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Tag: ILO

  • ILO: Forced labour creates $150b illicit funds yearly

    ILO: Forced labour creates $150b illicit funds yearly

    The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has said about 21 million people globally are victims of forced labour, generating about $150 billion yearly illicit financial flows.

    The organisation lamented that victims of forced labour are the most vulnerable in societies and include farm workers, migrants, domestic workers, seafarers, women and girls that were forced into prostitution and others. They  are also abused, exploited and paid little or nothing as rewards for their labour.

    In a statement on its website at the weekend, it explained that the ILO Forced Labour Protocol, which was adopted by the International Labour Conference in 2014 became effective from November 9, this year, one year after it got its second ratification.

    ILO said countries that have ratified the protocol are Niger, Norway, United Kingdom, Mauritania, Mali, France, Czech Republic, Panama and Argentina, adding that they now have to meet the obligations outlined in the Protocol.

    “The ILO Forced Labour Protocol has entered into force. It requires countries to take effective measures to prevent and eliminate forced labour, and to protect and provide access to justice for victims, ” its Director-General, Guy Ryder, was quoted as having said in the statement.

    The protocol is a joint venture among between ILO and the International Trade Union Confederation and the International Organisation of Employers (IOE).

    IOE Secretary-General, Linda Kromjong, said the Protocol would make a difference in the lives of millions of men and women trapped in forced labour across the world. Kromjong said:  “We all have a role to play, and if we join forces, the end of forced labour is within reach.”

    General Secretary of ITUC, Sharan Burrow, stressed the legally binding nature of the Protocol, saying: “That means the more governments that ratify and ensure it is implemented, the closer we’ll be to eliminating slavery once and for all.”

    The statement explained that on the day the Protocol came into force, Argentina signified commitment to ending modern slavery by becoming the nineth country to ratify the Forced Labour Protocol.

    The ILO, ITUC and IOE are leading the 50 for Freedom Campaign with the aim of raising awareness about the issue and encouraging at least 50 countries to ratify the Protocol by 2018. Only nine countries have so far ratified it.

    Thousands of people around the world have shown support for the campaign, along with a number of public figures such as Nobel Peace prize laureate, Kailash Satyarthi, and Urmila Bhoola, UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, as well as several national and international organisations.

     

  • Fed Govt, ILO to validate national employment policy

    The Federal Government, International Labour Organisation (ILO) and others have met in Abuja to validate the much-expected National Policy on Employment.

    The meeting, which was organised by the Federal Government, in conjunction with the ILO, aimed at moving Nigeria forward.

    According to the Director, ILO Country Office for Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Liaison Office for the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS), Mr. Dennis Zulu, the meeting was to determine whether the government and stakeholders could contribute towards taking steps to address unemployment and under-employment in a comprehensive, coherent and integrated way.

    Zulu said the stakeholders forum marked an important milestone in the process of preparing an employment policy for Nigeria, which started in 2012. The  objective, according to him, is to prepare a policy that would promote full and productive employment by developing integrated employment, development and skills policies that will maximize the employment impact of economic growth, investment and development; and which are inclusive, gender sensitive, productive and sustainable.

    The ILO director said extensive consultations involving a wide range of stakeholders across the length and breadth of the country have been held during the last four years.

    He said: “The ILO wishes to note that the validation of the draft national employment policy is in line with the prescribed process of preparing national employment policies as articulated by ILO Employment Policy Convention No. 122 of 1964.

    “The Convention requires national employment policies to be positioned as a major goal within the national agenda. It calls for an active employment policy to be pursued as a major goal of macroeconomic policy, with a focus on the design and implementation of such policies.”

    Given the progress that has been made in Nigeria in putting in place an employment policy, Mr. Zulu appealed to the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment and  the social partners to consider ratifying ILO Convention 122 .

    He pointed out that by putting in place an employment policy, Nigeria is already in line with the objective of the convention.

    At the meeting, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige reiterated the commitment of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, to job creation and provision of decent employment opportunities for Nigerians.

  • ‘ILO’s partnership to help the poor’

    ‘ILO’s partnership to help the poor’

    The International Labour Organistion (ILO) has launched a global partnership for universal social protection to help the poor and vulnerable groups.

