*** Dear colleagues, these are the last two contributions to our first set of discussion questions. Marie and Marina both emphasise the importance of education for Decent Work - As of tomorrow morning, we would like to focus on the second set of question (sent out by Sabrina on Wednesday at noon) on how to further operationalise Decent Work in projects and programmes. We look forward to reading your suggestions and lessons learned. Thank you very much, the moderation team ***
Dear colleagues,
As a specialist in the field of education within SDC Education Expert Team, I share with you some inputs to this interesting e-discussion.
Question 1: Now that you have learned about the four pillars of the decent work agenda and the ten ‘substantive elements’, as well as the anchoring of decent work in the international human right framework, where do you think SDC can and should focus in order to promote decent work in its partner countries – and why so?
The discourse on decent work has been largely shaped from an economic perspective. It’s good to see the stronger focus on a human rights. However, if SDC really want to have a “leave no one behind” approach, we cannot avoid a global reflection that takes also into account the links with basic skills, which can be acquired at school or in adult basic education and lifelong learning. Basic education provides not only the foundational skills, but also the qualifications and certification required to engage in decent work.
For each of the four pillars ILO Decent Work Agenda we can identify the contribution of education. For example, basic education increases employment opportunities. For this reason, some countries have very explicitly integrated the link between education and employment in their education policies (eg. In Nepal one of the objective of the School Sector Development Plan (SSDP) mentions “Secondary education aims to make students ready for work by developing skilled human resources”). Education facilitates workers’ access to decent jobs but contributes also to the creation of decent work. The more educated people are, the more likely they are to contribute to the creation of decent work. Thus, SDC can contribute to decent work creation for example by reinforcing the link between education and employment in its policy dialogue with governments and ministries of education.
We can identify some other important aspects related to education in the four pillars of the decent work agenda and the ten ‘substantive elements’: the Researches also show the correlation between education and income. Completing a full 12 year-cycle of basic education translates to earning increases of more than 300%. Without going into details, education can also contribute to: avoiding child labour, work stability, empower workers to claim their rights, reinforce awareness towards creating safe work environments, etc…
The reinforcement between education and decent job is particularly important when targeting young people whose unemployment rate is three times higher than the adult rate (Unicef). In addition, the issue of qualifications and equivalences cannot be left aside when addressing migration and employment issues.
Question 2: Can you share any example of Swiss (or other) projects you know / from your portfolio that substantially contribute to one or several substantive elements of decent work (regardless of whether decent work is explicitly mentioned in the project title / objective or not)?
On the basis of what I mentioned above, SDC education programmes fully contribute to decent job, especially for the more disadvantaged and marginalised children and youth. It is now proven that skills acquisition is more effective when built on a solid foundation of good quality basic education. Providing later-stage skills training or vocational training without a solid foundation of good quality basic skills does not pay. Thus, SDC programmes focussed on access and quality education are key (for example among others in Mali, Chad, or Afghanistan, or the Regional Education Quality Support Programme in West Africa focussed on trainings for education managers, etc)
For the out of school children and youth, SDC developed remediation programmes and second-chance education programmes, but which are not as effective as early childhood or elementary school programmes. Basic literacy and numeracy skills are the foundation to any technical skills required in the world of work, and are best acquired through education up to lower-secondary level.
Kind regards,
Marie Brüning Education Advisor – SDC Education Expert Team
Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA Freiburgstr. 130, 3003 Bern – Switzerland Phone +41 58 461 15 41 Mobile +41 79 718 92 13 Mail [Hidden email] <mailto:marie.bruening@eda.admin.ch>
*** Dear colleagues, these are the last two contributions to our first set of discussion questions. Marie and Marina both emphasise the importance of education for Decent Work - As of tomorrow morning, we would like to focus on the second set of question (sent out by Sabrina on Wednesday at noon) on how to further operationalise Decent Work in projects and programmes. We look forward to reading your suggestions and lessons learned. Thank you very much, the moderation team ***
Dear all,
It has been really interesting to hear so many great contributions on how decent work is being advanced through different programmes and sectors. Decent work, indeed, cannot be promoted through just one area of programming. Rather, promoting it requires addressing it across domains. As part of the NORRAG team, I would like to highlight one of these domains – the role of *basic education* in contributing to the creation of decent work.
Basic education is a key prerequisite towards entering decent work. A full cycle of quality basic education provides* foundational and transferable skills* at *cognitive, socioemotional, and technical* levels which are critical for engaging in further education, continuing learning in the workplace, acquiring new skills and meeting drastic shifts in labour demand of rapidly changing labour markets. In addition to these critical skills, basic education also provides *qualifications* and *certification* required to engage in decent work. Without certification, people are more likely to be trapped in the informal market.
The more educated people are, the more likely they are to get engaged in decent work. Workers who have successfully completed basic education, have much lower informality rates than workers without or with little basic education <https: education-pays-off-but-you-have-to-be-patient="" ilostat.ilo.org="">. Without access to quality basic education, low-skilled young adults are more likely than others to be stuck in low-wage, low-productivity and indecent jobs, *and ill-prepared to partake in the skills upgrading activities* needed to access the jobs that emerge from the fourth industrial revolution. The broader skills set provided by basic education can help young people adapt more easily and flexibly to rapid technological and labour market changes in the longer term. Young people need sufficient time in basic education to develop solid foundational skills that allow them to learn meaningfully in technical training later on as well as develop the socio-emotional maturity to express their preferences and know and claim their rights.
Lastly, let me also highlight that having a solid basic skills foundation contributes to higher earnings in decent work. Employees who have successfully completed basic education, earn on average more. Evidence shows <https: 10986="" 19231="" handle="" openknowledge.worldbank.org=""> that each additional year of basic education means 10% higher earnings in the future. In this sense, completing a full 12 year-cycle of basic education translates to earning increases of more than 300% <http: 830831468147839247="" curated="" documents1.worldbank.org="" en="" pdf="" wps7020.pdf=""> .
Looking forward to continuing to learn from and with you,
*Marina Dreux Frotté* Programme Coordinator at NORRAG
NORRAG - Network for international policies and cooperation in education and training *An Associate Programme of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies*
On Wed, 5 May 2021 at 12:23, [Hidden email] < [Hidden email]
May 5, 2021,
7:21 p.m.
Chistophe Margot Barandun
*** this is a direct response to Ashley Aarons' questions below - As of tomorrow morning, we would like to invite you to address primarily the questions sent out on Wednesday at noon on how to further operationalise Decent Work in projects and programmes. Thank you very much. RT for the moderation team***
On your question about “to lean on the whole decent work framework or just parts”, the following might help:
In international supply chain there is a distinction between * 1) “zero tolerance issues”, which require immediate action / immediate contact with the labor inspection (e.g. imminent and serious health and safety issues, forced labor, violence, sexual violence, egregious violation of freedom of association, young workers in the worst forms of labour). Child labour is on this ZT list as well. Two points here: 1. as you mentioned we are discussing here various types of projects at the same time, 2. It is often forgotten that ILO conventions on child labour allow light work, so these conventions take difficult context into consideration. Please do not get me wrong, I am not promoting child labour here.
* 2) other issues which are also identified, but which allow more time for remediation (e.g. other OSH issues, working time, pay related issues). These issues should not be neglected though.
Christophe Margot/ILO External Collaborator
May 5, 2021,
4:23 p.m.
Ashley Aarons
Dear all
I'm really grateful to see this timely email chain. Im Ashley Aarons, Senior Advisor of Markets and Employment at Mercy Corps - though just emailing in my personal capacity right now. Before sharing some examples, I wanted to I guess ask for help on the topic - sorry for taking us off topic and sorry if there is an easy answer. I'm not sure how useful the term decent work is. I assume by it we mean the ILO definition, rather than a more generic idea of decent as something that is good. However under that definition am I right that very few of the jobs we support are decent, or at least those in rural contexts in more low income, fragile states. I think the ILO said this themselves here (Should We Create Decent Work or Make Work More Decent? Demystifying What Decent Work Means for Market System Development Projects) I imagine they may correct me though. So the approach then, which makes sense, is to focus not on decent work per se, but on the biggest decent work deficit - which in many cases is low income or lack of security of income, which is maybe what programs were doing anyway. So I think its useful to energize people and to provide a broad framework, and it may be more relevant in some contexts, but it also confuses people sometimes as they are told by their donor to create decent jobs when they aren't able to do so - and doing so may be a bad idea (i.e. to focus on a small number of fully decent jobs vs a larger number of semi decent jobs). If this is correct, the challenge may be to change how we talk about decent work - or how it is understood - to reflect this. Or to provide more guidance around its contextual use e.g. where we may want to lean on the whole framework or just parts As a connected but separate point, I would think something like focusing on a more basic 'acceptable quality' job as a minimum requirement may make more sense e.g. no forced labour, no exploitative child labour, accidents are zero or below national standards and work meets income threshold expectations and has a high expectation of sustainability. Maybe this presents the same challenges of having a minimum standard, but it may be more relevant to some contexts we work in? I hope Im wrong though - and these are just my views, not my employers,Thanks so much,Ashley
On Wednesday, 5 May 2021, 13:06:32 CEST, Bruno Essig <[Hidden email]<div class="original_message_link">Original message
> wrote:
Dear Colleagues,
In relation to Question 2 I'd like to share some information about Brücke · Le pont's programme approach, rather than specific project examples.
The Brücke · Le pont "Decent Work" programme takes an integrated, coherent, multidimensional approach based on a holistic model combining the following three strategic pillars:
1) Labour rights: Empower workers to demand and exercise their human and labour rights and provide advocacy for legal and structural improvements to working conditions
2) Vocational skills development (VSD): Develop vocational and social skills and provide support for labour market integration
3) Income generation: Support regionally significant value chains in order to generate employment and income opportunities
Subsequently, some details about the first two pillars, which are highly relevant for the topic of decent work.
1) Labour rights
The concept of Decent Work developed by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has been used as a frame of reference for the Brücke ∙ Le pont programme. Brücke ∙ Le pont works together with partner organisations which know and apply the relevant international conventions on labour law issues and national legislation in this field. Thus the topic of labour rights is also enshrined in projects whose focus is directed more at vocational skills development and promoting income generation. For example, all young people are informed of their labour rights in the course of their training and staff responsible for labour market integration ensure that, when projects are implemented, only company vacancies which meet certain criteria in terms of wages and social benefits are considered.
Brücke ∙ Le pont also supports projects aimed at employees in sectors with particularly precarious working conditions. These include the textile industry (maquila) in Central America as well as domestic work. Such sectors almost exclusively employ women from poor families. The partner organisations of Brücke ∙ Le pont teach workers about their rights, provide legal advice, give them support in cases of labour rights violations, raise awareness and lobby employers and parliamentarians. They also provide psychological support and refer women to medical care (especially if they are pregnant, rape victims or suffering from deprivation). Partner organisations encourage women to find strength through self-help, both on a personal, individual level and within society. Women are motivated to come together in groups and organisations to initiate and monitor changes in society.
2) Vocational skills development (VSD) and labour market integration
Brücke ∙ Le pont improves the skills of two distinct age groups: marginalised youth who have never had the opportunity to complete vocational training and have been unable to establish themselves in the labour market; and informally-employed adults, especially small-scale farmers and domestic workers who lack technical knowledge. The involvement of employers and state authorities (such as the Ministries of Education and Employment) is central to this. Allowing employers a say in the development of the curriculum ensures that courses respond to the demands and trends of the job market. At the same time, employers are made more aware of their responsibility to train qualified staff.
For Brücke ∙ Le pont, integration into the job market falls into the category of vocational skills development, because only when young people have access to jobs with decent working conditions can they secure their long-term earning potential and a reasonable standard of living. Brücke · Le pont encourages potential employers to become involved in vocational training projects at an early stage; for instance when preparing the curriculum or carrying out the practical element of the course. This increases the chances of graduates finding suitable internships and/or employment. One person in each of the project teams is responsible exclusively for labour market integration and for activities such as establishing contacts with businesses, helping young people prepare application documents, practising for interviews and connecting job-seekers and employers through job forums. Brücke · Le pont also promotes synergies between the partner organisations in this area. For instance, they share their contacts of interested companies and develop the aforementioned job platforms together.
Another method is to improve the occupational skills of people employed in the informal sector, such as domestic workers, on a case-by-case basis. State certification and public recognition of these vocational courses allow domestic workers to improve their image/reputation and their chances of obtaining decent working conditions. Brücke · Le pont is therefore intensifying its cooperation with state-recognised vocational training institutions and the responsible state authorities.
Kind regards,
Bruno
Bruno Essig
Programmverantwortlicher Zentralamerika
Responsable del Programa Centroamérica
Brücke · Le pont Rue St-Pierre 12 | 1700 Fribourg | www.bruecke-lepont.ch
[Hidden email]
Tel. 026 425 51 59 | Skype: bruno_essig
Arbeitstage: Mo-Do
From: [Hidden email] <[Hidden email]>On Behalf Of Klaus Thieme Sent: Wednesday, May 5, 2021 12:17 PM To: SDC Decent Work <[Hidden email]> Subject: [decentwork] E-discussion Decent Work - first topic: Stocktaking
Dear all
Thank you for the opportunity to engage into the important discussion on Decent work.
> Question 1: Where do you think SDC can and should focus in order to promote decent work in its partner countries – and why so? This can be within its employment & income and migration portfolio but also in other domains such as rule of law and justice and human rights/ governance programming at large.
Generally: Firstly, Solidar Suisse welcomes the Human-Rights Based Approach of the Leave No One Behind approach of SDC. Secondly, Solidar Suisse welcomes the chance of the Programmbeitrag financing because it enables development projects to address important and sustainable development issues which oftentimes are too complex for general funding appeals / public donations. Keeping this funding tool on its feet is therefore an urgent goal. Thirdly, the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals offers an answer to the question raised, namely, it’s all connected:Sustainable livelihoods and resilient communities,an equal, just and inclusive society, and a fair economy with decent work for all. The future of our societies and therefore the realm of work and economic life is also related to the reality and impact of climate change. We will only achieve a meaningful change when all actors enable aJust transition to a green economy, in which social and environmental goals are pursued alongside each other and in which no one will be left behind.
SDC should therefore focus on the triad of creating employment opportunities, supporting democratic labour organisations on the ground, including defending the necessary democratic space to enable them to engage in a meaningful and effective way, and lobby on workers’ rights, migration, social protection, and increased social dialogue with the respective relevant political stakeholders.
To respond to the specific question: The integration of Decent Work into one single domain might obstruct its visibility and therefore relevance within SDC, as well as a transversal cross-domain placement will likely do as well. For Solidar Suisse, inclusion in theEmployment & Income and Migration makes sense nevertheless.
> Question 2: Can you share any example of Swiss (or other) projects you know / from your portfolio that substantially contribute to one or several substantive elements of decent work (regardless of whether decent work is explicitly mentioned in the project title / objective or not)?
ForSolidar Suisse, «Decent Work» is one oft he three thematic pillars of intervention, therefore we can offer some variety of exemplary projects:
Cambodia: Using Public Data for Evidence-based Bargaining
The overall goal is to use publicly available data to increase the bargaining power of garment workers in Cambodia. More than 30,000 garment workers (majority women) will experience improved working conditions and better access to social protection. The expected outcomes are: 1) Increased quality of public data (primarily the BFC database) allowing grassroots workers to use it effectively to bring change; 2) Increased access to public data for trade union leaders and activists; 3) Increased skills and improved capacity on ‘evidence-based bargaining; 4) Increased access to social protection for the vulnerable and unprotected workers; improvement in implementation and quality of the existing protection.
