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Tag: Guy Ryder

  • ILO: decent work vital to development

    DEcent work is key to achieving sustainable development, social justice and foundation for lasting peace, International Labour Organisations (ILO) Director-General, Guy Ryder has said.

    Ryder, who stated this in his message  to governments across the world at the United Nations (UN)  “World Day of Social Justice”, re-echoed ILO’s mission to the world.

    He said: “If you want peace and development, work for social justice,” adding that for a century, ILO has pursued its mandate to promote social justice through the world of work.

    He reminded world leaders and policy makers of the avoidable economic depression that may befall the society should the world continue to turn deaf ear to ILO calls and warnings. He said: “Undoubtedly, there has been much economic and social progress. Yet the fruits are often unevenly distributed.”

    He continued: “Many people have been lifted out of poverty but many are in danger of falling back. Technology has generated jobs, opened up opportunities and alleviated drudgery, yet billions are still barely surviving in the informal economy. Many societies are scarred by deep social and economic divides; populations are torn apart by war and conflict.”

    The ILO, he said, will continue to be an advocate for the rights and standards that underpin decent work as well as the policies that foster decent work world over, noting that for 100 years the ILO has pursued its mandate to promote social justice through the world of work.

    “Undoubtedly, there has been much economic and social progress. Yet the fruits are often unevenly distributed. Many people have been lifted out of poverty, but many are in danger of falling back. Technology has generated jobs, opened up opportunities and alleviated drudgery, yet billions are still barely surviving in the informal economy.

    “Many societies are scarred by deep social and economic divides; populations are torn apart by war and conflict. And in a changing world of work, established relationships, norms and standards are being called into question and fundamental rights at work are still to be fully realised,” Ryder said.

    He said it is no less certain today than in 1919 that lasting peace and stability must be built on a foundation of sustainable development and social justice.

  • Metals, minerals recycling can generate 6m jobs, says ILO

    Recycling of plastics, glass, wood pulp, metals and minerals can generate about six million more jobs worldwide, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has said.

    Its Director-General, Guy Ryder, in a statement, said more than 32 per cent of plastic packaging escapes collections, as most of them end up in landfills, dumps, oceans and farm lands.

    He said though plastic has many benefits, it has many drawbacks, hence, the need to keep the planet safe, clean and fit for work, he said.

    “The sad reality is that the handling of plastic waste, as well as e-waste and other fast-growing solid waste streams, remains largely part of the informal economy in many countries.

    “Unless we act now, there will be more plastics than fish in the oceans by 2050,” he said.

    Ryder said workers faced serious decent work deficits, such as work hazards, violence, discrimination, stigmatisation and harassment, low earnings and long-working hours.

    The ILO chief said filling the gaps would enhance opportunities for decent work, noting that a coherent and integrated legal framework is a step in that direction.

    Ryder noted that governments, employers’ and workers’ organisations have a role to play in plastics evacaution.

    He added: “The challenge before us is to transform the “make-use-dispose” plastics’ economy into a circular economy, based on recycling. We also need to reduce our consumption of single-use or disposable plastic.

    “We can lessen the environmental damage that plastic pollution is causing by extending the use of plastic products for as long as possible, while recovering, reusing and recycling plastics at a much higher rate.

    This will not only reduce the environmental damage that plastic pollution is causing but will also open up new opportunities for decent work.”

    Ryder called for an urgent action to tackle the causes of child labour, pointing out that attention should  be paid not only to global supply chains, but also to unpaid family work in agriculture.

    “The challenge is not just about globally-traded garments, tobacco and cocoa; it is also about local markets for sorghum, millet, bricks – and it’s about domestic work as well,” he said, at a panel held on the sidelines of the International Labour Conference and ahead of the World Day against Child Labour.

    Ryder pointed out that 152 million children aged five and 17 are in child labour worldwide. Between 2012 and 2016, there was “almost no reduction in the number of children aged five to 11 in child labour, and the number of these most vulnerable, youngest children in hazardous work actually increased.”

    This, Ryder added, was partly because child labour in agriculture – which is mostly unpaid family work – increased.

    “These children typically begin child labour at six or seven and they commonly perform hazardous work as they get older.”

  • 152 million in child labour globally – ILO

    Director-General of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Guy Ryder, has said that about 152 million children between the ages of 5 And 17 are trapped in incidences of child labour across the world.

    Speaking at an event to mark the World Day against child labour at the ongoing 107th session of the International Labour conference in Geneva, Ryder said world leaders must take steps to address the rout cause of child labour if incidences of child labour are to reduce across the world.

    The ILO Director General said between 2012 and 2016, there was “almost no reduction in the number of children aged 5 to 11 in child labour, and the number of these most vulnerable, youngest children in hazardous work actually increased.

    “These children typically begin child labour at the age of six or seven and they commonly perform hazardous work as they get older.”

    while calling for urgent action to tackle the economic root causes of child labour, Ryder said attention must be paid not only to global supply chains, but also to unpaid family workers in agriculture.