    The organisation said one billion people are affected by poverty globally.

    In his message to mark the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, ILO’s Director General Guy Ryder said about 327 million working men and women live in extreme poverty, with another 967 million living in moderate and near poverty.

    “The ILO and World Bank have launched a Global Partnership for Universal Social Protection. It aims to help countries reach all poor and vulnerable groups with measures to ensure income security and support to all people when needed, throughout their lives.”

     

     

  • ILO bemoans rising unemployment

    The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has alerted that youth unemployment is rising and would likely reach 13.1 per cent this year.

    Its Director-General, Guy Ryder, at the G20 Summit in Beijing, China, said leaders from across the G20 countries spoke frankly about the economic and political risks caused by slow growth and weak employment prospects.

    According to the global body, unemployment this year is inching close to a historic peak of 71 million jobless young people.

    Ryder said: “The agreements reached at the Hangzhou Summit showed signs of a shift towards a more balanced policy response to the challenges of slow growth, high unemployment and underemployment, inequality, and continuing rapid structural change”.

    He pointed out that globally, unemployment and underemployment was high and rising, wage incomes stagnant, and inequality widening.

    “The importance of social dialogue in translating global agreements into sustainable solutions cannot be overemphasised. This is feeding back into weak consumer demand, weak investment, pressure on public finances and continued slow growth.

    “This slow growth has created social tensions, not the least among them young women and men looking to get started in working life. It is driving people to leave their communities and seek work elsewhere, often far away,” Ryder said.

    The ILO head also pointed out that frustrated expectations provided the tinder that inflammatory political forces used to undermine support for open economies and societies that respect and value diversity.

    He added that G20 leadership was vital in reversing these trends, and its support for the United Nations (UN) with the G20 Action Plan on the 2030 Agenda for  Sustainable Development was key.

    Ryder also highlighted the Declaration of the G20 Labour and Employment Ministers, which recommended policies on combating working poverty, ending discrimination, and narrowing gaps in working conditions.

    It also recommended reducing inequalities, enhancing minimum wage mechanisms, and social protection that will be critical in shaping the future of work.

    Ryder also congratulated China on engaging business and labour in the preparations on the summit. “The importance of social dialogue in translating global agreements into sustainable solutions cannot be overemphasised,” he concluded.

    The summit’s communiqué committed the G20 to work in order to ensure that the economic growth serves the needs of everyone and benefits all countries and all people, including in particular, women, youth and disadvantaged groups.

    It also committed to generating more quality jobs, addressing inequalities and eradicating poverty so that no one was left behind.

    It also emphasised that for sustainable development, strengthened labour market institutions and policies could support productivity and promote decent work, and therefore, higher sustainable wage growth in particular, for the low-income workers.

  • Nigeria to get technical support from ILO

    The International Labour Organisation (ILO) is to provide Nigeria with technical support in training factory inspectors and other professionals in the Ministry of Labour and Employment to ensure the attainment of decent work and sustainable development.

    The Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, made this known during a meeting with the Director-General, ILO, Moussaka Oumarou.

    Ngige also told Oumarou that Nigeria was planning to revive the Labour Advisory, which has been dormant for over five years, to ensure industrial harmony.

    He pointed out that the government would also strengthen the child labour law and carry out sensitisation

    The country, he said, would need lots of technical assistance available at the ILO to do that.

    Other areas where the country needs technical assistance from the ILO, Ngige said, include capacity building to strengthen the National Industrial Court (NIC) and strengthen labour laws in the country.

    Ngige said of the five labour bills before the National Assembly, only one had been passed into law, while the other four were obsolete and required re-working to make them in tune with modern realities.

    He said the bills before the National Assembly were drafted with the assistance of the ILO with only the Employees Compensation Scheme sailing through legislation successfully.

    In response, Oumarou stressed the need to lay more emphasis on “train the trainers”.

    He assured that the ILO will do its best to assist Nigeria get back factory inspectors and assist in other areas of need put forward by the Nigerian delegation.

    He said ILO will also assist the country with experts in labour laws to help in the review and easy passage of labour laws.

