Civil
Society Forum to the ECOSOC High-Level Segment
“Creating
an environment at the national and international levels conducive
to generating full and productive employment and decent work
for all, and its impact on sustainable development”
Geneva
Forum, 29-30 June 2006
ILO Headquarters
Background
According to several concordant studies and sources, globalization
is currently taking place in a way that brings very unevenly
distributed benefits within and between countries. Some see
in the failure of the prevailing neo-liberal development model
the reason why the UN decided to adopt the Millennium Declaration
and the Millennium Development Goals: development efforts needed
to be targeted more specifically on poverty eradication, even
though none of the MDGs deals explicitly with employment and
decent work. Globalization requires an appropriate international
framework that would ensure the respect of human rights and
more particularly of the core labour rights that are employment
and decent work. ECOSOC, as the coordinating body for development
policies at the international level, should boldly take up its
strengthened mandate and strive for a consensus on how to best
guarantee these rights. As an example, the fact that nowadays
a MNE can so easily get out from a country that adopts a legal
framework protecting workers rights, and invest in another where
these are not or less guaranteed is a matter of great concern
for international civil society.
Invitation
Dear colleagues
and friends,
The Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the
United Nations (CONGO), with its partners, has the great pleasure
to invite you to the Civil Society Forum to the ECOSOC High-Level
Segment to be held in Geneva from 29 – 30 June 2006. The
aim of the Forum is to allow NGOs in consultative status with
ECOSOC and other relevant Civil Society Organizations to make
the best possible impact on the dignitaries’ deliberations
(High-level Segment, 3-5 July) on the issues of employment and
decent work.
Many civil
society activists believe that globalization requires an appropriate
international framework that would help implement the Millennium
Declaration, including the Millennium Development Goals, and
ensure the respect for human rights and more particularly the
core labour rights that are employment and decent work. ECOSOC,
as the coordinating body for development policies at the international
level, should boldly take up its strengthened mandate and strive
for a consensus on how to best guarantee these rights. NGOs
have often advocated for a paradigm-shift from a market-based
approach to a human-rights approach to development: is that
realistic? Is it possible to make globalization a win-win situation
for workers, both in the North and in the South?
As umbrella
association of NGOs in consultative status, CONGO has organized
for several years NGO fora prior to the ECOSOC sessions, such
as the one on rural development in 2003 . This year we intend
to tackle the issue on the HLS agenda - employment and decent
work - under the following main clusters:
1. Globalization
and its impact on decent work, both in developing and developed
countries (with a special focus on labour migration);
2. Creating
an enabling environment at the national level conducive for
growth and employment creation (with a special focus on the
informal sector);
3. Employment for the women, the youth and the elderly;
4. Human
rights and employment for vulnerable groups: indigenous peoples,
people withdisabilities and people living in post-crisis situations;
5. Employment
in the rural and urban areas;
6. New forms of employment (including e-employment).
Every cluster
will be organized around several workshops - proposed by the
organizers and by interested participants - which will produce
concrete recommendations. The recommendations will be endorsed
by the clusters and the plenary. Speakers, selected by each
cluster, will participate and interact with the High-level Segment
on Wednesday 5th July. Our aim is to have a very focused and
fruitful interactive discussion with the dignitaries, following
the model of the hearings of the General Assembly with civil
society (June 2005) .
Additionally,
there will be other possibilities of interaction with dignitaries
and senior UN officials during the breakfast roundtable discussions
of 3rd and 4th July and the possibility to take the floor, for
some NGOs, during the HLS itself.
We invite
you to join us for this challenging event and to suggest your
own workshops and/or speakers under the above mentioned clusters.
Issues that cannot be accommodated within the selected clusters
can be addressed in parallel events during the lunch break.
Unfortunately
our resources are scarce, but we have the possibility to fund
the participation of some key panellists from developing countries.
We
look forward to your active participation and kindly invite you
to register for the Forum through the registration form available
at www.ngocongo.org.
With
my very best regards,
Contact
Latest Global News
Structure
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Outcome recommendations of the Civil Society Forum to the
ECOSOC HLS on Employment and Decent Work held on 29-30 June
at the ILO Headquarters in Geneva (english)
