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| Monday, 13 September 2004 |
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World Commission Report supports Govt's high road to development - ILO Country Director by Ramani Kangaraarachchi The World Commission Report on "Fair Globalisation, creating opportunities for all supports the Sri Lankan government's aim to take the high road to development," said the ILO Country Director Claudia Coenjearts at the launch of the translated report into Sinhalese and Tamil at Galadari Hotel in Colombo on Friday. She said that the economic policy framework of the government points at the need to strengthen the social fabric and this can be achieved through the creation of productive employment, while ensuring the welfare of the working population in the country. She pointed out three areas of focus, firstly the need to ensure the creation of a certain standard of jobs, secondly a sound system for the governance of workplace relations based on a partnership between the State and the democratic and representatives associations of workers and employers, thirdly systems of social security during periods of rapid structural changes and job losses, provoked by globalisation. Minister of Labour Relations and Foreign Employment Athauda Seneviratne who was the chief guest said that the government is committed to promote decent work in all places and it would immediately act to ensure a decent job for everyone and decent globalisation. Some of the salient points of the report are that the income gap between the richest and poorest countries is creating a world in which 22 industrialised countries representing only 14 per cent of the world's population dominate about half the world's trade and more than half of its foreign direct investment. That global unemployment continued to increase in 2003, reaching more than 185 million or about 6.2 per cent of the total labour force, the highest unemployment figure ever recorded by the ILO. And at the same time, the number of "working poor" or persons living on the equivalent of US D1 per day less held steady in 2003, at an estimated 550 million. Following a two-year and wide consultation process, by 26 members of high calibre, the report charts from a new way forward and proposes a series of coordinated measures across a broad front to improve governance and accountability at national and international levels. These include fairer rules for international trade, investment, finance and migration, which take account of all interests, rights and responsibilities; measures to promote core labour standards and a minimum level of social protection in the global economy and new efforts to mobilise international resources to raise capabilities and meet the millennium development goals. The report was reviewed by Dr. P.B. Jayasundera, Secretary, Ministry of Finance, D. W. Subasinghe, General Secretary, Ceylon Federation of Trade Unions, and Gotabaya Dasanayake, Director General EFC. Director, Sub Regional Office, ILO New Delhi, Herman Vander Laan introduced the publication. The launch of the report was followed by a high level workshop where stakeholders discussed to set up a national plan of action for decent work. |
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