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GB.274/PFA/9/2
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Programme, Financial and Administrative Committee |
PFA |
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NINTH ITEM ON THE AGENDA
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PROGRAMME AND BUDGET PROPOSALS FOR 2000-01 | |
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VOLUME 2 |
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100. Sectoral Activities
100.1. Problems/needs. ILO constituents are confronted with problems common to the sectors or industrial branches of the economy. Collective bargaining often takes place at sectoral level and about 30 per cent of all international labour standards deal with specific sectors. A sectoral dimension is therefore needed for the attainment of ILO objectives. Sectoral meetings permit an exchange of views and experience and promote international tripartite consensus on sectoral concerns. Such a consensus has proved to result in widespread and substantial action at national level. Discussion at the sectoral level has also been useful in understanding changes in employment and working conditions brought about by globalization and privatization and sectoral meetings have sometimes signalled ideas which have become general concerns.
100.2. Continuing attention is given to 22 sectors, of which 11 fall within industry and agriculture; eight in public and private services; and two in maritime and transport. One of these — hotels, catering and tourism — is dealt with in 65 (Enterprise and cooperative development). Together they encompass the vast majority of the categories in the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC) of all Economic Activities.
100.3. The objective is that sectoral constituents from a cross-section of countries exchange views and reach consensus on labour issues in the sectors, adopt conclusions and give effect to them through national and international action, with appropriate Office support.
100.4. In response to the requests of various technical meetings, improved means of providing sector-specific economic and social data will be developed, making use of STAT and other appropriate statistical sources. The information generated will be of use to governments and employers' and workers' organizations at the national level, as well as international employers' bodies and trade associations with sectoral scope and to International Trade Secretariats.
100.5. In selected sectors where women are concentrated in lower-skilled and lower-paid jobs, adversely affected by technological and structural change and poorly represented at managerial levels, policy guidelines will be developed based on analyses of issues such as occupational segregation, sex-stereotyping and equality of access to managerial, technical and leadership training.
100.6. Approximately $2.4 million of extra-budgetary technical cooperation is expected to be implemented in priority areas identified by sectoral meetings and in response to specific requests for assistance.
100.7. It is anticipated that 12 sectoral meetings will be held in Geneva, with an average duration of five days and an average of 20 participants per group per meeting. The exact composition of each meeting will be determined by the Governing Body. There is an overall ceiling of 507 participants in all. At its 273rd Session (November 1998) the Governing Body decided that the following 12 sectoral meetings should take place in the 2000-01 biennium:
• Agriculture, plantations and other rural sectors: Moving to sustainable agricultural development through the modernization of agriculture and employment in a globalized economy;
• Basic metal production: Safety and health in the non-ferrous metals industries;
• Construction: The construction industry in the twenty-first century: its image, employment prospects and skill requirements;
• Education: Lifelong learning in the twenty-first century: the changing roles of educational personnel;
• Financial and professional services: Employment impact of mergers and acquisitions in the banking and financial services sector;
• Forestry, wood, pulp and paper: Social and labour dimensions of the forestry and wood industries on the move;
• Hotel, tourism and catering: Human resources development, employment and globalization in the hotel, catering and tourism sector;
• Media, culture and graphical: Information technologies in the media and entertainment industries: their impact on employment, working conditions and labour-management relations;
• Textiles, clothing, leather and footwear: Labour practices in the footwear, leather, textiles and clothing industries;
• Transport equipment manufacture: The social and labour impact of globalization in the manufacture of transport equipment;
• Maritime, ports, fisheries and inland waterways: 29th Session of the Joint Maritime Commission (JMC);
• Private and public services sectors: The impact of decentralization and privatization on municipal services.
100.8. In addition to preparing and holding these meetings, the Governing Body has emphasized the need for follow-up action as described below.
100.9. Primary sectors. There is some commonality in the predominant labour issues in the natural-resource-based and other primary sectors: occupational accident rates are high, the nature of the employment relation tends to be less formal and a relatively small share of the work force is organized, the place of work tends to be remote and to shift from place to place. Because of the scattered pattern of activity, labour inspection and regulation in general are not effectively applied. The sectors are major sources of employment and they provide important and economically valuable industrial raw materials.
100.10. In the agricultural sector, follow-up will concentrate on living standards and working conditions. The construction sector is characterized by serious labour problems including a high accident rate and casual and unstable employment. ILO activities will include promotion of the ratification of the Safety and Health in Construction Convention, 1988 (No. 167). Implementation of the management guidelines applicable to labour-intensive public works will be promoted in ILO technical cooperation. The forestry, wood, pulp and paper industries have been subject to intense economic and environmental pressures and are undergoing rapid and large-scale structural change. Follow-up action will include the preparation of a guide of good practice for forestry contractors. Promotional activities will continue for the ILO Code of practice on occupational safety and health in forestry, adopted in 1997. For mining (coal mines and other mines), joint activities with trade union organizations and mining companies will help to bring small-scale mining into the formal sector. Ratification of the Safety and Health in Mines Convention, 1995 (No.176) will be promoted.
100.11. Manufacturing industry. In an increasingly global economy, competitive pressures have increased in most of the sectors of manufacturing industry and led to the introduction of labour-saving technologies that reduce the number of direct jobs in the sector and to a rise in the skill and training requirements of the remaining jobs as well as to relocations, outsourcing, home work and more flexible work time and remuneration arrangements. Follow up activity on basic metal production will concentrate on safety and health issues peculiar to the non-ferrous metals sub-sector. Four subjects identified by the most recent meetings for the chemical industries sector and the oil and gas production and oil refining sector will be followed up: (i) the Office will assist sectoral constituents in developing voluntary initiatives to improve health, safety and environmental performance; (ii) the ILO will promote ratification of the Chemicals Convention, 1990 (No. 170) and the Prevention of Major Industrial Accidents Convention, 1993 (No. 174); (iii) a study will be carried out on contract labour in the two sectors, with special reference to the health, safety and environmental issues involved; and (iv) a study on new methods of working and associated innovations in labour-management consultations will be carried out. A study of experiences in introducing new technologies and work organization in the food, drink and tobacco industries will be carried out and a draft manual on best practices will be produced. Research will also be carried out on the impact of globalization on employment and working conditions in these industries. National action plans will be developed on women workers and vulnerable or disadvantaged workers. Best practices associated with the introduction of flexible labour market arrangements will be identified in the mechanical and electrical engineering sectors; occupational safety and health issues linked to flexible manufacturing systems will be assessed; measures to strengthen retraining and redeployment of workers will be identified; and company practices in EPZs, especially in the electronics sub-sector will be investigated. In addition it is proposed to undertake pilot strategic audits in a limited number of EPZs highly dependent on clothing activities in the textiles, clothing, leather and footwear industries to produce an industry-level strategy on which firm-level strategies can be based.
