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86th Session
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Report I
Report of the Director-General:
Activities of the ILO, 1996-97
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4 |
Turin Centre and International Institute for Labour Studies |
The Turin Centre and the Institute are autonomous institutions, whose governing boards report to the ILO Governing Body. The Centre undertakes training and related activities in an increasingly wide range of technical fields as an integral part of ILO technical cooperation activities and in support of its other technical activities. The Institute carries out research and encourages networking in the field of emerging labour policy issues and acts as a catalyst for future ILO programme development.
During the biennium 1996-97, the Turin Centre continued the reform process initiated under its first Development Plan, for the period 1990-95. A second Development Plan, approved by the Centre's Board in November 1995, confirms the pertinence of the objectives of the Centre and of the many changes made between 1990 and 1995 in the manner in which it operates. The second Development Plan identifies the following objectives for the Centre:
- mobilizing and disseminating, through training, the standards, experience and expertise acquired by the ILO and the United Nations system, and by other development partners;
- supporting through appropriate training actions the reform efforts undertaken within the multilateral development cooperation system;
- renewing and developing the Centre's range of training products on workers' rights, as well as on key areas of the United Nations development agenda, including human rights, governance and the management of development cooperation; and
- strengthening the capacities of governments and employers' and workers' organizations in the planning and management of the development process.
The period of transition experienced by the Centre has involved a major adaptation of the services that it provides. Training programmes and projects have expanded in coverage to include fields such as entrepreneurship training, social security, the reform and management of labour market institutions, industrial relations, human resource development and international labour law.
Originally consisting of short-term technical training provided at its own facilities in Turin, the Centre's services have been expanded to include advisory services related to its training activities, often under projects of several years' duration, in locations determined by the needs of the clients, including individual courses in enterprises. The Centre has acquired greater expertise in the field and has built up a network of collaborating institutions. It has also had to adapt to the more competitive environment of multilateral technical cooperation activities. It has therefore adopted a promotional strategy based on a diversification of its sources of financing and the design of training activities adapted to the needs of clients. It has also developed new training products targeted at programmes for which demand is high, with greater control over the quality of the training provided.
The lesson learned from the experience acquired over this period is that the training component of development projects must be thoroughly integrated with their other aspects. Moreover, the period of adaptation has shown that the Centre fulfils the mandate entrusted to it by the ILO when it has the means and opportunities to develop its specific competence for the benefit of ILO projects and programmes and those of the United Nations system as a whole. The successful adaptation of the Centre's programme is confirmed by the increase in the number of training projects and programmes from around 250 in 1994-95 to over 450 in 1996-97. The number of participants in these activities doubled to over 10,000 during the biennium.
Projects carried out by the Centre for the promotion of small and medium-sized enterprises included:
- the promotion of micro-enterprise creation in Guinea-Bissau , especially by women, through the training of over 400 persons from the private sector, associations of SMEs and vocational training institutions; and
- the development of a scheme in Hungary to provide training to over 180 agents and consultants in several provincial centres of the Hungarian Foundation for Assistance to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, which involved training a target group of 21 instructors over a two-year period.
One technical area in which the Centre's activities have particularly expanded is social security, notably in response to the need to train administrators of social security institutions in countries in transition. In collaboration with the Social Security Department at headquarters, a technical group was set up at the Centre and training materials were produced and tested on social security financing and pensions. Training plans were also prepared for social security institutions and technical cooperation projects. Examples of the assistance provided to countries in transition include a training programme for officials of various ministries and social security institutions in Ukraine on the adaptation and use of a model for the evaluation of social expenditure. Several training projects were implemented on the management of social security systems for African countries.
Another technical field in which the number of projects and programmes carried out by the Centre has increased rapidly is the management and creation of enterprises. Examples of the projects carried out include the strengthening of the training capacity of the Hungarian Foundation for Assistance to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises and a project for the development of human resources and assistance in the creation of micro-enterprises in Guinea-Bissau.
