Events
© UNICEF/2009/Markisz |
Speech by Dr. Isiye Ndombi, the Ag. UN Resident Coordinator
Allow me to start by extending hearty congratulations – through you Mr. Blenk – to the International Labour Organization (ILO) on its 90th birthday and for its long and illustrious achievements including winning of the 1969 Nobel Peace Prize. In evidence of the fact that human rights are the foundation of the United Nations, key rights-focused landmarks in ILO’s life confirm the agency’s commitment to championing the entitlement of humanity to decent work. The ILO has throughout the 90 years of its work embraced the three pillars of the United Nations, which are Peace/Security, Development and Social Justice which all stand on a foundation of human rights. This Symposium on Social Justice and Child Labour is a good moment during which we should look back at how we overcame the past challenges at the same time as looking into the future to explore how we shall confront and overcome the new and emerging challenges. As the custodian of the workers’ rights, ILO has made many major achievements. The agency has worked to achieve and guarantee, among other gains: the rights of workers to association, organization and collective bargaining; the rights to employment and equal remuneration; equality at work between men and women; strategies to eliminate child labour; and, by setting safety standards, the agency has helped reduce the toll of work-related accidents. These noble results have been summed up by the term decent work. With specific reference to the Pacific, I can see at least 5 windows of opportunity in ILO partnerships: As we gather to celebrate this momentous occasion, the world is confronted by the worst financial crisis since the Second World War. At a time of profound crisis, the social justice message and mandate of the ILO is as relevant today as it was at its founding. This event provides a unique opportunity for all concerned parties to focus on protecting the most vulnerable strata of the population, particularly women and children who are more susceptible to social and economic exclusion. Ladies and Gentlemen, You will notice that in the rest of my remarks I will emphasize the centrality of putting the face of children to what we do in development generally but during crises particularly. This is not only because I normally work for UNICEF. It is rather because I believe that when we plan for the future of humanity we must place conditions and rights children at the centre of those plans. Given the experience from the previous crises, the most significant markers of deterioration were increases in child mortality and morbidity, increases in child labor, increases in child exploitation, increases in violence against children and women and other forms of abuse, declines in school attendance and the deteriorations in the quality of education, nurture, care and emotional wellbeing. Let me remind you of recurring facts that are relevant to crises: o We know women, children and young people suffer disproportionately from the effects of crises. Parents try their best to protect their children from the worst impacts of crises, but there are limits to how much they can do, especially for the poorest and most marginalized families. While remarkable progress has been made in recent years in tackling child work, economic shocks often push children from school into the labour force – especially boys – or to shoulder more household tasks – especially girls. It is children from the lower income strata of the population that are subjected to the added risk of being trafficked or compelled to engage in hazardous forms of work. Protecting children and young people from the adverse impacts of the crisis addresses child suffering, but also benefits future economic growth in multiple ways. Experience from previous crises shows that even if some countries did recover economic growth a few years after structural adjustments, there was still evidence that even these countries incurred significant costs in this period (such as reduced nutrition and withdrawal from school). These are likely to have had irreversible and costly effects for some populations, especially children, with potentially long-term consequences. I am reminded of a Chinese saying that ‘when the wind rises, some build walls but others build wind mills. The lesson is that we can take steps, even in crises, to protect and enhance our futures. The implication for planners is that we need to take every step to protect the social sectors and their services to children and young people as we respond to the crises. What we need are approaches that enable the governments to put into place substantial national social protection systems that can shelter the populations from economic shocks while at the same time building capacity and strengthening services within the Pacific Island governments that respond to child abuse, violence and exploitation and ensure continuity of health and education services. I believe that this Symposium will pave the way towards the identification of concrete and sustainable measures that will increase the protection of families and communities – with a special focus on children and women – in Fiji and in our Pacific Region. • Thank you for your attention and may you have successful discussions.
|