  • NDE to create decent jobs for Nigerians

    NDE to create decent jobs for Nigerians

    Director General, National Directorate of Employment, Kunle Obayan has said the agency is already taking advantage of the decent work agenda of the ILO to create jobs for Nigerians.

    Obanya who attended the recently concluded International Labour Conference in Geneva told The Nation that the decent work agenda which was the theme for ILO conference fits perfectly into the mandate of the mandate of the agency.

    He said the primary purpose of establishing the agency was to create jobs and impact skill on Nigerians, teaching them how to create decent jobs that will give them decent wage and be in a position to pay others decent wage.

    Obanya said: “As you know, NDE is the apex agency saddled with the task of creating employment through skill acquisition, job creation and employment generation. NDE has a lot of skills and programmes set up for this purpose. Currently, we have a lot of skills that we generate.

    “We have vocational skills training for a host of unemployed people such as youths and graduates who are currently undergoing training in our 84 skill acquisition programmes across the country.

    “We also have the graduate coaching scheme that will employ graduates in education. We also have a scheme for students who failed the school certificate examination. The scheme is created to salvage our investment in them in education.

    “We also have the community based training scheme where we go into the communities to train the various rural people who are not necessarily educated, but are there languishing.

    “We will bring them up, find out their skill set where they have comparative advantage and train and empower them in other to create micro enterprise in that direction. We also have the commercial farmers project where we go to the rural areas for them to set ill commercial farms in area of poultry, crop production among others.

    We have a partnership with CBN and we will cue into the various programmes of the CBN like the anchor borrower programme for production of rice and its value chain, poultry and its value chain all over the country.

    “We have a lot of schemes that will key into this ILO decent work agenda as well as the promises of the government to the people. We are there as NDE to generate employment through our various schemes. They are numerous and it is a matter of the people taking advantage of these scheme which are there in all the states of the federation.

    “Creating decent jobs is about creating jobs that will be able to give them a living wage. The trust of NDE is to train people in skill sets that will make them create businesses of their own and be able to employ labour.

    “We are making them create businesses by evaluating the kind of proposals they are presenting such that if will be sustainable and be able to make living wage and be able to pay people to work for them.

    “That is the way they will get decent jobs. The aspect if safety is about adhering to safety standard that is already put in place by the Federal Ministry of Labour.  We will make sure that they have sustainable jobs created through viable businesses”.

  • $10tr needed to end poverty in Nigeria, others, says ILO

    $10tr needed to end poverty in Nigeria, others, says ILO

    About $10 trillion would be needed to end poverty in Nigeria and other countries across the globe by the year 2030, the International Labour Organisation  (ILO),  has said.

    The world body  said  the global deficit in quality jobs and deteriorating economic conditions in a number of regions across the world threaten to undermine decades of progress in poverty reduction.

    In its report on World Employment and Social Outlook (WESO) 2016, the ILO warned that developed countries are now at risk as relative poverty is on the increase in those countries.

    According to the report, over 36 per cent of the emerging and the developing world live in poverty and on a daily income of less than $3.10.

    The report said persistent poverty, cannot be solved by income transfers alone; but through the creation of more  better jobs which are crucial to achieving the goal of poverty eradication.

    It estimated that almost a third of the extremely, or moderately poor in developing economies have jobs which are vulnerable in nature.

    It said further that they are sometimes unpaid, concentrated in low-skilled occupations and, in the absence of social protection, rely almost exclusively on labour income.

    ILO said futher that among developed countries, more workers have wage and salaried employment which does not stop them from falling into poverty.

    Speaking on the report, ILO Director-General, Guy Ryder, said: “Clearly, the Sustainable Development Goal of ending poverty in all its forms everywhere by 2030 is at risk. If we are serious about the 2030 agenda and want to finally put an end to the scourge of poverty perpetuating across generations, then we must focus on the quality of jobs in all nations.”

    Its Special Advisor on Social and Economic Issues, Raymond Torres, lamented that currently, while 30 per cent of the world is poor, they only hold two per cent of gobal income.

    He said: “Only through deliberately improving the quality of employment for those who have jobs and creating new decent work, will we provide a durable exit from precarious living conditions and improve livelihoods for the working poor and their families.