100.12. Public and private services. The service sector is the world's strongest job generator, currently accounting for up to 70 per cent of total employment in many countries. Public services face the challenges of providing improved services with fewer resources and competition from commercial providers. Private services such as commerce, financial and professional services and the media, culture and graphical sectors are increasingly affected by the fierce competition of globalized markets and rapid technological advances. These developments affect employment, conditions of work and labour relations and have intensified the need for social dialogue and tripartite participation. Concerning education, some follow-up activities as recommended by the next sectoral meeting (see para. 100.7) will be carried out. In addition, measures for greater participation of teachers and their organizations in education reform decisions (consultation, negotiation, collective bargaining), will be compiled and promoted to prepare and follow up the next Session of the Joint ILO/UNESCO Committee of Experts on the Application of the Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers (CEART), to be hosted by the ILO in 2000. Regarding commerce, data on adapting human resources policies will be made available to constituents as part of the follow up to the 1999 tripartite meeting on human resource implications of globalization and restructuring. For financial and professional services, "best practice" policies and programmes for employment promotion in the banking industry will be developed, as well as design and implementation of appropriate social security and skills training schemes to mitigate the social costs of job losses in the sector resulting from mergers and acquisitions. With regard to health services, comparable statistics and research on employment trends and developments will be elaborated and regional workshops will be organized as follow-up to the Joint Meeting on Terms of Employment and Working Conditions in Health sector reforms held in 1998. As concerns the media, culture and graphical sector, the Office will monitor the intellectual property rights of performers and will service the joint ILO/UNESCO/WIPO secretariat of the 18th Ordinary Session of the Intergovernmental Committee of the International Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations (the Rome Convention, 1961), to be hosted by the ILO in 2001. Follow-up activities will be carried out on best practices in labour relations and contractual arrangements. For the postal and other communication services sector, follow-up to the Tripartite Meeting on the Human Resources Dimension of Structural and Regulatory Changes and Globalization in Postal and Telecommunications Services (1998) will include a report and guidelines to assist constituents in examining social and technical approaches to advanced communications, group work, virtual groups and telework. For the public service, guidelines will be elaborated and workshops held on the implementation of HRD programmes with workers' participation in order to improve efficiency and working conditions and sound labour relations as follow-up to the Joint Meeting on Human Resource Development in the Public Service in the context of Structural Adjustment and Transition held in 1998. Concerning utilities (water, gas, electricity), best practices concerning the management of privatization will be compiled and follow-up activities to the 1999 sectoral meeting will be carried out.
100.13. Maritime and transport activities. In shipping, the country of the ship's registry, the owner, the manager, the trading area and the nationality of the crew are frequently different, and this can contribute to a situation where sub-standard living and working conditions exist. The constant movement of the shipping across national boundaries, or on the high seas, requires a comprehensive set of international maritime labour laws and coordinated international attention. The ILO will in particular promote the Merchant Shipping (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1976 (No. 147) and those standards adopted by the 84th (Maritime) Session of the ILC in 1996) as well as other standards, codes, guidelines and training materials relating to seafarers' living and working conditions. Information will wherever possible be provided directly to constituents via Internet. Work on board fishing vessels is frequently very hazardous (in some countries it is the sector with the highest death and accident rates per capita). Follow-up activities identified at the 1999 meeting on Safety and Health in the Fishing Industry will be implemented. Major changes in the port industry are underway both in the way cargo is handled and in port operation, management and ownership. Privatization has often resulted in new or improved facilities and operations have been rationalized, leading to work force reductions and changes in the conditions and organization of work. The ILO Portworker Development Programme (PDP) will be implemented in several member States and its content partly expanded to include bulk cargo operations.
100.14. The social and legal protection of a growing number of non-maritime transport workers during temporary stays abroad is lagging despite the rapid increase in international traffic. A discussion paper will be prepared on draft guidelines and/or model agreements for use by the social partners in regard to this issue. There is a need for the harmonization of working hours, driving time and rest periods for the protection of transport workers (including independent workers). An analytical study of national and international legislation on these subjects will be carried out and used to identify possible areas for revision in the Hours of Work and Rest Periods (Road Transport) Convention, 1979 (No. 153). In Southern Africa international road transport has become the major means of moving freight and passengers. A tripartite workshop will be held on the consequences of subregional integration on employment and working conditions in this sector.
110. Social Security
110.1. Many countries are contemplating or implementing major changes or expansions to their social security systems. In part the impetus for these reforms comes from structural adjustment processes and/or the transition to a market economy. But in developed countries it also reflects concerns about ageing populations, the high level of unemployment in some countries and a desire to shift responsibilities for social protection from the State to individuals. All branches of social security are involved but those chiefly affected are old-age pensions, health care and unemployment benefit. These are critical areas particularly in the countries most severely affected by economic crises.
110.2. The Declaration of Philadelphia and the ILO's social security standards, especially the Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952 (No. 102), establish the universal nature of the right to social protection, the obligations of the State in this respect and minimum levels of benefits. Yet many countries require assistance in achieving these goals, especially those where, mainly because only a small proportion of the workforce is employed in the formal sector, the majority of the population is not covered by the social security system. There are also concerns in more developed countries about the impact of the levels of social security benefits on national economies. It is therefore necessary to examine the principles underlying existing international labour standards.
110.3. The work on social security will contribute predominantly to the achievement of Strategic Objective No. 3 on social protection, particularly by broadening the scope of social security systems to include insufficiently protected groups and by influencing international financial institution policies.
110.4. Approximately $3.8 million of extra-budgetary technical cooperation is expected to be implemented in the field of social security during 2000-01.
Planning, development and standards
110.5. Problems/needs. The vast majority of the world's population do not receive an old-age or disability pension, nor do they have adequate health care. In many countries unemployment benefits do not exist. At the same time, social security principles are being questioned and there is a perception that individuals should take more responsibility for their own social protection.
