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European Commission April Package on Development forgets Decent Work!

Although the package does refer to the most vulnerable and calls for wide-coverage social protection systems and social justice, it fails to mention and integrate decent work policies (freely chosen employment and full respect for rights at work - encompassing Core Labour Standards - social dialogue, and social protection - including health and safety at work) as a key response to achieve the Millennium Development Goals in the 5 years that remain.

As a consequence, no mention is made to how the EU envisages supporting progress to provide productive and decent employment for all including women and young people - where accelerated progress is needed according to the official UN MDGs Progress Report 2009 - and to assist countries to monitor and report effectively on employment indicators under MDGs Target 1B.

In 2007 the MDG monitoring framework was revised to include four new targets agreed at the 2005 World Summit. Among others, Target 1.B Achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all, including women and young people was added. And, in 2006, the European Commission adopted a communication on the contribution of the EU to the implementation of the ILO's Decent Work Agenda (COM(2006)249); in this communication the Commission reiterated its commitment to promote decent work for all through development cooperation, as spelled out in the European Consensus on Development adopted in December 2005. The Spring Package on Development 2009 which focused on supporting developing countries in coping with the crisis also reaffirmed that 'Continued support in the fields of health, decent work and education is key to ensure that the most vulnerable are not left unprotected'.

What has changed recently to justify the European Commission's omission of employment and decent work in April 2010? The financial and economic crisis has exploded. At the same time, in 2009, the number of jobless worldwide reached nearly 212 million, the number of women and men in vulnerable employment reached the level of half of the world's labour force and as many as 215 million workers were living on the margin and were at risk of falling into poverty (i.e. joining the millions of workers living on less than US$1.25 per day). The seriousness of the issues led the International Labour Conference to adopt the Global Jobs Pact, based on the attainment of decent work, in June 2009.

Fortunately, the European Parliament, in its draft report on progress towards the achievement of the MDGs, rightly acknowledges that Decent Work is a priority MDG target and calls upon the EU and developing country governments to support the ILO's global jobs pact and to apply effectively all aspects of the decent work agenda.