    “This finding tells us that it is past time to reflect on the responsibility of rich nations and individuals in the perpetuation of poverty. Accepting the status quo is not an option,”

    According to the report, high levels of income inequality reduce the impact of economic growth on poverty reduction.

    The ILO estimates that poverty reduction would come after a sustained period of global progress, with the share of population living in extreme poverty falling from 46.9 per cent in 1990 to just under 15 per cent among 107 emerging and developing countries.

  • Why poverty persists, by ILO

    Why has it been difficult to fight poverty globally? It is because of lack of quality jobs and the economic meltdown, says the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

    In its “World Employment and Social Outlook (WESO) 2016 – Transforming Jobs to End Poverty”, the ILO said over 36 per cent of the emerging and developing world live in poverty – on a daily income of less than $3.10.

    The report noted that about $600 billion a year – or nearly $10 trillion over 15 years, is needed to eradicate extreme and moderate poverty globally by 2030.

    The ILO also reported that persistent poverty cannot be solved by income transfers alone, adding that more better jobs are crucial to achieving this goal.

    It stated: “It is estimated that almost a third of the extremely or moderately poor in developing economies have jobs. However, their employment is vulnerable in nature. They are sometimes unpaid, concentrated in low-skilled occupations and, in the absence of social protection, rely almost exclusively on labour income.

    “Among developed countries, more workers have wage and salaried employment, but that does not stop them from falling into poverty”.

    ILO Director-General Guy Ryder noted that the sustainable development goal of ending poverty in all its forms everywhere by 2030 remained at serious risk.

    He said: “If we are serious about the 2030 agenda and want to finally put an end to the scourge of poverty perpetuating across generations, then we must focus on the quality of jobs in all nations.”

    ILO’s Special Adviser on Social and Economic Issues Raymond Torres explained that the world’s 30 per cent poor hold two per cent of the global income.

    Torres explained that only through deliberate improving the quality of employment for those who have jobs and creating new decent work will countries provide a durable exit from precarious living conditions and improve livelihoods for the working poor and their families.

    The study also found that high levels of income inequality reduce the impact of economic growth on poverty reduction.

    “This finding tells us that it is past time to reflect on the responsibility of rich nations and individuals in the perpetuation of poverty. Accepting the status quo is not an option,” said Torres.

    The report concluded that transforming jobs to end poverty would require tackling low productivity traps, which lie at the heart of poverty; strengthening rights at work and enable employer and worker organisations to reach the poor; and alleviating poverty through well-designed employment and social policies.

    Other recommendations of the report are: reinforcing governments’ capacity to implement poverty-reducing policies and standards; boosting resources and making the rich aware of their responsibility; and involving the ILO in the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals.

  • Job creation: ILO unveils plans to support Fed Govt

    Job creation: ILO unveils plans to support Fed Govt

    The President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s employment creation initiative is to get a boost from the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

    ILO Country Director Mr. Dennis Zulu made the commitment on Tuesday during his visit to the Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige.

    According to the communiqué signed by the Deputy Director, Press, in the ministry, Mr. Samuel Olowookere, the ILO will like to partner Nigeria in the drafting of a new employment policy.

    “We as an organisation has attained an advanced stage in the drafting of this policy, and we need the contribution of the tripartite partner as well as the ministry to push it forward,” Zulu said.

    He stated that the global labour organisation was looking forward to receiving the input of the ministry towards the completion of the Social Protection Policy, which is aimed at providing social protection floor for the vulnerable including retirees thereby making sure that they did not fall back to poverty the trap after retirement.

    He also canvassed the need to review Nigeria’s labour laws to reflect the reality of the moment in the sector, adding that the ILO is looking forward under the present administration to see that the labour laws that have been in the National Assembly since 2005 are clarified to ensure that they reflect changing times and changing demands both in the private and public sectors.

    In his response, Sen. Ngige reiterated the administration’s commitment to the provision of jobs for the teeming unemployed youths. He assured the ILO of his ministry’s commitment to continued maintenance of industrial peace and harmony in the labour sector through proactive social dialogue.