110.6. The difficulties experienced by countries in restructuring their social security systems and the emphasis on individual responsibility and private management, mean that ILO social security standards are coming under review. The various factors which are limiting the effectiveness and development of social security schemes need to be studied and assistance given in such areas as strengthening of health care and unemployment protection and their financing.
110.7. The management and investment of reserve funds is becoming an increasingly important component of social security work. Many schemes have developed a high degree of funding in both developing and industrialized countries and further social security reforms are likely to increase the impact on world financial markets of social security reserves.
110.8.The objectives are that:
• constituents reform their social security programmes to provide social protection, which is more effective and efficient and which covers a larger share of the population;
• member States develop social protection schemes for the unemployed and medical care arrangements in accordance with international labour standards;
• alternative approaches are developed to meet evolving social security needs, enabling the ratification and application of existing social security Conventions; and
• the international financial institutions together with the ILO promote social protection policies through relevant technical cooperation projects.
110.9. Technical advice and assistance on social security, especially that concerning the extension of coverage, will be provided to the constituents most affected by processes of change. Operational activities will be carried out through an ILO global technical cooperation programme, the Strategies and Tools against Social Exclusion and Poverty (STEP) and the ILO's social security standards will be kept under review.
110.10. Support for the planning and development of social protection schemes. Based on the guidance provided, policies will be formulated and legislation prepared that is in conformity with the relevant ILO standards. This will include the dissemination of documentation on social protection and the preparation of reports dealing with particular issues in individual countries. A strategy will be designed for the extension of coverage to sections of the population presently excluded. Technical cooperation projects will address the training needs of national social security planners and administrators and a training programme will be developed with the Turin Centre.
110.11. Development of medical care as a social security benefit. Based on the technical assistance delivered, measures will be designed and implemented which improve the scope and performance of health care systems. A model health information system will also be developed to help constituents achieve this. The subject of health care will be analysed in collaboration with the World Bank and WHO, and an analytical framework developed on the provision and financing of medical care, for promotion by the ILO and other international organizations. The potential of medical savings accounts will be evaluated.
110.12. ILO standards and the new challenges facing social security. An examination of the ILO's social security Conventions and Recommendations will determine their effectiveness in meeting the new social security challenges. The results of this work will be disseminated to constituents and will constitute a basis for the Governing Body's decisions on any necessary follow-up action.
110.13. Protection for the unemployed. Through the technical assistance provided, social protection schemes for the unemployed will be established and strengthened, especially in developing countries. An analysis will be made of unemployment insurance schemes and alternative or supplementary social assistance schemes for certain categories of the unemployed. This work will aim at securing fair unemployment benefits for all and protecting certain categories of the unemployed with particular problems. Based on the guidelines that are produced, social protection schemes for the unemployed will be designed and established in accordance with ILO principles and standards.
Financial, actuarial and statistical support
110.14. Problems/needs. The provision of effective social protection requires well-designed and managed social security institutions, based on sound quantitative analysis. Many developing countries are unable to undertake the necessary actuarial reviews and other countries require neutral quantitative advice in order to achieve social consensus on social protection reform. There is currently no systematic training of specialized actuaries and quantitative analysts at the national level and this needs to be done. Objective information on the financial performance of national social protection systems is also required.
110.15. The objectives are that:
• constituents, social security planners and social security institutions improve the design, management and long-term financial planning of their social protection systems through the application of quantitative analysis; and
• constituents and social security planners use comparative and comprehensive data on social protection systems worldwide as a basis for social policy formulation and decision-making.
110.16. Emphasis will be placed on the dissemination of techniques of quantitative analysis, the training of experts, and on an analysis of the potential role of capital markets in financing social security. International comparative data will be made available to constituents through the Statistical Inquiry into the Cost of Social Security.
110.17. Quantitative research and modelling. With the assistance provided, more constituents and practitioners will improve their social security schemes by applying the ILO's personal computer-based models dealing with pensions, health care financing and unemployment benefits. This is clearly linked to the social budget model and the set of indicators which measure the performance of social security institutions. Emphasis will be placed on improving the economic, labour force and unemployment modules of the social budget model. Models of this nature have never been developed for the purposes of the day-to-day management of national social protection systems. They will require comparison of the ageing of the population — both of the employed and non-employed labour force, unemployment and poverty levels and expenditure on unemployment, social assistance and other social security benefits.
110.18. International Financial and Actuarial Service. Through guidance and assistance provided through the ILO's International Financial and Actuarial Service, more constituents will have access to techniques of quantitative analysis in the reform and planning of their social security schemes. Direct advice will be provided, based on actuarial valuations and national social budgeting exercises. A major worldwide training initiative for social security quantitative analysts will be organized in collaboration with other international and national institutions, including ISSA and the Turin Centre.
110.19. Statistical Inquiry into the Cost of Social Security. Constituents will be given objective information on the financial performance of national social protection schemes. Following the renewal of the concept, scope and content of the Inquiry in previous biennia, emphasis will be placed on improving the format of the Inquiry and placing its results on the Internet. Analysis of these results will be presented in a publication on World social expenditure. The electronic exchange of data with national agencies will be intensified to expand the ILO's function as a clearing-house for a worldwide network of statistical information on the operation of national social security systems.
110.20. Social security and financial markets. On the basis of the analyses undertaken and discussion papers produced, constituents, experts and other international organizations will participate in the development and promotion of socially responsible investment of social security reserves. A review of pension fund investment policies, regulations and practice will be carried out in several industrialized and developing countries. The socio-economic impact of the various investment practices will be analysed and principles for social security investments developed. The resulting practical guidelines will serve as a basis for the design and management by constituents of national and institutional investment strategies.
120. Statistics
120.1. Problems/needs. ILO constituents require labour statistics for a number of essential purposes: to monitor labour market trends and to understand their underlying causes and consequences; to set, monitor and evaluate the consequences of economic and social policies, including in particular those on employment and poverty reduction; to plan expenditure for education, training and social security; to negotiate wages and other conditions of employment; and to orient targeted policies and programmes for specific problems such as child labour or occupational accidents and for categories of workers such as women, migrants and young persons. The complexity of labour market developments — in particular those related to the informal sector and atypical forms of employment, and to the developments in transition economies — require increased attention to conceptual and measurement issues. The rising cost of statistical inquiries and a concomitant shrinkage of resources have led to the need to find cheaper data, as well as ways to make better use of administrative records, and to reconcile data from different sources.
