The latest meeting of the UN Economic and Social Committee (ECOSOC) ended with an important message of support for ILO's activities, and more particularly its Decent Work Agenda. The ECOSOC is coordinating the actions of 14 specialised agencies, 10 functional committees and five regional committees of the UN.

At its meeting held in Geneva from 3 to 5 July, it adopted a ministerial declaration underscoring the priority of managing to attain productive, full-time employment and decent work for all. During this period of UN reform, the participating ministers launched an appeal to the UN to unite and to promote high-quality jobs. This is an urgent matter, for unemployment worldwide has risen by more than 20% over the past 10 years, and 430 million new jobs will have to be created over the coming decade to keep pace with the growing global workforce.

The meeting was the first international summit to take on board the recommendations made by the UN Summit of Heads of State and Government organised in September 2005, which included the strategy of decent work in the efforts to be made to attain the UN Millennium Development Goals. "This move presents the extraordinary opportunity to mainstream the goal of full and productive employment and decent work for all into the regular activities of all relevant UN organisations", said ILO Director-General Juan Somavia. "This can set in motion a process of policy dialogue within the multilateral system - including the Bretton Woods Institutions - to stimulate the necessary policy convergence behind this global goal agreed to at the 2005 UN Summit".

• The text of the Declaration

Source: ILO