ILO Governing Body concludes discussions on policy responses to global economic and jobs crisis

In a report on the high-level tripartite discussions on the crisis, the ILO listed a series of next steps, including:

• Calling on the upcoming Group of 20 meeting in London to increase its focus on the jobs and social dimensions of the global economic crisis, including a proposal for a Global Jobs Pact;

• Making the economic crisis the main theme of the ILO’s International Labour Conference that will gather more than 4,000 worker, employer and government representatives in Geneva in June;

• The programme of the Conference itself, on 3 - 19 June 2009, will be adapted to give high priority to the ways to overcome the employment and social policy effects of the crisis, including through high-level presentations and panel discussions and working out joint conclusions on action to exit the crisis.

• Participating actively in all relevant international forums addressing the crisis, advocating increased focus on its employment and social aspects, as well as stepping up its policy advice service to meet constituents’ requests.

“The way forward is to work for a new vision of open market economies with a strong social dimension in which a competitive, efficient and socially responsible private sector and an active and accountable public sector generate decent work for all and a cleaner, fairer and more stable globalization,” the ILO statement said. (GB.304/4)

During the high-level discussion, ILO Director-General Juan Somavia called for a prompt response to the jobs crisis, describing international coordination to tackle the crisis as weak, and adding “the financial, trade, economic, employment and social roots of the global crisis are interlinked and so must be the policy responses We need to implement a coherent and coordinated job-oriented recovery strategy, based on sustainable enterprises, as soon as possible”.

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Source:ILO