120.2. The objectives are that:
• on the basis of ILO standards and advice, member States — and in particular national statistical agencies — improve their methods of data collection, comparison and reconciliation, and provide more cost-effective, detailed and reliable statistical information and services on a complete range of labour-related topics; and
• ILO constituents have available international compilations of labour statistics that are increasingly complete, comparable, easy-to use and up-to-date.
120.3. Work in 2000-01 will concentrate on the implementation of resolutions adopted and recommendations made at the Sixteenth International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS) held in October 1998 and begin preparation of the Seventeenth ICLS, to be held possibly in 2003. Particular attention will be given to gender issues in all activities.
120.4. ILO constituents will be provided with relevant information at the national, local, regional and global levels; and the capacity of national organizations responsible for labour statistics to produce appropriate data will be strengthened. The main means of action will be the development of international statistical standards, the provision of advice to member States to assist them in the application of these standards and the dissemination of key labour statistics and methodological information through publications, computer-readable data sets and on-line information systems.
120.5. One of the statistical implications of the globalization of the world economy is the need for aggregate global and regional data to monitor the main changes in economic and social trends, and particularly in employment and unemployment. World and regional estimates of employment and unemployment and world estimates and projections of the economically active population (1950-2010) will be produced.
120.6. Development of labour statistics. The ILO's work in this area will respond to the needs of member States to overcome conceptual, measurement and comparability problems for various categories of labour statistics. On the basis of a review of existing national definitions and measurement methods relating to working time and productivity and the practical problems encountered, draft international recommendations on the measurement of labour productivity will be developed for adoption by a future ICLS. Since labour-related administrative records, such as the records of employment offices, social security schemes and labour inspectorates, can offer a relatively cost-effective source of statistics, the key issues involved will be analysed and methods identified by which these records can be used to generate labour statistics on employment, unemployment, vacancies, income from employment (including wages), hours of work, occupational injuries and diseases, strikes and lockouts, and the international migration of workers. In both industrialized and developing countries, regular statistics on income accruing to workers by virtue of their status as employees or self-employed are rarely available. As a follow-up to a resolution of the 16th ICLS, a technical manual on measurement issues will be prepared. Many Member states do not have adequate data on occupational injuries. One of the major difficulties stems from the fact that most countries rely for their statistics on the administrative records of accident compensation schemes or labour inspection departments. Labour force household surveys could provide an important alternative source of certain types of information on occupational injuries. A small cost-effective survey module will be designed and tested. The definition of underemployment as adopted by the 16th ICLS and the approach to its measurement will be used in pilot activities in a number of developing, transition and industrialized countries and the results evaluated and disseminated. This work will lead to the preparation of a new manual on the subject. The ILO is the custodian of two major models for national classifications of jobs: The International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO-88), which describes the type of work which are done in the jobs; and the International Classification of Status in Employment (ICSE-93), which describes the type of contractual arrangements of jobs and the associated authority and economic risks. In order to assist countries in developing and using the corresponding national classifications, these classifications will be reviewed and updated in light of national experience and changes in technology and work organization. A framework will be developed for the comparison and reconciliation of employment and unemployment data from different sources. Draft international recommendations will be developed on statistics of hours of work of the self-employed which can be used to analyse conditions of work in both the formal and the informal sectors, study trends in partial employment and underemployment and compute estimates of hourly income from self-employment. National approaches to the measurement of occupational employment and wages will be assessed as a basis for developing draft international recommendations. Work on the measurement of living standards of workers and their families will include reviews of recent developments on consumer price index and on household income and expenditure survey methodologies, leading to updated standards. Statistics on the quality of employment will build on past activities concerning the measurement of working time, underemployment, and income from employment, and include new dimensions such as employment security, social protection, and coverage by collective bargaining. ILO estimates of child labour have been recognized worldwide as the best that are available and have shown that the magnitude of the problem of child labour is far greater than was earlier realized. In cooperation with IPEC, a five-year project was launched in 1998: the Statistical Information and Monitoring Programme on Child Labour (SIMPOC). Over the life of the project, 40 countries are expected to conduct national surveys through the implementation of the ILO's newly developed methodological approaches.
120.7. Data collection and dissemination. The collection, analysis and dissemination of statistical information on a wide range of labour-related topics will be further developed using modern technologies. The major statistical publications, the Yearbook of Labour Statistics, the quarterly Bulletin of Labour Statistics and its Supplement, and Statistics on occupational wages and hours of work and on food prices: October Inquiry results will be prepared using the main database (LABORSTA). Other databases will be the basis for periodic publications, such as Household Income and Expenditure Statistics and Economically active population, 1950-2010. Statistics will continue to be provided to a wide range of users both within and outside the ILO in printed as well as electronic form. Methodological descriptions of the series appearing in the Yearbook and Bulletin will be published in new consolidated volumes in the Sources and methods: Labour statistics series. The Internet will be increasingly used in data collection and dissemination.
120.8. Meeting of Experts on Labour Statistics: Comparison and Reconciliation of Employment and Unemployment Data from Different Sources. This meeting will examine a report on the comparison and reconciliation of employment and unemployment data from different sources, and will draw conclusions to guide further ILO work in this area. Based on the conclusions of this meeting, a proposal on the framework and scope of draft international guidelines on the subject would be prepared for consideration by the 17th International Conference of Labour Statisticians. Because of new developments since the preparation of the November PFAC paper on the preparation of the Programme and Budget proposals for 2000-01 (GB.273/PFA/7), the Office has acquired an obligation to take action on the issue of the consumer price index (CPI). It may therefore be necessary for the Director-General to return to the Governing Body to propose the substitution of this meeting by a meeting on the CPI issue if this issue cannot be resolved in any other way.
125. Development Policies
125.1. Problems/needs. The new challenges of an increasingly globalized world call for a renewed commitment to poverty reduction and a fresh look at the strategies adopted, with a view to achieving a more broad-based distribution of the benefits of globalization both within and between countries. Anti-poverty policies and programmes may need to be redesigned or restructured in the light of past experience and the present situation of intensified globalization and liberalization. In order to put poverty reduction at the centre of development policies, it is important to develop national institutions with responsibility for formulating poverty reduction policies and programmes and for ensuring that they are an integral component of overall economic development policies. To prevent or reverse the economic and social exclusion of large segments of the population, including women workers, the self-employed, informal sector operators, youth and rural workers, appropriate policies and programmes have to be adopted as integral components of macroeconomic reforms. These include comprehensive strategies combining job creation, policy and legal reform, social protection and greater participation by vulnerable groups of workers in representative organizations and decision-making processes. Moreover, the early years of the new millennium will witness the world's transition to an urban planet, with well over half of the population living in urban areas. Yet urban poverty and unemployment have already reached crisis proportions in many cities in both developing and industrialized countries, with the majority of the population concerned turning for survival to the informal economy. The improvement of conditions in the informal sector is therefore central to combating urban poverty.
