Fundamental rights at work and poverty alleviation

1
Fundamental rights at work and poverty alleviation

• ILO approach(es)
• Poverty alleviation approach(es)
• Common space?
• Challenges

2
ILO approach(es)

• ILO standards (Conventions and Recommendations)
  new integrated approach
• Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights
  at Work
• Relationship to work on poverty alleviation and
  employment?

3
A few features of the Declaration

• Origins in development universal buy-in
• Rights at work, not workers rights only many
  stakeholders
• Reciprocal obligations (Member States/ILO)
• Declaration method and tools
• Read the text!

4
Millenium Development Goals connection to FPRs?

• International development targets (with dates, eg
  2015)
• Eradicate extreme poverty
• Universal primary education
• Empowerment of women
• Global partnership for development (e.g. DFID
  commitments/targets) ETC

5
Development tools and FPRs

• CDF/PRSP where are FPRs?
• IDA 12 Decision
• World Bank core labour standards toolkit
• CAS inclusion of core labour standards
• Operations (procurement Employment Intensive
  Investment Programmes)
• Special issues (conflict, youth employment,
  HIV/AIDS, etc.)

6
Poverty alleviation approaches UNDP

• Human Development Report 1999 human rights and
  sustainable human development are inextricably
  linked, compementary, multidimensional
• (seven freedoms)
• Poverty alleviation/sustaining livelihoods,
  promoting advancement of women, capacity for good
  governance, etc.

7
Poverty alleviation World Bank

• World Development Report 2000/2001
• Expand economic opportunity for poor people
• Facilitate empowerment
• Enhance security
• Reduce inequalities
• Social capital voice, participation but for
  whom?
• Costs for whom?
• Decentralization with what effects?

8
Indices/measurements

• World Development Indicators (WB)
• Human Development Index (UNDP)
• Art. IV reviews (IMF)
• Relevance of FPRs?
• ILO reports (WER, Declaration Follow-up
  annual/global reports, others)

9
Freedom of association/collective bargaining

• The ultimate enabling rights
• Exercise of individual and collective action
  (social capital?)
• Can create stable, investment-friendly
  environment
• Help societies adjust to shocks (governance)
• Narrow divide between formal, informal economies
• Chance to redress gender, other imbalances

10
Elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory
labour

• FL challenges the value of labour as a key input
  for ec/social development
• FL distorts the labour market and challenges
  validity of supply/demand
• FL does not contribute to productivity
• FL perpetuates inequalities between social groups

11
Effective abolition of child labour

• CL is cause and effect of poverty
• CL harms survival mental and physical
  development of child
• Spoils future opportunities and choices
• Undermines competitiveness of national economies
• Erodes pay and working conditions of adult workers

12
Elimination of discrimination in respect of
employment and occupation

• Disc is important source of reproduction of
  poverty
• Disc is obstacle to full realization of human
  resources potential
• Disc is cauldron of social tension, armed
  conflict
• Disc perpetuates gender and other imbalances

13
Matching FPRs and poverty alleviation perspectives

• Freedom of association
• Collective bargaining
• Elimination of forced labour
• Abolition of child labour
• Elimination of discrimination

• Expanding opportunity
• Facilitating empowerment
• Enhancing security
• Ensuring voice
• Promoting good governance

14
FPRs as ends and means for overcoming poverty

• Respect for FPRs expands choices, capabilities
  and freedoms
• Open the door to
• Empowerment
• Opportunity
• Security
• Dignity

15
Challenges arrogance and ignorance

• Conceptual - research or ideology?
• Vocabulary
• Measurement
• Institutional
• New tools?
• Finding common ground

16
Thanks

• To Manuela Tomei and Stanley Taylor for sharing
  ideas and information
• To you for feedback