MAINSTREAMING DECENT WORK INTO POVERTY ERADICATION POLICIES

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MAINSTREAMING DECENT WORK INTO POVERTY
ERADICATION POLICIES

• presented by
• Ladis Columban Komba (Phd)
• Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Labor,
  Employment and Youth Development, Tanzania
• At the International Forum on the Eradication of
  Poverty, held at UN Headquarters, New York, USA
  15th 16th November 2006

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OUTLINE OF THE PRESENTATION

• INTRODUCTION
• THE DECENT WORK AGENDA
• POVERTY ERADICATION WHAT IT ENTAILS
• THE UNEMPLOYMENT PROBLEM THE CASE OF TANZANIA
• THE CHALLENGES IN MAINSTREAMING DW INTO POVERTY
  ERADICATION POLICIES
• CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

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1.0 INTRODUCTION

• There is a strong link between the unemployment
  problem and poverty levels ( a vicious circle)
• Income market size investment levels
  employment
• Lack of unemployment benefit packages in most
  developing countries worsens the situation
• Thus Efforts aimed at poverty eradication must
  include employment creation strategies
• The principal Route out of poverty is (decent)
  work (Juan Somavia DG ILO, 2003)

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2.0 THE DECENT WORK AGENDA

• As advocated by ILO the DWA strives for economic
  growth with equity through a coherent blend of
  social and economic goals. The Agenda has four
  elements
• Employment the principal route out of poverty
  is productive work
• Rights necessary to empower men and women to
  escape from poverty
• Protection social protection safeguards against
  poverty
• Dialogue participation of employers and
  workers organizations in shaping government
  policy for poverty reduction is key to success

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3.0 POVERTY ERADICATION WHAT IT ENTAILS

• Enhancing access to basic needs
• a fight against hunger, provision of health
  services, basic education and skills, decent
  shelter and basic utilities (water, electricity,
  communication)
• Increasing income levels of the peoplethrough
  increasing opportunities for decent work, access
  to financial services and profitable markets
• Mainstreaming cross cutting issues
• for sustainability, gender, environmental
  concerns and the HIV/AIDS must be mainstreamed
  into poverty eradication programs

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3.0 Poverty Eradication what it entails ..

• Improving agricultural productivity
• due to the dominance of the sector in most poor
  countries, a bigger impact would be realized by
  focusing on it
• Enhancing investments in Industries
• as a means of absorbing excess labor force from
  the agricultural sector, minimizing the
  dependence on imports and enhancing the market
  for agricultural produce. In any case, due to
  being more formal, the sector is more compatible
  with the decent work agenda.
• Empowering the private sector
• to take the lead as most Governments withdraw
  from active production and business undertakings
  following developmental reforms

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4.0 THE UNEMPLOYMENT PROBLEM THE CASE OF
TANZANIA

• According to the integrated Labor Force Survey of
  2000/01, out of a total population of 32.8
  million people, the labor force was 17.8 million.
  Of these 2.3 million or 12.9 were unemployed
• The rate of unemployment was more among youth
  with 14.3 and among women with 14.2, compared
  to men with 11.6
• The situation was worse in towns and cities with
  32, compared to 8 in rural areas. Lower rates
  in rural areas are accounted for by Agriculture
  which employed 82.1 of the labor force.

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4.0 The Unemployment Problem The case of
Tanzania

• Causes of the problem
• Major causes mentioned include globalization,
  technological improvements, low capacity of the
  private sector to create employment, economic
  growth rate not coping with the population growth
  rate (2.9), (700,000 enter the labor force
  annually while formal employment opportunities
  are 40,000), economic hardships and low quality
  of life in rural areas, child labor and change in
  roles of women in employment, privatization
  process, lack of access to credit facilities,
  lack of necessary skills among jobseekers and
  shortage of entrepreneurial skills necessary for
  self employment initiatives

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4.0 The Unemployment Problem The case of
Tanzania

• Impacts of the problem
• More significant impacts include increasing
  income poverty, rural-urban migration that
  worsens the problem in towns, youth being the
  mostly affected become victims of un-decent work
  and potential criminals. Lack of proper education
  among working children make them unemployable at
  later stages. All these may have a negative
  impact on investments, and generally on economic
  development

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4.0 The Unemployment Problem The case of
Tanzania

• Government efforts in solving the problem
• Commitment at the highest level
• Putting the unemployment Agenda (Decent Work) top
  in its plans in PRSP and currently in National
  Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty
  (MKUKUTA)
• Assisting the small entrepreneurs in accessing
  financial services through various schemes of
  guarantees and direct financial support
• Putting emphasis on training and skills
  development that generate capacities for self
  employment especially among Youth

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5.0 THE CHALLENGES IN MAINSTREAMING DW INTO
POVERTY ERADICATION

• Definition of Decent Work, and the priorities in
  a country. The issue is whether what poor people
  need most is to have decent work or just jobs
  that make them earn a living
• The difficulty to enforce the Decent Work Agenda,
  especially when the workers are willing and
  accept working standards below the requirements
  of decent work
• The un-employability of job seekers due to lack
  of education and skills, experience, confidence
  and the required working culture in most
  multilateral organizations
• The increasing role of the informal sector in
  economic growth, most of whose participants are
  unaware of the decent work agenda

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5.0 The challenges in mainstreaming DW into
poverty eradication..

• The private sector, that is supposed to be
  leading in economic development is not being very
  keen on human resource development, and
  investments in cross cutting issues whose
  benefits are not directly related to short term
  profits
• Workers organizations being weak in dialogue,
  not only with the Government in policy
  formulation processes but also in negotiations
  with employers organizations. The tripartite
  negotiation relationships are in most cases not
  in favor of workers.

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6.0 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

• Decent Work Agenda is important and very
  instrumental in achieving the poverty eradication
  targets
• As advocated by ILO, the application of the
  Decent Work Agenda require to be domesticated
  depending on the level of economic development a
  country has and on its priorities
• The capacity of the private sector that is
  supposed to take the lead in economic development
  has to be enhanced. Governments should
  deliberately have policies aimed at facilitating
  the private sector
• Joint efforts of all stakeholders (Governments,
  Workers, employers, Development Partners, NGOs,
  International Organizations) are necessary to
  succeed in the process of mainstreaming DW into
  Poverty Eradication Policies

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6.0 Conclusions and recommendations ..

• Deliberate efforts should be taken to enhance
  active participation and improve the negotiation
  ability of workers organizations, that should
  play a role of ensuring Decent Work Agenda is
  applicable at work places.
• Development of cooperative societies, that are
  based on group empowerment of its members should
  be encouraged as a means of enhancing dialogue,
  source of credit facilities in rural areas
  (SACCOS) and a way of assuring the availability
  of important agricultural inputs and access to
  markets
• Youth unemployment problem should be viewed as a
  Time Bomb in many developing countries that need
  special attention. The YEN and YES require
  support and their deliberations to be
  implemented
• Gender, HIV/AIDS, Environmental concerns and
  other Cross Cutting issues must be taken on board
  during the mainstreaming process to ensure
  sustainability

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Thanks for your kind Attention