125.2. Investment in infrastructure and construction projects, such as roads, buildings, irrigation and drainage systems, is central to development policies and accounts for two-thirds of public investment in most developing countries. Even though these projects provide a major opportunity for employment promotion, many developing countries adopt capital-intensive technologies, with a relatively low employment content. Yet the experience of the ILO shows that, in many cases, labour-based infrastructure works can be as cost-effective as other approaches and can make a significant contribution to the creation of enterprises, the promotion of sustainable employment and the reduction of poverty.
125.3. Rapid population growth in developing countries remains a major obstacle to raising the skill levels of the labour force, the creation of sufficient levels of employment and therefore to the reduction of poverty. The inter-relationship between demographic trends, economic growth and social progress is a major policy concern for constituents, as emphasized by the International Conference on Population and Development (Cairo, 1994). Constituents therefore need to develop institutions capable of integrating population issues into national policies and programmes.
125.4. The objectives are that:
• member States formulate and implement more effective strategies for job creation and poverty reduction which take advantage of the opportunities offered and overcome the constraints posed by the process of globalization;
• the job creation potential of national investment programmes is maximized through the more widespread use of employment-intensive techniques;
• policies and programmes are designed and implemented to tap the employment potential of the urban informal economy and to improve the quality of employment in the sector;
• policies and programmes are designed and implemented to combat poverty among women and disadvantaged groups through increased access to employment and improvements in their terms of employment; and
• constituents take population factors more fully into account in national policy dialogue and in development policies and programmes.
125.5. Action will contribute mainly to the achievement of Strategic Objective No. 2 on employment. The implementation of these objectives will also contribute to each of the other three strategic objectives by integrating action on fundamental principles and rights at work, tripartism and social dialogue, and conditions of work and social protection of women workers, vulnerable groups and workers in the informal sector.
125.6. Approximately $37 million of extra-budgetary technical cooperation is expected to be implemented to respond to requests from constituents for assistance in addressing unemployment and combating the social exclusion and marginalization of disadvantaged groups such as women, the urban poor and youth.
125.7. Priority is given to assisting constituents in the design and implementation of policies and programmes which create employment, reduce poverty and promote social integration in developing countries, transition countries and countries emerging from armed conflict. The assistance provided consists of a combination of technical assistance, analysis and a substantial volume of technical cooperation programmes. These activities are carried out in close collaboration with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund and form an important part of the ILO's response to major international conferences, and particularly the World Summit for Social Development, the Fourth World Conference on Women and the Second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (HABITAT II). An innovative feature is the launching of a technical assistance programme in support of the application of basic labour standards, in accordance with the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and its Follow-up.
125.8. Strategies and policies for job creation and poverty reduction. Based on the ILO's extensive experience, as well as new research and analysis, the efforts of constituents to reduce poverty will be institutionalized by encouraging the creation of bodies such as poverty policy planning units. Innovative strategies will be developed that are directed at a broader distribution of the benefits of globalization in terms of job creation and poverty reduction, and that address the short-term setbacks caused by various kinds of economic shocks. Based on the support provided for the development of social dialogue on poverty issues, anti-poverty strategies will be designed and implemented with tripartite support in several developing countries. The possibility will be explored of developing a synthetic indicator of progress in social justice to monitor progress in this area. These activities will promote better understanding and wider observance of the Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122), and the Human Resources Development Convention, 1975 (No. 142).
125.9. Employment-intensive programmes. The ILO's employment-intensive projects are among the best known of its technical cooperation activities. For the past two decades, with strong donor support, they have had a profound influence on investment policies in over 35 developing countries and have resulted in the creation of large numbers of jobs. ILO-supported employment-intensive projects will continue to be implemented, either through the private sector or by local communities. In each case, the unique aspect of the ILO's methodology is the establishment of a contractual and institutional framework promoting the linkage between employment promotion, private sector development and poverty reduction, on the one hand, and adherence to core international labour standards, empowerment and representative associations, on the other. The approach will continue to be expanded and institutionalized through the establishment of employment and investment policy planning units in several countries, with steering committees on which employers, workers and civil society are represented. Components on the use of employment-intensive methods will be introduced into courses at universities and colleges in several African and Asian countries.
125.10. Urban employment and the informal sector. Largely as a result of the 1994-95 interdepartmental project on the informal sector, the ILO has developed a multidisciplinary approach to the development of the informal sector which focuses on improving social protection, working conditions, the role of women, the database, and the organization and representation of workers in the informal economy. This approach will be applied to design and implement policies and programmes for maximizing employment creation through the informal sector and achieving improvements in the quality of such employment. It will be done through research on informal sector's linkages to the global economy and on improving the productivity of the sector, development of innovative approaches to social protection and improved conditions of work in the sector, and work on improving the database as well as organizing the sector in order to provide it with a voice in policy-making. Alongside the above, the ILO will continue to develop and demonstrate practical community-based approaches to improving urban settlements where the main actors are workers in the informal economy. In 1998, an interregional Urban Employment Programme, financed from extra-budgetary resources, was launched as the centrepiece of the ILO's contribution to urban employment promotion. With the support of the Programme, urban development projects will be carried out by local alliances of employers' and workers' organizations, labour ministries, municipal authorities, informal sector associations and community action groups. In these activities, emphasis will be placed on increasing local employment by strengthening linkages between formal and informal economies, for example through the development of associative subcontracting arrangements to take advantage of the opportunities offered by larger enterprises which are externalizing peripheral activities and services.
125.11. Women and social groups in development. In its work in recent years, including the two action programmes undertaken in the biennium 1998-99 on improving the quality of women's employment and strategies to combat youth marginalization and unemployment, the ILO has developed and tested an integrated approach to combating the feminization of poverty and the social exclusion of vulnerable social groups. Based on investigative work to identify the problems and opportunities of specific social groups in their local setting, this approach combines the organization of the members of the social group with employment promotion and the strengthening of social protection. Through capacity-building at various levels and the development of social consensus, in close collaboration with employers' and workers' organizations, this approach will be implemented in a larger number of countries in accordance with the Beijing Platform for Action. Consolidating the earlier work on social funds, guidelines will be developed and advisory services provided on the design of effective social safety nets.
