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1.4 Our experience: Working Out of Poverty

Written by: International Labour Organization

Article Overview: Decent work is a powerful tool in selecting the path to the attainment of the interrelated goals and human development outcomes of the Millennium Declaration. The ILO’s four strategic objectives are a contemporary formulation of its mandate and a development strategy that responds to the most urgent demands of families today. Decent work unites the international drive to wipe out poverty with the fundamental right to work in freedom. Within each of the strategic objectives, there are tools to help eliminate poverty.

1.4 Our experience: Working Out of Poverty

Decent work is a powerful tool in selecting the path to the attainment
of the interrelated goals and human development outcomes of the Millennium
Declaration. The ILO’s four strategic objectives are a contemporary
formulation of its mandate and a development strategy that responds to
the most urgent demands of families today. Decent work unites the international
drive to wipe out poverty with the fundamental right to work in
freedom. Within each of the strategic objectives, there are tools to help
eliminate poverty.

Employment
. Poverty elimination is impossible unless the economy
generates opportunities for investment, entrepreneurship, job creation and
sustainable livelihoods. The principal route out of poverty is work.

Rights
. People in poverty need voice to obtain recognition of rights and
demand respect. They need representation and participation. They also
need good laws that are enforced and work for, not against, their interests.
Without rights and empowerment, the poor will not get out of poverty.

Protection
. Poor people are unprotected people. The earning power of
those living in poverty is suppressed by marginalization and lack of support
systems. The ILO is working to find new ways to provide social protection
and reclaim the role of the State in this sphere. Women’s capacity to renegotiate
the distribution of unpaid work caring for family needs is crucial. Support
for people unable to work because of age, illness or disability is
essential.

Dialogue
. People in poverty understand the need to negotiate and
know dialogue is the way to solve problems peacefully. The ILO can offer
those living in poverty its experience in dialogue and conflict resolution as a
way of advancing their interests. We can align our agendas to incorporate the
interests of the poorest.

Breaking the cycle of poverty is really about creating a new cycle of opportunity
and local wealth creation. The Decent Work Agenda is an essential
part of the solution. That Agenda may take different shapes and be built
around different priorities in order to tackle different aspects of poverty and
groups of poor people. But the promotion of rights, representation, employment
and protection is always going to be the heart of successful policies to
reduce poverty. In all these areas, we have knowledge and experience that
are important for the global effort in which we are a full and willing partner.

In collaborating with the Organization’s constituents and other
national and international agencies concerned with development, we aim to
ensure that the contribution of the decent work approach to poverty reduction
is well understood, that the portfolio of ILO technical assistance is made
available and, most importantly, that the perspective of the range of social
institutions that comprise the community of work forms part of the design
and implementation of nationally owned strategies.

Through the years, the ILO has built up considerable practical experience
in policies that help to create jobs for women and men living in
poverty and addressing the vulnerabilities of daily life. An underlying theme
of the Organization’s work is the importance of institution building with
government, the social partners and in the community to sustain and replicate
successful experiences.

A strategy for working out of poverty should include the following:

Related Articles
  1.9 Building local development through cooperatives: Working Out of Poverty
  1.5 Skills development for sustainable livelihoods: Working Out of Poverty
  2.9 Conclusions: Working Out of Poverty
  1.11 Working to end child labour: Working Out of Poverty
  1.19 Building trust: Working Out of Poverty

Article Tags: breaking the cycle, conflict resolution, cycle of poverty, decent work, demand respect, development outcomes, development strategy, earning power, fundamental right, ilo, job creation, marginalization, millennium declaration, poverty elimination, principal route, strategic objectives, unpaid work, urgent demands, wealth creation, work agenda



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