Cambodia:CASMART Community Action for Safe Migration and Reduction of Trafficking
The project goal is to reduce incidences of human trafficking and other forms of exploitation in the Banteay Meanchey province in the Northwest region of Cambodia bordering with Thailand. The project will promote safe migration and making protection services available for vulnerable migrants and deportees. Around one million Cambodian migrants are working in Thailand, mostly undocumented. Key activities are: set up and strengthen capacity of community-based protection networks; form and build capacity of self-help groups in target communes; train students in target area on safe migration; train duty bearers on safe labour migration and victim identification; provide psychological, social and legal counselling and support and where necessary safe shelter to survivors of trafficking; support the re-integration of migrant returnees through vocational training; advocacy on national level for stronger pred-departure traiing, support and protection of migrant workers abroad and returnees.
Malaysia and Indonesia: Decent Work in Palm Oil The main goal of the palm oil project is to improve working conditions for Indonesian migrant workers in Sabah (East Malaysia). This will be achieved by: strengthening the outreach of trade unions; carrying out pre-departure trainings for migrant workers on labour rights and organisation in places of origin (East Nusa Tenggara and Sulawesi); strengthening the Transnational Palm Oil Labour Solidarity Network (TPOLS); continuing our research on labour rights violations and Occupational Health and Safety issues in the palm oil sector; engaging with and lobbying the palm oil business sector and certification schemes; international advocacy on labour rights violations in the Malaysian palm oil sector with the aim to ensuring the right of migrant workers to organize and bargain (e.g. through the ILO’s ILC). The project will also work on improving labour conditions in palm oil in Indonesia.
Bolivia:Programa Laboral
In this project, Solidar Suisse is working together with local trade union federations to help precariously employed sugar cane cutters and domestic workers. With further training and information campaigns as well as support for dialogue and negotiation with employers and the relevant authorities, Solidar helps to strengthen their rights. In training programs, trade unionists learn about the applicable laws and ways to enforce their rights. This knowledge is imparted at events, with the help of brochures or via radio programs. The unions lobby for better working conditions in negotiations with employers and in dialog with the state authorities. For example, the sugar cane cutters have been able to conclude agreements with companies to increase piecework wages and to obtain better health care and school access for their children from the municipalities.
Republic of South Africa: Casual Workers Advice Office Precarious labour is increasing throughout the South African economy, including the public sector. The forms of this labour constantly grow more precarious, a consequence of and further contributing to a collapsed labour movement. The result is a vast number of unorganised workers with no job security, low and fluctuating incomes, poor working conditions, with almost no knowledge of their rights, little if any organizational experience and yet to test out the extent of their collective power. The project via its partner organisation CWAO campaigns for precarious workers to be permanently and equitably employed by client companies. The CWAO programme for the next two years will consist of five inter-related areas of support for precarious workers. These are (1) organising and campaigns, with a developing regional focus to neighbouring countries (2) education on workers’ rights for trade union activists and workers, (3) legal advice and representation, (4) research and, (5) creation of media material (radio, visuals for online use, videos, booklets, newsletters, factsheets, and press articles).
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Rebuilding a reliable and efficient system of support for female workers in the textile and footwear sector Overall goal of this EU-funded project is the reduction of labour rights violations of female workers in the textile and footwear industry of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and improving their working and living conditions. The project strives to get reliable (evidence-based and representative) information on working conditions in the textile and footwear sector in BiHand to define specific legislative changes that will lead to the reduction of labour rights infringements. Furthermore, it targetsto strengthen the capacities of unions and CSOs to fight labour and human rights violations in the textile and footwear industry in BiHsuccessfully. Lastly, the projectsensitizes the general public and relevant decision-makers regarding rights violations, legal gaps and non-compliance with laws and standards in the textile and footwear industry in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Campaigns, Information, Sensitation The impact of local projects alone will not lead to the fulfilment of our vision, which is a just world free from exploitation of people and nature. Real change is needed in how and what the economy produces, in our consumption patterns, and in how our governments and the international community regulates economy and society. Thus, raising awareness and campaigning for this change remains a crucial work stream for Solidar Suisse. All campaigns feed on our experience in our focus or project countries, often being left out of the benefits of globalization, or even facing severe social, economic, or environmental damages. In recent years, Solidar Suisse has increased its campaigns for fair working conditions worldwide. These campaigns serve to promote the Decent Work Agenda in our countries, and to sensitize Swiss politics, companies, and population on the connection between sustainable consumption, trade and retail and better working conditions in producing countries. The campaigns aim at building awareness in Swiss society, improving conditions on the ground and pushing for the enforcement of international and national labour rights.
As an example, Solidar Suisse supports the push for a global ban of the use of all forms of asbestos, including chrysotile (white) asbestos, jointly with local, regional and international partner organisations. Our efforts in advocating for a ban or at least a better regulation of its trade in the framework of the Rotterdam Convention or the International Finance Institutions such as the ADB are sometimes supported by the relevant Swiss governmental agencies (e.g. FOEN, SECO).
With other interventions, Solidar Suisse targets to increase information and therefore action on relevant topics as child labour (e.g. in Burkina Faso), exploitation of palm oil plantation workers (e.g. in Malaysia) or on Swiss weak taxation regulations leading to tax evasion of multi-national corporations.
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<[Hidden email]<div>
May 5, 2021,
12:41 p.m.
Ashley Aarons
Dear all I'm really grateful to see this timely email chain. Before sharing some examples, I wanted to I guess ask for help on the topic - sorry for taking us off topic and sorry if there is an easy answer. I'm not sure how useful the term decent work is. I assume by it we mean the ILO definition, rather than a more generic idea of decent as something that is good. However under that definition am I right that very few of the jobs we support are decent, or at least those in rural contexts in more low income, fragile states. I think the ILO said this themselves here (Should We Create Decent Work or Make Work More Decent? Demystifying What Decent Work Means for Market System Development Projects) I imagine they may correct me though. So the approach then, which makes sense, is to focus not on decent work per se, but on the biggest decent work deficit - which in many cases is low income or lack of security of income, which is maybe what programs were doing anyway. So I think its useful to energize people and to provide a broad framework, and it may be more relevant in some contexts, but it also confuses people sometimes as they are told by their donor to create decent jobs when they aren't able to do so - and doing so may be a bad idea (i.e. to focus on a small number of fully decent jobs vs a larger number of semi decent jobs). If this is correct, the challenge may be to change how we talk about decent work - or how it is understood - to reflect this. Or to provide more guidance around its contextual use e.g. where we may want to lean on the whole framework or just parts As a connected but separate point, I would think something like focusing on a more basic 'acceptable quality' job as a minimum requirement may make more sense e.g. no forced labour, no exploitative child labour, accidents are zero or below national standards and work meets income threshold expectations and has a high expectation of sustainability. Maybe this presents the same challenges of having a minimum standard, but it may be more relevant to some contexts we work in? I hope Im wrong though - and these are just my views, not my employers,Thanks so much,Ashley
On Wednesday, 5 May 2021, 13:06:32 CEST, Bruno Essig <[Hidden email]<div class="original_message_link">Original message
> wrote:
Dear Colleagues,
In relation to Question 2 I'd like to share some information about Brücke · Le pont's programme approach, rather than specific project examples.
The Brücke · Le pont "Decent Work" programme takes an integrated, coherent, multidimensional approach based on a holistic model combining the following three strategic pillars:
1) Labour rights: Empower workers to demand and exercise their human and labour rights and provide advocacy for legal and structural improvements to working conditions
2) Vocational skills development (VSD): Develop vocational and social skills and provide support for labour market integration
3) Income generation: Support regionally significant value chains in order to generate employment and income opportunities
Subsequently, some details about the first two pillars, which are highly relevant for the topic of decent work.
1) Labour rights
The concept of Decent Work developed by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has been used as a frame of reference for the Brücke ∙ Le pont programme. Brücke ∙ Le pont works together with partner organisations which know and apply the relevant international conventions on labour law issues and national legislation in this field. Thus the topic of labour rights is also enshrined in projects whose focus is directed more at vocational skills development and promoting income generation. For example, all young people are informed of their labour rights in the course of their training and staff responsible for labour market integration ensure that, when projects are implemented, only company vacancies which meet certain criteria in terms of wages and social benefits are considered.
Brücke ∙ Le pont also supports projects aimed at employees in sectors with particularly precarious working conditions. These include the textile industry (maquila) in Central America as well as domestic work. Such sectors almost exclusively employ women from poor families. The partner organisations of Brücke ∙ Le pont teach workers about their rights, provide legal advice, give them support in cases of labour rights violations, raise awareness and lobby employers and parliamentarians. They also provide psychological support and refer women to medical care (especially if they are pregnant, rape victims or suffering from deprivation). Partner organisations encourage women to find strength through self-help, both on a personal, individual level and within society. Women are motivated to come together in groups and organisations to initiate and monitor changes in society.
2) Vocational skills development (VSD) and labour market integration
Brücke ∙ Le pont improves the skills of two distinct age groups: marginalised youth who have never had the opportunity to complete vocational training and have been unable to establish themselves in the labour market; and informally-employed adults, especially small-scale farmers and domestic workers who lack technical knowledge. The involvement of employers and state authorities (such as the Ministries of Education and Employment) is central to this. Allowing employers a say in the development of the curriculum ensures that courses respond to the demands and trends of the job market. At the same time, employers are made more aware of their responsibility to train qualified staff.
For Brücke ∙ Le pont, integration into the job market falls into the category of vocational skills development, because only when young people have access to jobs with decent working conditions can they secure their long-term earning potential and a reasonable standard of living. Brücke · Le pont encourages potential employers to become involved in vocational training projects at an early stage; for instance when preparing the curriculum or carrying out the practical element of the course. This increases the chances of graduates finding suitable internships and/or employment. One person in each of the project teams is responsible exclusively for labour market integration and for activities such as establishing contacts with businesses, helping young people prepare application documents, practising for interviews and connecting job-seekers and employers through job forums. Brücke · Le pont also promotes synergies between the partner organisations in this area. For instance, they share their contacts of interested companies and develop the aforementioned job platforms together.
Another method is to improve the occupational skills of people employed in the informal sector, such as domestic workers, on a case-by-case basis. State certification and public recognition of these vocational courses allow domestic workers to improve their image/reputation and their chances of obtaining decent working conditions. Brücke · Le pont is therefore intensifying its cooperation with state-recognised vocational training institutions and the responsible state authorities.
Kind regards,
Bruno
Bruno Essig
Programmverantwortlicher Zentralamerika
Responsable del Programa Centroamérica
Brücke · Le pont Rue St-Pierre 12 | 1700 Fribourg | www.bruecke-lepont.ch
[Hidden email]
Tel. 026 425 51 59 | Skype: bruno_essig
Arbeitstage: Mo-Do
From: [Hidden email] <[Hidden email]>On Behalf Of Klaus Thieme Sent: Wednesday, May 5, 2021 12:17 PM To: SDC Decent Work <[Hidden email]> Subject: [decentwork] E-discussion Decent Work - first topic: Stocktaking
Dear all
Thank you for the opportunity to engage into the important discussion on Decent work.
> Question 1: Where do you think SDC can and should focus in order to promote decent work in its partner countries – and why so? This can be within its employment & income and migration portfolio but also in other domains such as rule of law and justice and human rights/ governance programming at large.
Generally: Firstly, Solidar Suisse welcomes the Human-Rights Based Approach of the Leave No One Behind approach of SDC. Secondly, Solidar Suisse welcomes the chance of the Programmbeitrag financing because it enables development projects to address important and sustainable development issues which oftentimes are too complex for general funding appeals / public donations. Keeping this funding tool on its feet is therefore an urgent goal. Thirdly, the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals offers an answer to the question raised, namely, it’s all connected:Sustainable livelihoods and resilient communities,an equal, just and inclusive society, and a fair economy with decent work for all. The future of our societies and therefore the realm of work and economic life is also related to the reality and impact of climate change. We will only achieve a meaningful change when all actors enable aJust transition to a green economy, in which social and environmental goals are pursued alongside each other and in which no one will be left behind.
SDC should therefore focus on the triad of creating employment opportunities, supporting democratic labour organisations on the ground, including defending the necessary democratic space to enable them to engage in a meaningful and effective way, and lobby on workers’ rights, migration, social protection, and increased social dialogue with the respective relevant political stakeholders.
To respond to the specific question: The integration of Decent Work into one single domain might obstruct its visibility and therefore relevance within SDC, as well as a transversal cross-domain placement will likely do as well. For Solidar Suisse, inclusion in theEmployment & Income and Migration makes sense nevertheless.
> Question 2: Can you share any example of Swiss (or other) projects you know / from your portfolio that substantially contribute to one or several substantive elements of decent work (regardless of whether decent work is explicitly mentioned in the project title / objective or not)?
ForSolidar Suisse, «Decent Work» is one oft he three thematic pillars of intervention, therefore we can offer some variety of exemplary projects:
Cambodia: Using Public Data for Evidence-based Bargaining
The overall goal is to use publicly available data to increase the bargaining power of garment workers in Cambodia. More than 30,000 garment workers (majority women) will experience improved working conditions and better access to social protection. The expected outcomes are: 1) Increased quality of public data (primarily the BFC database) allowing grassroots workers to use it effectively to bring change; 2) Increased access to public data for trade union leaders and activists; 3) Increased skills and improved capacity on ‘evidence-based bargaining; 4) Increased access to social protection for the vulnerable and unprotected workers; improvement in implementation and quality of the existing protection.
Cambodia:CASMART Community Action for Safe Migration and Reduction of Trafficking
The project goal is to reduce incidences of human trafficking and other forms of exploitation in the Banteay Meanchey province in the Northwest region of Cambodia bordering with Thailand. The project will promote safe migration and making protection services available for vulnerable migrants and deportees. Around one million Cambodian migrants are working in Thailand, mostly undocumented. Key activities are: set up and strengthen capacity of community-based protection networks; form and build capacity of self-help groups in target communes; train students in target area on safe migration; train duty bearers on safe labour migration and victim identification; provide psychological, social and legal counselling and support and where necessary safe shelter to survivors of trafficking; support the re-integration of migrant returnees through vocational training; advocacy on national level for stronger pred-departure traiing, support and protection of migrant workers abroad and returnees.
Malaysia and Indonesia: Decent Work in Palm Oil The main goal of the palm oil project is to improve working conditions for Indonesian migrant workers in Sabah (East Malaysia). This will be achieved by: strengthening the outreach of trade unions; carrying out pre-departure trainings for migrant workers on labour rights and organisation in places of origin (East Nusa Tenggara and Sulawesi); strengthening the Transnational Palm Oil Labour Solidarity Network (TPOLS); continuing our research on labour rights violations and Occupational Health and Safety issues in the palm oil sector; engaging with and lobbying the palm oil business sector and certification schemes; international advocacy on labour rights violations in the Malaysian palm oil sector with the aim to ensuring the right of migrant workers to organize and bargain (e.g. through the ILO’s ILC). The project will also work on improving labour conditions in palm oil in Indonesia.
Bolivia:Programa Laboral
In this project, Solidar Suisse is working together with local trade union federations to help precariously employed sugar cane cutters and domestic workers. With further training and information campaigns as well as support for dialogue and negotiation with employers and the relevant authorities, Solidar helps to strengthen their rights. In training programs, trade unionists learn about the applicable laws and ways to enforce their rights. This knowledge is imparted at events, with the help of brochures or via radio programs. The unions lobby for better working conditions in negotiations with employers and in dialog with the state authorities. For example, the sugar cane cutters have been able to conclude agreements with companies to increase piecework wages and to obtain better health care and school access for their children from the municipalities.
