people join the ranks of
the unemployed or the working poor, uncertain prospects for a global
economic recovery make a reversal of this trend unlikely in 2003.”
Particularly hard hit have been women and youth, who often have
jobs that are especially vulnerable to economic shocks. The report
also notes that unemployed workers who were forced into informal
jobs in search of work faced even more uncertainty due to the sector’s
lack of unemployment or social security coverage.
Among the major findings in the report: Economic Prospects and Regional Trends In addition, weakening confidence among investors exposed the financial
fragility of countries in several regions, with the ensuing crises
putting many people out of work, as was the case in Argentina where
unemployment increased to above 20% in 2002, with effects being
felt in neighbouring countries. Armed conflicts and violence also
contributed to higher unemployment and poverty in countries as far
apart as Colombia and Nepal. In the Middle East, joblessness spiralled
in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, while the recession in Israel
continued.
The report finds that employment growth in industrialized countries
decreased between 2000-2002, with the exception of Italy and New
Zealand, where employment growth continued in 2001 but at the cost
of falling productivity. Overall, unemployment has been rising steadily
in the industrialized countries, from 6.1% in 2000 to 6.9% in 2002.
In the European Union, unemployment decreased between 2000 and 2001,
from 7.8% to 7.4%, but began rising again in 2002 to 7.6%. Meanwhile,
in North America, unemployment increased rapidly in 2001 and 2002,
from 4.8% to 5.6% in the United States and from 7.2% to 7.6% over
the same period in Canada.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, the 2001 global economic slowdown
sent the unemployment rate skyrocketing in many countries. Falling
economic growth increased joblessness in almost all of Latin America
and the Caribbean between 2001 and 2002, bringing the unemployment
rate to nearly 10% despite fewer people entering the work force.
Youth unemployment in the region hit 16% in 2001, up from 12% in
1997, with nearly all new jobs for young people emerging in the
informal economy.
According to the ILO, Asia suffered most severely from the bursting
ICT bubble, which cut exports to the industrialized countries. Child
labour and human trafficking remain major issues for the Asian region
as a whole. South-East Asia faced the 2001 downturn just as it was
beginning to recover from the 1997-1998 financial crisis, posting
a rise in unemployed from 6% in 2000 to 6.8% in 2001, with a slight
fall to 6.5% projected for 2002. Individual South-East Asian countries
varied considerably. Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore
and Thailand, which depend heavily on trade, suffered from exposure
to global economic trends. In contrast, Cambodia, Lao People’s
Democratic Republic and Viet Nam sustained high growth rates, due
to improved access to markets in industrial economies or improved
performance in the agriculture sector.
East Asia also recorded significantly lower output growth and deteriorating
employment during the two-year period with joblessness rising from
3.2% in 2000 to 3.6% in 2001 and 4% in 2002. ILO says that while
the official figure covering the unemployment rate in urban areas
of China was 3.6% in 2001, recent estimates suggest that it might
now be as high as 7.5% as a result of high underemployment in the
agricultural sector and of ending the practice of keeping redundant
workers in the public enterprises’ employment roles, often
known as “labour hoarding.”
South Asian economies proved resilient in the face of the global
economic difficulties during 2001-2002. Nevertheless, security concerns,
poor weather conditions, a slowdown in exports and declining tourism
revenues caused the employment situation to worsen. Poverty increased,
as did the number of working poor. The region’s unemployment
rate rose from 2.9% in 1995 to 3.4% in 2002, with unemployment rates
in Pakistan climbing in recent years to nearly 8%. The unfavourable
employment situation in 2001 and 2002 also points to an increase
in the number of people with low incomes and poor working conditions
in the informal economy, rather than sharp increases in unemployment
rates.
The report says that while sub-Saharan Africa managed to sustain
a fairly constant economic growth rate (though in per capita terms
it is often below 1%), the open unemployment rate increased from
13.7% in 2000 to 14.4% in 2002, and estimates for 2002 may be revised
due to the growing food crisis. In addition to child labour and
job loss due to conflicts, an issue of growing importance for the
region is the “brain drain” which syphons off much-needed
human capital. The health situation, especially HIV/AIDS, is also
having an impact on human capital and the report cites a recent
study in Tanzania that showed the HIV/AIDS epidemic was forcing
more and more children and juveniles aged 10-19 into the labour
force as the number of adults aged 20-35 fell ill or died.
Middle East and North Africa experienced a dramatic decline in
overall economic conditions over the past two years with gross domestic
product (GDP) growth falling from more than 6% in 2000 to 1.5% in
2001. Dismissals and redundancies resulting from reductions in the
size of the public sector pushed up unemployment, which reached
double-digit levels in some countries. Youth unemployment was high
in some countries, including Syria, Algeria, Bahrain and Morocco.
Moreover, the Gulf countries are increasingly adopting policies
to replace migrant workers with their own nationals, a move that
could have significant consequences for employment as well as remittances
to countries supplying labour.
Unemployment in transition economies is on the increase again after
falling from 13.5% in 2000 to 12.6% in 2001. Despite the economic
recovery and high growth rates these countries experienced during
2000 and 2001, unemployment returned to the 13.5 level in 2002 due
largely to the continuing trend of enterprises seeking to become
more competitive by phasing out labour-intensive technologies and
ending labour hoarding. At the same time, governments are cutting
employment in the public sector. Accelerating structural change
in anticipation of accession to the EU has also pushed up unemployment
in the candidate countries.
Employment Prospects are Uncertain Recommendations The report says a “pro-jobs” policy involving fiscal
and other measures to jump-start growth and stimulate employment-intensive
investment is essential. This must be accompanied by an incentive
structure for the private sector that favours the choice of employment
creation.
Secondly, policy makers need to focus on reducing the vulnerability
of developing countries and the poorest members of society to external
shocks. Active labour market policies, including social safety nets,
are needed to reduce economic insecurity in a globalized world.
In addition, development strategies should include diversification
of the output base to spread and dilute risks of vulnerability,
a cut in industrial country tariff barriers to manufactured goods,
reducing exposure to swings in commodity exports, and reduced protection
of rich countries’ agricultural sectors. Also needed are stronger
transport, energy and communications infrastructures.
Third, all countries should adopt “pro-poor” policies
to help women and men secure productive and decent work in conditions
of freedom, security and human dignity. This involves supporting
the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises and their integration
into the formal economy as well as investment in education and health-care
systems, which improve the ability of the labour force to work productively.
In addition, ending restrictions on the right to organize, tackling
discrimination and child and forced labour are essential steps toward
the economic, social and political empowerment of the poor.
“Only through pro-jobs and pro-poor policies can we address
this growing employment crisis and place decent work at the heart
of economic and social policies,” Mr. Somavía says. “Faster
economic growth is necessary, but it is not enough. Failure of policy
makers to act now could have grave consequences for us all.”
Contact: ILO, 4 route de Morillons, CH-1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland,
telephone +41-22/799 6648, fax +41-22/799 7104, e-mail <ilo@ilo.org>,
website (www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/
inf/pr/2003/1.htm).
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