    “The name of this ministry was changed to Ministry of Labour and Employment to reflect its pivotal role in the job creation efforts of the Federal Government. The activities of the ministry are also accentuated by this responsibility and we are living up to the task. However, the aspect that makes for industrial relations, social protection for the vulnerable and the entire workforce as enshrined in the ILO status and the nation’s constitution will not be abandoned,” Ngige said.

    The minister added that the change mantra of the present administration seeks to impact positively on the lives of the people. “We are going to make state resources available to everybody especially those on the lower rung of the social ladder and not a select few at the top.

    “We have fashioned out some social intervention programmes such as the Graduate Teachers Conversion Scheme, Commercial Farmers Training Project, Conditional Cash Transfer, Skill Acquisition Programme to impact skills such as metal fabrication, plumbing, electric wiring, baking, interior decoration, repair of phones, painting, hairdressing, garment production and mechatronic among others,” he said.

    The minister expressed hope that the ILO will give the ministry the technical support to man the various skills acquisition and vocational centres.

    He reminded the ILO Country Director of his earlier request in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia that in view of the enormous contributions of Nigeria to the ILO and being the first country to host its office in Africa, opened in 1959, it should be accorded a prime place in the West African sub region through the upgrade of its regional office in Nigeria.

    In a related event, ILO has warned the public, especially job seekers of fraudulent schemes purporting to solicit applications for employment or business opportunities on behalf of its officials.

    The ILO said it strongly recommends that prospective applicants and recipients must carefully verify the authenticity of solicitations and offers before sending any response.

  • Insurance is solution to small businesses’ problems, says ILO

    Insurance can form a major solution to constraints faced by small businesses across the world, Alice Merry of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has said.

    She said this in a paper titled: “Insurance for Small Businesses” made available to The Nation by ILO Impact Insurance Facility.

    She said despite significant efforts by governments across the world to improve infrastructure, competency, among others, the risks that small businesses face, such as weather events, health problems, or theft of their stock, are often left largely unaddressed.

    She noted that insurance cannot address all of those risks, but it can address many of them. According to her, a range of solutions will be needed to overcome the constraints faced by small businesses.

    She said: “Governments can introduce regulation that is more supportive of small businesses, access to credit can be improved, more reliable electricity and internet access can be installed, and business skills training can improve management practices. Efforts to implement such improvements are underway across the world.”

    Speaking on financial protection, she said insurance allows businesses to avoid the financial consequences of certain risks. “Whereas a sudden and unexpected shock can take an uninsured business over the brink, an insured business is able to handle the shock and continue to operate,” she said.

    Merry, however, noted that small businesses represent the next target for insurers aiming to reach those who remain underserved in developing countries. She added that many providers would have had success with basic personal products, yet the evolution from success with these products to successful products for small businesses is not automatic.

    “Serving small businesses comes with a host of new challenges. These can be better tackled by first taking a close look at the experiences and successes of pioneers in the field.

    “During numerous interviews with insurers, challenges in offering insurance to small businesses emerged in three main clusters. And, though most insurers continue to face a range of difficulties, they were also finding ways to overcome them,” she said.

    She continued: “Insurance for small businesses poses many issues common to personal microinsurance products such as offering affordable products at sustainable rates for the insurance provider. Many of the facility’s publications cover these topics, and much of the advice in them will be very relevant for insurance for small businesses. This paper, however, focuses on the challenges and solutions which are distinctive to serving the small business market.

    “Given their economic importance, support for small businesses is clearly vital. A great deal of good work is already being done, from training courses to increasing access to credit.

    “However, if we do not also help small businesses manage the risks they face, an important piece of the puzzle remains missing. Insurance is certainly not a complete solution – as shown at the start of the paper, small businesses face a range of risks; insurance offers a solution to some of them. However, when well integrated with other interventions to boost the capacity of small businesses, improve the environment in which they operate, and reduce the risks they face, better insurance provision could provide a significant boost for small businesses.

    “On the other hand, small businesses also represent a promising market for insurers. Business owners have higher awareness of the risks they face and greater familiarity with formal or informal financial services than other parts of the population. Many insurers have shown that it is possible to serve this market at scale, and many of the lessons that they have learnt in doing so can support others hoping to do the same.”