South-south and triangular cooperation - ILO

Since 2005, the ILO has assisted the Government of Brazil in initiating more systematic horizontal cooperation in the field of child labour with Portuguese-speaking countries in Africa. The Office signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Brazil on 14 December 2007 to guide the future development of this important South-South initiative in a spirit of equality and non-discrimination and based on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. Its most recent achievement is Brazil’s agreement to finance projects in Paraguay, Bolivia, Ecuador and Timor Leste following the conclusion of a framework agreement with the ILO in March 2009.

India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) commitment to South-South cooperation and the Decent Work Agenda:

The Minister of Labour of South Africa, the Minister of Labour and Employment of India and the Minister of Labour and Employment signed a joint declaration on 12 June 2012 to reaffirm the India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) commitment to South-South cooperation and the Decent Work Agenda. This Declaration reaffirms the principles of an IBSA Declaration of Intent regarding South-South Cooperation and Decent Work which was signed at the ILO in Geneva on 22 November 2010 during the Global South-South Development Expo of the United Nations.

The IBSA Development Forum has since 2003 been engaged in the promotion of South-South cooperation, while consistently supporting the International Labour Organization’s Decent Work Agenda.

In the Declaration the three countries have reaffirmed their commitment to promote a job-intensive economic recovery, create a framework for sustainable growth, and promote the Decent Work Agenda through horizontal exchanges between developing countries. The Declaration also launches the idea of an IBSA tri-partite Working Group on Decent Work which would meet at least once a year during the International Labour Conference in Geneva.

For more information: http://www.ilo.org/pardev/partnerships-and-relations/south-south/WCMS_182923/lang--en/index.htm

South-South Cooperation (SSC) Partnership Agreement with the People’s Republic of China

The Vice Minister of Human Resources and Social Security of the People’s Republic of China and the Director General of the International Labour Organization (lLO) have signed a US$1 million partnership agreement on 12 June 2012.

Under the “Partnership Agreement for Promoting Technical Cooperation with a Focus on South-South Initiatives”, the People’s Republic of China is committing US$1 million over three years to support South-South cooperation and the Decent Work agenda. The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of the People’s Republic of China will assist developing countries in Asia promote full employment and decent work, through innovative technical cooperation projects that will facilitate the dissemination of good practices.

For more information: http://www.ilo.org/asia/info/public/pr/WCMS_182868/lang--en/index.htm

New Programme Agreements

In 2010, during the Fourth Annual Meeting of the ILO with Brazil, new programme agreements were signed that extended cooperation to the fields of forced labour and green jobs, the expansion of Brazilian models of social security to Timor Leste, as well as horizontal cooperation between labour unions of the Americas and Africa. At the same meeting, a triangular (South-South-North) cooperation agreement was finalized between the governments of the United States, Brazil, and Haiti to combat child labour in the construction sector.

In 2010 Brazil and the International Training Centre of the ILO, Turin, also embarked on an agreement concerning capacity building in the field of humanitarian crises and natural disasters. Brazil also showed major leadership in the establishment of an IBSA dialogue with the ILO and the signing of an IBSA Declaration of Intent (2010) in the field of Decent Work. This was a direct consequence of the 2010 IBSA Heads of State meeting in Brasilia that reaffirmed the Decent Work Agenda as the path to future work between the three countries.

For more information: http://ssc.undp.org/content/dam/ssc/unentitiesspace/ILO/files/South-South%20in%20Action-Winter%20 2011%20issue.pdf

The November 2012 Global South-South Development Expo in Vienna, Austria put the spotlight on Energy and Climate Change. The ILO Solution Forum on Energy, Climate Change and Decent Work (20 November 2012) covered inclusive access to decent work, the follow-up to Rio+20, green jobs, social protection and the promotion of workers’ rights in the field of renewable energy and climate change.

For more information: http://www.ilo.org/pardev/partnerships-and-relations/south-south/lang--en/index.htm