Rescuing children from cocoa production
An estimated 700 boys and 300 girls younger than working age will soon stop work in Cameroon's cocoa producing regions, under a 37-month project launched in September by the ILO International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC). It is jointly sponsored by the US Government, the UN and nongovernmental organizations. IPEC national coordinator, Beatrice Fri Bime, said that apart from removing children from cocoa farms, "five hundred children at risk - an equal number of boys and girls - will be prevented from entering such work, and 500 household members, particularly women, will be provided services related to community development, livelihood assistance and microfinance services." Since January 2003, similar ILO activities were launched in C?te d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea and Nigeria within the framework of the ILO subregional project "West Africa cocoa/commercial agriculture programme to combat hazardous and exploitative child labour".
For further information, please contact the ILO International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC), phone: +4122/799-8181; fax: +4122/799-8771; email: ipec@ilo.org
Children in armed conflict
It is estimated that 120,000 children between 7 and 18 years of age are currently participating in armed conflicts across Africa. In collaboration with the ILO InFocus Programme on Crisis Response and Reconstruction, the ILO International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) has launched a major subregional programme to prevent children becoming involved in armed conflict and to reintegrate child soldiers. Burundi, Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda are the participating countries. The first phase of the project identified a strategy for concerted action. The programme will target not only armed combatants, but also children used as porters, messengers, spies or so-called "wives".
For further information, please contact the ILO International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC), phone: +4122/799-8181, fax: +4122/799-8771, email: ipec@ilo.org
Decent work for poverty reduction
Four out of every ten people in Ghana are classified as poor, according to the Ghana Living Standards Survey. Poverty is concentrated in subsistence farming, on which 60 per cent of the poor depend, and the informal economy. Since January 2003, Ghana has been supported by an ILO Decent Work Pilot Programme assisting the country to integrate decent work as a goal into national policies and programmes for a four-year period until 2006. A similar ILO programme aims to boost competitiveness by promoting decent work in Morocco's textile and garment industries.
For further information, please contact the ILO National Policy Group (INTEGRATION), phone: +4122/799-6437, fax: +4122/799-8579
Jobs for Africa
As a follow-up to the World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen in 1995, the ILO and UNDP developed the Jobs for Africa (JFA) Programme to ensure that poor people on the continent have access to productive employment. The first phase of the programme ended in 2002, with positive results in a number of countries. As a result of the JFA Programme, pro-poor and pro-employment policies are increasingly recognized as an important development framework for Africa. As a follow-up to the recommendations of the independent evaluation of the first phase of the JFA Programme, the ILO has developed a policy framework for the second phase, adopted at the Subregional Tripartite Meeting on a New Vision for Jobs in Africa, held in Addis Ababa on 20 to 21 February 2003.
For further information, please contact the Regional Director for ILO Field Programmes in Africa, phone: +4122/799-6191, fax: +4122/799-6056, email: lude@ilo.org
Improving and extending social protection
A number of African countries achieved important progress on social protection between 2000 and 2003. The most significant achievements include:
- Benin, Cape Verde, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Morocco, South Africa, Tunisia and Zambia ratified one or more occupational safety and health Conventions, improved their legislation or started using new codes of practice and guidelines on safety and health at the operational level
- Botswana, Lesotho, Nigeria, South Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe improved the coverage of their statistics on occupational accidents and diseases
- Policies and programmes to extend or improve the coverage of social security were introduced in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, United Republic of Tanzania, Tunisia and Zimbabwe
- People's security surveys were conducted in Ethiopia, South Africa and the United Republic of Tanzania
- The coverage of social security was extended to the excluded and the poor in Mali
Progress towards effective social dialogue
A stronger commitment to the principles of partnership, good faith, mutual respect and willingness to abide by agreements between governments, workers and employers, and to guarantee freedom of association, can be noted in several countries in the Africa region. With ILO support, Senegal, for example, has adopted a Charter for social dialogue between the State, private sector employers and workers. The Charter became effective in March 2003, and applies to all sectors of the economy, both public and private, as well as the informal economy. The document lays down a set of rules of conduct for each of the three partners, acknowledges in particular labour's stake in business performance, and establishes an institutional framework for dialogue at the national, sectoral and enterprise levels.
For further information, please contact the ILO Social Dialogue Sector, phone: +4122/799-6320, fax: +4122/799-7289, email: eddialogue@ilo.org
Women and child labour
In Tanzania, the ILO has been working to promote more and better jobs for women under conditions that will lead to a progressive reduction in child labour. Since 2000, nearly 1,000 women workers from the informal economy have been organized into productive economic groups and provided with training, micro-credit, awareness raising and other support. Mechanisms have also been put in place to withdraw children from child labour. Over 1,700 younger and older children have been integrated into either primary school or vocational training. In the tea sector, working conditions of mothers have also improved with the provision of day care facilities for over 1,258 children. The achievements from the project provide valuable lessons for policies and programmes at the national level and have been extended to other parts of the country and in Zanzibar.
For further information, please contact the ILO's Gender Promotion Department, phone: +4122/799-6090, fax: +4122/799-7657, email: genprom@ilo.org
South-East Asia and Pacific Forum on Decent Work
Throughout the Asia and Pacific Region, the ILO's technical work has increasingly focused on assisting governments, and employers' and workers' organizations to work towards a coordinated set of national policies and programmes for decent work. The South-East Asia and the Pacific Subregional Tripartite Forum on Decent Work in Auckland, New Zealand, from 6 to 8 October 2003, discussed a major report on recent developments in Australia, Fiji, Indonesia, Kiribati, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Timor-Leste, showing the significant progress which has been made in promoting the Decent Work Agenda across the subregion.
