International Day for Eradication of Poverty marked on October 17

PanARMENIAN.Net - International Day for the Eradication of Poverty is marked worldwide. This year's theme is “From poverty to decent work: Bridging the gap," the press service of the International Labour Office reported.

Director-General of the International Labour Office Juan Somavia issued the following statement.

"Today we stand in solidarity with millions of women and men and their families caught in the grip of poverty, wishing and striving to rise above it.

This year's theme “From poverty to decent work: Bridging the gap" reminds us that the opportunity for women and men to work in conditions of freedom, dignity, security and equity is the most effective, sustainable way to escape poverty.

The recent UN Summit on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) painted a mixed picture on progress in meeting these goals. But the bottom line is that 1.4 billion people still subsist on less than $1.25 a day. And the situation of least developed countries is particularly worrying.

The number of workers in vulnerable employment worldwide is estimated to be more than 1.5 billion, just over half of the world's working population. One billion still suffer from hunger; some nine million children die each year before reaching their fifth birthday. 80 per cent of the global population do not benefit from social protection that helps them to deal with life's risks.

Behind these statistics are real lives, mothers and fathers without the means to support their families, young people with little hope or prospect for a better future.

For many the fallout of the financial and economic crisis has aggravated the situation.

Real and lasting change for the better must start with the conviction that not only can we achieve the MDGs but also that we must go beyond. The evidence of progress in realizing the MDGs in rapidly developing countries as well as in some of the poorest, point to the possibilities that exist for a successful attack on poverty. At this time of heightened economic and social uncertainty, we must transform possibility into reality.

The economic and social models that breed poverty can be transformed to deliver economic growth with social justice. But it will not be done through business as usual or through isolated initiatives.

The action agenda adopted by the MDG Summit reaffirms the central role of decent work in poverty reduction.

A decent work route out of poverty calls for a new vision.

Decent work is part of a productive response to poverty eradication. We have to shape new policy prescriptions to produce the desired results - jobs and enterprise creation, basic social protection, respect for fundamental rights and the opportunity for working people's voices to be heard in decisions that affect their lives.

Growth with decent jobs calls for the integration of employment and social policies with macroeconomic policy strategies. Making full employment and decent work a key macroeconomic objective alongside low inflation and sound fiscal measures will be a major step towards bridging the gap between poverty and decent work.

Promoting growth and empowering people, protecting economies and protecting people, must go hand in hand.

Attention to the quality of jobs is essential for, as we know, millions are working hard yet barely surviving, often in the informal economy in conditions that are antithetical to any notion of human dignity. People in poverty need a floor of basic social protection; jobs with wages and labour conditions that provide the working poor with sufficient income and stability to work their way out of poverty and withstand economic and climate shocks; and not least they need organization and representation and a voice to obtain their rights which will empower them to work out of poverty. And when women are empowered, we stand a better chance of eradicating poverty in families, communities and societies.

The Second United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (2008-17) which focuses on “Full employment and decent work for all" offers a framework for action to collectively shape the approaches needed to tackle this global priority.

Let us always bear in mind that there is scope for choice at all levels in determining the policies, and levels of investment and international support for poverty reduction and eradication - including in the context of crisis as reflected in the ILO's Global Jobs Pact adopted in June 2009. It is a collective responsibility involving individual countries, the UN system, international financial institutions, and donors.

On this day let us commit to upholding the dignity of every human being through the dignity that decent work provides. It is central to people's lives - and must also be central to development strategies. Decent work for all is a keystone of a better, fairer world," reads the statement.