The delegates at the Thirteenth Asian Regional Meeting of the ILO endorse the general purport of the Report of the Director-General, Decent Work in Asia.

The delegates urge all member States in the region to define, through a tripartite process, a national plan of action for decent work, that integrates fundamental rights at work, greater opportunities for women and men to secure decent work, social protection, including occupational safety and health standards, for the greatest possible number of workers, as well as increased social dialogue.

The delegates call attention to the fact that globalization can have positive as well as negative impacts. In light of the current global economic downturn, which is already causing lower economic growth in many countries of the region, the delegates request the Director-General, as a matter of urgency, to prepare, in consultation with the tripartite constituents of the region, guidelines and proposed programmes aimed at preventing, or at least significantly attenuating, the negative impacts of the current economic slowdown, as well as programmes aimed to assist member States to participate successfully in the global economy to achieve sustainable economic growth.

The delegates recall that respect for international labour standards is fundamentally important for reduction of the decent work deficit in their countries. The ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work will provide a positive framework within which to fashion more adequate responses to social problems and structural changes which may result from economic fluctuation and globalization. The delegates call on all member States to bring their legislation into conformity with the principles of the fundamental Conventions and to take steps to ratify these Conventions, if they have not done so, and to apply them fully. The delegates note the disparity between ratification and implementation of fundamental Conventions and urge that measures be taken to address this issue.

The delegates welcome the ongoing review of standards policy. In order to facilitate the process it would be useful to follow a more systematic approach focusing on the revisions of existing standards, as well as the development of relevant new standards. Delegates also call on the Office to provide assistance to constituents both in preparing for ratification and in applying ratified standards.

The delegates take note of the significant expansion of the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) in the region and of the remarkable results achieved in some countries. They express the hope that IPEC will extend its activities to appropriate countries in the region in the course of the next biennium. While urging IPEC to deploy every possible effort to eliminate child labour, in particular in its worst forms, the delegates encourage it to devote particular attention to combating trafficking of children and to bonded labour.

The delegates wish to stress the importance of employment generation as the central element in the Decent Work Agenda and as the principal means to reduce poverty. They call on the Director-General to give priority to this issue in the ILO programme in both the Asia-Pacific region and the Arab states. The delegates urge the Office to work with constituents to enable member States to establish development plans and training programmes to alleviate the problem of unemployment. They call on the ILO to assist countries to identify their needs, undertake research, and develop, in consultation with them, an employment framework in accordance with the Decent Work Agenda. Delegates note the significant increase in flexible work arrangements - subcontracting, casual, fixed-term, part-time, temporary and home-based work. The delegates stress the need both for the creation of decent work and the establishment and maintenance of a policy framework favourable to economic growth and to the development and expansion of both large and small enterprises and to provide appropriate training, credit and other support services, especially to small enterprises. The delegates note the importance of raising productivity, increasing competitiveness of enterprises and establishing a conducive environment for investment, job creation and improved quality of life.

The delegates consider that it is important to promote policy integration for employment through better co-operation among government agencies as well as with social partners. By giving high priority to employment issues in the overall policy agenda, it is hoped that forward-looking strategies may be developed to avert and mitigate the social repercussions of economic downturns on employment and income in the region. In order to promote employment the delegates stress the importance of partnerships among the ILO, relevant international agencies and international and regional financial institutions.

The delegates note that there are still many countries in the region where equality between women and men in employment, education and training, remuneration, social security entitlements, facilities to establish their own enterprises and other aspects of work, has not yet been achieved. Delegates also note that women account for a disproportionately large group of the working poor. They stress that gender issues should not be marginalized. Gender mainstreaming should be a priority item on the employment agenda and should be monitored regularly to determine whether concrete progress has been made. The ILO, in consultation with constituents, should also assist member States to introduce time-bound programmes for gender equality.

Multi-skilling, skills training and upgrading are crucial to enhancing access to employment and improving productivity and competitiveness in the global economy. The rapidly increasing reliance on information and communication technology and a general trend towards knowledge-based economies require a more educated, skilled and adaptable workforce. The delegates note that education systems and skills training should be linked to market demand through improved labour market information and labour market analysis.

