1. Mainstreaming the Decent Work Agenda
Expanded RDT Meeting
Beirut, 2-5 November 2009
Nada Al-Nashif Regional Director and Assistant Director-General ILO Regional Office for Arab States, Beirut

2. Decent Work
Productive work for women and men in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity.
Four inseparable, interrelated and mutually supportive strategic objectives:
Employment creation and enterprise development
Social protection
Standards and rights at work
Governance and social dialogue

3. Global Endorsement of the DW Agenda
UN World Summit (2005) - World leaders agreed to place full and productive employment & decent work as a central objective of relevant national and international policies; adopted new MDG target (1b)
ECOSOC (2006) requested UN bodies & financial institutions to support efforts to mainstream the goals of full and productive employment & DW for all in their policies, programmes, and activities
CEB (2007) adopted the toolkit to mainstream employment and DW for the use of UN bodies & financial institutions
ILO Declaration on Social Justice for Fair Globalization (2008): an expression of the universality of the DW Agenda
Global Jobs Pact (2009): A decent work response to the crisis

4. Global Jobs Pact
Adopted by International Labour Conference in June 2009; endorsed by UN (ECOSOC) in July 2009
Calls for coordinated global policy action to maximize the positive impact on jobs and sustainable enterprises worldwide
Reflects the ILO’s commitment to give effect to the decisions of the CEB under its system-wide joint crisis responses initiative
Places employment and social protection at the heart of the response to the crisis
Proposes a balanced and realistic set of policy measures that countries can adopt to strengthen their ongoing efforts to the crisis while pursuing social, economic, and environmental sustainability.

5. Convergence between the Jobs Pact and the RDT-AS Priority Areas
Global Jobs Pact key areas
RDT-AS priority themes
Shifting to a low carbon, environment-friendly economy
Climate Change
A development path that enables all – including developing countries – to place employment and social protection at the center of their economic, social, and poverty reduction policies, supported internationally
Youth
Food Security

6. Arab Employment Forum (Beirut, 19-21 October 2009)
Arab Action Agenda for Employment constitutes the regional response to the Global Jobs Pact
Revisited pre-existing structural problems of unemployment, low productivity and limited access to decent work opportunities and social protection, as well as respect of rights at work that may be exacerbated by the crisis
Identified an opportunity for a new development paradigm that places employment as a central objective of socio-economic strategies
Agreement to support tripartism and social dialogue as the most effective tool for dealing with the repercussions
Warns of the need to minimize the time lag between economic growth and the recovery of jobs.

7. Implementing the Decent Work Agenda: the Challenges of the Arab Region
Unemployment rate: 9.7% (world: 5.9%)
Lowest employment-to-population: 46% (world: 60.3%)
Highest youth unemployment rate: 22.1% (world: 12.3%)
Lowest labor force participation rate: 50.9% compared to 64.1% worldwide (females: 26.4%)
Less than 30% of the population is covered by pension schemes
The informal economy represents the greater proportion of the employed and a significant portion of the private sector employment

8. I. Decent Work Country Programmes
Ongoing: Jordan, Syria, and Yemen
In progress: Oman, Bahrain, Jordan (second DWCP), and in the NA Region: Egypt, Sudan, Morocco, and Algeria
Initial consultations to identify priority areas for ILO’s intervention in UAE, Qatar, and Kuwait

9. II. Decent Work Strategies
In progress:
Palestine
2. Lebanon

10. III. Mainstreaming DW in national planning processes
a. Ongoing
Iraq:
-Technical inputs to the National Development Plan (NDP) sectoral papers
-Employment policy is aligned with the National Development Plan and the PRSP
b. Planned
Yemen: Support to the preparation of the Five- Year Development Plan ( )
Syria: Support to the preparation of the Eleventh National Five-Year Plan ( )

11. IV. Mainstreaming DW in the work of the UNCTs
Iraq
Employment and decent work mainstreamed in the CCA document
Lebanon
ILO ROAS chaired the socio-economic development and regional disparities working group; mainstreamed decent work in the UNDAF; and ensured the engagement of social partners in the UNDAF process
Yemen
ILO is co-chairing the thematic working group on inclusive growth
Syria
Specific recommendations to mainstream decent work in the UNDAF mid-term review report

12. V. Mainstreaming DW in UN programmes: some examples
Ongoing:
-Lebanon: Conflict Prevention and Peace Building in North Lebanon (MDG Fund), local economic recovery (UNDP)
-Palestine: Gender and Women’s Empowerment in Palestine (MDG Fund), Private Sector Development (UNDP), emergency reconstruction for Ghazza (UN-HABITAT,UNRWA)
-Jordan: youth employment, promotion of entrepreneurship culture, public-private partnerships
-Syria: employment policy, entrepreneurship development, CSR, social protection (UNDP) child labour (UNICEF)
-Yemen: Labor Market Information Analysis (UNDP), gender audit (UNFPA)
-Iraq: local development and skills development (UNOPS), vocational training (UNESCO, UN-HABITAT)
In Progress:
Syria
-MDGs Scaling Up,
-Strengthening Social Protection in Syria

13. CEB Toolkit for Mainstreaming Employment and Decent Work
Chief Executives
Board for Coordination
First multilateral system-wide effort to promote
-coherent,
-mutually supportive, and
-multi-sectoral approach to effectively deliver on employment and decent work for all

14. Using the CEB Toolkit to Mainstream Employment and DW in the Region
Iraq:
Presentation on the toolkit to the UNCT (2008)
Report was prepared by the ILO on mainstreaming employment and Decent Work in the UN Iraq Assistance Strategy
Presentation to thematic working groups on using the toolkit to mainstream DW in UNDAF (planned in November 2009)
Syria:
Presentation on the Toolkit to the UNCT (July 2009)
Presentation to familiarize thematic working groups with the toolkit (planned in November 2009)