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3.9 Overcoming discrimination: Working Out of Poverty
Written by: International Labour OrganizationArticle Overview: All too often people living in poverty are not treated as equals by the rest of society.
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Free Download - References: Learning to change: Skills development among the economically vulnerable and socially excluded in developing countries By International Labour Organization |
3.9 Overcoming discrimination: Working Out of Poverty
All too often people living in poverty are not treated as equals by the
rest of society. “Poverty is humiliation, the sense of being dependent, and of being forced to accept rudeness, insults, and indifference when we seek
help.”
Like poverty, discrimination is also multifaceted. The impact of poverty
is compounded by discrimination based on race, caste, ethnic origin, skin
colour, religion, gender, sexual orientation, health status and disability. This
chapter has catalogued ways in which promoting opportunities for decent
work can contribute to eliminating these barriers. Just as discrimination at
work is one of the most damaging aspects of unequal treatment, so can the
chance to work productively in decent conditions begin to break down
the prejudices that often underlie social exclusion.
The starting point for all the ILO’s work to overcome discrimination is
the right to equality of opportunity and treatment in respect of employment
and occupation, reflected in the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation)
Convention, 1958 (No. 111). One of the most highly ratified of all ILO
Conventions, it is a remarkably far-sighted and comprehensive instrument
which continues to inspire national legislation and other measures. Equal access
to job opportunities requires that national and local action increasingly
emphasize positive and inclusive duties to promote equality and not just negative
duties to avoid discrimination, and that systems of regulation involve
the empowerment or participation of the disadvantaged groups. 48 The key
to the success of an inclusive approach to promoting equality in the labour
market is the active involvement of trade unions, employers’ organizations
and other stakeholders in challenging discrimination and proposing constructive
remedies.
Gender inequality is pervasive, and invariably impacts most severely on
women who are poor. Consequently, gender inequality intersects with economic
deprivation to produce more intensified forms of poverty for women
than men. Working for gender equality is part and parcel of measures to
eradicate poverty. One of the targets of the United Nations Millennium
Development Goals is an increased share of women in wage employment in
the non-agricultural sector as an indicator of gender equality and women’s
empowerment. Although discrimination is clearly an obstacle to the efficient
use of labour in production systems, free market systems have failed to end
the patterns of exclusion of certain social groups and women in general that
transmit poverty from one generation to the next.
The ILO’s Gender, Poverty and Employment (GPE) programme, a
capacity-building programme for employment promotion, gender equality
and poverty eradication, aims to increase awareness of the importance for
the eradication of poverty of eliminating gender-based discrimination at
work. The GPE strategy is to mainstream gender awareness into relevant
ILO programmes being adapted to specific country and regional activities. It
involves three steps: building a knowledge base; dialogue and consensus
building among the social partners and other stakeholders, including representatives
of beneficiaries of ILO programmes; and support in translating gender-based analysis into pilot activities. 50 This approach is being used by
the municipality of Santo André in the suburbs of São Paulo, Brazil, which,
in collaboration with trade unions, business, NGOs and local academics,
aims to enhance employment opportunities for women and blacks. The GPE
programme is also working with the social partners in China, Nepal, the
United Republic of Tanzania and Uganda to improve their capacity to integrate
gender analysis into national poverty reduction strategies.
The impact of HIV/AIDS adds a new dimension and urgency to the
fight against poverty. The pandemic is dramatically affecting the care economy.
Women, themselves highly vulnerable to infection, are also often the
main carers. Poor women – the elderly, adolescents and working-age women
– are currently struggling to find ways of surviving and coping with the pandemic
over and above their existing burdens. In Africa, 58 per cent of those
infected with HIV/AIDS are women. AIDS killed almost 2.5 million Africans
in 2002 and has left 11 million African children orphaned since the pandemic
began.
AIDS is eroding the health of African women and the skills, experience
and networks that keep their families and communities going. Even before
falling ill, a woman will often have to care for a sick husband, thereby reducing
the time she can devote to planting, harvesting and marketing crops.
When her husband dies, she is often deprived of credit, land rights, property
or distribution networks. When she dies, the household will risk collapsing
completely, leaving children to fend for themselves. The older ones, especially
girls, will be taken out of school to work in the home or on the farm.
These girls, deprived of education and opportunities, will be even less able
to protect themselves against HIV/AIDS. The ILO is collaborating with the
United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) to explore strategies
and social protection frameworks to address the crisis of HIV/AIDS
and the care economy, particularly in countries where poverty levels are high
and where there is a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS.
Underpinning these strategies is a focus on integrating care economy
issues into the PRSP process and the work of multilateral agencies and
donors to ensure that resources currently targeted on HIV/AIDS not only
are geared towards prevention and treatment, but also address the social and
economic impact of the pandemic – which is hitting women harder than
anyone else.
1.10 Overcoming discrimination: Working Out of Poverty
Home Business Expert: How To Overcome Poverty Consciousness
2.9 Conclusions: Working Out of Poverty
2.8 The foundations of a decent work strategy for poverty reduction: Working Out of Poverty
1.5 Skills development for sustainable livelihoods: Working Out of Poverty
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About the Author: International Labour Organization RSS for International's articles - Visit International's website  Click here to visit International's website   62 Traditional interventions Forprofit and NGO training activities 31 The public sector Training priorities resources and reorientation 28 The foundations of a decent work strategy for poverty reduction Working Out of Poverty 40 Sustainable propoor growth and the governance of the labour market Working Out of Poverty 117 Building partnerships Working Out of Poverty |
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