Republic of South Africa: Casual Workers Advice Office Precarious labour is increasing throughout the South African economy, including the public sector. The forms of this labour constantly grow more precarious, a consequence of and further contributing to a collapsed labour movement. The result is a vast number of unorganised workers with no job security, low and fluctuating incomes, poor working conditions, with almost no knowledge of their rights, little if any organizational experience and yet to test out the extent of their collective power. The project via its partner organisation CWAO campaigns for precarious workers to be permanently and equitably employed by client companies. The CWAO programme for the next two years will consist of five inter-related areas of support for precarious workers. These are (1) organising and campaigns, with a developing regional focus to neighbouring countries (2) education on workers’ rights for trade union activists and workers, (3) legal advice and representation, (4) research and, (5) creation of media material (radio, visuals for online use, videos, booklets, newsletters, factsheets, and press articles).
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Rebuilding a reliable and efficient system of support for female workers in the textile and footwear sector Overall goal of this EU-funded project is the reduction of labour rights violations of female workers in the textile and footwear industry of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and improving their working and living conditions. The project strives to get reliable (evidence-based and representative) information on working conditions in the textile and footwear sector in BiHand to define specific legislative changes that will lead to the reduction of labour rights infringements. Furthermore, it targetsto strengthen the capacities of unions and CSOs to fight labour and human rights violations in the textile and footwear industry in BiHsuccessfully. Lastly, the projectsensitizes the general public and relevant decision-makers regarding rights violations, legal gaps and non-compliance with laws and standards in the textile and footwear industry in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Campaigns, Information, Sensitation The impact of local projects alone will not lead to the fulfilment of our vision, which is a just world free from exploitation of people and nature. Real change is needed in how and what the economy produces, in our consumption patterns, and in how our governments and the international community regulates economy and society. Thus, raising awareness and campaigning for this change remains a crucial work stream for Solidar Suisse. All campaigns feed on our experience in our focus or project countries, often being left out of the benefits of globalization, or even facing severe social, economic, or environmental damages. In recent years, Solidar Suisse has increased its campaigns for fair working conditions worldwide. These campaigns serve to promote the Decent Work Agenda in our countries, and to sensitize Swiss politics, companies, and population on the connection between sustainable consumption, trade and retail and better working conditions in producing countries. The campaigns aim at building awareness in Swiss society, improving conditions on the ground and pushing for the enforcement of international and national labour rights.
As an example, Solidar Suisse supports the push for a global ban of the use of all forms of asbestos, including chrysotile (white) asbestos, jointly with local, regional and international partner organisations. Our efforts in advocating for a ban or at least a better regulation of its trade in the framework of the Rotterdam Convention or the International Finance Institutions such as the ADB are sometimes supported by the relevant Swiss governmental agencies (e.g. FOEN, SECO).
With other interventions, Solidar Suisse targets to increase information and therefore action on relevant topics as child labour (e.g. in Burkina Faso), exploitation of palm oil plantation workers (e.g. in Malaysia) or on Swiss weak taxation regulations leading to tax evasion of multi-national corporations.
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May 5, 2021,
11:04 a.m.
Bruno Essig
Dear Colleagues,
In relation to Question 2 I'd like to share some information about Brücke · Le pont's programme approach, rather than specific project examples.
The Brücke · Le pont "Decent Work" programme takes an integrated, coherent, multidimensional approach based on a holistic model combining the following three strategic pillars: 1) Labour rights: Empower workers to demand and exercise their human and labour rights and provide advocacy for legal and structural improvements to working conditions 2) Vocational skills development (VSD): Develop vocational and social skills and provide support for labour market integration 3) Income generation: Support regionally significant value chains in order to generate employment and income opportunities
Subsequently, some details about the first two pillars, which are highly relevant for the topic of decent work.
1) Labour rights The concept of Decent Work developed by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has been used as a frame of reference for the Brücke ∙ Le pont programme. Brücke ∙ Le pont works together with partner organisations which know and apply the relevant international conventions on labour law issues and national legislation in this field. Thus the topic of labour rights is also enshrined in projects whose focus is directed more at vocational skills development and promoting income generation. For example, all young people are informed of their labour rights in the course of their training and staff responsible for labour market integration ensure that, when projects are implemented, only company vacancies which meet certain criteria in terms of wages and social benefits are considered. Brücke ∙ Le pont also supports projects aimed at employees in sectors with particularly precarious working conditions. These include the textile industry (maquila) in Central America as well as domestic work. Such sectors almost exclusively employ women from poor families. The partner organisations of Brücke ∙ Le pont teach workers about their rights, provide legal advice, give them support in cases of labour rights violations, raise awareness and lobby employers and parliamentarians. They also provide psychological support and refer women to medical care (especially if they are pregnant, rape victims or suffering from deprivation). Partner organisations encourage women to find strength through self-help, both on a personal, individual level and within society. Women are motivated to come together in groups and organisations to initiate and monitor changes in society.
2) Vocational skills development (VSD) and labour market integration Brücke ∙ Le pont improves the skills of two distinct age groups: marginalised youth who have never had the opportunity to complete vocational training and have been unable to establish themselves in the labour market; and informally-employed adults, especially small-scale farmers and domestic workers who lack technical knowledge. The involvement of employers and state authorities (such as the Ministries of Education and Employment) is central to this. Allowing employers a say in the development of the curriculum ensures that courses respond to the demands and trends of the job market. At the same time, employers are made more aware of their responsibility to train qualified staff. For Brücke ∙ Le pont, integration into the job market falls into the category of vocational skills development, because only when young people have access to jobs with decent working conditions can they secure their long-term earning potential and a reasonable standard of living. Brücke · Le pont encourages potential employers to become involved in vocational training projects at an early stage; for instance when preparing the curriculum or carrying out the practical element of the course. This increases the chances of graduates finding suitable internships and/or employment. One person in each of the project teams is responsible exclusively for labour market integration and for activities such as establishing contacts with businesses, helping young people prepare application documents, practising for interviews and connecting job-seekers and employers through job forums. Brücke · Le pont also promotes synergies between the partner organisations in this area. For instance, they share their contacts of interested companies and develop the aforementioned job platforms together. Another method is to improve the occupational skills of people employed in the informal sector, such as domestic workers, on a case-by-case basis. State certification and public recognition of these vocational courses allow domestic workers to improve their image/reputation and their chances of obtaining decent working conditions. Brücke · Le pont is therefore intensifying its cooperation with state-recognised vocational training institutions and the responsible state authorities.
Kind regards, Bruno
Bruno Essig Programmverantwortlicher Zentralamerika Responsable del Programa Centroamérica
[Logo] <https: www.bruecke-lepont.ch="">
Brücke · Le pont Rue St-Pierre 12 | 1700 Fribourg | www.bruecke-lepont.ch <https: www.bruecke-lepont.ch=""> [Hidden email] <mailto:[Hidden email]> Tel. 026 425 51 59 | Skype: bruno_essig Arbeitstage: Mo-Do
May 5, 2021,
10:23 a.m.
[Hidden email]
Dear all, Below our team contribution for Burkina Faso and Togo
Question 1. Regarding research on decent work, our team conducted two studies in Burkina Faso and Togo, investigating the conceptualization of decent work from the perspective of Sub-saharan Africa populations. Four main features defining decent work from the perspective of Togolese participants: provide basic requirements (fair compensation, health, and safety, adequate work environment, availability of working tools and instruments, respect of legal norms, respects of local traditions, appropriate schedule), enable one’s a professional development (learning, skills development), make one feel productive, and be a source of pleasure. Moreover, five categories of needs that decent work should meet were identified: vital (daily needs, accommodation), psychological (autonomy, self-esteem, meaning), social (social usefulness, contribution to society), engagement, and status-related. Full paper here (https://journals.co.za/doi/abs/10.4102/ajcd.v2i1.8). Similar results are found in Burkina Faso (research in progress). We saw that both universal and culture-specific features of decent work exist in those contexts.
Question 2. The issues of health insurance and pension contributions are crucial for workers in the informal sector, which is very important in Sub-Saharan Africa. For example, in Togo, the informal sector includes 3.5 million workers (representing around 40% of the overall country population). Although the informal sector is precarious, it includes economically viable small businesses and self-employment. Encouraging mechanisms for these workers to contribute to pensions and health insurance (as formal sector employees do have) would be very helpful in promoting decent work in these areas. Indeed, "decent" jobs according to the ILO terminology (health insurance, pension...) are mostly provided by the formal sector (civil service, large private companies). In Togo and Burkina Faso, arrangements are being made to extend the compulsory health insurance scheme to the informal sector. Such a mechanism for the informal sector needs to be supported as well as the one of pension contribution.
King regards,
Kokou Atitsogbe <https: applicationspub.unil.ch="" interpub="" noauth="" php="" un="" unpers.php?pernum="1176682&LanCode=37&menu=coord"> Research officer r4d Project Coordinator <https: cepco="" en="" home="" menuinst="" research="" research-projects="" travail-decent.html="" www.unil.ch=""> CePCO <https: cepco="" en="" home.html="" www.unil.ch="">, Institute of Psychology University of Lausanne Géopolis 4231 Office: +41 21 692 32 74 Fax: +41 21 692 32 65 E-mail: [Hidden email] <mailto:[Hidden email]> <mailto:[Hidden email]> CH-1015 Lausanne ________________________________ De : [Hidden email] <[Hidden email]> de la part de Ameena Chowdhury <[Hidden email]> Envoyé : mercredi 5 mai 2021 11:05:32 À : SDC Decent Work Objet : [decentwork] RE: E-discussion Decent Work - first topic: Stocktaking
Dear colleagues
Some information from Bangladesh relating to Question 1.
Bangladesh has a workforce of around 65 million people, of which 86% work in micro, small and medium size enterprises, in the informal economy. In the current COVID-19 context, the informal economy has been most affected due to the high concentration of the workforce, weak resilience of businesses and limited access to available stimulus packages. The SMEs have to simultaneously tackle the social and economic repercussions.
Currently, SDC sees the need to focus on resilience building of SMEs in the informal economy, where skills development, coupled with decent work elements, need to be supported. Addressing decent work in the informal sector brings in additional challenges due to weak (and at times, lack of) regulations, poor monitoring systems, limited resources and lack of incentives. The pandemic situation has further added on to these challenges by placing this topic on the back burner since most enterprises are now in a survival mode. Hence SDC’s current approach by combining business development services for enterprise development with workplace-based training, in select sectors, will contribute to creating more, better and inclusive jobs. As the interventions progress, in the current volatile context, SDC will be able to learn more and monitor how to better promote decent work, when it comes to building resilience and transitioning into economic recovery.
Regards Ameena
Ameena Chowdhury Programme Manager – Income and Economic Development
Embassy of Switzerland in Bangladesh
Bay’s Edge Water, Level 8, Plot 12 North Avenue, Gulshan 2, Dhaka 1212 Bangladesh Tel. +88 02 5505 1601 (hunting) Fax +88 02 5505 1614 [Hidden email] <mailto:ameena.chowdhury@eda.admin.ch> www.eda.admin.ch/dhaka Follow us on Social Media [cid:image010.png@01D63769.A1926CF0] <https: swissembassy.dhaka="" www.facebook.com="">
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May 5, 2021,
10:16 a.m.
Klaus Thieme
Dear all
Thank you for the opportunity to engage into the important discussion on Decent work.
> Question 1: Where do you think SDC can and should focus in order to promote decent work in its partner countries – and why so? This can be within its employment & income and migration portfolio but also in other domains such as rule of law and justice and human rights/ governance programming at large.
Generally: Firstly, Solidar Suisse welcomes the Human-Rights Based Approach of the Leave No One Behind approach of SDC. Secondly, Solidar Suisse welcomes the chance of the Programmbeitrag financing because it enables development projects to address important and sustainable development issues which oftentimes are too complex for general funding appeals / public donations. Keeping this funding tool on its feet is therefore an urgent goal. Thirdly, the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals offers an answer to the question raised, namely, it’s all connected: Sustainable livelihoods and resilient communities, an equal, just and inclusive society, and a fair economy with decent work for all. The future of our societies and therefore the realm of work and economic life is also related to the reality and impact of climate change. We will only achieve a meaningful change when all actors enable a Just transition to a green economy, in which social and environmental goals are pursued alongside each other and in which no one will be left behind.
SDC should therefore focus on the triad of creating employment opportunities, supporting democratic labour organisations on the ground, including defending the necessary democratic space to enable them to engage in a meaningful and effective way, and lobby on workers’ rights, migration, social protection, and increased social dialogue with the respective relevant political stakeholders.
To respond to the specific question: The integration of Decent Work into one single domain might obstruct its visibility and therefore relevance within SDC, as well as a transversal cross-domain placement will likely do as well. For Solidar Suisse, inclusion in the Employment & Income and Migration makes sense nevertheless.
> Question 2: Can you share any example of Swiss (or other) projects you know / from your portfolio that substantially contribute to one or several substantive elements of decent work (regardless of whether decent work is explicitly mentioned in the project title / objective or not)?
For Solidar Suisse <https: solidar.ch="">, «Decent Work» is one oft he three thematic pillars of intervention, therefore we can offer some variety of exemplary projects:
Cambodia: Using Public Data for Evidence-based Bargaining The overall goal is to use publicly available data to increase the bargaining power of garment workers in Cambodia. More than 30,000 garment workers (majority women) will experience improved working conditions and better access to social protection. The expected outcomes are: 1) Increased quality of public data (primarily the BFC database) allowing grassroots workers to use it effectively to bring change; 2) Increased access to public data for trade union leaders and activists; 3) Increased skills and improved capacity on ‘evidence-based bargaining; 4) Increased access to social protection for the vulnerable and unprotected workers; improvement in implementation and quality of the existing protection.
Cambodia: CASMART Community Action for Safe Migration and Reduction of Trafficking The project goal is to reduce incidences of human trafficking and other forms of exploitation in the Banteay Meanchey province in the Northwest region of Cambodia bordering with Thailand. The project will promote safe migration and making protection services available for vulnerable migrants and deportees. Around one million Cambodian migrants are working in Thailand, mostly undocumented. Key activities are: set up and strengthen capacity of community-based protection networks; form and build capacity of self-help groups in target communes; train students in target area on safe migration; train duty bearers on safe labour migration and victim identification; provide psychological, social and legal counselling and support and where necessary safe shelter to survivors of trafficking; support the re-integration of migrant returnees through vocational training; advocacy on national level for stronger pred-departure traiing, support and protection of migrant workers abroad and returnees.
Malaysia and Indonesia: Decent Work in Palm Oil The main goal of the palm oil project is to improve working conditions for Indonesian migrant workers in Sabah (East Malaysia). This will be achieved by: strengthening the outreach of trade unions; carrying out pre-departure trainings for migrant workers on labour rights and organisation in places of origin (East Nusa Tenggara and Sulawesi); strengthening the Transnational Palm Oil Labour Solidarity Network (TPOLS); continuing our research on labour rights violations and Occupational Health and Safety issues in the palm oil sector; engaging with and lobbying the palm oil business sector and certification schemes; international advocacy on labour rights violations in the Malaysian palm oil sector with the aim to ensuring the right of migrant workers to organize and bargain (e.g. through the ILO’s ILC). The project will also work on improving labour conditions in palm oil in Indonesia.
Bolivia: Programa Laboral In this project, Solidar Suisse is working together with local trade union federations to help precariously employed sugar cane cutters and domestic workers. With further training and information campaigns as well as support for dialogue and negotiation with employers and the relevant authorities, Solidar helps to strengthen their rights. In training programs, trade unionists learn about the applicable laws and ways to enforce their rights. This knowledge is imparted at events, with the help of brochures or via radio programs. The unions lobby for better working conditions in negotiations with employers and in dialog with the state authorities. For example, the sugar cane cutters have been able to conclude agreements with companies to increase piecework wages and to obtain better health care and school access for their children from the municipalities.
