Social Protection Sector

The ILO has never accepted the belief that injury and disease "go with the job". In the course of the past century industrialized countries have seen a sharp decrease in serious injuries, not least because of real advances in making the workplace healthier and safer. The challenge is to extend the benefits of this experience to the whole working world.

The IPF SafeWork has been designed to respond to this need. Its primary objectives are:

The InFocus SafeWork targets hazardous work and give primary attention to workers in especially hazardous occupations in sectors where the risks to life and safety are manifestly high, such as agriculture, mining and construction, workers in the informal sector, and those occupationally exposed to abuse and exploitation, such as women, children and migrants. This In Focus adopts an integrated approach, including non-traditional aspects of workers' health and safety such as drugs and alcohol, stress. It initiated activities related to HIV-AIDS that further developed into the ILO AIDS Global programme. Its concerns for environmental issues stem directly from its overall responsibility for occupational threats for workers' health, since hazardous industries or sectors clearly also impact negatively on the situation outside the factories. The Programme has developed close working relationships notably with the International Social Security Association, with the World Health Organization and with the Agenda 21 programmes in a number of countries.

The In Focus Safe Work designs specific strategies for each one of its primary objectives including advocacy, knowledge and capacity building and support for direct action programmes around four main axes:

The InFocus SafeWork is responsible for the publication and permanent update of a series of reference texts and data bases used worldwide such as: The ILO Encyclopaedia of Occupational Safety and Health, the International Occupational Safety and Health Information Centre (CIS) databases, the Network of National Centres, the International Chemical Safety Cards, the new Globally Harmonized System for the Classification and Labelling of Chemicals, and a number of Codes of Practice, Manuals and Guidelines, such as on ambient factors and occupational safety and health management systems.

On 15 June 2000, the International Labour Conference, meeting in Geneva at its 88th Session, decided that an item entitled Safety and Health in Agriculture shall be included in the agenda of its next ordinary session for a second discussion with a view to the adoption of a Convention and a Recommendation. The Report for this discussion as well as the Report for the first round of discussions, held in June 2000, was prepared by the InFocus SafeWork. The InFocus SafeWork is co-organizer of the XVI World Congress on Safety and Health at Work. Vienna, Austria, 26-31 May 2002.

The Conditions of Work Branch (CONDIT) aims to assist governments, employers' and workers' organizations in making progressive improvements in conditions of work and respect for workers' dignity. Its programme is a blend of continuity and change: traditional working conditions areas are examined to seek innovative ways to tackle long-standing problems while, at the same time, new and emerging issues are addressed. Main technical areas of work are:

Under the pressure of competition, changes in the nature and organization of work, technology, workers' preferences and consumer demand for services, there has been a marked diversity in working time patterns and work arrangements. The traditional "standard" workweek on which workers organize their lives is increasingly being replaced by more flexible arrangements (flexible daily hours, part-time work, shift and night work, compressed work week, annual hours, and "on-call" work). Key themes of programme are: working time over a life cycle; implications of gender, work-family, technological advances and new forms of work organization for working time, and the effect of working time on conditions of work and worker well-being. The programme will provide a better understanding of working time and work organization patterns that are emerging to assist tripartite constituents in making strategic choices that can effectively meld economic efficiency and social protection.

The family is the core of society. There is increasing realization that the Decent Work concept must not be confined to conditions at the workplace, but must extend to the interaction between work and private life, and especially between work and family. The work-family programme will provide constituents with information and analysis on the trends in the composition of the family, the life cycle from a family perspective, the impact on families of changes in the nature of work and working time patterns, and approaches in assessing efficiency and effectiveness of work-family policies. Gender will be a crosscutting issue, in view of different expectations and experiences of men and women at work and at home.

In June 2000, the International Labour Conference adopted new international standards (Convention No. 183 and its accompanying Recommendation No. 191) . Promoting maternity protection is a priority. The promotional strategy consists of: (a) securing ratification of Convention No. 183; (b) securing improvements in maternity protection (for example, widening the coverage to include women who are presently excluded because of their employment status, length of service or other factors); and (c) securing general improvements in social and labour conditions to pave the way for maternity protection for all women workers.

4. Improving working conditions of rural workers and workers in small enterprises

Most of the world's workers are in small enterprises, the informal sector and subsistence farming, where working conditions and living conditions merge. They suffer poor conditions and have benefited if at all from traditional approaches to improving their conditions of work and life. The ILO well-established programme on Work Improvement in Small Enterprises (WISE) is being adapted to reach workers in micro-enterprises and the rural informal sector.

