Decent Work for All
Decent Work and Older People in Development World
1) At the beginning: The Decent Work Agenda in the European Union Background
The “Decent Work Agenda” has been promoted since 2000 as the key policy agenda of the International Labour Organisation. It aims to promote employment and improve working conditions, and has four themes or ‘pillars’:
• Creating productive and freely chosen work (employment)
• Promoting rights at work
• Extending Social protection
• Promoting “social dialogue” & conflict resolution
Gender is a cross-cutting theme.
The EU and Decent Work Agenda
The EU believes that “globalisation has led to economic growth & brought many other benefits”, but these have not been shared equally across countries and social groups.
To ensure a more balanced distribution it is necessary “to promote decent work for all”. To achieve economic growth it is necessary to create employment opportunities for all, without discrimination.
The EU sees “decent work for all” as a global objective, and is increasingly active in promoting it in the international debate:
• At the UN Millennium Development Summit (2005)
• With the African Union, and at Asia and Latin American summits
• Promotion of the social protection theme as a focal area for 2007-13 in regional cooperation programmes
• Through the Millennium Development Goals; employment for youth and women was incorporated into MDG1 in 2007
“Investing in People” programme 2007-13
Decent work is an integral part of the EU’s “Investing in People” programme. The EU believes investment in employment is the foundation for sustainable development. If investment is not made this could lead to increasingly divided societies and social unrest or conflict.
Linked to the 2006 communication European Commission staff are working to implement the four themes (pillars) of the Decent Work Agenda in all programmes. This includes the extension of social protection to vulnerable groups through poverty reduction strategies and national development plans.
2) Decent work and older people
The European Parliament Resolution of May 2007 on promoting decent work for all stated:
“all international actors must help to increase the opportunities for older people to obtain and retain decent work by improving their access to lifelong learning schemes and their retraining for new kinds of jobs…or by ensuring that they have sufficient pensions, medical care and other relevant social services and benefits…social protection is an integral part of decent work”.
HelpAge International and ZIVOT 90 proposals as a part of our common project “ DECENT WORK FOR ALL “:
In the economies of developing countries…
* Most people work in the informal sector & have “poor quality” jobs
As is reflected by the European Commission’s Communication of May 2006, the great majority of employment, even outside agriculture, in the developing world is informal work.
For example, 95% of women workers are in employed in the informal sector in Francophone West Africa. Even in Latin America and East Asia over half of women workers are in the informal sector.
These jobs are arduous, often hazardous & unprotected. Those in these jobs also often remain poor. Underemployment is a major problem
* Women workers, young and old workers - the bulk of those in the informal economy - have low incomes, and lack social protection
The most vulnerable workers are typically women, children and the old. Indeed, there are often multiple disadvantages for older women workers who also take on the bulk of child-care responsibilities.
Hence the importance of the Decent Work Agenda…
With a focus on:
- good quality employment
- balancing economic performance with social Justice
- making ‘visible’ those of all ages in the informal sector and the kind of work they do
That is why the DWA – emphasising freely chosen, secure employment, with means to negotiate good working conditions and supported by effective social protection measures - is critical for developing countries.
Economic performance can only be improved where workers feel secure and included. High levels of poverty, inequality and insecurity are not growth-enhancing.
Decent work gives confidence in a secure future, and thus promotes planning & investment in – for example – education.
The experience of the developed world is that the key elements of decent work complemented by adequate social protection have been a key factor in economic growth – not just a desirable outcome.
3) Social Protection and the Decent Work Agenda
In our project we are particularly focussing on the social protection theme (“pillar”) of the DWA:
* Social Protection is a right
* Social protection is increasingly recognised as an effective way of reducing poverty and reaching the MDGs
* It is part of increased efforts to address vulnerability and reduce inequalities
* It helps to ensure that the poorest benefit from the ‘social dimension of globalisation’, which is a clear goal of the DWA
Social protection has a key role to play in the DWA as it is implemented in the developing world. Social protection is a right enshrined in international law – and thus has a powerful legitimacy with governments.
It has clear poverty reducing impacts – for instance, the old age pension in South Africa has demonstrably reduced the poverty gap across generations in recipient households, while Mexico’s Oportunidades scheme has significantly reduced ill-health in under-5s. The ILO and UN agencies amongst others are making clear statements that social protection extension to the poorest people is necessary to achieve the MDGs
Such impacts can be shown to occur relatively quickly to address poverty & vulnerability and to reduce inequalities; evidence from Brazil and South Africa is especially strong on inequality impacts.
This is especially the case where benefits are received as cash transfers. The evidence is that poor workers are able to make their own beneficial decisions if enabled to do so.
Thank you for your attention.
Dr. Oldrich Stanek
executive secretary int´l
ZIVOT 90 NGO
Karoliny Svetle 18, Prague 1
the Czech Republic
Životy, o kterých se nepíše: pravda o práci starších lidí
Český překlad publikace "Unreported lives: the truth about older people’s work"