125.12. Labour supply and development policies. These activities are supported by three UNFPA-funded specialists at ILO headquarters. These specialists work in close collaboration with ILO programmes and through a network of up to 16 specialists in eight inter-agency country support teams (CSTs) located in the regions. Based on the technical advice and training provided through the CSTs, constituents will engage in policy dialogue on population issues in several countries. An important aspect of the work is the assistance that it provides for the integration of population elements into the ILO's mainstream activities and programmes, including the courses of the Turin Centre. Support is also provided for the inclusion of population and reproductive health components into workers' education materials for use by ILO constituents at the workplace and in trade union education activities. Advisory work will also focus on integrating population factors into overall development policies and particularly those related to poverty reduction and human resource development.
130. International Institute for Labour Studies
130.1. The purpose of the Institute is to provide two major facilities to the ILO. The first is a strategic facility to explore emerging labour policy issues which have implications for the ILO as a whole. Characteristically, the Institute's programmes have a rolling horizon, as they concentrate on new perspectives. The Institute also provides an autonomous and informal platform for ILO constituents and ILO staff to dialogue systematically with the international academic community and with other policy-makers. This strategic facility strengthens the process of ILO programme formulation, and allows the Organization to project its concerns and values to a wider audience. Secondly, the Institute provides the ILO with an educational facility to complement the training facilities of the Turin Centre, offering social policy courses with an international comparative perspective, which introduce future social policy leaders to the ILO.
130.2. The aim of the Institute is to add these qualitative dimensions to the work of the ILO as a whole. It is not an independent research facility; its value lies in the services it renders to ILO programmes and to ILO constituents. In 2000-01, a major objective will be to systematically support ILO strategic programming, through the Institute's research networks and informal policy forums.
130.3. The basic theme of the Institute is the study of the interaction between labour institutions, social actors and economic development in a global economy. Currently, this theme is being addressed through three programmes which examine the changing relationships between labour and society; business and society; and the State and society respectively. Taken together, these programmes aim at placing tripartism in the contemporary perspective of globalization and social change. This is an inquiry of central relevance for the future of the work of the ILO as a whole.
130.4. In accordance with the usual practice, detailed Programme and Budget proposals for 2000-01 will be submitted to the Institute's Board and to the ILO Governing Body in November 1999.
140. Equality for Women
140.1. Problems/needs. The Beijing Fourth World Conference on Women, in 1995 placed the advancement of women and gender equality firmly on the national and international agenda. Through the adoption of the Platform for Action (PFA), it resulted in an enhanced political commitment worldwide to mainstream gender perspectives in all institutions, policies and programmes with a view to eliminating discrimination and fostering equality of opportunities and treatment between men and women. Since then, the political commitment reflected in the PFA has been translated, to varying degrees, into policies and programmes at both the national and international levels. Greater efforts are required for the systematic integration of gender perspectives at all levels of policy formulation and planning.
140.2. The progress that has been made by both constituents and the Office in promoting gender equality in the world of work is reflected in the launching of the International Programme on More and Better Jobs for Women in several member States and the design and implementation of a number of other programmes to address gender equality concerns in poverty eradication, small and micro-enterprise (SME) development, export processing zones (EPZs), labour administration and women in management. Efforts have also been made to tackle the institutional aspect of gender mainstreaming strategy in the ILO through gender training and capacity-building activities. Efforts will continue to be made to provide more effective assistance to constituents to promote gender equality in the world of work.
140.3. The objectives are that:
• the Beijing Platform for Action is implemented, with particular reference to the critical areas within the ILO's core mandate, including gender mainstreaming in the world of work;
• constituents establish mechanisms and implement measures to incorporate gender concerns more systematically in their labour and employment policies and programmes; and
• gender concerns are institutionalized in the ILO at all levels, both at headquarters and in the field.
140.4. The work of the programme will contribute principally to the achievement of Strategic Objective No.1 on fundamental principles and rights at work. It also contributes to Strategic Objectives Nos. 2, 3 and 4 on employment, social protection and social dialogue.
140.5. The Special Adviser for Women Workers' Questions acts as a catalyst and coordinator in fostering a gender mainstreaming strategy among constituents and within the Office and provides guidance on issues of equality. The Special Adviser is responsible for coordinating the ILO's participation in United Nations advocacy and policy development activities on gender equality and mainstreaming. The special session of the United Nations General Assembly, to be held in the year 2000, which will review the follow-up of the Fourth World Conference on Women, will provide an opportunity for the ILO to assess the effectiveness of its contribution to implementing the PFA. The Special Adviser will promote ILO action to follow up the special session.
140.6. Approximately $2.4 million of extra-budgetary technical cooperation is expected to be implemented in the field of women workers' questions during 2000-01.
140.7. Information dissemination on good practices for gender mainstreaming. Since the Beijing Conference, the ILO has intensified its efforts to help constituents promote equality of opportunity. Guidance will be made available to constituents through the publication of a compendium of good practices for gender mainstreaming, and the lessons learned on the institutionalization of gender mainstreaming will be shared among constituents from different regions including via Internet. The intention is that mechanisms be established at the national level for the effective mainstreaming of gender.
145. Interdepartmental Activities
145.1. At its November 1998 session, the Governing Body decided to consider more detailed proposals on the follow-up to the Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work at its March 1999 session. It is anticipated that the proposals will include interdepartmental activities in addition to those foreseen within existing programmes.
145.2. Also at the November 1998 session, there was broad agreement that rather than the Governing Body choosing a certain number of action programmes for implementation in 2000-01, it should be left to the incoming Director-General to determine and subsequently propose the best use of the resources foreseen for action programmes. A review of possible uses of these resources has begun but for obvious reasons could not be ready in time for inclusion in these Programme and Budget proposals. In 1999, the Director-General will present his proposals to the Governing Body.
145.3. At least some of these proposals will be for innovative and future oriented projects intended to keep the ILO on the cutting edge of economic and social developments likely to influence the world of work. Among the topics under consideration are Technology, Work and Society; The Care Economy (the social implications of ageing societies); The Changing Nature of Work and of Working Time; Job Quality and Economic Performance and several others. In addition, it is not excluded that a few of the originally proposed action programmes might be among the Director-General's proposals.
