In a recent interview, BEYOND's Hedayat Abdel Nabi solicited Somavia's views on the global labour agenda as well as issues of significance to Egypt The Director-General of the International Labor Organization (ILO), , former Ambassador of Chile to the United Nations, has been the driving force for a fair globalization process for the past eight years. In his position at the helm of the ILO, he is the safety valve for workers all around the globe for a better world in which decent work would be the rule and not the exception. In this unique agency, where all stakeholders in the working arena meet each year, Somavia has been the architect of major campaigns that affect the lives of millions of people on earth, children, men and women. His fingerprints are all over the numerous unique contributions of the ILO to human development during the past 8 years, from his call for achieving the Millennium Development Goals through "decent" work, to his call to eliminate child labor, among other important landmarks. Somavia believes that it is absolutely critical to enhance fairness in globalization, because poverty is a threat to prosperity everywhere. "Social progress needs an economic foundation. But economic progress has to meet the aspirations of workers and their families. This is the basic interdependence on which to build a future of peace," according to Somavia. "People want a fair chance for a decent job. It is as simple as that. "People are worried about jobs. Work on which I can raise my family and send my children to school. Work in which I am respected, can organize and have a voice. Work, which will provide a reasonable pension at the end of a working life. That is what we mean by decent work," notes Somavia. But jobs, he adds, are not created in a vacuum--employment is connected to growth, investment, social institutions, active labor markets, capacity building, skills development--and above all--the present model of globalization. "The fairness issue shows up in the unbalanced pattern of trade liberalization, in migration, in the contagious effect of instabilities in capital markets and in commodity prices," he adds. Somavia notes that fair globalization will not come about through disjointed decisions on trade, or finance, or labor, or education or health policies, conceived and applied independently. It is an integrated phenomenon. "It takes integrated solutions. And obviously, integrated policies. Coherence must grow from the local to the global level. You build coherence through dialogue," says the architect of global fairness. The more voices and interests that participate in the formulation of policies, he adds, the more balanced and efficient the results will be. Following are excerpts from the questions and answers of the interview. Beyond : Ten years after the World Social Summit held in Copenhagen in 1995, how do you, its principal engineer, feel about its results and impact? To what extent did this experience help you formulate the ILO employment programme? What would you recommend to Egypt? Somavia : "Basically, the notions of the Social Summit have permeated policy talk, have had some influence on policymaking...Since the Summit, it is now widely agreed, there must be a social pillar to the global economy, and poverty eradication has become a legitimate political objective. The critical role of social policy is generally accepted in international and national policy debates, including in the Bretton Woods institutions, and gender issues are becoming more prominent. But more must be done to translate this consensus into concrete action: Above all, globalization must deliver jobs in both North and South if its benefits are to reach more people. All the more so, because more and better jobs are the way out of poverty. This can only happen if countries and international organizations make employment their central policy focus. We need a global strategy for growth, investment and employment. Privatization in Egypt Beyond : Privatization has been an important process in Egypt, how do you assess this process in terms of negative and positive effects on workers in Egypt? Somavia : Enterprises all over the world--public and private--are having to come to terms with increased competition and technological change. This often means major restructuring, with a significant impact on workers, families and their communities. Economic change is part of the development process, but we all must work to ensure that it is managed in a socially responsible way with the full participation of all affected, including worker representatives. We at the ILO stand ready to assist in advancing the concept of decent work and dignity for all workers. BEYOND: Decent work has been an important initiative of yours. How far has this initiative had an echo in the developing world and Egypt? Somavia: The decent work agenda is reflected in the country's new labour code. Awareness of the agenda has started to permeate the Egyptian society. When decision makers talk about securing employment to youth and the unemployed, they don't refer to any kind of job but to decent work. This has been emphasized by Egyptian officials, including at the recent International Donors' Conference on Reforming the Business Environment in Cairo. Decent Work and Child Labor Beyond : Decent work can have a wide- ranging impact on many aspects of social life including political participation, how does it affect effective political