1. THE UNITED NATIONS SYSTEM AND THE ROLE OF THE ILO

2. 2 “United Nations Development Cooperation: Principles and strategies” Focus of cooperation for DEVELOPMENT BASED ON HUMAN RIGHTS: In 2003, the United Nations agencies agreed on a “common understanding” of the main elements of the focuses based on human rights, with the understanding that they are inherent to the development processes of countries and are in keeping with the general purposes of the UN. In this respect, development strategies should integrate a guarantee for the respect and promotion of human rights as a target and guideline along with the MDGs.

3. 3 “Development Cooperation of the United Nations: Principles and strategies” A development cooperation focus based on human rights: It is important to remember that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, approved and adopted on 10 December 1948 by the General Assembly of the United Nations, declares as human rights the fundamental labour rights on the basis of which the ILO has developed an extensive legal framework. Article 23 enshrines the right to work of everyone, as well as their right to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and protection against unemployment. It also establishes the right to equal pay for equal work, without any discrimination, and the right to just and favourable remuneration, ensuring for the worker and their family an existence worthy of human dignity. The Declaration also encompasses people’s right to form and join trade unions for the protection of their interests (art. 23. 4); to social security (art. 22); to rest and leisure, a reasonable limitation of working hours and to periodic holidays with pay (art. 24); to an adequate standard of living, including security in the event of unemployment or sickness, and to equal social protection (art. 25); as well as education, with generally available technical and professional education (art. 26). Labour and trade union rights that the ILO has developed in its legal framework

4. 13 The key message of the Workers’ Group is that the ILO should reaffirm its relevance to social and economic development in the global context. In particular, this concept is applicable to the following characteristics of the ILO: - its unique role in the creation of standards, -its supervisory system for international labour standards, and -its unique tripartite structure Importance of promoting tripartism and the legal framework of the ILO within the UNS

5. 14 Importance of promoting tripartism and the legal framework of the ILO within the UNS The unique tripartite structure that characterizes the ILO can contribute to the development of social dialogue on a national level, thereby increasing the legitimacy of the UN’s activities. The beneficiaries of the actions of the ILO/UN have the opportunity to have their say in the decisions that affect them and their development, and access rights by means of the ILS.

6. 15 The advantages contributed by the ILO can be defined in the following way: * It is important to emphasize the importance of social dialogue and tripartism in the UN reform process. The promotion of the International Labour Standards contributes to development cooperation based on fundamental rights. The ILO’s experience in the development of fundamental principles and rights at work offers the whole cooperation system a focus for development based on rights, while the Decent Work Programme offers a clear and well-defined mandate to contribute to the development goals. The ILO and its member States and social partners must ensure that decent work is a priority.

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8. 4 The ILO’s role The International Labour Organization ( ILO ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations System ( UNS ) and as such its purposes and the actions it carries out to achieve them form part of the global strategy of the UNS. Consequently, the strategies employed to achieve the Decent Work objectives should coincide with the strategies that the Millennium Development Goals aim to achieve.

9. 5 THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS: Along with the goals, the Millennium Declaration includes the targets that should be achieved by 2015, quantifying the progress that is expected for that date. These targets have undergone changes: originally, 18 targets were established which were later increased by four at the 2005 World Summit with the following: productive employment, access to reproductive health services, access to HIV treatment, and biodiversity. In other words, Decent Work has only been included in an explicit way as an integral element of the MDGs since 2005. The United Nations System - including the ILO - has the aim of assisting countries to improve their capacities to meet the MDGs. In order to support this collective effort, a comprehensive set of services has been designed to support national development strategies based on the MDGs, which are coordinated by means of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) with the participation of the United Nations Country Team (UNCT). The MDGs and DW

10. 6 A) EXPLICIT Introduction of the target “ To achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all, including women and young people ” in MDG 1: “Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger”

11. 7 The MDGs and DW are linked in a global way as follows: Rights: Without them, women and men would not have the necessary instruments at their disposal to free themselves of poverty; Employment: Productive work constitutes the main tool for overcoming poverty; Protection: Social protection protects people against poverty; Dialogue: The participation of employers and workers makes a key contribution to the design of government policies to fight poverty. The MDGs and DW

12. 8 b) IMPLICIT Objective 1 – Reduce by half the proportion of people whose income is less than $1 a day - Full and productive employment and decent work. Freedom of association and the elimination of forced labour, child labour and discrimination, and effective dialogue give people the capacity to free themselves from poverty. Objective 2 – Achieve universal primary education - Decent work for parents with families and for teachers, a smooth transition from education to working life and the elimination of child labour. Objective 3 – Gender equality - A necessary condition for meeting all the MDGs and a cross-cutting strategic objective of Decent Work. Objective 4 Reduce child mortality - Assistance for working mothers, investment in human resources and infrastructures in the field of health.

13. 9 Objective 5 Improve maternal health - Prevention in the sphere of health and safety in the workplace and the protection of mothers. Objective 6 - Health and safety in the workplace as an essential element contributing to the eradication of HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases. Objective 7 – Ensure environmental sustainability – A central element of the Global Employment Agenda which forms part of the Decent Work Programme. Objective 8: – Promote a global partnership for development - Globalization has the potential to promote open societies, more productive economies and a freer exchange of goods, but only under the condition that opportunities are created to offer more and better jobs.

14. 10 DWCP and UNDAF The Decent Work Country Programmes (DWCPs) should be incorporated into the United Nations Development Assistance Frameworks (UNDAFs) in order to guarantee that Decent Work, an objective undertaken by the United Nations System during the General Assembly of 2005, is incorporated into the strategic planning of the UN in each country. Equally, the Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalization (ILO, 2008), states that their technical cooperation with constituents shall be carried out through the DWCPs within the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF).

15. 11 Strategies In relation to the commitments undertaken by constituents, the ILO Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalization (2008) sets out the need for member States, in consultation with union organizations and business organizations, to agree on a “national and/or regional strategy in favour of decent work” as a fundamental pillar of the development strategies implemented by the countries.

16. 12 RESULTING INTERRELATIONS UNS ILOILO DWCP National DW strategy UNDAF National Development Strategy

17. 17 Possible union strategies to effectively participate in development plans 1. Effective participation in the creation process of the DWCPs, and, by extension, in the definition of priorities in the sphere of decent work and their inclusion in the UNDAFs. 2. Participation (by means of social dialogue forums) in the government ministries or departments where priorities in the sphere of work and labour relations are established, thereby ensuring that these are also prioritized in the UNDAFs