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2008 - The ILO begins implementation
of a new funding modality
to boost Decent Work Country Programmes worldwide
The Regular Budget Supplementary Account (RBSA)
That same year,
the world falls into a financial and economic crisis.
Unemployment projections reach levels
not seen since the 1930s.
RBSA funding allows the ILO to rapidly respond
to the needs of laid-off workers...
Zambia's Victoria Falls -
one of the world's most magnificent sites
has been this way for millennia.
But not everything in Zambia has been so consistent and dependable.
The global financial and economic crisis has hit Zambia's economy hard,
closing vital copper mines
and drying the lucrative flow of tourism.
They are saying they don't have enough money
So it's easy to say this global financial meltdown
Otherwise It would cost a lot on our life
My sales were very hit through,
because I was selling very little money.
That's how I was affected with this financial crisis
I could not even manage to buy a bag of mealy meal
But, as thousands of miners lose their jobs
and souvenir sellers see their livelihoods shrink,
the flexibility of RBSA funding allows for a quick response.
The mining industry has been forced to lay off
thousands of workers.
The tourism industry is very much hit by the crisis.
So we are trying to find responses
both through job creation
and the improvement of social security
to respond to the crisis impact.
RBSA funds enabled the ILO
to launch Quatrain Africa,
a program that builds capacity
for national financial planning
and management of social security systems.
Training targets managers, administrators
and policy experts in social security
to help them create accessible, efficient social protection schemes.
In a region where less than 10 percent of the population
may have access to social protection,
the effects of a global financial and economic crisis
hits hard and makes social protection a priority that cannot wait.
RBSA helps filling funding gaps
and scale-up ongoing priority programmes.
On Bangkok's busy streets,
the global economic crisis is taking hold.
With young migrants finding it harder and harder
to get a decent job,
they become more vulnerable to exploitation.
Most of them have no major problems,
but others end up in trouble.
This young woman was abused for years
before she went for help.
They kicked me,
they whipped me with an electrical chord
nearly everyday.
The flexibility of the RBSA has allowed the ILO
to fill funding gaps and scale up existing work.
In Cambodia, China, Laos, and Thailand,
a widespread information campaign throughout the region
has targeted hundreds of thousands of young women
on the move and at risk of human trafficking.
And with RBSA funding,
the initiative can reach thousands more young women,
achieving the extra mile.
(Jan - Migrant Worker) There might be a chance that I will be trafficked,
now I know how to ask for more information.
If they offer me a good salary,
I will become suspicious.
This project was coming to an end last year,
but thanks to the RBSA
the initiative is reaching many more young women.
Without the availability of the RBSA funding,
there would have been a big gap in these campaigns.
RBSA allows us to bridge the funding gaps
between the very successful ILO projects
and the need to continue those projects
by up-scaling or replicating them more broadly in the region.
With so many people on the move
in the world's most populous region,
RBSA funding helps to protect more young migrants,
contributing to a confident and brighter future.
RBSA's speed and flexibility allows the ILO
to jump-start high priority initiatives in wake of the conflict.
Nearly three years have passed since the latest conflict in southern Lebanon.
This brought nothing to the area but death,
destruction, and the need to jump start a battered economy.
With RBSA funding at hand,
the ILO was rapidly able to expand
an existing programme that helped local farmers
like Abbas Bazzi, learn more productive
and profitable ways of farming.
This culture is still new.
It's quite different from growing tobacco.
It's less tiring and doesn't require the whole family to work.
And it's less costly
because we plough the land and plant it just once.
The RBSA funding gives the ILO
a crucial flexibility in bridging the occasional gaps in donor funding.
And back in the capital, Beirut,
the ILO's Regional Director explains
that these benefits have made the RBSA
a vital part of their programme.
We have a total of nine projects in the Arab states region
funded by the regular budget supplementary account.
We are implementing these in Syria, Lebanon,
Jordan and Yemen,
as well as at the sub regional level.
The total amount comes to about $2.5million
which is about 10 percent of our technical cooperation programme.