Republic of South Africa: Casual Workers Advice Office Precarious labour is increasing throughout the South African economy, including the public sector. The forms of this labour constantly grow more precarious, a consequence of and further contributing to a collapsed labour movement. The result is a vast number of unorganised workers with no job security, low and fluctuating incomes, poor working conditions, with almost no knowledge of their rights, little if any organizational experience and yet to test out the extent of their collective power. The project via its partner organisation CWAO campaigns for precarious workers to be permanently and equitably employed by client companies. The CWAO programme for the next two years will consist of five inter-related areas of support for precarious workers. These are (1) organising and campaigns, with a developing regional focus to neighbouring countries (2) education on workers’ rights for trade union activists and workers, (3) legal advice and representation, (4) research and, (5) creation of media material (radio, visuals for online use, videos, booklets, newsletters, factsheets, and press articles).
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Rebuilding a reliable and efficient system of support for female workers in the textile and footwear sector Overall goal of this EU-funded project is the reduction of labour rights violations of female workers in the textile and footwear industry of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and improving their working and living conditions. The project strives to get reliable (evidence-based and representative) information on working conditions in the textile and footwear sector in BiH and to define specific legislative changes that will lead to the reduction of labour rights infringements. Furthermore, it targets to strengthen the capacities of unions and CSOs to fight labour and human rights violations in the textile and footwear industry in BiH successfully. Lastly, the project sensitizes the general public and relevant decision-makers regarding rights violations, legal gaps and non-compliance with laws and standards in the textile and footwear industry in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Campaigns, Information, Sensitation The impact of local projects alone will not lead to the fulfilment of our vision, which is a just world free from exploitation of people and nature. Real change is needed in how and what the economy produces, in our consumption patterns, and in how our governments and the international community regulates economy and society. Thus, raising awareness and campaigning for this change remains a crucial work stream for Solidar Suisse. All campaigns feed on our experience in our focus or project countries, often being left out of the benefits of globalization, or even facing severe social, economic, or environmental damages. In recent years, Solidar Suisse has increased its campaigns for fair working conditions worldwide. These campaigns serve to promote the Decent Work Agenda in our countries, and to sensitize Swiss politics, companies, and population on the connection between sustainable consumption, trade and retail and better working conditions in producing countries. The campaigns aim at building awareness in Swiss society, improving conditions on the ground and pushing for the enforcement of international and national labour rights.
As an example, Solidar Suisse supports the push for a global ban of the use of all forms of asbestos, including chrysotile (white) asbestos, jointly with local, regional and international partner organisations. Our efforts in advocating for a ban or at least a better regulation of its trade in the framework of the Rotterdam Convention or the International Finance Institutions such as the ADB are sometimes supported by the relevant Swiss governmental agencies (e.g. FOEN, SECO).
With other interventions, Solidar Suisse targets to increase information and therefore action on relevant topics as child labour (e.g. in Burkina Faso), exploitation of palm oil plantation workers (e.g. in Malaysia) or on Swiss weak taxation regulations leading to tax evasion of multi-national corporations.
Some information from Bangladesh relating to Question 1.
Bangladesh has a workforce of around 65 million people, of which 86% work in micro, small and medium size enterprises, in the informal economy. In the current COVID-19 context, the informal economy has been most affected due to the high concentration of the workforce, weak resilience of businesses and limited access to available stimulus packages. The SMEs have to simultaneously tackle the social and economic repercussions.
Currently, SDC sees the need to focus on resilience building of SMEs in the informal economy, where skills development, coupled with decent work elements, need to be supported. Addressing decent work in the informal sector brings in additional challenges due to weak (and at times, lack of) regulations, poor monitoring systems, limited resources and lack of incentives. The pandemic situation has further added on to these challenges by placing this topic on the back burner since most enterprises are now in a survival mode. Hence SDC’s current approach by combining business development services for enterprise development with workplace-based training, in select sectors, will contribute to creating more, better and inclusive jobs. As the interventions progress, in the current volatile context, SDC will be able to learn more and monitor how to better promote decent work, when it comes to building resilience and transitioning into economic recovery.
Regards Ameena
Ameena Chowdhury Programme Manager – Income and Economic Development
Embassy of Switzerland in Bangladesh
Bay’s Edge Water, Level 8, Plot 12 North Avenue, Gulshan 2, Dhaka 1212 Bangladesh Tel. +88 02 5505 1601 (hunting) Fax +88 02 5505 1614 [Hidden email] <mailto:ameena.chowdhury@eda.admin.ch> www.eda.admin.ch/dhaka Follow us on Social Media [cid:image010.png@01D63769.A1926CF0] <https: swissembassy.dhaka="" www.facebook.com="">
This email may contain trade secrets of privileged, undisclosed or otherwise confidential information. If you have received this email in error, you are hereby notified that any review, copying or distribution of it is strictly prohibited. Please inform us immediately and destroy the original transmital. Thank you for your cooperation.
May 5, 2021,
7:46 a.m.
[Hidden email]
Since 2014, Switzerland through the Global Programme on Migration and Development has been supporting has been supporting multiple projects in South Asia at the policy and operational level related to various aspects of labour migration. The programme through civil society partnerships direct support to migrant workers and their families related to access to justice, safe migration information. Through collecting evidence from grassroot communities the programme also influences policy discourses at the national and regional level on the topic of ethical recruitment, remittances, labour market analysis, pre departure orientation and empowerment and skills.
Through sharing/learning good practices between different countries and agreeing on a shared vision governments in South Asia can improve the migration governance framework on the migration governance framework highlighted above which ultimately benefits migrant workers adn their families seek safe and informed migration along with greater access to Decent Work Opportunities.
May 5, 2021,
6:08 a.m.
[Hidden email]
Many thanks for this opportunity – enjoying the exchanges and looking forward to more. My response to the questions is in the opposite order – intentionally. Question 2: can you provide examples of Swiss projects that contribute to promoting Decent work The ILO, in Lao PDR, with funding from SDC has recently launched a private sector driven project aimed at supporting MSMEs become more resilient following the negative impact of Covid 19 (https://www.ilo.org/asia/projects/WCMS_778424/lang--en/index.htm). This clearly links to the DW indicator on employment promotion (through the MSME sector), and its implementation sits firmly with the DW indicator on Social dialogue as the project is hosted within the Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (the leading employers organization recognized by the ILO in Lao PDR). The project demonstrates how Decent Work principles/values can be incorporated in private sector development without being rigid, but rather demonstrating and making a business case for promoting decent work. One that encourages gradual formalization and income generation which eventually will lead to more and better jobs, Decent Jobs. Specific project objectives include • Enhancing information channels for MSMEs for access to financial and business services (with a focus on COVID19 official information and support programmes) • Addressing barriers SMEs face in accessing finance (informal sector, lack of business and financial management systems) • Provision of BDS services using tools adapted to the Lao context The project is in its initial stages, but the strategy and project implementation will draw from ILOs previous work in Lao PDR (and the region) focusing on innovative and low cost ways to deliver support services to national institutions and associations. Key successes on which the new SDC project will build from include
• Support to local actors (the National SME Service Center and the BDS Network) to deliver services using innovative, activity based, low-cost, peer-to-peer learning tools allowing for a responsive, scalable and sustainable development approach- unlike what has been in existence in Laos. • Support to the ‘Laos Entrepreneurship Day model’ where Business Planning modules were delivered to 190 youth at low cost using activity based learning (without the need for experts) • Continued use of the nationally adopted ‘Laos In Business’ tool, aimed at bridging the divide between SMEs and Commercial Banks. This has continued to be used in country even without the ILO project • Partnership with 8 commercial banks that approved and agreed to collaborate with the ILO to promote SME Access to Finance Question 2: where do you think SDC can and should focus in order to promote decent work in its partner countries – and why so?
SDCs focus in order to promote decent work, should be on systemic approaches to more and better jobs through the MSME sector. An approach that aims to address the root causes of any challenges. Focus should be on delivery models which place local actors and institutions at the center of solutions, position employers, govt and workers to understand the challenges and jointly adapt and test delivery models for sustainability and scale. The focus needs to be on market driven solutions that are low cost and developed through consultative processes, without the need for costly external expertise.
May 4, 2021,
11:54 a.m.
Helen Bradbury
Dear All, Dear Roel,
(In reference to Question 2)
Thank you very much Roel, you said it all and more.
I'm just adding the link to the BEAM webinar we did on the topic and a quick reflection on how doing the study shaped our perspective.
I liked that in soliciting replies for this session and this question, it was stated that the programme examples didn’t have to have decent work specified in their title/objective. I think this is important, as sometimes the classification of programmes and the idea of what it is that they do and don’t typically include in their portfolio, can mean that interventions and impact can be missed due to external categorization e.g. what is and isn’t included in a review or in the planning process or even in terms of changes missed by the programmes themselves.
In our own case we didn’t have this focus on decent work. But the ILO study on our work in the dairy sector that Roel has highlighted, clearly showed the development of decent work as a product of programme interventions. The ALCP as explained by Roel, is often described as a 'value chain project' and is one in agriculture/ livestock and hence decent work might not be something that is highlighted or expected. However as MSD interventions involve predominantly working with SME's within the various sectors (inputs, dairy, meat, honey, wool) job creation inevitably (although perhaps further down the line within the programme lifetime) becomes part of the project's impact. In my own reflection on how doing this study has impacted our programme practice, I pulled out three main points:
That from now on we would have a sharper focus on jobs; the benefit of jobs and the conditions needed for decent jobs.
That this would provide us with an enhanced lens to help define and formulate strategy, interventions and impact for future programming
That formalization and with it decent jobs within formalized enterprises mean better resilience e.g. formalized enterprises showed considerable resilience during COVID-19 in their ability for example to process news and restrictions and petition for exemptions to travel bans etc., to develop alternative product lines, to manage the downturn by reducing staff hours rather than losing positions.
It is also very noticeable in terms of benefit, that the income impact from Full Time Job Equivalents is substantial when compared with net attributable income from sales, reduced transaction costs and losses or increases in productivity. Not to mention significant qualitative benefits like being able to obtain loans on the strength of signed contracts, or offering avenues for a decent work life within the community. Decent work offers very significant benefit to the target group and thus should be considered at all stages of the programme process.
Yours
Helen
Helen Bradbury Team Leader Mercy Corps Alliances Caucasus Programme +995 595560069 Skype: helen.bradbury (Tbilisi) www.alcp.ge
May 4, 2021,
11:13 a.m.
Va Ros
Dear Colleagues,
Thanks for sharing the inputs. In the meantime, I would like to share the experience from SDC projects in Cambodia with regard to the two questions as follows:
Question 1: Now that you have learned about the four pillars of the decent work agenda and the ten ‘substantive elements’, as well as the anchoring of decent work in the international human right framework, where do you think SDC can and should focus in order to promote decent work in its partner countries – and why so? This can be within its employment & income and migration portfolio but also in other domains such as rule of law and justice and human rights/ governance programming at large.
On the experience with related to E&I and migration, , I think SDC should work with government and the private sector to improve the decent work. When supporting the government, it shall convince to include the key elements of decent work in the regulatory framework and policies. SDC ought to work closely with the private sector as it also plays a crucial role to achieving the definitions of decent work, ultimately for target populations. The elements of decent work should be addressed at the policy level, and operational level, including integration in the training curriculum packages so that the target populations are aware of and are able to exercise. SDC may join like-minded development partners and key actors to maximize the impact and influence for decent work.
> Question 2: Can you share any example of Swiss (or other) projects you know / from your portfolio that substantially contribute to one or several substantive elements of decent work (regardless of whether decent work is explicitly mentioned in the project title / objective or not)?
The key elements of decent work are explicitly in the project documents. All the SDC-funded projects here in Cambodia contribute to substantive elements of the decent work, in particular the 1st, 2nd and 4th pillar, with the following aspects. First, Decent Employment For Youth 2020-2023 is a phase 2 four-year project with the goal ‘Young women and men increasingly obtain decent and productive employment opportunities’. The project works with the government, employers and trade unions to improve the various substances of the decent work for learners and youth. Some specific indicators and targets at the impact and outcome level, including formal employment, increasing income, were clearly defined in the logframe. The example of the impact indicator for the policy level: Specific objectives and measurable targets for decent employment of young women and men in the national strategies and actions plans of the industrial development policy, National Employment policy, TVET policy as well as youth policy’. Second, Skills Development Programme which is at the 2nd phase (2021-2024) also focuses on the decent work. The project goal ‘Disadvantaged young women and men and low-skilled workers have gained access to decent employment opportunities and increased income’. Similarly, the project measures key substances of the decent work, such as # of graduates having contract, gainful employment, and increased income. Lastly, we have another project on PROMISE (Migration and Skills Development), focusing on (i) ethical recruitment of the private recruitment agencies, (ii) promoting the rights of migrant workers, including safe migration, (iii) reintegration of returnees to access employment and skills development. In addition, the project has established solid partnerships with the private sector (private recruitment agencies and associations and employers) to introduce and deliver the soft and technical skills for enhancing the employability of migrant workers in Thailand.
Warm regards,
Va Ros Programme Manager Skills Development and Employment Swiss Cooperation Office and Consular Agency in Cambodia Tel: +855 23 218 305 / 209 Mobile: +855 89 666 091
May 4, 2021,
10:36 a.m.
Katrin Rosenberg
Dear all
Drafted earlier, but I am very happy to see that I am complementing colleagues from Sri Lanka and share further reflections from a migration perspective on Q1 and Q2, on behalf of the SIMS project, HELVETAS Bangladesh
SIMS stands for Strengthened and Informative Migration Systems, and is part of the portfolio of the migration domain of SDC Bangladesh. The project is implemented by HELVETAS and local partners. Therefore, this contribution focuses more on the migration sector.
In the sector, we oftentimes speak about "promoting decent work" for migrant workers. And of course, we all have some ideas on what decent work is at least by common sense. However, when reading the input paper, I realized that I was not fully aware of the 4 pillars and 10 essential elements it actually contains. So, it's a good initiative of SDC to promote this concept as well among colleagues and projects, among others through this e-discussion.
In the labour migration sector, an additional challenge is that decent work can only be indirectly promoted, as oftentimes, we – as Helvetas – only work in the countries of origin, with limited outreach to the destination countries. What we do, is to raise awareness on the rights of migrant workers and support them to claim those rights, both in the sending and destination countries. It is thus important that SDC continues to work on both sides of the labour migration corridors to promote decent work in the destination countries, and ensures that projects working on both sides of the corridor are well linked, use synergies and contribute to each other – living the corridor approach. This is in particular also relevant for skills development, which I realize is not mentioned in the 10 elements. The better skilled the migrant worker is, the better his job opportunities, salaries and also oftentimes his life and social skills to navigate the different world of employment, and maintain and negotiate relationships with the employers. However, a huge challenge we find is the limited availability of skills trainings in the countries of origin which meet the demand of the destination countries, and are on top of that ideally recognized by them. Adding a skilling component to a migration project may oftentimes not be possible as it may overload a project, given the complexity of the topic and the challenges known in terms of designing demand driven curricula. But further concrete linkages between VSD and migration projects could be strengthened, or even a fully-fledged VSD project focusing on skills for MW?
Katrin Rosenberg Teamleader SIMS - Strengthened and Informative Migration Systems
Development aid works - and it works for generations. Have a look at these stories <https: en="" partner-for-true-change_2018="" switzerland="" vision-mission="" who-we-are="" www.helvetas.org=""> about real change
May 4, 2021,
9:52 a.m.
