¡§Employment and Decent Work¡¨ is actually not a new agenda globally, but it had not gained enough attention in the globe until this year, when the Commission for Social Development, Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations started the year with the 45th Session picking it up as the priority theme. As governments and NGOs become more aware of some of the recent development locally and globally and the potential human security threats brought to people in the world, the agenda has gained some new force recently.

Global Trends on Employment
The Commission reviewed a report of the Secretary-General entitled ¡§Promoting Full Employment and Decent Work for All.¡¨ In the report, worrying trends pertaining to employment were observed:

Issues	World Trends
Raising unemployment	From 1995 to 2005: No. of workers rose by 16.3% BUT unemployment rate rose from 6% to 6.3%, no. of unemployed workers rose by 21.9% (In the context of that global economic output grew at the rate of 3.8% per annum)
Employment in the informal sector and growth of self-employment	In agricultural sector, 1/2 to 3/4 of employment in developing countries Informal employment accounts for more than 50% in non-agricultural sector in many regions. In OECD countries, informal economy accounts for 18% of gross national income
Working poor	From 1995 to 2005, 1.4 billion workers (of over 3 billion world work force) earned less than 2 dollars a day 0.485 billion workers earned less than 1 dollar a day
Increase in occupational hazards but lack of adequate protections	2.2 million deaths every year 160 million fall ill from work-related causes
Regional imbalance	High fertility in developing countries and low in developed nations. 84% labour force in developing world (China 26%, India 14.8%) Africa and South Asia have the highest unemployment rate and on an increase from 1995 to 2005
Sectoral imbalance	Agriculture provides employment and jobs in agriculture are on a decrease Service sector employment grows from 34.5% in 1995 to 38.9% in 2005 In developed economies, no. of employment in service sector rose from 66.1% to 71.4%

Other related trends observed include, (1) increased mobility of labour, (2) decrease in job security, (3) decrease in job-related benefits, (4) diminishing role for organized labour, (5) poor health due to work-centred lifestyle and spreading of illnesses and diseases, and (6) increased discriminatory practices in workplace.

Decent Work in Principle
What is Decent Work? While employment is easy to pin down, decency of work is hard to define. Throughout the 45th Session, what had been stressed every now and then were 4 major components:

Employment

Social Rights at Work

Social Protection

Social Dialogue

These are actually based on the 4 Strategic Objectives set up by the ILO long time ago. According to ILO, ¡§Putting the Decent Work Agenda into practice is achieved through the implementation of its four strategic objectives, with gender equality as a crosscutting objective;

Creating jobs ¡V an economy that generates opportunities for investment, entrepreneurship, skills development, job creation and sustainable livelihoods;

Guaranteeing rights at work ¡V to obtain recognition and respect for the rights of workers. All workers, and in particular disadvantaged or poor workers, need representation, participation, and good laws that are enforced and work for, not against, their interests;

Extending social protection ¡V to promote both inclusion and productivity by ensuring that men and women enjoy working conditions which are safe, allow adequate free time and rest, take into account family and social values, provide for adequate compensation in case of lost or reduced income and permit access to adequate healthcare; and

Promoting dialogue and conflict resolution ¡V people in poverty understand the need to negotiate and know dialogue is the way to solve problems peacefully. Social dialogue, involving strong and independent workers¡¦ and employers' organizations, is central to increasing productivity and avoiding disputes at work, and to building cohesive societies.¡¨
(Source: ILO)

Decent Work Agenda

Decent Work in Actions

International Labour Organization (ILO) has been advocating the decent work agenda since 1999. So far, tremendous efforts in terms of research, case studies, consultation, roundtable and meetings have been made by ILO. (http://www.ilo.int/public/english/bureau/integration/decent/publicat.htm) ILO is essentially a global institute that works on issues based on a tripartite partnership model. Employers, unions, and governments are stakeholders of its work. Yet, since the decent work agenda was promoted, ILO has gradually realized that unions constitute only part of the civil society. Many other NGOs are concerned with employment and decent work of different social groups. Also, with informalization of labour, the relative importance of union is decreased and NGOs working with different socially disadvantaged groups, who were previously less visible to ILO, become more and more important in shaping the strategies and actions for employment and decent work.

Major Target Groups
Coincidentally, 2007 is the year in which a number of Action Plans will be reviewed. Many of the discussions pertaining to the actions taken were made relevant to the priority theme of employment and decent work during the Commission meeting.

2-year Cycle Approach and Related Actions
Different from the previous approach, the Commission has adopted a new 2-year cycle approach to tackle the theme on employment and decent work. The year of 2007 will be the first year in which best practices from governments and NGOs will be gathered. In 2008, the Commission will meet again to determine, based on the practices gathered, appropriate policies to work for employment and decent work for all.

The Poverty Requiem: Use Your Voice to Support the Fight Against Global Poverty

In 2000 189 UN-member states promised to considerably reduce global poverty in the fifteen years to come. That promise is expressed as eight Millennium Goals. The Poverty Requiem is used in the context of the action campaign Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP). GCAP has instituted October 17, the ¡¥UN Day of Poverty¡¦, as the White Band Day. In 2007 the Poverty Requiem is performed at different locations around the world to remind world leaders of the fact that in 2007 it is already halfway to the term set for realising the Millennium Goals .

The Poverty Requiem is a work of music for choir, percussion and two soloists, and gives as many people as possible the opportunity to raise their voices, to make an artistic and political statement to support the fight against global poverty.

The idea of the Poverty Requiem emerged from the need to make two-thirds of the world¡¦s population feel what they already know about the one-third and their daily struggle for survival. This musical manifestation is asking for everybody¡¦s attention; the public¡¦s attention, the media¡¦s, that of politics and that of everybody who wants to listen.Taking part in the Poverty Requiem means using your voice to sing against poverty. If you want to join in singing, please visit http://www.povertyrequiem.org for more information.

To facilitate exchange and understanding on social needs in the Guangdong Province, our Council and the Department of Civil Affairs of Guangdong Province are going to organize a study visit to ShaoGuan, Guangdong in April 18-20, 2007.

Flood and tornadoes seriously attacked China last year and caused great damages, causalities and homeless. More than 4 million people suffered from the disasters in the Guangdong Province. The provincial government has spent 2.3 hundred million RMB dollars for disaster relief. ShaoGuan was the most hard hit city in the province, with 20 thousands people became homeless, i.e. one third of those in the whole province.

The delegation will visit households in ShaoGuan that have been hard hit by natural disasters, shelters had been re-built, many of the follow-up services remain greatly needed. The major purpose of the visit is to get to know the social needs of the poor, the disabled, women and children, both in the rural and urban areas, and to understand the relief and development work plan of the civil affairs units in the city. Please visit http://www.hkcss.org.hk/irn/Chi_website/Guangdong%20Visit.doc for detailed information of the event.

For more information, please visit www.wmhc2007.com.

More than 22 local organizations with mainland services had submitted their information for the Share for Care website, which helps demonstrating their service experiences in the Mainland. ¡§Share for care¡¨ includes not only the service description of agency members, but also the following useful resources

• Mainland social news;
• A one-stop information platform of relevant policies and regulations;
• Articles by prominent opinion leaders or writers sharing their views and experiences;
• A web-based mutual help discussion forum, supported by regular professional expert advices.

Visit www.shareforcare.net to "Share for Care".