Sexual harassment and violence at work are incompatible with dignity at work. When they occur they turn a previously benign environment into a hostile, threatening and hazardous setting. Workers, employers and public authorities are expressing common concern and many are adopting legislation, policies and programmes to prevent their occurrence. CONDIT is reviewing developments in law, policies and practices on sexual harassment and evaluating the most effective ways in preventing it. Complementing research on the nature and extent of violence at work, a guide to prevent violence at work, using a risk assessment methodology, is being prepared for publication.

MIGRANT aims to enhance the capacities of Member States to formulate appropriate labour migration policies, improve the conditions under which various forms of desired migration take place, and facilitate the integration of migrants and their families in the countries in which they find themselves.

Governments to design policies for managing migration, train staff, evaluate policy impact;
Employers to manage a multi-ethnic workforce, including dealing with discrimination;
Trade unions to develop programmes to protect rights of migrant workers.

Through its International Migration Programme the ILO is engaged in developing a rights-based approach to the resolution of problems raised by the rapidly growing international mobility of labour. MIGRANT is establishing partnerships at national and international levels in order to develop a consensus on the rules that should govern the admission, employment and treatment of migrant workers and members of their families and also to develop a coherent and multi-sectoral approach to reducing the migration pressures resulting from trade liberalization and the instabilities in capital markets.

MIGRANT has developed an international labour migration database (ILM) and has started to develop approaches for dealing with the problem of migrant trafficking and smuggling. MIGRANT is also building on its past work on discrimination suffered by immigrant workers to promote legal and voluntary measures and best practices to improve their integration.

What basic rights and entitlements should be guaranteed to migrant workers according to international conventions and treaties?
How should the admission, employment and return of temporary foreign labour be managed?
How does one establish reliable and practical labour market tests?
· What social protection coverage is necessary?
How should irregular migrants be regularized?

How can employment of nationals abroad be promoted?
How can nationals in foreign countries be protected?
What should employment contracts contain?
How is recruitment fraud prevented?
What safeguards are necessary to cut down malpractices?
How should migrants' social security needs be covered?
What role can labour attaches play?
How can it be ascertained that policies really achieve their aims?
How can a "brain drain" be avoided?

In addition, the programme assists member states in the drafting of bi-lateral or multilateral migration agreements. The ILO has signed a partnership agreement with the International Organization for Migrations (IOM).

In response to concerns about the continuing spread of HIV/AIDS and its widening developmental impact, the ILO has launched a new initiative aimed at helping governments, employers, and workers strengthen their response to the epidemic. The Resolution concerning HIV/AIDS and the World of Work, adopted at the 88th Session of the International Labour Conference (ILC-June 2000) , asked the Director-General to create a capacity within the Organization to help prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and to mitigate its impact on the social partners and the wider community. This resulted in the creation of the ILO Programme on HIV/AIDS and the World of Work, confirmed at the November 2000 meeting of the ILO Governing Body.

The main objective of the Programme is to strengthen the capacity of the ILO's tripartite partners to:

Limit and control the spread of HIV infection through workplaces initiatives.
Cope with the social and economic consequences of the epidemic.
Protect the fundamental rights of workers and their families who are infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.

The Programme focuses on the mobilisation of the social partners and their extensive networks of contacts; on the development of a legal framework to address problems of discrimination and social exclusion related to HIV status; on the provision of information, education and training; and on the integration of AIDS-related activities into the work-plans of all relevant sectors, and of its teams and offices in the field. Fact-finding and programme development missions have been carried out in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and Eastern Europe. A database is being prepared to disseminate relevant information and also guidelines for action.

The ILC Resolution asked for international guidelines to be developed on action to be taken and behaviour to be adopted on HIV/AIDS at the workplace. A draft Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the World of Work (The Code) was prepared by the Programme in consultation with its constituents. It was reviewed, revised and adopted by a tripartite Meeting of Experts held in Geneva from 14 to 22 May 2001. The Code provides practical guidance to governments, employers and workers and their organisations, and other key stakeholders, for developing national and workplace policies and programmes. It is based on respect for fundamental rights at work and covers the key areas of:

Prevention through information, education, gender-aware programmes, and support for behaviour change.
Protection of workers' rights, including employment protection, entitlement to benefits, and non-discrimination on the basis of HIV status.
Care and support, including confidential voluntary counselling and testing, and even treatment in circumstances where local health systems are inadequate.

The Code was presented by the ILO Director-General to the UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS held in New York, from 25 to 27 June 2001. The Code, and the process of implementation, were also considered during the ILO Conference in June 2001. The ILO is in the process of incorporating the Code into its own workplace policy, and it is hoped that it will be similarly adopted by the other agencies in the UN system. The ILO has become a co-sponsor of UN AIDS, which will enable ILO AIDS to further strengthen and develop its action to combat the pandemic on all fronts and throughout the World of Work.

LABOUR PROTECTION