The director general of the International Labor Organization (ILO), Gilbert Houngbo, warned this Saturday that there are currently “more inequalities, more poverty and more people who are left behind” and defended that, “without decisive action”, the shortage of labor of work will increase.
In a speech at the Porto Social Forum, which takes place in the Rosa Mota Pavilion, in the Crystal Palace, Gilbert Houngbo highlighted that the last 15 years “have been marked by multiple crises and various transformations”, referring to “the , technological and financial.
“We have faced persistent and protracted conflicts, the Covid-19 pandemic and the current severe economic downturn. For this reason, we currently see more inequalities, more poverty and more people who are left behind”, he warned.
According to Houngbo, who cited a report prepared by the ILO, the global employment deficit – an indicator that calculates people who are unemployed, but also those who want to work but are not actively looking for work – stood at 473 million in 2022. people.
“Global employment is expected to grow by just 1% this year, compared with 2.3% in 2022. Without decisive action, gaps [no mercado de trabalho] created in previous crises will not close quickly and, on the contrary, may contribute to further labor shortages,” he warned.
Houngbo said that, according to the ILO, The “active population in Europe and Central Asia is expected to decrease by 2.4 million between 2022 and 2024partly due to demographic trends,” warning that unemployment is likely to “rise, but only slightly.”
“It is expected that, in 2024, the number of women employed or looking for work in this region of the world will be one of the lowest in the world, standing slightly below 60%,” he also stressed.
The ILO Director General warned that this context makes it “very difficult” to achieve, by 2030, the 17 sustainable development goals stipulated by the United Nations (UN), also known as the 2030 Agenda. Gilbert Houngbo called the European Union European Union (EU) to “fully support” and contribute to this agenda.
“Your participation in this coalition will clearly strengthen the influence of the EU on social and labor issues at the international level. The EU and the ILO share the vision that economic prosperity, social justice and environmental protection are fundamental to our future,” he said.
The Porto Social Forum, which will take place every two years, aims to reaffirm the role of social rights in the EU and give continuity to the commitments made at the Social Summit held in 2021, during the Portuguese presidency of the Council of the EU .
In the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPDS) action plan, the EU committed to achieving three targets by 2030: at least 78% of people aged 20-64 are employed, at least 60% of all adults must participate in training each year and the number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion must be reduced by at least 15 million by 2030, five million of whom are children.
The PEDS was proclaimed in 2017 in Gothenburg, defining 20 principles and establishing a set of social rules for a strong, fair, inclusive and opportunity-filled social Europe in the 21st century.
Source: Observadora