Roel Hakemulder
*Dear all, find below a contributions by Roel Hakemulder, slightly formated by the moderators. Thanks, Roel!*
A recent study (see https://beamexchange.org/resources/1355/) of the impact of the Alliances Caucasus Programme (ALCP) on enterprise and employment formalisation in the dairy market system (Better cheese, better work) found that the quality of work had improved within the context of an improved food safety regulatory environment and increased demand for dairy products (cheese in particular) that met HACCP standards. The first was mostly driven by the 2014 Association Agreement between the EU and Georgia. ALCP contributed to its effectiveness by building capacity of the relevant food safety agency. The second was the result of greater access to urban markets, where consumers overwhelmingly prefer standards compliant cheese. ALCP's facilitation enabled dairy enterprises to develop and meet standards, where before cheese was made and marketed by dairy farmers, women in particular. The impact on quality of work: better incomes for farmers, who now sell fresh, high quality milk to the dairy enterprises, savings in time and heavy work on cheese making (for women in particular, on average 3 hours per day), income stability and security due to contracts between farmers and enterprises, access to training, information and business services (developed with ALCP support, e.g. vets, vet pharmacies, improved feed) and greater gender equality (as women generally receive the income from milk). In dairy enterprises jobs were created in dairy enterprises that are well-paid compared to their informal counterparts and other jobs in their communities, provide income security, with employer-employee written or verbal agreements adhered to, access to training and information, a safe working environment and equal pay for women and men. Sustainability of the dairy enterprises was enhanced by ALCP's facilitation of development of services in the market system. The findings indicate the importance of an improved and effective regulatory framework, including labour legislation, for enhancing the quality of work. In turn this could indicate that this should be an important focus of SDC's work. An improved regulatory framework provides a carrot (market access) as well as a stick (closure of the enterprise). More generally the findings indicate that that where a changing market system provides incentives to producers and enterprises to formalise, work will become more decent. But incentives for improving job quality do not necessarily come from a more effective regulation. An ILO programme I was involved in 10 years ago or so found that even when the regulatory environment for decent work is weak (as in most countries outside the industrialised world), business owners will offer better working conditions if this can be shown to have a positive effect on productivity and market access. This is usually easiest to demonstrate for improvements in safety, health and organisation in the workplace. This could be another avenue SDC projects could take.
I would have left it to Helen Bradbury of ALCP to write this message, but since she did not yet I hope she'll forgive me for the inadequate summary :-). Roel
On Tuesday, 4 May 2021, 09:46:23 GMT+1, Roman Troxler <[Hidden email]<div class="original_message_link">Original message
> wrote:
Thanks a lot for this first contribution, Eimackshan! Indeed very interesting to read how you combine different instruments and partner with a large number of stakeholders in order to support migrant workers in finding better employment. Now that the ice has hopefully been broken, I look forward to further contributions from our extensive network. Let me briefly repeat the discussion questions for today: > Question 1: Where do you think SDC can and should focus in order to promote decent work in its partner countries – and why so? This can be within its employment & income and migration portfolio but also in other domains such as rule of law and justice and human rights/ governance programming at large.
> Question 2: Can you share any example of Swiss (or other) projects you know / from your portfolio that substantially contribute to one or several substantive elements of decent work (regardless of whether decent work is explicitly mentioned in the project title / objective or not)?
And for all those who could not attend yesterday's webinars: A recording is now also available on the Shareweb:https://www.shareweb.ch/site/EI/Pages/Content/Profiles.aspx?SmartID=4535&item1=Decent%20Work I look forward to reading from all of you!Roman
Am 04.05.2021 um 09:35 schrieb [Hidden email] <[Hidden email]>:
Since 2010, Switzerland has been supporting the safe labour migration programme (SLMP) in Sri Lanka to reduce the social and economic costs of labour migration. The programme aims to maximize the benefits for migrant workers and their families, while increasing contributions of migration to development in Sri Lanka. The programme ensures that services are provided to migrant workers and their families to maximize the benefits and reduce the social and economic costs of labour migration. The programme partners with grassroots civil society organizations to build capacity of government and non-government actors to provide quality services to migrant workers and their families related to concerns and needs along the migration cycle. Selected civil society organizations empower communities including migrant societies to provide peer support in their communities. The following services will be delivered. Ø Information on safe migration for aspirant migrant workers, families of migrant workers and the district based government officers. Ø Legal Assistance to address grievances, primarily for in-service migrant workers and returnees. Ø Psychosocial support services for returnee migrant workers and families of migrant workers. Ø Financial counseling for remittance management. Ø Promotion of skills development and recognition.
In order to gain access to better jobs, migrant workers not only need to possess relevant skills, but also be able to signal and validate these skills to potential employers. This is not only important for the outgoing but also for those who have returned. The programme provides community-based career guidance to jobseekers and returned migrant workers while improving technical capacities of national vocational training authorities to cater to needs and expectation of foreign employers. An awareness raising campaign is targeted at foreign employment recruiters and Sri Lankan employers on the added value of recruiting skilled workers
Best Eimackshan
From: priorityjobs@dgroups.org <[Hidden email]> On Behalf Of Roman Troxler Sent: Monday, May 3, 2021 7:03 PM To: SDC Decent Work <[Hidden email]> Subject: [decentwork] E-discussion Decent Work - first topic: Stocktaking
Dear colleagues,
Today, we are finally starting our e-discussion on Decent Work. The SDC focal points employment and income (e+i) and Fragility, Conflict and Human Rights (FCHR), are very happy that many of you joined today’s kick-of webinars.
Let's immediately have a look at the guiding questions for the next two days (more information on the e-discussion can be found further below). From today until Wednesday we would like to discuss the following two questions below with you. You can reply to only one of them or all of them. Please make a brief reference to your project context when replying to these questions - and try to be short and precise. You can also add links to project summaries or factsheet if available.
> Question 1: Now that you have learned about the four pillars of the decent work agenda and the ten ‘substantive elements’, as well as the anchoring of decent work in the international human right framework, where do you think SDC can and should focus in order to promote decent work in its partner countries – and why so? This can be within its employment & income and migration portfolio but also in other domains such as rule of law and justice and human rights/ governance programming at large.
> Question 2: Can you share any example of Swiss (or other) projects you know / from your portfolio that substantially contribute to one or several substantive elements of decent work (regardless of whether decent work is explicitly mentioned in the project title / objective or not)?
We are looking forward to an open and inspiring e-discussion.
Best regards Sabrina, Rebecca and Roman (the facilitator team of the Decent Work webinar and e-discussion)
—————— Footer: further information on the Decent Work e-discussion
So, how does this e-discussion work? The facilitator team will steer the discussion by launching a topic for discussion to the dgroup members every second day: > 3-5 May: Stocktaking, learning from interesting projects that substantially contribute to the decent work substantive elements > 5-7 May: Operationalizing, how can we improve our efforts for decent work? > 7-11 May: Monitoring/reporting, good practice in monitoring impacts, incl. decent-work aspects at systemic level
How do I participate in the e-discussion? What do I need to do if I don't want to participate? > Please have a look at the technical guidelines (here: https://dgroups.org/?lrr8d210.2), where you find all necessary information. > Please note that when you reply to a message everyone in the group will receive it. This is a great opportunity to share our ideas and experiences. > You may want to change you dGroup email notification preferences to «immediately" (or «daily" or «weekly", if you are too busy to actively follow the discussion). To do so login to dGroups (http://dgroups.org), click on "My account" and then on "Preferences", and change the notification preferences.
We will summarize the participants' contributions and disseminate the key points and results of discussions when sharing new guiding questions for the discussion. Additionally we will complement the input paper with findings of the e-discussion after concluding the joint learning exercise.
We invite you to regularly visit the thematic Shareweb page, where you find the above mentioned input paper and additional readings: https://www.shareweb.ch/site/EI/Pages/Content/Profiles.aspx?SmartID=4535&item1=Decent%20Work ——————
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<[Hidden email]<div>
May 4, 2021,
8:45 a.m.
Roman Troxler
Thanks a lot for this first contribution, Eimackshan!
Indeed very interesting to read how you combine different instruments and partner with a large number of stakeholders in order to support migrant workers in finding better employment. Now that the ice has hopefully been broken, I look forward to further contributions from our extensive network.
Let me briefly repeat the discussion questions for today: > Question 1: Where do you think SDC can and should focus in order to promote decent work in its partner countries – and why so? This can be within its employment & income and migration portfolio but also in other domains such as rule of law and justice and human rights/ governance programming at large.
> Question 2: Can you share any example of Swiss (or other) projects you know / from your portfolio that substantially contribute to one or several substantive elements of decent work (regardless of whether decent work is explicitly mentioned in the project title / objective or not)?
And for all those who could not attend yesterday's webinars: A recording is now also available on the Shareweb: https://www.shareweb.ch/site/EI/Pages/Content/Profiles.aspx?SmartID=4535&item1=Decent%20Work
I look forward to reading from all of you! Roman
Am 04.05.2021 um 09:35 schrieb [Hidden email] <mailto:[Hidden email]> <[Hidden email] <mailto:[Hidden email]>>:
Since 2010, Switzerland has been supporting the safe labour migration programme (SLMP) in Sri Lanka to reduce the social and economic costs of labour migration. The programme aims to maximize the benefits for migrant workers and their families, while increasing contributions of migration to development in Sri Lanka. The programme ensures that services are provided to migrant workers and their families to maximize the benefits and reduce the social and economic costs of labour migration. The programme partners with grassroots civil society organizations to build capacity of government and non-government actors to provide quality services to migrant workers and their families related to concerns and needs along the migration cycle. Selected civil society organizations empower communities including migrant societies to provide peer support in their communities. The following services will be delivered. Ø Information on safe migration for aspirant migrant workers, families of migrant workers and the district based government officers. Ø Legal Assistance to address grievances, primarily for in-service migrant workers and returnees. Ø Psychosocial support services for returnee migrant workers and families of migrant workers. Ø Financial counseling for remittance management. Ø Promotion of skills development and recognition.
In order to gain access to better jobs, migrant workers not only need to possess relevant skills, but also be able to signal and validate these skills to potential employers. This is not only important for the outgoing but also for those who have returned. The programme provides community-based career guidance to jobseekers and returned migrant workers while improving technical capacities of national vocational training authorities to cater to needs and expectation of foreign employers. An awareness raising campaign is targeted at foreign employment recruiters and Sri Lankan employers on the added value of recruiting skilled workers
Best Eimackshan
May 4, 2021,
7:34 a.m.
[Hidden email]
Since 2010, Switzerland has been supporting the safe labour migration programme (SLMP) in Sri Lanka to reduce the social and economic costs of labour migration. The programme aims to maximize the benefits for migrant workers and their families, while increasing contributions of migration to development in Sri Lanka.
The programme ensures that services are provided to migrant workers and their families to maximize the benefits and reduce the social and economic costs of labour migration. The programme partners with grassroots civil society organizations to build capacity of government and non-government actors to provide quality services to migrant workers and their families related to concerns and needs along the migration cycle. Selected civil society organizations empower communities including migrant societies to provide peer support in their communities. The following services will be delivered.
Ø Information on safe migration for aspirant migrant workers, families of migrant workers and the district based government officers.
Ø Legal Assistance to address grievances, primarily for in-service migrant workers and returnees.
Ø Psychosocial support services for returnee migrant workers and families of migrant workers.
Ø Financial counseling for remittance management.
Ø Promotion of skills development and recognition.
In order to gain access to better jobs, migrant workers not only need to possess relevant skills, but also be able to signal and validate these skills to potential employers. This is not only important for the outgoing but also for those who have returned.
The programme provides community-based career guidance to jobseekers and returned migrant workers while improving technical capacities of national vocational training authorities to cater to needs and expectation of foreign employers. An awareness raising campaign is targeted at foreign employment recruiters and Sri Lankan employers on the added value of recruiting skilled workers
Best Eimackshan
May 3, 2021,
1:32 p.m.
Roman Troxler
Dear colleagues,
Today, we are finally starting our e-discussion on Decent Work. The SDC focal points employment and income (e+i) and Fragility, Conflict and Human Rights (FCHR), are very happy that many of you joined today’s kick-of webinars.
Let's immediately have a look at the guiding questions for the next two days (more information on the e-discussion can be found further below). From today until Wednesday we would like to discuss the following two questions below with you. You can reply to only one of them or all of them. Please make a brief reference to your project context when replying to these questions - and try to be short and precise. You can also add links to project summaries or factsheet if available.
> Question 1: Now that you have learned about the four pillars of the decent work agenda and the ten ‘substantive elements’, as well as the anchoring of decent work in the international human right framework, where do you think SDC can and should focus in order to promote decent work in its partner countries – and why so? This can be within its employment & income and migration portfolio but also in other domains such as rule of law and justice and human rights/ governance programming at large.
> Question 2: Can you share any example of Swiss (or other) projects you know / from your portfolio that substantially contribute to one or several substantive elements of decent work (regardless of whether decent work is explicitly mentioned in the project title / objective or not)?
We are looking forward to an open and inspiring e-discussion.
Best regards Sabrina, Rebecca and Roman (the facilitator team of the Decent Work webinar and e-discussion)
—————— Footer: further information on the Decent Work e-discussion
So, how does this e-discussion work? The facilitator team will steer the discussion by launching a topic for discussion to the dgroup members every second day: > 3-5 May: Stocktaking, learning from interesting projects that substantially contribute to the decent work substantive elements > 5-7 May: Operationalizing, how can we improve our efforts for decent work? > 7-11 May: Monitoring/reporting, good practice in monitoring impacts, incl. decent-work aspects at systemic level
How do I participate in the e-discussion? What do I need to do if I don't want to participate? > Please have a look at the technical guidelines (here: https://dgroups.org/?lrr8d210.2), where you find all necessary information. > Please note that when you reply to a message everyone in the group will receive it. This is a great opportunity to share our ideas and experiences. > You may want to change you dGroup email notification preferences to «immediately" (or «daily" or «weekly", if you are too busy to actively follow the discussion). To do so login to dGroups (http://dgroups.org <http: dgroups.org="">), click on "My account" and then on "Preferences", and change the notification preferences.
We will summarize the participants' contributions and disseminate the key points and results of discussions when sharing new guiding questions for the discussion. Additionally we will complement the input paper with findings of the e-discussion after concluding the joint learning exercise.
We invite you to regularly visit the thematic Shareweb page, where you find the above mentioned input paper and additional readings: https://www.shareweb.ch/site/EI/Pages/Content/Profiles.aspx?SmartID=4535&item1=Decent%20Work ——————
May 5, 2021, 7:52 p.m.
Marie Bruening
Dear colleagues,
As a specialist in the field of education within SDC Education Expert Team, I share with you some inputs to this interesting e-discussion.
Question 1: Now that you have learned about the four pillars of the decent work agenda and the ten ‘substantive elements’, as well as the anchoring of decent work in the international human right framework, where do you think SDC can and should focus in order to promote decent work in its partner countries – and why so?
The discourse on decent work has been largely shaped from an economic perspective. It’s good to see the stronger focus on a human rights. However, if SDC really want to have a “leave no one behind” approach, we cannot avoid a global reflection that takes also into account the links with basic skills, which can be acquired at school or in adult basic education and lifelong learning. Basic education provides not only the foundational skills, but also the qualifications and certification required to engage in decent work.