In 1995, the Government of China requested the Centre to provide training for officials from the Ministry of Labour, several state enterprises and other government departments to familiarize them with the operation and reform of labour market institutions, with particular emphasis on the design of training and retraining plans. During the biennium, some 450 Chinese officials were trained in 22 courses. One particularly interesting aspect of the courses for the officials concerned was the opportunity to undertake study tours in European and other countries.
The reform of labour market institutions, including vocational and technical training systems, employment offices and agencies, and employment and industrial relations policies, was a major objective of the Centre's activities during the biennium. These activities concentrated on African countries which are implementing macroeconomic adjust-ment measures, Central and Eastern European countries and a small number of member States in South-East Asia. In addition, in the framework of the European Social Fund, the Centre provided training courses for over 1,300 Italian managers and officials in the fields of contract negotiation, cost accountancy, vocational training and the monitoring and evaluation of social projects, with a view to strengthening the capacity of the Italian administration to manage and implement social projects financed with European Union funding.
Workers' education is a field in which the Centre's technical programme is totally integrated with that of ILO headquarters. The priorities, content and beneficiaries of the programme are determined by a committee composed of representatives of the Workers' group of the Governing Body of the Office. In addition to the training provided to reinforce the structures and methods of trade union training activities, a new generation of courses was produced on specific aspects of trade union action in such areas as the economic analysis of enterprises, industrial relations, techniques for the settlement of disputes and international labour standards. Over 600 trade union leaders from all regions benefited from this programme during the biennium. In 1997, a specific assistance and training programme was implemented for trade union organizations in the West Bank and Gaza.
Technical assistance and training projects were carried out in Latin America in the fields of flexible training techniques, skills analysis and quality control methods for vocational training. Moreover, each year a course is organized in collaboration with the University of Bologna with a view to establishing a network of Latin American and European experts on industrial relations.
The Centre's activities for the United Nations system were organized in the framework of the United Nations Staff College project. This project is structured around four technical areas:
- management training, which covers the training activities designed for United Nations programmes, funds and agencies, in the fields of management methods and techniques, human resources management and policies, and the management of change;
- training related to peace-keeping and peace-making activities;
- training related to the economic and social aspects of development, including the management of development aid; and
- a technical area designed to strengthen the coherence and coordination of the development programmes of the various partners in the United Nations system.
The UNDP division responsible for
crisis and emergency situations
entrusted the Centre with responsibility for an interregional training programme for national officials and United Nations officials who might need to intervene in situations of emergency or humanitarian crisis. The principal objective of the project was to improve the management and coordination of the action taken by the various national and international partners in such situations. In this case, the Centre was able to draw on the ILO's experience of emergency programmes to create jobs, assist small enterprises and provide training for employment for demobilized soldiers.
ILO staff also benefit from these activities, as in the case of the management workshops organized in 1996 and 1997 for higher-level ILO staff. In addition, the ILO benefits from opportunities to promote its values and demonstrate its experience on various aspects of social policy. Moreover, in specific programmes, such as the training designed in collaboration with the United Nations Centre for Human Rights, the Turin Centre is able to include components on work-related rights and international labour standards. Another example is the formulation of strategy notes for individual countries. In 1996, the Centre was requested by UNDP to organize the workshop for the formulation of the strategy note for Senegal, in which various United Nations programmes and funds participated. The ILO was able to participate actively in this exercise alongside other United Nations partners in the formulation of the United Nations development strategy for Senegal. The initiative was repeated for several other countries.
The delocalization of part of its activities and the need to improve the quality of its products have led the Centre to build up a network of cooperating institutions and centres. During the biennium, several international, national and regional institutions concluded cooperation agreements with the Centre, including:
- the Open University (London);
- the Global Affairs Institute of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University (New York);
- the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD);
- the Rover Group (United Kingdom);
- the Institute of Social Studies of The Hague;
- Helsinki University of Technology;
- the Asian Institute of Management (Philippines);
- Bocconi University (Italy); and
- the African Centre for Higher Education in Management (CESAG -- Senegal).