participation? Somavia : Decent work is based on four strategic objectives: employment and enterprise creation; rights; social protection; and social dialogue. It is founded on the notion that labour is not a commodity. What is a cost of production is also a central source of personal dignity, family stability, and peace in the community. Decent work is where workers' rights -- wherever they work - are respected and where there is a basic social protection system. It is where people have a voice in the decisions that affect their lives and where social dialogue is a reality. Where businesses, especially smaller enterprises, have an environment in which to grow to increase employment and prosper, and this democratic demand for opportunity and security is resonating all over the world, in both developing and developed countries. Beyond : Combating child labor is another important initiative in recent years. How far is the developing world responding to this call, and how does Egypt deal with it? Somavia : Child labor remains a major global challenge. But in Egypt, as in much of the world, there is an increasing awareness and determination to take on the challenge and provide a better future for children based on education for children and decent jobs for parents. Egypt has taken leadership by ratifying ILO Conventions No. 138 (in 1999) on minimum age, and No.182 (in 2002), on the worst forms of child labour. But ratification is meaningful only when followed up by action and I understand that Egypt has done a survey which will be used to prepare an integrated national strategy to fight child labour. Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak, Egypt's First Lady, has also lent her support to the ILO's Red Card to Child Labour campaign during the Africa Cup of Nations 2006. The event was organized by the ILO in partnership with Egypt's National Council for Childhood and Motherhood. Bird Flu Beyond : Avian flu is having a negative impact on the poultry industry, which in turn is negatively impacting thousands and maybe more industry workers worldwide. How should the countries concerned deal with this problem? Somavia : Avian flu is raising international concerns, and has started to have a negative impact on the poultry industry in a number of countries. Should there actually be an epidemic, one can expect that there will be impact on labor markets--from agriculture to tourism, but that remains to be seen. Unlike previous epidemics of flu in the past century, this time, the international community is making efforts early and rapidly to try and deal with a potential health crisis, and in the process, to deal with its social and economic impact. This is a positive indication of how far we have come socially in the past decades. The Hong Kong Meeting of WTO Beyond: What is your assessment of the Hong Kong ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) held last December, and its impact on the workers of the world, in particular those in developing countries? Somavia : The distribution of the benefits of liberalization of trade has so far been uneven. This confirms one of the main findings of the 2004 report of the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization. The World Commission found that the social and economic imbalances of globalization were serious but could and should be corrected with the right policies. The way to get there is not by rolling back the opening of markets and stifling the potential gains from increased international trade and investment, but by finding solutions with a strong eye on what happens to people, families and communities. The situation cries out for a coherent response from the multilateral system. We need to work together to achieve a more even distribution of the potential benefits of globalization, to deal equitably with the downside that may come with it, and to focus on fairness in areas such as trade and market access. The ILO is committed to joining together with other international agencies -- including financial institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF -- to meet these goals. ILO Annual Conference 2006 Beyond: What are the most important themes for the next ILO annual conference? Particularly those that would be of major concern to Egypt, the Arab region and the developing world? Somavia: We have two Conference sessions this year. An extra session of the ILO's general conference is devoted to the maritime sector. It has the unprecedented task of adopting a comprehensive international labour convention to consolidate almost all ILO maritime labour conventions and recommendations currently in force -- over 60 texts -- and set out the conditions for decent work in the increasingly globalized maritime sector. The Annual Conference in June (2006) will deal with a wide range of issues, including occupational safety and health. The Conference Committee on Safety and Health will consider a promotional framework in the area of occupational safety and health. In addition, we will take up a discussion on the employment relationship, the role of the ILO in technical cooperation and the reports on the application of ILO Conventions and Recommendations. This year's conference will also provide the Egyptian Government, as well as workers' and employers' representatives, an opportunity to discuss with their counterparts from around the world a report that examines the changing patterns in the world of work.
