LIMA (ILO News) - At a time when the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean are facing a situation marked by a rise in unemployment, an increase in poverty and a pronounced decline in social and labour conditions, the International Labour Organization (ILO) begins its XVth Regional Meeting of ILO member States in the Americas to seek a "productive solution" to the region's labour troubles.
The aim of this Meeting is to assess the social reality in the region and to encourage, as has been indicated in the report of the Director-General of the ILO, the Chilean Juan Somavia, entitled Globalization and decent work in the Americas 1, an examination of "a productive solution" allowing the region to overcome the new and serious economic crisis that is affecting the region.
The meeting in Lima takes place in a regional context of low economic growth, high unemployment, and growing informalization of the labour market. Urban unemployment in Latin America and the Caribbean rose in the third quarter of 2002 to 17 million, an average unemployment rate of 9.2 per cent that, according to the 2002 Labour Overview of the ILO 2, is the highest that has been registered in the region in the past 22 years.
The aim of this Meeting is to assess the social reality in the region and to encourage, as has been indicated in the report of the Director-General of the ILO, the Chilean Juan Somavia, entitled Globalization and decent work in the Americas 1, an examination of "a productive solution" allowing the region to overcome the new and serious economic crisis that is affecting the region.
The meeting in Lima takes place in a regional context of low economic growth, high unemployment, and growing informalization of the labour market. Urban unemployment in Latin America and the Caribbean rose in the third quarter of 2002 to 17 million, an average unemployment rate of 9.2 per cent that, according to the 2002 Labour Overview of the ILO 2, is the highest that has been registered in the region in the past 22 years.