For each of the four pillars ILO Decent Work Agenda we can identify the contribution of education. For example, basic education increases employment opportunities. For this reason, some countries have very explicitly integrated the link between education and employment in their education policies (eg. In Nepal one of the objective of the School Sector Development Plan (SSDP) mentions “Secondary education aims to make students ready for work by developing skilled human resources”). Education facilitates workers’ access to decent jobs but contributes also to the creation of decent work. The more educated people are, the more likely they are to contribute to the creation of decent work. Thus, SDC can contribute to decent work creation for example by reinforcing the link between education and employment in its policy dialogue with governments and ministries of education.
We can identify some other important aspects related to education in the four pillars of the decent work agenda and the ten ‘substantive elements’: the Researches also show the correlation between education and income. Completing a full 12 year-cycle of basic education translates to earning increases of more than 300%. Without going into details, education can also contribute to: avoiding child labour, work stability, empower workers to claim their rights, reinforce awareness towards creating safe work environments, etc…
The reinforcement between education and decent job is particularly important when targeting young people whose unemployment rate is three times higher than the adult rate (Unicef). In addition, the issue of qualifications and equivalences cannot be left aside when addressing migration and employment issues.
Question 2: Can you share any example of Swiss (or other) projects you know / from your portfolio that substantially contribute to one or several substantive elements of decent work (regardless of whether decent work is explicitly mentioned in the project title / objective or not)?
On the basis of what I mentioned above, SDC education programmes fully contribute to decent job, especially for the more disadvantaged and marginalised children and youth.
It is now proven that skills acquisition is more effective when built on a solid foundation of good quality basic education. Providing later-stage skills training or vocational training without a solid foundation of good quality basic skills does not pay. Thus, SDC programmes focussed on access and quality education are key (for example among others in Mali, Chad, or Afghanistan, or the Regional Education Quality Support Programme in West Africa focussed on trainings for education managers, etc)
For the out of school children and youth, SDC developed remediation programmes and second-chance education programmes, but which are not as effective as early childhood or elementary school programmes. Basic literacy and numeracy skills are the foundation to any technical skills required in the world of work, and are best acquired through education up to lower-secondary level.
Kind regards,
Marie Brüning
Education Advisor – SDC Education Expert Team
Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC
Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA
Freiburgstr. 130, 3003 Bern – Switzerland
Phone +41 58 461 15 41
Mobile +41 79 718 92 13
Mail [Hidden email] <mailto:marie.bruening@eda.admin.ch>
[cid:image003.jpg@01D6A8B2.535961A0] <https: education="" site="" www.shareweb.ch="">
SDC Shareweb Education <https: education="" site="" www.shareweb.ch="">
May 5, 2021, 7:52 p.m.
[Hidden email]
Dear all,
It has been really interesting to hear so many great contributions on how
decent work is being advanced through different programmes and sectors.
Decent work, indeed, cannot be promoted through just one area of
programming. Rather, promoting it requires addressing it across domains. As
part of the NORRAG team, I would like to highlight one of these domains –
the role of *basic education* in contributing to the creation of decent
work.
Basic education is a key prerequisite towards entering decent work. A full
cycle of quality basic education provides* foundational and transferable
skills* at *cognitive, socioemotional, and technical* levels which are
critical for engaging in further education, continuing learning in the
workplace, acquiring new skills and meeting drastic shifts in labour demand
of rapidly changing labour markets. In addition to these critical skills,
basic education also provides *qualifications* and *certification* required
to engage in decent work. Without certification, people are more likely to
be trapped in the informal market.
The more educated people are, the more likely they are to get engaged in
decent work. Workers who have successfully completed basic education, have
much lower informality rates than workers without or with little basic
education
<https: education-pays-off-but-you-have-to-be-patient="" ilostat.ilo.org="">.
Without access to quality basic education, low-skilled young adults are
more likely than others to be stuck in low-wage, low-productivity and
indecent jobs, *and ill-prepared to partake in the skills upgrading
activities* needed to access the jobs that emerge from the fourth
industrial revolution. The broader skills set provided by basic education
can help young people adapt more easily and flexibly to rapid technological
and labour market changes in the longer term. Young people need sufficient
time in basic education to develop solid foundational skills that allow
them to learn meaningfully in technical training later on as well as
develop the socio-emotional maturity to express their preferences and know
and claim their rights.
Lastly, let me also highlight that having a solid basic skills foundation
contributes to higher earnings in decent work. Employees who have
successfully completed basic education, earn on average more. Evidence shows
<https: 10986="" 19231="" handle="" openknowledge.worldbank.org=""> that each
additional year of basic education means 10% higher earnings in the future.
In this sense, completing a full 12 year-cycle of basic education
translates to earning increases of more than 300%
<http: 830831468147839247="" curated="" documents1.worldbank.org="" en="" pdf="" wps7020.pdf="">
.
Looking forward to continuing to learn from and with you,
*Marina Dreux Frotté*
Programme Coordinator at NORRAG
NORRAG - Network for international policies and cooperation in education
and training
*An Associate Programme of the Graduate Institute of International and
Development Studies*
20, rue Rothschild | P.O. Box 1672
CH-1211 Geneva 1, Switzerland
Skype: marinadreux
norrag.org <http: www.norrag.org="">
On Wed, 5 May 2021 at 12:23, [Hidden email] <
[Hidden email]
May 5, 2021, 7:21 p.m.
Chistophe Margot Barandun
On your question about “to lean on the whole decent work framework or just parts”, the following might help:
In international supply chain there is a distinction between
* 1) “zero tolerance issues”, which require immediate action / immediate contact with the labor inspection (e.g. imminent and serious health and safety issues, forced labor, violence, sexual violence, egregious violation of freedom of association, young workers in the worst forms of labour).
Child labour is on this ZT list as well. Two points here: 1. as you mentioned we are discussing here various types of projects at the same time, 2. It is often forgotten that ILO conventions on child labour allow light work, so these conventions take difficult context into consideration. Please do not get me wrong, I am not promoting child labour here.
* 2) other issues which are also identified, but which allow more time for remediation (e.g. other OSH issues, working time, pay related issues). These issues should not be neglected though.
Christophe Margot/ILO External Collaborator
May 5, 2021, 4:23 p.m.
Ashley Aarons
I'm really grateful to see this timely email chain. Im Ashley Aarons, Senior Advisor of Markets and Employment at Mercy Corps - though just emailing in my personal capacity right now. Before sharing some examples, I wanted to I guess ask for help on the topic - sorry for taking us off topic and sorry if there is an easy answer.
I'm not sure how useful the term decent work is. I assume by it we mean the ILO definition, rather than a more generic idea of decent as something that is good. However under that definition am I right that very few of the jobs we support are decent, or at least those in rural contexts in more low income, fragile states. I think the ILO said this themselves here (Should We Create Decent Work or Make Work More Decent? Demystifying What Decent Work Means for Market System Development Projects) I imagine they may correct me though. So the approach then, which makes sense, is to focus not on decent work per se, but on the biggest decent work deficit - which in many cases is low income or lack of security of income, which is maybe what programs were doing anyway.
So I think its useful to energize people and to provide a broad framework, and it may be more relevant in some contexts, but it also confuses people sometimes as they are told by their donor to create decent jobs when they aren't able to do so - and doing so may be a bad idea (i.e. to focus on a small number of fully decent jobs vs a larger number of semi decent jobs). If this is correct, the challenge may be to change how we talk about decent work - or how it is understood - to reflect this. Or to provide more guidance around its contextual use e.g. where we may want to lean on the whole framework or just parts
As a connected but separate point, I would think something like focusing on a more basic 'acceptable quality' job as a minimum requirement may make more sense e.g. no forced labour, no exploitative child labour, accidents are zero or below national standards and work meets income threshold expectations and has a high expectation of sustainability. Maybe this presents the same challenges of having a minimum standard, but it may be more relevant to some contexts we work in?
I hope Im wrong though - and these are just my views, not my employers,Thanks so much,Ashley
On Wednesday, 5 May 2021, 13:06:32 CEST, Bruno Essig <[Hidden email]<div class="original_message_link">Original message <[Hidden email]<div>
May 5, 2021, 12:41 p.m.
Ashley Aarons
I'm really grateful to see this timely email chain. Before sharing some examples, I wanted to I guess ask for help on the topic - sorry for taking us off topic and sorry if there is an easy answer.
I'm not sure how useful the term decent work is. I assume by it we mean the ILO definition, rather than a more generic idea of decent as something that is good. However under that definition am I right that very few of the jobs we support are decent, or at least those in rural contexts in more low income, fragile states. I think the ILO said this themselves here (Should We Create Decent Work or Make Work More Decent? Demystifying What Decent Work Means for Market System Development Projects) I imagine they may correct me though. So the approach then, which makes sense, is to focus not on decent work per se, but on the biggest decent work deficit - which in many cases is low income or lack of security of income, which is maybe what programs were doing anyway.
So I think its useful to energize people and to provide a broad framework, and it may be more relevant in some contexts, but it also confuses people sometimes as they are told by their donor to create decent jobs when they aren't able to do so - and doing so may be a bad idea (i.e. to focus on a small number of fully decent jobs vs a larger number of semi decent jobs). If this is correct, the challenge may be to change how we talk about decent work - or how it is understood - to reflect this. Or to provide more guidance around its contextual use e.g. where we may want to lean on the whole framework or just parts
As a connected but separate point, I would think something like focusing on a more basic 'acceptable quality' job as a minimum requirement may make more sense e.g. no forced labour, no exploitative child labour, accidents are zero or below national standards and work meets income threshold expectations and has a high expectation of sustainability. Maybe this presents the same challenges of having a minimum standard, but it may be more relevant to some contexts we work in?
I hope Im wrong though - and these are just my views, not my employers,Thanks so much,Ashley
On Wednesday, 5 May 2021, 13:06:32 CEST, Bruno Essig <[Hidden email]<div class="original_message_link">Original message <[Hidden email]<div>
May 5, 2021, 11:04 a.m.
Bruno Essig
In relation to Question 2 I'd like to share some information about Brücke · Le pont's programme approach, rather than specific project examples.
The Brücke · Le pont "Decent Work" programme takes an integrated, coherent, multidimensional approach based on a holistic model combining the following three strategic pillars:
1) Labour rights: Empower workers to demand and exercise their human and labour rights and provide advocacy for legal and structural improvements to working conditions
2) Vocational skills development (VSD): Develop vocational and social skills and provide support for labour market integration
3) Income generation: Support regionally significant value chains in order to generate employment and income opportunities
Subsequently, some details about the first two pillars, which are highly relevant for the topic of decent work.
1) Labour rights
The concept of Decent Work developed by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has been used as a frame of reference for the Brücke ∙ Le pont programme. Brücke ∙ Le pont works together with partner organisations which know and apply the relevant international conventions on labour law issues and national legislation in this field. Thus the topic of labour rights is also enshrined in projects whose focus is directed more at vocational skills development and promoting income generation. For example, all young people are informed of their labour rights in the course of their training and staff responsible for labour market integration ensure that, when projects are implemented, only company vacancies which meet certain criteria in terms of wages and social benefits are considered.
Brücke ∙ Le pont also supports projects aimed at employees in sectors with particularly precarious working conditions. These include the textile industry (maquila) in Central America as well as domestic work. Such sectors almost exclusively employ women from poor families. The partner organisations of Brücke ∙ Le pont teach workers about their rights, provide legal advice, give them support in cases of labour rights violations, raise awareness and lobby employers and parliamentarians. They also provide psychological support and refer women to medical care (especially if they are pregnant, rape victims or suffering from deprivation). Partner organisations encourage women to find strength through self-help, both on a personal, individual level and within society. Women are motivated to come together in groups and organisations to initiate and monitor changes in society.
2) Vocational skills development (VSD) and labour market integration
Brücke ∙ Le pont improves the skills of two distinct age groups: marginalised youth who have never had the opportunity to complete vocational training and have been unable to establish themselves in the labour market; and informally-employed adults, especially small-scale farmers and domestic workers who lack technical knowledge. The involvement of employers and state authorities (such as the Ministries of Education and Employment) is central to this. Allowing employers a say in the development of the curriculum ensures that courses respond to the demands and trends of the job market. At the same time, employers are made more aware of their responsibility to train qualified staff.
For Brücke ∙ Le pont, integration into the job market falls into the category of vocational skills development, because only when young people have access to jobs with decent working conditions can they secure their long-term earning potential and a reasonable standard of living. Brücke · Le pont encourages potential employers to become involved in vocational training projects at an early stage; for instance when preparing the curriculum or carrying out the practical element of the course. This increases the chances of graduates finding suitable internships and/or employment. One person in each of the project teams is responsible exclusively for labour market integration and for activities such as establishing contacts with businesses, helping young people prepare application documents, practising for interviews and connecting job-seekers and employers through job forums. Brücke · Le pont also promotes synergies between the partner organisations in this area. For instance, they share their contacts of interested companies and develop the aforementioned job platforms together.
Another method is to improve the occupational skills of people employed in the informal sector, such as domestic workers, on a case-by-case basis. State certification and public recognition of these vocational courses allow domestic workers to improve their image/reputation and their chances of obtaining decent working conditions. Brücke · Le pont is therefore intensifying its cooperation with state-recognised vocational training institutions and the responsible state authorities.
Kind regards,
Bruno
Bruno Essig
Programmverantwortlicher Zentralamerika
Responsable del Programa Centroamérica
[Logo] <https: www.bruecke-lepont.ch="">
Brücke · Le pont
Rue St-Pierre 12 | 1700 Fribourg | www.bruecke-lepont.ch <https: www.bruecke-lepont.ch="">
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Tel. 026 425 51 59 | Skype: bruno_essig
Arbeitstage: Mo-Do
May 5, 2021, 10:23 a.m.
[Hidden email]
Below our team contribution for Burkina Faso and Togo
Question 1. Regarding research on decent work, our team conducted two studies in Burkina Faso and Togo, investigating the conceptualization of decent work from the perspective of Sub-saharan Africa populations. Four main features defining decent work from the perspective of Togolese participants: provide basic requirements (fair compensation, health, and safety, adequate work environment, availability of working tools and instruments, respect of legal norms, respects of local traditions, appropriate schedule), enable one’s a professional development (learning, skills development), make one feel productive, and be a source of pleasure. Moreover, five categories of needs that decent work should meet were identified: vital (daily needs, accommodation), psychological (autonomy, self-esteem, meaning), social (social usefulness, contribution to society), engagement, and status-related. Full paper here (https://journals.co.za/doi/abs/10.4102/ajcd.v2i1.8). Similar results are found in Burkina Faso (research in progress). We saw that both universal and culture-specific features of decent work exist in those contexts.
Question 2. The issues of health insurance and pension contributions are crucial for workers in the informal sector, which is very important in Sub-Saharan Africa. For example, in Togo, the informal sector includes 3.5 million workers (representing around 40% of the overall country population). Although the informal sector is precarious, it includes economically viable small businesses and self-employment. Encouraging mechanisms for these workers to contribute to pensions and health insurance (as formal sector employees do have) would be very helpful in promoting decent work in these areas. Indeed, "decent" jobs according to the ILO terminology (health insurance, pension...) are mostly provided by the formal sector (civil service, large private companies). In Togo and Burkina Faso, arrangements are being made to extend the compulsory health insurance scheme to the informal sector. Such a mechanism for the informal sector needs to be supported as well as the one of pension contribution.