    Read Also:FG moves to end child labour, ensure safety in work place

    He said “the challenge is not just about globally-traded garments, tobacco and cocoa; it is also about local markets for sorghum, millet, bricks – and it’s about domestic work as well,” he said, ahead of the World Day against Child Labour, marked on June 12.

    Ryder said the 152 million children in child labour worldwide is partly because of the child labour in agriculture – which is mostly unpaid family work, which has been on the increased.

    The event in Geneva also marked the 20th anniversary of the Global March against Child Labour, which culminated in June 1998, when hundreds of marchers, including children, took to the stage at the International Labour Conference, where delegates paved the ground for the adoption in 1999 of ILO Convention No. 182  on “Eliminating the Worst Forms of Child Labour.”

    Speaking at the event, an Indian children’s rights activist and Nobel peace prize laureate,  Kailash Satyarthi, who had led the Global March against Child Labour, in June 1998, told the panel that much still remains to be done to eliminate child labour across the world..

    he said “If the children are still trapped in the international supply chains, if the children are still enslaved, if the children are still sold and bought like animals – sometimes for less than the price of animals – to work in the fields and farms, and shops and factories, or for households as domestic workers, this is a blot on humanity”.

    General Secretary of the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF), Sue Longley, stressed the importance of keeping a strong focus on agriculture, which is where about 70 per cent of child labour is.

    On his part, Nazrene Mannie, from the Board of Business Unity in South Africa, highlighted the difficulty of tackling child labour when it takes place in family farms or enterprises, often hidden from public view.

    This year’s World Day against Child Labour also seeks to promote safety and health for young workers. Speaking on that topic, Mariam Kamissoko, of the National Social Security fund in Cote d’Ivoire, pointed out that the rate of accidents is higher among youth than among older workers.

     

  • ‘2.78million workers die yearly due to work related injuries’

    ‘2.78million workers die yearly due to work related injuries’

    The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has said that an estimated 2.78 million workers, with an estimated Gross Domestic Product of 2.99 trillion dollars die every year from work related illness and injuries across the globe.

    Director General of the ILO, Guy Ryder told XXI World Congress on Safety and Health at Work, in Singapore that 2.4 million of these deaths can be attributed to work-related diseases alone.

    Ryder said the figures announced were developed by Finland, Singapore, the EU and the International Commission on Occupational Health, with the support of ILO. 

    According to him, the new figures point to a growing body of evidence demonstrating the global cost of failing to adequately address existing and emerging occupational safety and health (OSH) concerns, and to the importance of OSH to sustainable development, adding that “clearly, there is a recognition that certain OSH challenges are global challenges that require global solutions.

    The global economic impact of the failure to adequately invest in occupational safety and health is roughly equal to the total GDP of the poorest 130 countries in the world.

    He stressed the readiness of the ILO to engage in the development of a global coalition with key partners in meeting these challenges, adding that as co-organizer of the 2017 World Congress on Safety and Health at Work, the ILO is addressing key challenges for the future of work and the implications for the safety and health of workers.

    “How the future of work is forged will, of course, have the greatest impact on this and the next generation and they must have a voice in the process including on OSH,” said Ryder in addressing Congress participants. 

    “Youth and OSH is a key theme at the XXI World Congress and central to ILO’s flagship Occupational Safety and Health-Global Action for Prevention Programme.

    “Forty million youth are entering the labour market this year and they are the best-educated generation the world has ever seen. We must take advantage of this demographic dividend and unleash the potential and creativity of these young people,” he said.

    During the four-day Congress the ILO will participate in symposia and technical sessions on the need for reliable OSH data, improving occupational safety and health in global supply chains, creating mechanisms for the exchange of OSH data, knowledge and expertise globally, and fostering proactive occupational safety and health compliance strategies at national level. Engagement of youth around the world will be key to addressing these challenges.

  • ILO urges countries to create enabling environment for migrant workers

    ILO urges countries to create enabling environment for migrant workers

    The International Labour Organisation (ILO) on Thursday urged various governments to create enabling policies that would help countries yield positive benefits for labour migration.

    Mr Guy Ryder, ILO Director-General, in a report, said that the skills and experience from migrant workers should be recognised to better utilise their full potential.

    Ryder said the main incentive for migration was finding a decent job, hence, policy choices matter greatly to improve labour migration.

    He said that international community should enhance the governance of migration and find new ways to improve the lives and working conditions of migrants.

    “About 74 per cent of all working age migrants – 150 million – are in the labour force and in search of decent work.

    “If we are to foster the benefits of these movements for all concerned, our policy choices would matter greatly,’’ he said.

    Ryder reiterated that Labour migration could yield many positive benefits when it was well-governed.

    He advised leaders to fix policy gaps such as eliminating the high costs and recruitment fees paid by migrant workers which might lead to human trafficking.