For further information, please contact the ILO Manila Office, phone: +632/815-2354, fax: +632/812-6143, email: manila@ilomnl.org.ph
Rights at work training for the Indonesian national police
Reform within the Indonesian national police began in 2000, with the separation of the police from the armed forces. In 2002, the Parliament enacted a law which obliges members of the police force to respect and promote human rights when undertaking their duty. In August 2003, the ILO began a two-year technical cooperation project funded by the United States to familiarize the Indonesian police with fundamental principles and rights at work, including the right of workers to establish unions and other mechanisms in resolving industrial disputes. The project has also explored a major programme to improve the capacity of the Indonesian national police in the prevention of trafficking of persons. Considering that legitimate law and order issues can arise during demonstrations, strikes or other forms of industrial action, the training project is also looking at the experiences of international police forces in dealing with such issues. A course on labour rights is being developed for inclusion in the curriculum of the National Police Academy and the Police Training Schools.
For further information, please contact the ILO Manila Office, phone: +632/815-2354, fax: +632/812-6143, email: manila@ilomnl.org.ph
Action against HIV/AIDS at the workplace
By the end of 2002, some 130,000 people in Indonesia were living with HIV/AIDS, and the number of cases is expected to double this year. Ninety per cent of these cases involve people in the prime working age group of 20 to 50 years. To reduce the economic and social impact of the pandemic, the ILO assists the Government, employers and workers to address HIV/AIDS through training and guidance on prevention, care and social protection, including fighting the stigma associated with the illness. Following a national seminar in early 2003, the social partners signed a Tripartite Commitment Statement to combat HIV/AIDS in the world of work. The ILO now assists the signatories in developing innovative, long-term partnerships with the private and public sector.
For further information, please contact the ILO Manila Office, phone: +632/815-2354, fax: +632/812-6143, email: manila@ilomnl.org.ph
Combating unemployment through infrastructure rehabilitation
In response to the crisis in the Solomon Islands, the ILO, in collaboration with UNDP, launched a Japanese-funded Community Infrastructure Rehabilitation Project, in early 2003. The project will provide immediate employment to some 2,180 people through the rehabilitation and maintenance of some 70 km of primary roads, 16 wooden and steel bridges, and the upgrading of community recreation and sanitation infrastructure. Using local resources and local labour, the project aims to create a multiplier effect, indirectly generating further employment and income. The Solomon Islands will also have improved access to markets, primary education and health care, clean water and rural transport.
For further information, please contact the ILO Manila Office, phone: +632/815-2354, fax: +632/812-6143, email: manila@ilomnl.org.ph
Eliminating the worst forms of child labour in the Philippines
The elimination of the worst forms of child labour has become a priority in the national development agenda of the Philippines. The country ratified ILO Convention No.182 on the worst forms of child labour, in November 2000, and the National Child Labour Committee established the goal to reduce the worst forms of child labour by 75 per cent by 2015. The National Programme Against Child Labour (2001-2004) is the overall time-bound framework for action which targets child labour in sugar cane plantations, mining and quarrying, pyrotechnics, deep-sea fishing, domestic work and child prostitution. An estimated 22,000 children in the worst forms of child labour will be withdrawn in the near future and provided with meaningful alternatives, including education, counselling, health care, and services for reintegration into their families. Another 22,500 children at risk will be prevented from entering child labour.
For further information, please contact the ILO Manila Office, phone: +632/815-2354, fax: +632/812-6143, email: manila@ilomnl.org.ph
Timor-Leste becomes 177th ILO member State
The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste (formerly East Timor) has become the 177th member State of the International Labour Organization, following receipt in Geneva of a letter from Prime Minister Mari Bim Amude Alkatiri, stating, on behalf of the Government, that the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste formally accepts the obligations of the ILO Constitution. Timor-Leste's membership became effective on 19 August 2003. The country has been a member of the United Nations since 27 September 2002.
Masters Programme on Labour Policies and Globalization
The University of Kassel and the Berlin School of Economics, in Germany, offer a new Masters Programme on Labour Policies and Globalization. In cooperation with the ILO Bureau for Workers' Activities and the ILO-Universitas programme, the international labour movement and academic partner institutions throughout the world, the one-year programme gives students the chance to analyse the challenges of globalization with a multidisciplinary approach. The Programme equips participants to assist workers and their organizations to engage more effectively in social dialogue, public debate, and social and employment policies. The closing date for applications is 15 March 2004.
For more information and application forms, visit www.ilo.org/public/english/dialogue/actrav/gip, or contact the ILO Bureau for Workers' Activities, phone: +4122/799-7021, fax: +4122/799-6570, email: actrav@ilo.org
ILO joins Geneva research projects
The Geneva Academic Network (GIAN) has approved seven research projects presented by multidisciplinary research teams. Researchers include Swiss academics and experts from international organizations. The ILO participates in three of the projects covering social dialogue regimes: globalization, migration and human rights; and employment and related socioeconomic dimensions in response to conflict and natural disaster situations. A total funding package of 2 million Swiss francs is available for these projects.
For further information please contact GIAN, phone: +4122/733-2692, email: harbour@ruig-gian.org
EU "fully committed" to ILO standards
EU Trade Commissioner, Pascal Lamy, told trade unionists at the Global Unions WTO Conference, in Cancun, on September 9, that the European Union is "fully committed" to promoting respect for core labour standards in its trade policy. Lamy cited the EU's strengthened support for ILO technical assistance, and reform of the EU GSP program to better reward countries which meet ILO core labour standards and to "react effectively in case of serious and persistent violations."