Technical cooperation for the occupied Arab territories – Report of Governing Body Chairman to the ILO 93rd annual conference – ILO provisional record (excerpts)

Report of the Chairperson of the Governing

Body to the Conference for the year 2004-05

This report on the work of the Governing Body is submitted to the Conference in accordance with article 14 of the Standing Orders of the Governing Body. It covers the period since the last general session of the Conference (June 2004), i.e. the Governing Body’s 290th (June 2004), 291st (November 2004) and 292nd (March 2005) Sessions. It focuses only on the highlights of the Governing Body’s year, and does not cover matters that are otherwise before the Conference.

Those seeking more extensive and detailed information on the work of the Governing Body as a whole are referred to the notes at the end of the report. They may also consult the minutes of its 290th, 291st and 292nd Sessions (June and November 2004; March 2005) or the documents submitted to its committees and to the Governing Body itself.  Other relevant material, as well as the reports and other Governing Body documents mentioned in the text and in the endnotes, are available on the Governing Body Internet site.¹

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VIII. Technical cooperation

The ILO’s technical cooperation programme

for 2003-04

In November 2004, the Committee on Technical Cooperation was informed about the manner in which ILO technical cooperation was evolving in the context of a broader effort by the international community to improve the outreach and focus of development cooperation. The Committee was provided with statistics pertaining to trends and implementation of ILO technical cooperation during 2003-04. Total expenditure in 2003 had been US$138 million compared to US$121.7 million in 2001. Funding from the United Nations system continued to decline while funding from multi-bilateral and trust funds continued to rise. Delivery rates increased from 64 per cent in 2002 to 69 per cent in 2003. The Standards and Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work Sector had the highest expenditures, followed by the Employment Sector, the Social Dialogue Sector and the Social Protection Sector. The African region continued to receive the highest proportion of expenditures, followed by the Asia and Pacific region, the Americas, Europe and the Arab States.

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Enhanced Programme of technical cooperation

for the occupied Arab territories

In November 2004, the Governing Body examined a progress report 25 on the activities undertaken by the ILO under this programme. As reflected in the paper, the ILO has pursued its long-running efforts in contributing to the achievement of socio-economic development in the conflict-stricken West Bank and Gaza Strip. Furthermore, since the rising conflicts in 2001, an enhanced programme of technical cooperation has been implemented. It mainly centres on strengthening the capacity of employers’ and workers’ organizations and the Ministry of Labour, promoting social dialogue as a requirement to peace, and establishing the Palestinian Fund for Employment and Social Protection (the Fund) as a future umbrella for the coordination of all financial and technical assistance for employment creation and income-generating programmes. The establishment of the Fund has been given particular importance as an effective tool to face the rising problems of poverty and unemployment. To this end, and with financing from the 2000-01 cash surplus to launch the start-up activities, the Fund is expected to implement three core programmes which take into account existing activities, namely the Community Infrastructure Development Programme, the Enterprise Development Programme, and the Human Resource Development Programme. It will promote opportunities for women and men to obtain decent and productive work, in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity within the framework of a coherent employment strategy. So far, and through its board of directors and the signing of the Grant Agreement with the Palestinian Authority, the Fund is now staffed and equipped, and is raising funds for the implementation of its programmes. Most recently, it has launched three projects whose activities are expected to be completed by December 2005. These include “Support for Palestinian small and medium enterprise development:  Emergency assistance to EMPRETEC Palestine” (US$139,000), “Vocational graduates job placement” (US$134,000), and “Emergency assistance to employment generation and job placement programme” (US$128,400).

ILO technical assistance to the occupied Arab territories has also included technical advisory services and capacity-building activities for employers’ and workers’ organizations and the Ministry of Labour which would enable them to better address the challenges facing the Palestinian people. Specifically, and with initial financing received from Saudi Arabia, a proposal has recently been formulated for the establishment of a vocational training centre in Ramallah. The proposal came as a response to a request made by the Ministry of Labour. The ILO has also provided technical assistance in legal aid counselling services to Palestinian workers employed in Israel, and made an assessment of the social security needs with a view to establishing the Palestinian Social Security Institute in the occupied Arab territories.

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¹ http://mirror/public/english/standards/relm/gb/index.htm .