International Institute for Labour Studies
The International Institute for Labour Studies fulfils a triple function in support of the ILO's activities:
- a strategic function, by identifying emerging labour policy issues and acting as a catalyst for future ILO programme development;
- an outreach function, by projecting the values and concerns of the ILO, enabling ILO constituents and staff to interact systematically with academics and policy-makers; and
- a support function, by helping ILO constituents develop their national institutional capacities for analysis and labour policy formulation, through international internship courses and fellowship programmes.
Participants at the International Conference on
Labour and the International Economy concluded that:
- globalization has made national policy responses more, rather than less important;
- free trade and improved labour standards are both essential objectives;
- despite differences of view on their interrelationship, progress on core labour rights is relevant to sustaining the political momentum for open systems of international economic exchange; and
- excessive attention has been paid to trade sanctions, which has diverted attention from other national and international policy options, such as codes of conduct, industrial and training policies and technical cooperation.
Strategic research and theoretical work have long gestation periods. At the strategic level, the contribution made by the Institute to the work of the Organization as a whole has to be seen in terms of its role as a catalyst for change, rather than its direct influence on the ILO's programmes themselves.
As part of its outreach function, the Institute took the initiative in bringing the ILO's concerns to the attention of the foreign policy community. An International Conference on Labour and the International Economy was organized in collaboration with the United States Council on Foreign Relations and the United Kingdom's Royal Institute of International Affairs in Geneva in March 1996. The Conference brought together academics, practitioners i As part of its support function, the Institute organized two international internship courses on active labour market policy development, each of which was attended by about 25 future policy-makers drawn from the ILO's tripartite constituency. Under its student internship programmes, over a dozen graduate students participated in the Institute's activities and fellowships were provided to 11 visiting scholars from labour, research and educational institutions, or attached to governments or employers' or workers' organizations. The Institute's courses continue to be highly valued elements of its programme and play an important role in educating future national policy-makers as to the importance of the ILO's values and principles and in renewing the Organization's constituency.
In terms of its role in identifying emerging labour policy issues, the activities of the Institute were concentrated on two areas during the biennium:
- an analysis of the relationships between social exclusion, labour institutions and poverty; and
- an exploration of the changing global organization of production and its social implications at the local level.
Social exclusion
The Institute's activities on social exclusion in the previous biennium led up to the preparation of a publication on the subject(1) and its discussion at an international symposium held in conjunction with the Social Summit. The project was subsequently extended to include the elaboration of an approach to development based on social inclusion which reflects the ILO's concern with institutional change, human rights and social justice.
While the concept of social exclusion is well established in certain industrialized countries, it has been largely absent from the development debate in the non-industrialized world. Ten analytical studies were therefore undertaken to explore the links between employment, livelihood and citizenship rights in developing countries and countries in transition.(2) These studies examine the relevance of the concept of social exclusion to different countries at various stages of development, with varying economic and social characteristics. They show how a variety of mechanisms of exclusion, ranging from caste systems to formal and informal screening and selection procedures, systems of political patronage and the absence of universal recognition of citizenship and economic rights, lead to the maintenance of poverty. They also point to the institutions, such as workers' and employers' organizations, and other social and occupational associations in civil society, which can reinforce social inclusion and economic empowerment.
The findings of this work were used to promote a wider debate within the international community and in developing countries. A Policy Forum on Social Exclusion was held in New York in May 1996, in parallel with the United Nations Commission for Social Development, which discussed the policy implications of a social exclusion approach, in particular with respect to the social effects of globalization and the design of anti-poverty strategies.(3) A Conference was also organized in Geneva in 1997, in collaboration with the University of Sussex, on "Overcoming social exclusion: The ILO contribution", which brought together ILO departments, labour and business practitioners and academics to review a research and policy agenda on social inclusion for the ILO.(4)
In this work, the Institute complemented existing notions of poverty by drawing attention to the role of the social actors and institutions in processes of inclusion. Through its collaboration with UNDP and the United Nations, it disseminated its findings to the international development community and other fora, such as the high-level conference for business and political leaders that it organized in 1997 in collaboration with the Government of Denmark on a "New partnership for social cohesion". The conference discussed the reasons why enterprises become involved in social initiatives and identified models of social commitment by enterprises based on partnership and voluntary interaction with governments and civil society.
