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AMMAN — The International Labour Organisation (ILO) on Tuesday launched the Jordan National Dialogue as part of the agency’s global Future of Work initiative.
The framework is being launched globally to mark the ILO’s centenary in 2019, and seeks to help the agency and its constituents enhance their understanding of the forces that are changing work.
According to the ILO, the overarching goals of the initiative are to generate a shared understanding of the forces transforming the world of work and what it means for governments, unions and employers; to provide a constructive global forum for the exchange of ideas and information.
The initiative also seeks to articulate and promote policy alternatives and good practices that can be replicated by governments, trade unions and employers’ associations to better serve their members’ needs in the future.
Speaking at the launch ceremony in Amman, Nicolas Niemtchinow, special adviser on the Future of Work, said the centenary initiative “is now the main ILO political priority”.
The Jordan National Dialogue on the Future of Work, which brings together tripartite and social partners, as well as UN agencies, academic institutions, private sector representatives and experts in respective fields, will focus on four thematic areas.
The first area is managing the demographic transition in the country, in which half of the population is under the age of 19, putting an increased focus on the need to provide jobs to a growing workforce.
The initiative will also focus on maintaining social stability in the context of massive population displacement, managing technological change for more and better jobs and managing the employment impact of climate change.
“The issue of maintaining social stability and fighting poverty with decent jobs for all, especially for the younger, is currently a key issue for Jordan,” the ILO official said.
“We all know the burden [hosting refugees] represents for your country, and the ILO is proud to help Jordan to find solutions,” Niemtchinow added.
“I want here to pay tribute to Jordan for having offered a safe harbour to Syrian refugees and for allowing them to work.”
The results and recommendations of the Jordan National Dialogue will feed into a regional conference, to be held in early 2017, to discuss the future of work in Arab states and the next programming phase of the ILO in Jordan.