King regards,
Kokou Atitsogbe <https: applicationspub.unil.ch="" interpub="" noauth="" php="" un="" unpers.php?pernum="1176682&LanCode=37&menu=coord">
Research officer
r4d Project Coordinator <https: cepco="" en="" home="" menuinst="" research="" research-projects="" travail-decent.html="" www.unil.ch="">
CePCO <https: cepco="" en="" home.html="" www.unil.ch="">, Institute of Psychology
University of Lausanne
Géopolis 4231
Office: +41 21 692 32 74
Fax: +41 21 692 32 65
E-mail: [Hidden email] <mailto:[Hidden email]>
<mailto:[Hidden email]>
CH-1015 Lausanne
________________________________
De : [Hidden email] <[Hidden email]> de la part de Ameena Chowdhury <[Hidden email]>
Envoyé : mercredi 5 mai 2021 11:05:32
À : SDC Decent Work
Objet : [decentwork] RE: E-discussion Decent Work - first topic: Stocktaking
Dear colleagues
Some information from Bangladesh relating to Question 1.
Bangladesh has a workforce of around 65 million people, of which 86% work in micro, small and medium size enterprises, in the informal economy. In the current COVID-19 context, the informal economy has been most affected due to the high concentration of the workforce, weak resilience of businesses and limited access to available stimulus packages. The SMEs have to simultaneously tackle the social and economic repercussions.
Currently, SDC sees the need to focus on resilience building of SMEs in the informal economy, where skills development, coupled with decent work elements, need to be supported. Addressing decent work in the informal sector brings in additional challenges due to weak (and at times, lack of) regulations, poor monitoring systems, limited resources and lack of incentives. The pandemic situation has further added on to these challenges by placing this topic on the back burner since most enterprises are now in a survival mode. Hence SDC’s current approach by combining business development services for enterprise development with workplace-based training, in select sectors, will contribute to creating more, better and inclusive jobs. As the interventions progress, in the current volatile context, SDC will be able to learn more and monitor how to better promote decent work, when it comes to building resilience and transitioning into economic recovery.
Regards
Ameena
Ameena Chowdhury
Programme Manager – Income and Economic Development
Embassy of Switzerland in Bangladesh
Bay’s Edge Water, Level 8, Plot 12
North Avenue, Gulshan 2, Dhaka 1212
Bangladesh
Tel. +88 02 5505 1601 (hunting)
Fax +88 02 5505 1614
[Hidden email] <mailto:ameena.chowdhury@eda.admin.ch>
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May 5, 2021, 10:16 a.m.
Klaus Thieme
Thank you for the opportunity to engage into the important discussion on Decent work.
> Question 1: Where do you think SDC can and should focus in order to promote decent work in its partner countries – and why so? This can be within its employment & income and migration portfolio but also in other domains such as rule of law and justice and human rights/ governance programming at large.
Generally: Firstly, Solidar Suisse welcomes the Human-Rights Based Approach of the Leave No One Behind approach of SDC. Secondly, Solidar Suisse welcomes the chance of the Programmbeitrag financing because it enables development projects to address important and sustainable development issues which oftentimes are too complex for general funding appeals / public donations. Keeping this funding tool on its feet is therefore an urgent goal. Thirdly, the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals offers an answer to the question raised, namely, it’s all connected: Sustainable livelihoods and resilient communities, an equal, just and inclusive society, and a fair economy with decent work for all. The future of our societies and therefore the realm of work and economic life is also related to the reality and impact of climate change. We will only achieve a meaningful change when all actors enable a Just transition to a green economy, in which social and environmental goals are pursued alongside each other and in which no one will be left behind.
SDC should therefore focus on the triad of creating employment opportunities, supporting democratic labour organisations on the ground, including defending the necessary democratic space to enable them to engage in a meaningful and effective way, and lobby on workers’ rights, migration, social protection, and increased social dialogue with the respective relevant political stakeholders.
To respond to the specific question: The integration of Decent Work into one single domain might obstruct its visibility and therefore relevance within SDC, as well as a transversal cross-domain placement will likely do as well. For Solidar Suisse, inclusion in the Employment & Income and Migration makes sense nevertheless.
> Question 2: Can you share any example of Swiss (or other) projects you know / from your portfolio that substantially contribute to one or several substantive elements of decent work (regardless of whether decent work is explicitly mentioned in the project title / objective or not)?
For Solidar Suisse <https: solidar.ch="">, «Decent Work» is one oft he three thematic pillars of intervention, therefore we can offer some variety of exemplary projects:
Cambodia: Using Public Data for Evidence-based Bargaining
The overall goal is to use publicly available data to increase the bargaining power of garment workers in Cambodia. More than 30,000 garment workers (majority women) will experience improved working conditions and better access to social protection. The expected outcomes are: 1) Increased quality of public data (primarily the BFC database) allowing grassroots workers to use it effectively to bring change; 2) Increased access to public data for trade union leaders and activists; 3) Increased skills and improved capacity on ‘evidence-based bargaining; 4) Increased access to social protection for the vulnerable and unprotected workers; improvement in implementation and quality of the existing protection.
Cambodia: CASMART Community Action for Safe Migration and Reduction of Trafficking
The project goal is to reduce incidences of human trafficking and other forms of exploitation in the Banteay Meanchey province in the Northwest region of Cambodia bordering with Thailand. The project will promote safe migration and making protection services available for vulnerable migrants and deportees. Around one million Cambodian migrants are working in Thailand, mostly undocumented. Key activities are: set up and strengthen capacity of community-based protection networks; form and build capacity of self-help groups in target communes; train students in target area on safe migration; train duty bearers on safe labour migration and victim identification; provide psychological, social and legal counselling and support and where necessary safe shelter to survivors of trafficking; support the re-integration of migrant returnees through vocational training; advocacy on national level for stronger pred-departure traiing, support and protection of migrant workers abroad and returnees.
Malaysia and Indonesia: Decent Work in Palm Oil
The main goal of the palm oil project is to improve working conditions for Indonesian migrant workers in Sabah (East Malaysia). This will be achieved by: strengthening the outreach of trade unions; carrying out pre-departure trainings for migrant workers on labour rights and organisation in places of origin (East Nusa Tenggara and Sulawesi); strengthening the Transnational Palm Oil Labour Solidarity Network (TPOLS); continuing our research on labour rights violations and Occupational Health and Safety issues in the palm oil sector; engaging with and lobbying the palm oil business sector and certification schemes; international advocacy on labour rights violations in the Malaysian palm oil sector with the aim to ensuring the right of migrant workers to organize and bargain (e.g. through the ILO’s ILC). The project will also work on improving labour conditions in palm oil in Indonesia.
Bolivia: Programa Laboral
In this project, Solidar Suisse is working together with local trade union federations to help precariously employed sugar cane cutters and domestic workers. With further training and information campaigns as well as support for dialogue and negotiation with employers and the relevant authorities, Solidar helps to strengthen their rights. In training programs, trade unionists learn about the applicable laws and ways to enforce their rights. This knowledge is imparted at events, with the help of brochures or via radio programs. The unions lobby for better working conditions in negotiations with employers and in dialog with the state authorities. For example, the sugar cane cutters have been able to conclude agreements with companies to increase piecework wages and to obtain better health care and school access for their children from the municipalities.
Republic of South Africa: Casual Workers Advice Office
Precarious labour is increasing throughout the South African economy, including the public sector. The forms of this labour constantly grow more precarious, a consequence of and further contributing to a collapsed labour movement. The result is a vast number of unorganised workers with no job security, low and fluctuating incomes, poor working conditions, with almost no knowledge of their rights, little if any organizational experience and yet to test out the extent of their collective power. The project via its partner organisation CWAO campaigns for precarious workers to be permanently and equitably employed by client companies. The CWAO programme for the next two years will consist of five inter-related areas of support for precarious workers. These are (1) organising and campaigns, with a developing regional focus to neighbouring countries (2) education on workers’ rights for trade union activists and workers, (3) legal advice and representation, (4) research and, (5) creation of media material (radio, visuals for online use, videos, booklets, newsletters, factsheets, and press articles).
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Rebuilding a reliable and efficient system of support for female workers in the textile and footwear sector
Overall goal of this EU-funded project is the reduction of labour rights violations of female workers in the textile and footwear industry of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and improving their working and living conditions. The project strives to get reliable (evidence-based and representative) information on working conditions in the textile and footwear sector in BiH and to define specific legislative changes that will lead to the reduction of labour rights infringements. Furthermore, it targets to strengthen the capacities of unions and CSOs to fight labour and human rights violations in the textile and footwear industry in BiH successfully. Lastly, the project sensitizes the general public and relevant decision-makers regarding rights violations, legal gaps and non-compliance with laws and standards in the textile and footwear industry in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Campaigns, Information, Sensitation
The impact of local projects alone will not lead to the fulfilment of our vision, which is a just world free from exploitation of people and nature. Real change is needed in how and what the economy produces, in our consumption patterns, and in how our governments and the international community regulates economy and society. Thus, raising awareness and campaigning for this change remains a crucial work stream for Solidar Suisse. All campaigns feed on our experience in our focus or project countries, often being left out of the benefits of globalization, or even facing severe social, economic, or environmental damages.
In recent years, Solidar Suisse has increased its campaigns for fair working conditions worldwide. These campaigns serve to promote the Decent Work Agenda in our countries, and to sensitize Swiss politics, companies, and population on the connection between sustainable consumption, trade and retail and better working conditions in producing countries. The campaigns aim at building awareness in Swiss society, improving conditions on the ground and pushing for the enforcement of international and national labour rights.
As an example, Solidar Suisse supports the push for a global ban of the use of all forms of asbestos, including chrysotile (white) asbestos, jointly with local, regional and international partner organisations. Our efforts in advocating for a ban or at least a better regulation of its trade in the framework of the Rotterdam Convention or the International Finance Institutions such as the ADB are sometimes supported by the relevant Swiss governmental agencies (e.g. FOEN, SECO).
With other interventions, Solidar Suisse targets to increase information and therefore action on relevant topics as child labour (e.g. in Burkina Faso), exploitation of palm oil plantation workers (e.g. in Malaysia) or on Swiss weak taxation regulations leading to tax evasion of multi-national corporations.
Best regards
Klaus
STAY HEALTHY - BE SOLIDAR!
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Klaus Thieme | Head International Programmes
Solidar Suisse | Quellenstrasse 31 | CH - 8005 Zürich | Switzerland
Phone: +41 44 444 19 44 | Phone HQ: +41 44 444 19 19
Available: Mon- Fr
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May 5, 2021, 9:04 a.m.
Ameena Chowdhury
Some information from Bangladesh relating to Question 1.
Bangladesh has a workforce of around 65 million people, of which 86% work in micro, small and medium size enterprises, in the informal economy. In the current COVID-19 context, the informal economy has been most affected due to the high concentration of the workforce, weak resilience of businesses and limited access to available stimulus packages. The SMEs have to simultaneously tackle the social and economic repercussions.
Currently, SDC sees the need to focus on resilience building of SMEs in the informal economy, where skills development, coupled with decent work elements, need to be supported. Addressing decent work in the informal sector brings in additional challenges due to weak (and at times, lack of) regulations, poor monitoring systems, limited resources and lack of incentives. The pandemic situation has further added on to these challenges by placing this topic on the back burner since most enterprises are now in a survival mode. Hence SDC’s current approach by combining business development services for enterprise development with workplace-based training, in select sectors, will contribute to creating more, better and inclusive jobs. As the interventions progress, in the current volatile context, SDC will be able to learn more and monitor how to better promote decent work, when it comes to building resilience and transitioning into economic recovery.
Regards
Ameena
Ameena Chowdhury
Programme Manager – Income and Economic Development
Embassy of Switzerland in Bangladesh
Bay’s Edge Water, Level 8, Plot 12
North Avenue, Gulshan 2, Dhaka 1212
Bangladesh
Tel. +88 02 5505 1601 (hunting)
Fax +88 02 5505 1614
[Hidden email] <mailto:ameena.chowdhury@eda.admin.ch>
www.eda.admin.ch/dhaka
Follow us on Social Media [cid:image010.png@01D63769.A1926CF0] <https: swissembassy.dhaka="" www.facebook.com="">
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May 5, 2021, 7:46 a.m.
[Hidden email]
Through sharing/learning good practices between different countries and agreeing on a shared vision governments in South Asia can improve the migration governance framework on the migration governance framework highlighted above which ultimately benefits migrant workers adn their families seek safe and informed migration along with greater access to Decent Work Opportunities.
May 5, 2021, 6:08 a.m.
[Hidden email]
Question 2: can you provide examples of Swiss projects that contribute to promoting Decent work
The ILO, in Lao PDR, with funding from SDC has recently launched a private sector driven project aimed at supporting MSMEs become more resilient following the negative impact of Covid 19 (https://www.ilo.org/asia/projects/WCMS_778424/lang--en/index.htm). This clearly links to the DW indicator on employment promotion (through the MSME sector), and its implementation sits firmly with the DW indicator on Social dialogue as the project is hosted within the Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (the leading employers organization recognized by the ILO in Lao PDR). The project demonstrates how Decent Work principles/values can be incorporated in private sector development without being rigid, but rather demonstrating and making a business case for promoting decent work. One that encourages gradual formalization and income generation which eventually will lead to more and better jobs, Decent Jobs.
Specific project objectives include
• Enhancing information channels for MSMEs for access to financial and business services (with a focus on COVID19 official information and support programmes)
• Addressing barriers SMEs face in accessing finance (informal sector, lack of business and financial management systems)
• Provision of BDS services using tools adapted to the Lao context
The project is in its initial stages, but the strategy and project implementation will draw from ILOs previous work in Lao PDR (and the region) focusing on innovative and low cost ways to deliver support services to national institutions and associations. Key successes on which the new SDC project will build from include
• Support to local actors (the National SME Service Center and the BDS Network) to deliver services using innovative, activity based, low-cost, peer-to-peer learning tools allowing for a responsive, scalable and sustainable development approach- unlike what has been in existence in Laos.
• Support to the ‘Laos Entrepreneurship Day model’ where Business Planning modules were delivered to 190 youth at low cost using activity based learning (without the need for experts)
• Continued use of the nationally adopted ‘Laos In Business’ tool, aimed at bridging the divide between SMEs and Commercial Banks. This has continued to be used in country even without the ILO project
• Partnership with 8 commercial banks that approved and agreed to collaborate with the ILO to promote SME Access to Finance
Question 2: where do you think SDC can and should focus in order to promote decent work in its partner countries – and why so?
SDCs focus in order to promote decent work, should be on systemic approaches to more and better jobs through the MSME sector. An approach that aims to address the root causes of any challenges. Focus should be on delivery models which place local actors and institutions at the center of solutions, position employers, govt and workers to understand the challenges and jointly adapt and test delivery models for sustainability and scale. The focus needs to be on market driven solutions that are low cost and developed through consultative processes, without the need for costly external expertise.
May 4, 2021, 11:54 a.m.
Helen Bradbury
(In reference to Question 2)
Thank you very much Roel, you said it all and more.
I'm just adding the link to the BEAM webinar we did on the topic and a quick reflection on how doing the study shaped our perspective.
https://beamexchange.org/community/webinar/formalisation-and-msd-approach/
I liked that in soliciting replies for this session and this question, it was stated that the programme examples didn’t have to have decent work specified in their title/objective. I think this is important, as sometimes the classification of programmes and the idea of what it is that they do and don’t typically include in their portfolio, can mean that interventions and impact can be missed due to external categorization e.g. what is and isn’t included in a review or in the planning process or even in terms of changes missed by the programmes themselves.
In our own case we didn’t have this focus on decent work. But the ILO study on our work in the dairy sector that Roel has highlighted, clearly showed the development of decent work as a product of programme interventions. The ALCP as explained by Roel, is often described as a 'value chain project' and is one in agriculture/ livestock and hence decent work might not be something that is highlighted or expected. However as MSD interventions involve predominantly working with SME's within the various sectors (inputs, dairy, meat, honey, wool) job creation inevitably (although perhaps further down the line within the programme lifetime) becomes part of the project's impact. In my own reflection on how doing this study has impacted our programme practice, I pulled out three main points:
That from now on we would have a sharper focus on jobs; the benefit of jobs and the conditions needed for decent jobs.
