Selected Conference Papers: Labour Standards and Poverty Reduction Forum
The Labour Standards and Poverty Reduction Forum was derived from the DFID Labour Standards and Poverty Reduction paper. It was recognised through the wide ranging consultation for the paper that a forum, along with other initaives, could continue to strengthern dialogue with key partners in both labour and poverty areas and further promote progress.
The Forum meets every six months and brings together corporate representatives, NGOs, academics and trade unions to discuss how labour standards contribute to the development agenda. In the past two years, the Forum has addressed the role of labour standards and trade unions in Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers, the relevance of labour concerns to the Commission for Africa, women workers in the global supply chain, the consequences for Bangladeshi textiles of the phase-out of the Multi-Fibre Arrangement and DFID's paper on Making Migration Work for the Poor.
The Decent Work Agenda
14 November 2007
This session of the DFID Labour Standards and Poverty Reduction Forum looked at the Decent Work Agenda and its potential impact on DFID in the context of the forthcoming addition of a decent work target to the Millennium Development Goals. A background paper – ‘Decent Work: Potential Implications for DFID and the labour Standards and Poverty Reduction Forum’ – was distributed to Forum participants.
There were three presentations.
1. ‘The Decent Work Agenda’ – Rafael Diez de Medina, Office of the Director General, International labour Organisation
• The scope of decent work
• The ILO’s experience of Decent Work Country Programmes
• Mainstreaming Decent Work – the ILO’s Toolkit
• Decent work and the Millennium Development Goals
2. ‘The importance of social dialogue’ – Ebrahim Patel, General Secretary of the South African Clothing & Textile Workers Union (SACTWU)
• Social dialogue, decent work and its contribution to development
• Social dialogue in action
3. ‘Decent work: context and issues’ – Steve Gibbons, Director, Ergon Associates
• Issues arising from the background paper
• DFID’s current engagement on decent work
• Potential implications for DFID and the Forum
The presentations were followed by group discussion and feedback. For the minutes of this meeting, please click here.
Incorporating Labour Standards in Public Procurement
The most recent session of the DFID Labour Standards and Poverty Reduction Forum took place on 23rd May 2007, and looked at incorporating labour standards in public procurement. A background paper – ‘Labour Standards in Public Procurement’ – was distributed to Forum participants.
The Forum heard three presentations.
‘Labour Standards In Public Procurement: Background and Scope For Action’ – Stuart Bell, Director of Policy, Ergon Associates
This presentation includes:
• Overview of the background paper written by Ergon Associates for the Forum
• Definition of the stages of the procurement cycle and potential interventions to promote labour standards that could be undertaken at each stage
• Potential learning from private sector initiatives to promote supply chain labour standards
‘Incorporating Labour Standards in Public Procurement: The View from DFID’ – Michael Dunnery, Head of Corporate Electronic Procurement Advisory Section (CEPAS), Procurement Group, DFID
This presentation examines:
• The structure and spend of DFID’s own procurement, and DFID’s use of procurement agents
• DFID’s current requirements with regard to social aspects of procurement
• Future challenges for DFID with regard to social sustainability
‘Incorporating Labour Standards in Public Procurement: The Union Perspective’ – Tim Page, Senior Policy Officer, Trade Union Congress
This presentation examines:
• The potential use of ‘smart procurement’ - including targeted social clauses – as a key tool in helping DFID to achieve its overall goal.
• The TUC view of the EC Directives and UK government guidance on public procurement
• The possibility of reputational damage to government of potential labour abuses in public procurement supply chains
‘Transforming Government Procurement’ – Julie Bremner, Procurement Policy Adviser, Office of Government Commerce
This presentation examines:
• An overview of the role of the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) across government as an agency of the Treasury, OGC’s strategic plan, including sustainability principles
• OGC’s view of the scope for including social issues in procurement
• Key challenges of raising procurement skills, strengthening procurement capability and improving collaboration among procurement authorities
For the minutes of this meeting please click here.
Labour Standards in the Informal Economy
The previous meeting of the Forum took place on 24th November 2006 and focused on labour standards in the informal economy. The Forum heard three presentations:
This presentation examines:
- What does ‘Decent Work’ mean for the informal economy and how does this relate to the ‘labour standards’ agenda?
- The roles of the ILO constituent parties: workers, employers and states.
- Summary of the recently finished DFID-supported programmes in Thailand, Mongolia and Cambodia (Asia), Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda (Africa), Brazil and Ecuador (Latin America) and Central Asia.
For the keynote speech please click here.
This presentation examines:
- Informal economy workers in global value chains – informalisation and globalisation.
- Challenges and experiences of IUF work.
- The role of trade unions: organising workers in the informal agricultural sector.
This presentation examines:
- Lessons from the private sector: the ETI India homeworkers project.
- Working on labour standards with workers with marginal legal status: the ETI-led homeworkers’ project in India: objectives, scope, methods and challenges.
- What do workers want? Experiences of the national homeworker group in India.
For the minutes of this meeting, please click here.