225. Employers' Activities
225.1. Problems/needs. Independent and representative organizations of employers are a fundamental component of tripartism and play an important role in the development of an economic, social and business environment in which enterprises can flourish and create employment. It is essential for the ILO to develop and maintain close relations with its employer constituents, ensure that their views and interests are taken into account in the overall work of the ILO and increase their awareness of the Organization's objectives and values. Moreover, as the United Nations seeks to develop a closer partnership with the private sector in the framework of its relations with civil society, the ILO's privileged relationship with employers takes on a new relevance.
225.2. The strength of employers' organizations depends on the effectiveness with which they represent their members and provide them with services which respond to their rapidly changing needs. To remain relevant and effective under these conditions, employers' organizations have to be able to assess enterprise needs and develop the capacity to provide better services to their members. In many cases, they also need to broaden their membership base, particularly among small enterprises. The ILO can make an important contribution to the development of tripartite dialogue by helping to strengthen voluntary and independent employers' organizations, especially in developing and transition countries.
225.3. The objectives are that:
• employers' organizations participate fully and effectively in the activities of the ILO, and have available timely, accurate and useful information on the ILO and its work;
• the ILO's programmes are attentive to the views and interests of employers' organizations; and
• employers' organizations in developing and transition countries expand their membership and improve their effectiveness by strengthening their capacity for participation in social dialogue and provide new and improved services to their members.
225.4. The work of this programme contributes principally to the achievement of Strategic Objective No. 4 on social dialogue, and is instrumental in achieving its other strategic objectives.
225.5. It is expected that some $3.3 million will become available from multi-bilateral sources for technical cooperation activities.
225.6. Relations with employers' organizations. Work will be concentrated in four areas:
• service and support to the Employers' group, to create the optimum conditions for its participation in the ILO's tripartite structures;
• advice to the Office, to keep it informed of the interests, perceptions, priorities and concerns of employers;
• informing employer constituents of ILO values, objectives and activities, as an integral part of all contacts between the ILO and employers; and
• the promotion of cooperation between employers and the United Nations, in response to the various initiatives taken recently by the United Nations to develop links with the private sector.
225.7. Assistance to employers' organizations in developing and transition countries. The assistance required by each employers' organization will continue to be defined at the country level through dialogue between constituents and the employer specialists in the multidisciplinary advisory teams. Assistance will be provided to help them study developments and trends in their members' needs, in order that employers' organizations will be able to devise their own strategies to respond to those needs. They will then be helped by the ILO and certain employers' organizations in industrialized countries to extend their technical resource base so that they can provide the quality and range of services that they identify as being necessary for their own development. The assistance provided will focus on the following areas:
• management of employers' organizations, through specially designed staff training in such areas as policy lobbying, the management, analysis and delivery of information, negotiations and the provision and management of training services;
• industrial relations, focusing on the development of a strategic perspective of industrial relations designed to improve enterprise performance based on the quality, skills and motivation of the workforce;
• human resources development, through the identification of successful strategies for influencing education and training systems, both public and private, with a view to improving the quality of the workforce;
• productivity improvement, with emphasis on the development of productivity services adapted to the specific circumstances and needs of their members in such areas as productivity bargaining, advice on linking pay to productivity and the strengthening of labour-management cooperation;
• occupational safety and health, in response to the surge of interest among employers' organizations, their capacity will be developed to provide services, particularly in the interpretation of regulations, advice on safe working practices and safety audits, the organization of safety promotion campaigns, the development of dialogue with trade unions and support for safety committees;
• child labour, building on the momentum built up in recent years, support will be provided for local initiatives by the business community and innovative ways will be developed of helping informal sector enterprises improve their performance and strengthen links with the formal sector, as a means of reducing the dependence of poor families on the earnings of their children;
• the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), particularly by strengthening the capacity of employers' organizations to deliver services that are required by SMEs, with emphasis on promoting entrepreneurship by women; and
• economies in transition, through assistance to employers' organizations focusing on methods of influencing policy, the development of sound industrial relations and training programmes to overcome the slow development of the private sector, the lack of experience of voluntary organizations and a business and regulatory environment that retains aspects of the previous system.
225.8. Research and publications. Despite there being a large amount of research done in the technical areas that employers' organizations cover, such as wage determination, collective bargaining and human resources management, there is very little up-to-date and comprehensive published information on how employers' organizations actually create and deliver services in these areas. There exist in all regions examples of successful practice in this regard, which are instructive to other organizations trying to expand or improve their own activities. Information on such examples will be systematically collected and included in a publication, with an analysis that would draw out the principles and policies that could be useful to others.
225.9. Strengthening the capacity of employers' organizations to improve workplace employment relations. Even though several industry-level organizations provide direct services to enterprises on labour relations issues, many employers' organizations have concentrated in the past on policy lobbying, tripartite and bipartite policy dialogue and negotiations above the enterprise level. Many employers are now requesting assistance from their organizations to facilitate change at the enterprise level. The objective of the action programme is that employers' organizations develop the capacity to provide advice, information and training on how to improve workplace relations. In this way, employers' organizations will be able to contribute directly to improved dialogue and changes in workplace relations, policies and practices. A compendium of best practices will be compiled, based on case studies of industrial relations at the enterprise level and the links between sound employment relations and overall performance. A training module will also be provided to selected employers' organizations and their members.
225.10. International Symposium on the Development of a Workforce for Enterprise Competitiveness and Employment Generation. The Symposium will examine successful initiatives to influence human resources development and enterprise-level strategies to develop workforces. The Symposium will follow up several provisions of the resolution on youth employment adopted by the Conference in June 1998 and its recommendations will be widely disseminated.
230. Workers' Activities
230.1. As essential partners in collective bargaining and tripartite dialogue, trade unions play a fundamental role in translating the aspirations of the working person into coherent and structured strategies at the enterprise, sectoral, national and international levels. They are one of the principal actors promoting universal respect for basic human rights, social justice and protection of the weak and disadvantaged members of society. Their role is particularly important at a time when social protection is under threat and workers are faced by challenges resulting from the globalization of the world economy, including the restructuring of production processes and the introduction of new technologies, the increased flexibility of labour markets, growing migratory pressures, the widespread privatization of public services and the development of export processing zones and other work situations where basic workers' rights are often disregarded.