That this would provide us with an enhanced lens to help define and formulate strategy, interventions and impact for future programming
That formalization and with it decent jobs within formalized enterprises mean better resilience e.g. formalized enterprises showed considerable resilience during COVID-19 in their ability for example to process news and restrictions and petition for exemptions to travel bans etc., to develop alternative product lines, to manage the downturn by reducing staff hours rather than losing positions.
It is also very noticeable in terms of benefit, that the income impact from Full Time Job Equivalents is substantial when compared with net attributable income from sales, reduced transaction costs and losses or increases in productivity. Not to mention significant qualitative benefits like being able to obtain loans on the strength of signed contracts, or offering avenues for a decent work life within the community. Decent work offers very significant benefit to the target group and thus should be considered at all stages of the programme process.
Yours
Helen
Helen Bradbury
Team Leader
Mercy Corps Alliances Caucasus Programme
+995 595560069
Skype: helen.bradbury (Tbilisi)
www.alcp.ge
May 4, 2021, 11:13 a.m.
Va Ros
Thanks for sharing the inputs. In the meantime, I would like to share the experience from SDC projects in Cambodia with regard to the two questions as follows:
Question 1: Now that you have learned about the four pillars of the decent work agenda and the ten ‘substantive elements’, as well as the anchoring of decent work in the international human right framework, where do you think SDC can and should focus in order to promote decent work in its partner countries – and why so? This can be within its employment & income and migration portfolio but also in other domains such as rule of law and justice and human rights/ governance programming at large.
On the experience with related to E&I and migration, , I think SDC should work with government and the private sector to improve the decent work. When supporting the government, it shall convince to include the key elements of decent work in the regulatory framework and policies. SDC ought to work closely with the private sector as it also plays a crucial role to achieving the definitions of decent work, ultimately for target populations. The elements of decent work should be addressed at the policy level, and operational level, including integration in the training curriculum packages so that the target populations are aware of and are able to exercise. SDC may join like-minded development partners and key actors to maximize the impact and influence for decent work.
> Question 2: Can you share any example of Swiss (or other) projects you know / from your portfolio that substantially contribute to one or several substantive elements of decent work (regardless of whether decent work is explicitly mentioned in the project title / objective or not)?
The key elements of decent work are explicitly in the project documents. All the SDC-funded projects here in Cambodia contribute to substantive elements of the decent work, in particular the 1st, 2nd and 4th pillar, with the following aspects. First, Decent Employment For Youth 2020-2023 is a phase 2 four-year project with the goal ‘Young women and men increasingly obtain decent and productive employment opportunities’. The project works with the government, employers and trade unions to improve the various substances of the decent work for learners and youth. Some specific indicators and targets at the impact and outcome level, including formal employment, increasing income, were clearly defined in the logframe. The example of the impact indicator for the policy level: Specific objectives and measurable targets for decent employment of young women and men in the national strategies and actions plans of the industrial development policy, National Employment policy, TVET policy as well as youth policy’. Second, Skills Development Programme which is at the 2nd phase (2021-2024) also focuses on the decent work. The project goal ‘Disadvantaged young women and men and low-skilled workers have gained access to decent employment opportunities and increased income’. Similarly, the project measures key substances of the decent work, such as # of graduates having contract, gainful employment, and increased income. Lastly, we have another project on PROMISE (Migration and Skills Development), focusing on (i) ethical recruitment of the private recruitment agencies, (ii) promoting the rights of migrant workers, including safe migration, (iii) reintegration of returnees to access employment and skills development. In addition, the project has established solid partnerships with the private sector (private recruitment agencies and associations and employers) to introduce and deliver the soft and technical skills for enhancing the employability of migrant workers in Thailand.
Warm regards,
Va Ros
Programme Manager
Skills Development and Employment
Swiss Cooperation Office and Consular Agency in Cambodia
Tel: +855 23 218 305 / 209 Mobile: +855 89 666 091
May 4, 2021, 10:36 a.m.
Katrin Rosenberg
Drafted earlier, but I am very happy to see that I am complementing colleagues from Sri Lanka and share further reflections from a migration perspective on Q1 and Q2, on behalf of the SIMS project, HELVETAS Bangladesh
SIMS stands for Strengthened and Informative Migration Systems, and is part of the portfolio of the migration domain of SDC Bangladesh. The project is implemented by HELVETAS and local partners. Therefore, this contribution focuses more on the migration sector.
In the sector, we oftentimes speak about "promoting decent work" for migrant workers. And of course, we all have some ideas on what decent work is at least by common sense. However, when reading the input paper, I realized that I was not fully aware of the 4 pillars and 10 essential elements it actually contains. So, it's a good initiative of SDC to promote this concept as well among colleagues and projects, among others through this e-discussion.
In the labour migration sector, an additional challenge is that decent work can only be indirectly promoted, as oftentimes, we – as Helvetas – only work in the countries of origin, with limited outreach to the destination countries. What we do, is to raise awareness on the rights of migrant workers and support them to claim those rights, both in the sending and destination countries. It is thus important that SDC continues to work on both sides of the labour migration corridors to promote decent work in the destination countries, and ensures that projects working on both sides of the corridor are well linked, use synergies and contribute to each other – living the corridor approach. This is in particular also relevant for skills development, which I realize is not mentioned in the 10 elements. The better skilled the migrant worker is, the better his job opportunities, salaries and also oftentimes his life and social skills to navigate the different world of employment, and maintain and negotiate relationships with the employers. However, a huge challenge we find is the limited availability of skills trainings in the countries of origin which meet the demand of the destination countries, and are on top of that ideally recognized by them. Adding a skilling component to a migration project may oftentimes not be possible as it may overload a project, given the complexity of the topic and the challenges known in terms of designing demand driven curricula. But further concrete linkages between VSD and migration projects could be strengthened, or even a fully-fledged VSD project focusing on skills for MW?
Katrin Rosenberg
Teamleader
SIMS - Strengthened and Informative Migration Systems
HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation
House 30 CWN (A), Road 42/43
Gulshan 2 – 1212 Dhaka
Bangladesh
Mobile: +88 01311001758
Phone: +880 241081527<tel:+880%20241081527>, +880 9609 006007
Fax: +880 241081528
www.helvetas.org
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Development aid works - and it works for generations. Have a look at these stories <https: en="" partner-for-true-change_2018="" switzerland="" vision-mission="" who-we-are="" www.helvetas.org=""> about real change
May 4, 2021, 9:52 a.m.
Roel Hakemulder
A recent study (see https://beamexchange.org/resources/1355/) of the impact of the Alliances Caucasus Programme (ALCP) on enterprise and employment formalisation in the dairy market system (Better cheese, better work) found that the quality of work had improved within the context of an improved food safety regulatory environment and increased demand for dairy products (cheese in particular) that met HACCP standards. The first was mostly driven by the 2014 Association Agreement between the EU and Georgia. ALCP contributed to its effectiveness by building capacity of the relevant food safety agency. The second was the result of greater access to urban markets, where consumers overwhelmingly prefer standards compliant cheese. ALCP's facilitation enabled dairy enterprises to develop and meet standards, where before cheese was made and marketed by dairy farmers, women in particular.
The impact on quality of work: better incomes for farmers, who now sell fresh, high quality milk to the dairy enterprises, savings in time and heavy work on cheese making (for women in particular, on average 3 hours per day), income stability and security due to contracts between farmers and enterprises, access to training, information and business services (developed with ALCP support, e.g. vets, vet pharmacies, improved feed) and greater gender equality (as women generally receive the income from milk).
In dairy enterprises jobs were created in dairy enterprises that are well-paid compared to their informal counterparts and other jobs in their communities, provide income security, with employer-employee written or verbal agreements adhered to, access to training and information, a safe working environment and equal pay for women and men. Sustainability of the dairy enterprises was enhanced by ALCP's facilitation of development of services in the market system.
The findings indicate the importance of an improved and effective regulatory framework, including labour legislation, for enhancing the quality of work. In turn this could indicate that this should be an important focus of SDC's work. An improved regulatory framework provides a carrot (market access) as well as a stick (closure of the enterprise). More generally the findings indicate that that where a changing market system provides incentives to producers and enterprises to formalise, work will become more decent. But incentives for improving job quality do not necessarily come from a more effective regulation. An ILO programme I was involved in 10 years ago or so found that even when the regulatory environment for decent work is weak (as in most countries outside the industrialised world), business owners will offer better working conditions if this can be shown to have a positive effect on productivity and market access. This is usually easiest to demonstrate for improvements in safety, health and organisation in the workplace. This could be another avenue SDC projects could take.
I would have left it to Helen Bradbury of ALCP to write this message, but since she did not yet I hope she'll forgive me for the inadequate summary :-).
Roel
On Tuesday, 4 May 2021, 09:46:23 GMT+1, Roman Troxler <[Hidden email]<div class="original_message_link">Original message <[Hidden email]<div>
May 4, 2021, 8:45 a.m.
Roman Troxler
Indeed very interesting to read how you combine different instruments and partner with a large number of stakeholders in order to support migrant workers in finding better employment. Now that the ice has hopefully been broken, I look forward to further contributions from our extensive network.
Let me briefly repeat the discussion questions for today:
> Question 1: Where do you think SDC can and should focus in order to promote decent work in its partner countries – and why so? This can be within its employment & income and migration portfolio but also in other domains such as rule of law and justice and human rights/ governance programming at large.
> Question 2: Can you share any example of Swiss (or other) projects you know / from your portfolio that substantially contribute to one or several substantive elements of decent work (regardless of whether decent work is explicitly mentioned in the project title / objective or not)?
And for all those who could not attend yesterday's webinars: A recording is now also available on the Shareweb: https://www.shareweb.ch/site/EI/Pages/Content/Profiles.aspx?SmartID=4535&item1=Decent%20Work
I look forward to reading from all of you!
Roman
Am 04.05.2021 um 09:35 schrieb [Hidden email] <mailto:[Hidden email]> <[Hidden email] <mailto:[Hidden email]>>:
Since 2010, Switzerland has been supporting the safe labour migration programme (SLMP) in Sri Lanka to reduce the social and economic costs of labour migration. The programme aims to maximize the benefits for migrant workers and their families, while increasing contributions of migration to development in Sri Lanka.
The programme ensures that services are provided to migrant workers and their families to maximize the benefits and reduce the social and economic costs of labour migration. The programme partners with grassroots civil society organizations to build capacity of government and non-government actors to provide quality services to migrant workers and their families related to concerns and needs along the migration cycle. Selected civil society organizations empower communities including migrant societies to provide peer support in their communities. The following services will be delivered.
Ø Information on safe migration for aspirant migrant workers, families of migrant workers and the district based government officers.
Ø Legal Assistance to address grievances, primarily for in-service migrant workers and returnees.
Ø Psychosocial support services for returnee migrant workers and families of migrant workers.
Ø Financial counseling for remittance management.
Ø Promotion of skills development and recognition.
In order to gain access to better jobs, migrant workers not only need to possess relevant skills, but also be able to signal and validate these skills to potential employers. This is not only important for the outgoing but also for those who have returned.
The programme provides community-based career guidance to jobseekers and returned migrant workers while improving technical capacities of national vocational training authorities to cater to needs and expectation of foreign employers. An awareness raising campaign is targeted at foreign employment recruiters and Sri Lankan employers on the added value of recruiting skilled workers
Best
Eimackshan
May 4, 2021, 7:34 a.m.
[Hidden email]
The programme ensures that services are provided to migrant workers and their families to maximize the benefits and reduce the social and economic costs of labour migration. The programme partners with grassroots civil society organizations to build capacity of government and non-government actors to provide quality services to migrant workers and their families related to concerns and needs along the migration cycle. Selected civil society organizations empower communities including migrant societies to provide peer support in their communities. The following services will be delivered.
Ø Information on safe migration for aspirant migrant workers, families of migrant workers and the district based government officers.
Ø Legal Assistance to address grievances, primarily for in-service migrant workers and returnees.
Ø Psychosocial support services for returnee migrant workers and families of migrant workers.
Ø Financial counseling for remittance management.
Ø Promotion of skills development and recognition.
In order to gain access to better jobs, migrant workers not only need to possess relevant skills, but also be able to signal and validate these skills to potential employers. This is not only important for the outgoing but also for those who have returned.
The programme provides community-based career guidance to jobseekers and returned migrant workers while improving technical capacities of national vocational training authorities to cater to needs and expectation of foreign employers. An awareness raising campaign is targeted at foreign employment recruiters and Sri Lankan employers on the added value of recruiting skilled workers
Best
Eimackshan
May 3, 2021, 1:32 p.m.
Roman Troxler
Today, we are finally starting our e-discussion on Decent Work. The SDC focal points employment and income (e+i) and Fragility, Conflict and Human Rights (FCHR), are very happy that many of you joined today’s kick-of webinars.
Let's immediately have a look at the guiding questions for the next two days (more information on the e-discussion can be found further below). From today until Wednesday we would like to discuss the following two questions below with you. You can reply to only one of them or all of them. Please make a brief reference to your project context when replying to these questions - and try to be short and precise. You can also add links to project summaries or factsheet if available.
> Question 1: Now that you have learned about the four pillars of the decent work agenda and the ten ‘substantive elements’, as well as the anchoring of decent work in the international human right framework, where do you think SDC can and should focus in order to promote decent work in its partner countries – and why so? This can be within its employment & income and migration portfolio but also in other domains such as rule of law and justice and human rights/ governance programming at large.
> Question 2: Can you share any example of Swiss (or other) projects you know / from your portfolio that substantially contribute to one or several substantive elements of decent work (regardless of whether decent work is explicitly mentioned in the project title / objective or not)?
We are looking forward to an open and inspiring e-discussion.
Best regards
Sabrina, Rebecca and Roman
(the facilitator team of the Decent Work webinar and e-discussion)
——————
Footer: further information on the Decent Work e-discussion
So, how does this e-discussion work?
The facilitator team will steer the discussion by launching a topic for discussion to the dgroup members every second day:
> 3-5 May: Stocktaking, learning from interesting projects that substantially contribute to the decent work substantive elements
> 5-7 May: Operationalizing, how can we improve our efforts for decent work?
> 7-11 May: Monitoring/reporting, good practice in monitoring impacts, incl. decent-work aspects at systemic level
How do I participate in the e-discussion? What do I need to do if I don't want to participate?
> Please have a look at the technical guidelines (here: https://dgroups.org/?lrr8d210.2), where you find all necessary information.
> Please note that when you reply to a message everyone in the group will receive it. This is a great opportunity to share our ideas and experiences.
> You may want to change you dGroup email notification preferences to «immediately" (or «daily" or «weekly", if you are too busy to actively follow the discussion). To do so login to dGroups (http://dgroups.org <http: dgroups.org="">), click on "My account" and then on "Preferences", and change the notification preferences.
We will summarize the participants' contributions and disseminate the key points and results of discussions when sharing new guiding questions for the discussion. Additionally we will complement the input paper with findings of the e-discussion after concluding the joint learning exercise.
We invite you to regularly visit the thematic Shareweb page, where you find the above mentioned input paper and additional readings: https://www.shareweb.ch/site/EI/Pages/Content/Profiles.aspx?SmartID=4535&item1=Decent%20Work
——————
Roman Troxler
Partner and Senior Consultant | KEK – CDC
Universitaetstrasse 69 | CH-8006 Zurich
www.kek.ch <http: www.kek.ch=""> | +41 44 368 58 15
+41 79 212 53 80 (Mobile/Signal/Threema)</http:></http:>