Closely integrated with the rest of the UN programme,
the ILO's work in South Lebanon
provides employment creation
and income generation activities.
Beekeeping allows Laila Bishara,
to continue her other vital work, teaching.
It was useful.
It gave me something more than teaching.
In the future it can help me financially,
because as a teacher I can't make ends meet.
RBSA funding could not stop the fighting,
but it is helping the people throughout this region
rebuild their economies and to get on with their lives.
RBSA funding builds capacity critical
for improved labour relations in the sugar industry.
The sugar fields in these pictures may look idyllic,
but they mask systematic problems.
For years, poor labour relations in Mexico's sugar industry
meant poor working conditions and reduced productivity.
But with contributions from the RBSA,
an ILO project - helped bring managers and workers together,
in achieving a more conducive work environment.
The project in Mexico is in a way emblematic
since it has reinforced capacity for social dialogue
in this sugar mill industry.
and, when you improve labour relations,
you also improve competitiveness and productivity.
The world's sixth largest producer of sugar,
Mexico has struggled with its productivity.
New trade deals with the United States placed extra pressure on the industry.
But with the RBSA funding,
the ILO was able to provide technical support
in improving relations among management and workers.
Almost every employer that we found
had a similar view to us,
so that attitudes were open to change for both
the management and the workers.
We can work for the common good,
which will make our industry stronger.
That's why we are grateful to the ILO for this participation.
There was a very deep mistrust on both sides.
For two years, the ILO has been with us
as we planted the seeds that are bearing fruit.
It has been hard but the dialogue has brought trust.
And the ILO has played an important role
because it brought the two sides to the table
where we were able to talk the truth.
And I believe that has helped build a lot of trust.
In addition to facilitating this crucial dialogue,
the ILO project has put in place a comprehensive training plan
which has addressed the workers' concerns.
The success of this project has led to similar projects in Cuba,
the Dominican Republic and Chile.
The unions, management and workers analyzed together
the needs of each department.
Management listened
and even if they have not done everything,
they have done some things to answer the workers' needs.
And this is something that makes me proud
to be part of this new management system (SIMAPRO).
They want everybody to have the right equipment.
They have given us all helmets, gloves and protective glasses.
RBSA funds alone did not lead to achieving these critical results.
Stakeholder commitment and other ILO resources also played an important role.
But the RBSA funding helped overcome bottlenecks,
boosting productivity and improving working conditions.
RBSA enables the ILO to target high-priority issues
with timely funding.
For years, people with disabilities in Serbia
faced prejudice and mis-understanding
that made them one of the country's most socially excluded groups.
So when the Balkan country passed a disability law earlier this year,
the RBSA funded a pilot project
which sensitizes approximately 100 companies
to promote and enable the employment of people with disabilities.
I can't tell you how it felt when they offered me the job.
I started to cry from happiness,
I was so emotional.
Even now I have a lump in my throat.
You know, you wake up in the morning
and you wake up happy.
You know that something is waiting for you
that something nice will happen to you,
those four hours that you are working, your day is fulfilled.
You know that you are doing something worthwhile;
it is good for your self-esteem.
The pilot project brought a new lease of life to people with disabilities;
It also demonstrated to the companies
that their new employees were dedicated and productive.
There was very little or no practice of employing people with disability
on the open labour market.
But know we are facing that things are going to be changed in this field as well
and that the larger companies are more willing to employ people with disabilities.
The timing may be opportune.
With the global financial and economic crisis hitting eastern Europe hard,
the most socially vulnerable groups increasingly need some urgent form of protection.
In such a situation as we have now with the global economic crisis
also of course hitting Serbia,
we tend to forget - or countries tend to forget -
that we have to address the specific needs
of the socially most excluded groups
and persons with disabilities are clearly one of them.
The ILO hopes that this pilot project
will be extended throughout Serbia and the region.
Its facilitation was made possible by the quick availability
and flexibility of RBSA funding.
The International Labour Organization
thanks Brazil, Germany, ireland, Italy
Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom
for their contributions to the Regular Budget Supplementary Account.