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ILO global webinar on Employment and Decent Work for Peace and Resilience

The International Training Centre of the ILO (ITCILO), in collaboration with the International Labour Standards Department (NORMES) and the field Offices, organized a webinar on 13 November to improve understanding of the relevance of Recommendation No. 205 in the current context of multiple crises. The session aimed to better equip participants to prepare the report under Article 19 of the ILO Constitution for the General Survey on employment and decent work for peace and resilience, provide related comments, and participate actively in consultations and discussions on the topic.

The webinar brought together 400 participants , including government officials responsible for matters relating to international labour standards, representatives of employers’ and workers’ organizations and officials of the ILO and the United Nations system.

Helmut Schwarzer, Unit Chief, Public Finance, Actuarial Services and Statistics at ILO’s Universal Social Protection Department, spoke on the panel addressing employment, income-generation opportunities, and social protection, highlighting why employment and social protection measures are key in preventing and responding to crises. He referenced three publications stemming from a cooperative project between the ILO and the Social Security Institute of Workers of the State of Chiapas (ISSTECH), Mexico, aimed at developing an operations continuity plan for the institute:

• Social protection in Chiapas and its response to the earthquake of 7 September 2017 (La protección social en Chiapas y su respuesta al sismo del 7 de septiembre de 2017, a policy paper that describes the impact of the 7 September 2017 earthquake on the state of Chiapas; provides information on the impacts of the earthquake on the main social protection programmes operating in the state and their response; and proposes recommendations for more disaster and emergency resilient social protection policies and programmes.

• Business continuity plan for natural and human-induced disasters (Plan de continuidad de operaciones ante desastres naturales y antrópicos), that establishes a structure, procedures, protocols, and activities to allow social protection institutions to continue functioning in the event of a crisis.

• The experience of developing the business continuity plan for the Social Security Institute for Workers of the State of Chiapas (La experiencia de elaboración del plan de continuidad de operaciones para el Instituto de Seguridad Social de los Trabajadores del Estado de Chiapas), a document that outlines key concepts for comprehensive risk management, including the implementation of a business continuity plan to avoid interruption of the functioning of key social security institutions during periods of crisis.

Access the webinar recording here.