“What I see emerging is a very practical movement,” ILO Director-General Juan Somavia told the more than 300 representatives of governments, workers, employers, parliaments, civil society and opinion leaders attending the Lisbon Forum. “People today are not looking for rhetoric, they are looking for results.”
The Forum considered a wide range of globalization issues and ways of promoting decent work as the key to economic, social and environmental sustainability and inclusiveness. Key topics discussed at the Forum included the informal economy, training and skills, migration and youth employment.
The Forum also addressed the issue of policy coherence in the international system. The recently agreed Toolkit for Mainstreaming Employment and Decent Work of the UN Chief Executives Board (CEB) was offered as a practical way forward.
The Forum was supported by the European Commission and hosted by the Portuguese Government, which held the Presidency of the European Union (EU) during the period.
Keynote speakers included Mr. José Sócrates, Prime Minister of Portugal; Dr. Surin Pitsuwan, Secretary-General designate of ASEAN; Mr. José António Vieira Da Silva, Minister of Labour and Social Security, Portugal; Mr. Vladimir Spidla, EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities; Mr. Abraham Katz, President of the International Organisation of Employers (IOE); Mr. Mats Karlsson, Vice-chair, High-Level Committee on Programs of the UN System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB); Mr Guy Ryder, General Secretary, International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC); and Mrs. Mary Robinson, President, Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative; Sir Leroy Trotman, Worker Vice-Chairperson of the ILO Governing Body; Mr. Daniel Funes de Rioja, Employer Vice-Chairperson of the ILO Governing Body, and Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka, Chairperson of the ILO Governing Body.
The idea of convening the Forum was put forward by the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization set up by the ILO in its 2004 report. It launched an international dialogue on the need for a fair and equitable globalization and received strong national, regional and global support. The need for fair and equitable globalization and decent work for all received worldwide endorsement by the 2005 UN World Summit at the UN and the UN Economic and Social Council in 2006.
For highlights of the Forum, background documentation and statements by the keynote speakers to the Forum, see www.ilo.org