New international industrial organization
A second set of activities was designed to identify new forms of global production networks and their implications for industrial upgrading and job creation at the local level. This involved the development of the concept of global commodity chains, which consist of the sequence of value-adding activities from primary inputs to the final distribution of a product or service. Based on a better understanding of the strategic behaviour of enterprises across industries and borders, the objective was to map out labour policy options for countries endeavouring to upgrade their participation in international markets, with the optimum benefits for the level and quality of jobs.
In collaboration with the International Trade Centre of the WTO and UNCTAD, an evaluation was undertaken of employment and trade data in selected industries to identify commodity chains through inter-firm linkages. This activity has provided an outline of the changing geography of production over the past two decades in eight industries, including garments, toys, pharmaceuticals and computers. It has also afforded an insight into the impact of trade on labour markets in both the industrialized and developing countries. Empirical studies were carried out in various locations in Africa, Asia and Latin America with a view to identifying labour policy requirements for the progression of local economic development from off-shore platforms towards more independent, higher value-added production bases with improved labour and working conditions. The studies showed that many locations which had been able to participate in international markets through their competitive advantage based on low labour costs were now faced with the challenge of developing new factors of competitive advantage in order to respond to the emerging market requirements for efficiency, quality and organizational and product innovation. This implies significant investment in the development of skills and the greater involvement of employees in the production process with a view to increasing value-added production and sustaining growth. Enterprise initiatives and state policies need to complement each other in this process.
A workshop involving academic researchers, ILO experts and practitioners was held in May 1997 in Geneva on changing inter-firm relationships in key global industries. A Round Table was organized in the same month on globalization, industrial upgrading and export processing zones (EPZs) to allow academic experts and officials of the ILO and the Institute working in this area to review the findings of the project and exchange information on recent trends in EPZs. This work was carried out in cooperation with several ILO departments and multidisciplinary advisory teams, and contributed to the action programmes on EPZs and globalization, area-based enterprise development and employment.
Notes
1. Social exclusion: Rhetoric, reality, responses, G. Rodgers, C. Gore and J.B. Figueiredo (eds.) (a contribution to the World Summit for Social Development).
2. Social exclusion and inequality in Peru, by A. Figueroa et al. (IILS, Research Series No. 104), 1996; Goals for social integration and realities of social exclusion in the Republic of Yemen, by M.H. Hashem (IILS, Research Series No. 105), 1996; Social exclusion from a welfare rights perspective in India, by P. Appasamy et al. (IILS, Research Series No. 106), 1996; Challenging social exclusion: Rights and livelihood in Thailand, by P. Phongpaichit et al. (IILS, Research Series No. 107), 1996; Economic transition and social exclusion in Russia, by N. Tchernina (IILS, Research Series No. 108), 1996; Poverty and social exclusion in Tanzania, by F. Kaijage and A. Tibaijuka (IILS, Research Series No. 109), 1996; Les politiques de lutte contre l'exclusion sociale en Tunisie, by M. Bédoui and G. Ridha (IILS, Documents de travail No. 88), 1996; L'exclusion sociale au Caméroun, by S.Inack Inack (IILS, Documents de travail No. 89), 1997; Venezuela: Exclusion and integration -- A synthesis in the building?, by V. Cartaya et al. (IILS, Discussion Papers No. 90), 1997; and Social exclusion in Brazil, by P.Singer (IILS, Discussion Papers No. 94), 1997.
3. Social exclusion and anti-poverty policy: A debate, Report and selected presentations of the Policy Forum on Social Exclusion, New York, May 1996 (IILS, Research Series No. 110), 1997.
4. Social exclusion: An ILO perspective, Papers and proceedings of an international meeting (forthcoming) [subsequently published].