The delegates note that migration, as a manifestation of the globalizing world, cannot in most cases be conceived as favouring the sending country alone, but as benefiting also many receiving countries by providing much needed workers. Migrant workers are often the least protected. Irregular migration and trafficking expose workers to the worst forms of abuse and exploitation. Even legally admitted workers do not enjoy the same rights and level of social protection as the national workforce in most countries. Recognizing that bilateral and multilateral approaches are prerequisite for safeguarding the least protected, the delegates request the Office to take a lead in developing and facilitating appropriate policy measures for migrant workers within the framework of Decent Work. It is suggested that the respective ILO Regional Offices carry out activities on labour migration and provide a forum to discuss migration issues. The delegates note that the ratification and full implementation of the Migration for Employment Convention (Revised), 1949 (No. 97) and the Migrant Workers (Supplementary Provisions) Convention, 1975 (No. 143) constitute a positive step towards ensuring decent work for migrant workers.

The delegates note the importance of providing appropriate training and productive employment opportunities for members of vulnerable groups, including disabled persons, indigenous people, women, older workers and unemployed youth. Of particular concern is the high level of youth unemployment.

The delegates note that social protection must complement national employment policies. They note with concern that limited social protection is one of the greatest decent work deficits in the region. Of particular concern is the widespread absence of social protection for workers in informal employment - both rural and urban. Recognizing the high social cost of the Asian crisis of 1997 and relatively low public spending on social protection in the region, the delegates call upon the ILO to support the development of comprehensive, inclusive and sustainable social protection programmes. The delegates note that social protection is the responsibility of the State in order to achieve effective redistribution of national resources through both contribution-based social insurance and public-financed social assistance programmes.

Considering the conclusions of the general discussion on social security at the 89th Session of the International Labour Conference, the delegates stress the importance of building the ILO research and knowledge base about the extension of social security benefits to more workers. In this regard, the delegates urge the Office to allocate adequate resources to assist constituents in the region to address these issues.

Delegates note that although governments need to play a major role in implementing and improving the framework for occupational safety and health, it is also the role of the social partners to ensure that occupational safety and health is addressed as a priority in the workplace. In this regard, the Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155), the ILO Guidelines on Occupational Safety and Health Management Systems, as well as the newly adopted Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the World of Work should be promoted.

Recognizing the importance of the right of freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining as the foundations for social dialogue, the delegates urge all member States to implement fully the rights set out in the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) and the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) throughout their national territory. The delegates acknowledge that social dialogue has been instrumental in attenuating negative social impacts during the Asian financial crisis. In the light of looming global economic downturn, the delegates urge the ILO to provide timely technical assistance to member States for strengthening the capacity of social partners to engage in dialogue and improve social dialogue mechanisms at all levels. The delegates further call upon all member States to take steps to ratify the Tripartite Consultation (International Labour Standards) Convention, 1976 (No. 144). While taking note of the great diversity of institutional arrangements for social dialogue at all levels in member States, the delegates request the Office to make the provision of assistance to strengthen dialogue at the level of the work place a priority.

The delegates reiterate that the most effective way to define and implement a national policy to reduce the decent work deficit is through tripartite social dialogue and that such dialogue is only possible when the participants are equal partners. The delegates call upon the ILO to play a more effective role in strengthening the social partners through research and training.

While expressing concern at the lack of information on, and evaluation of, the follow-up to the conclusions of previous regional meetings, the delegates urge each member State of the Asia-Pacific region to establish, through tripartite discussion and consensus, a national plan of action for decent work, which should define, within the overall framework of the ILO Decent Work Agenda, national priorities, a timetable for implementation and a set of indicators for the purposes of regular tripartite monitoring and evaluation. The delegates request the Office to provide such assistance to the tripartite constituents in the design of these national plans of action as they may consider necessary.

The delegates request the Office to give priority to assisting, where necessary and requested, the tripartite constituents to implement the national plan of action for decent work. In this regard, ILO capacity in the region should be strengthened. Further, the delegates express the hope that other member States in the region will respond positively to requests for technical assistance and advice to replicate or adapt their own best practices for the benefit of less advanced countries.

To facilitate the design, implementation and monitoring of national plans of action for decent work, the delegates request the Office to establish a regularly up-dated website which reflects actions and activities undertaken in each country in pursuit of the Decent Work Agenda, both by the Office and the constituents. In this connection, the delegates call upon the Office to design, as soon as possible, appropriate measures for collecting information annually and disseminating this to all constituents, including qualitative assessment of the effectiveness of ILO activities in the region.

As regards elements of the Decent Work Agenda which are most appropriately dealt with at the subregional and regional levels, the delegates invite the tripartite constituents to consider the establishment of corresponding subregional or regional fora to design and implement appropriate programmes. The Office should include information on such programmes in the website mentioned above.