Nov. 16, 06

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Nov. 16, 06

• INTERNATIONAL FORUM ON THE ERADICATION OF POVERTY
• SESSION 5
• MAINSTREAMING DECENT WORK
• INTO POVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGIES
• Marty Chen
• Harvard University
• WIEGO

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PRESENTATION

• WHY should Decent Work be mainstreamed into
  poverty reduction strategies?
• WHAT does mainstreaming Decent Work into poverty
  reduction strategies mean?
• HOW can Decent Work be promoted to reduce poverty?

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WHY SHOULD DECENT WORK BE MAINSTREAMED INTO
POVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGIES?

• 1 Employment or, more precisely, decent
  work is a key pathway to poverty reduction.
• 2 This is because the main if not only
  source of income for the poor is what they earn.
• 3 Increasing the quality and quantity of
  employment opportunities is, therefore, the key
  link between economic growth and poverty
  reduction.
• 4 Yet, until recently, most poverty
  reduction strategies did not include a central
  focus on employment.
• 5 In September 2005, productive employment
  and decent work were officially recognized as
  central objectives in achieving MDGs in a
  Ministerial Declaration framed by the UN General
  Assembly

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WHAT DOES MAINSTREAMING DECENT WORK INTO POVERTY
REDUCTION STRATEGIES MEAN?

• 1 - Most of the worlds poor especially in
  developing countries are working. But the
  working poor are not able to work their way out
  of poverty.
• 2 - ILO estimates suggest that there are some
  550 million working poor earning less than US 1
  per day (ILO 2004)
• 3 - The challenge, therefore, is
• to create more and better employment
  opportunities
• to ensure the poor gain access to these
  opportunities
• to increase the income and reduce the risks of
  the working poor
• 4 - The vast majority of the working poor earn
  their living in the informal economy where on
  average
• earnings are low
• risks are high
• 5 - Poverty reduction is not possible without
  addressing the root causes of the low incomes and
  high risks of the working poor.

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HOW SHOULD DECENT WORK BE PROMOTED TO REDUCE
POVERTY?

• THREE-PART STRATEGY
• 1 generating new and better employment
  opportunities
• 2 ensuring poor gain access to new employment
  opportunities
• 3 - increasing incomes and reducing risks for
  the working poor

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HOW SHOULD DECENT WORK BE PROMOTED TO REDUCE
POVERTY?

• Component 1
• Promotion of employment-intensive growth i.e.,
  ensuring economic growth produces more and better
  employment opportunities
• This requires increasing demand through
  macro-economic and sectoral policies (esp.
  agriculture and manufacturing) and increasing
  productivity through investments and market
  access.

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HOW SHOULD DECENT WORK BE PROMOTED TO REDUCE
POVERTY?

• Component 2
• Increased access and competitiveness of the
  poor i.e., ensuring that the poor gain access to
  new employment opportunities
• This requires targeted employment policies as
  well as skills training and job matching.

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HOW SHOULD DECENT WORK BE PROMOTED TO REDUCE
POVERTY?

• Component 3
• Increased returns to the working poor i.e.,
  increasing the incomes and reducing the risks of
  the working poor
• This requires addressing the root causes of low
  incomes and high risks of the working poor. These
  include
• lack of productive assets
• lack of economic rights
• lack of social protection
• lack of organization and representation

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CONCLUSION

• Reducing poverty requires promoting Productive
  Employment and Decent Work
• Promoting Decent Work for the poor requires
  increasing their
• market access
• productive assets
• economic rights
• social protection
• Promoting the access, assets, rights, and
  protection of the working poor requires
  increasing their
• visibility in official data and plans
• voice in policy-making bodies