230.2. Problems/needs. For the ILO's tripartite system to work effectively, it is essential for the Office to maintain close relations with the trade union movement and provide support for its participation in ILO activities and meetings. In this way, the Office can ensure that its work reflects the needs and views of workers' organizations in a context of active partnership. In an era of rapidly increasing globalization and interdependence, it is also essential for the ILO, as the only tripartite agency in the United Nations system, to promote closer relations between its tripartite constituents and other international organizations, as well as with regional and subregional institutions.
230.3. Two crucial elements in the establishment and strengthening of democratic and representative trade unions are institution-building and the delivery of coherent and sustained workers' education programmes. In view of the current rapid changes in the economic, social and industrial relations environment, the organizational structures of trade unions need to be flexible, dynamic and capable of adapting to complex problems and challenges. There is therefore a need to promote modern management methods, improve the quality of workers' education and reinforce the organizing and campaigning techniques which have historically been so important in the trade union movement. In this respect, special attention is required by trade unions in transition countries and rural workers' organizations. In transition countries, trade unions need to overcome special challenges in such areas as basic trade union functions, collective bargaining, grievance handling and organizing techniques. Rural workers' organizations need to strengthen their capacities to organize, establish educational programmes and provide economic and social services to their members.
230.4. The trade union movement recognizes globalization as a great challenge, particularly when associated with other trends, including slow economic growth, rapid demographic changes, the continued growth of the informal sector, increased labour flexibility and the explosion of non-traditional forms of employment, such as casual work, contract labour, homework and teleworking. To mitigate the most undesirable aspects of globalization, they need to advocate national and international policies which are conducive to faster economic and employment growth and lobby the international financial institutions to ensure that economic reforms are developed through tripartite dialogue and in respect of international labour standards. To maximize their effectiveness in this task, trade unions require support in making the case for the fundamental need for international labour standards and in analysing the relationships between economic and social development, the liberalization of trade and observance of international labour standards. They also need to continue their efforts, with ILO support, to develop a coherent and systematic approach to integrating an effective response to the concerns of the most vulnerable categories of workers, notably informal sector workers, into their policies and programmes.
230.5. This work contributes principally to the achievement of Strategic Objective No. 4 on social dialogue and Strategic Objective No. 1 on fundamental principles and rights at work, particularly as regards freedom of association and collective bargaining. It will contribute to a lesser extent to the achievement of the other two strategic objectives.
230.6. Approximately $10 million of extra-budgetary technical cooperation is expected to be implemented in the field of workers' activities.
230.7. The objectives are that:
• the trade union movement participates fully in the design and implementation of ILO policies and activities and influences ILO relations with other institutions;
• representative, independent and democratic trade unions participate effectively in tripartite and bipartite dialogue to promote workers' rights defined by international labour standards;
• workers' organizations provide more and better services to their members and address their needs more effectively by strengthening of their organizational structures and educational programmes, as a means of improving trade union density;
• trade unions secure support for new policies and institutional arrangements which maximize the benefits of globalization and ensure that they are equitably distributed; and
• trade unions strengthen their mobilization and action in support of informal sector workers.
230.8. Support for the Workers' group and relations. Assistance will continue to be provided to the Workers' group at the Governing Body and the Conference and to Workers' delegations to other ILO meetings. Trade unions throughout the world will be kept informed of ILO activities, programmes and policies through a regular supply of communications and publications. This work will be supported by representation of the ILO at trade union meetings and conferences. In addition, the Director-General and programme managers will be kept informed of trade union policies and priorities. As a result of these activities, the concerns and priorities of the trade union movement will be reflected more fully in ILO policies and programmes.
230.9. Institution-building and general workers' education. Technical assistance will be supplied for the establishment and strengthening of workers' education infrastructures, which will be set up in an increasing number of trade unions and will extend their coverage, for example to the organization of campaigns to increase membership. The support provided will include training for trade union instructors and the publication of Labour education. Another priority will be to assist trade unions overcome their communication deficit in relation to national and transnational enterprises through the adoption of new communication technologies and the improvement of their access to information, including ILO databases. Regional and international networks of trade union research staff with expertise in the identification and interpretation of information and distance learning techniques will continue to be developed. Emphasis will be placed on maximizing the involvement of women workers and mainstreaming gender and equality concerns.
230.10. Trade unions and globalization. The support provided to national and international trade union organizations in this area will be designed to help them influence the process of globalization. Research will be carried out on policy options and institutional arrangements that can be proposed by trade unions to improve the governance of globalization and ensure that its economic benefits are more broadly distributed. Training will be provided on economic policy and industrial relations practices adapted to the new situation. Meetings will be organized bringing together trade unions, policy-makers and representatives of international organizations, including the Bretton Woods institutions.
230.11. International Symposium to Strengthen Workers' Participation in the UN System and impact on the Bretton Woods institutions. The purpose of this Symposium would be to discuss the evolution in the relationship between trade unions and relevant sections of the UN system; to discuss the implications of proposals to introduce greater social partner involvement in organizations like WTO; to devise strategies that maximize the benefits for workers from the more receptive attitude to dialogue with trade unions at the highest levels in the IMF and World Bank; to influence IMF/World Bank policy positions on core labour standards and social issues and to translate them into concrete programmes and action involving both the Bretton Woods institutions and the trade union movement; and, to consider ways of sensitizing other international financial institutions and other relevant agencies in the UN system to the importance of core labour standards, trade union rights and the economic policies being advocated by the international trade union movement.
230.12. Promotion of standards and follow up to the Declaration. Based on the training and information activities undertaken, more trade unions will develop structures and courses to train their staff and members on international labour standards and will play a more active role in promoting the Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and is urging their governments to ratify and apply ILO Conventions. Through the technical assistance supplied, action to combat child labour will be designed and implemented, campaigns will be launched among trade union members, and direct assistance will be provided to advance the abolition of child labour, including the removal of working children from work and their rehabilitation.
230.13. Workers in the informal sector. Technical assistance will focus on developing a coherent and systematic approach to incorporating the interests of informal sector workers in trade union action. Based on this support, trade unions will provide services for informal sector workers in such areas as education, vocational training, legal assistance, self-help schemes and social protection. Information campaigns will also be launched for trade union members on the need to protect the rights and improve the conditions of workers in the informal sector.