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Ministers of Economy and Labor of the Americas hold Dialogue on Policies for the Promotion of Decent Work and Social Inclusion

The XVIII Inter-American Conference of Ministers of Labor (IACML), held in Medellin, Colombia, today hosted a dialogue between ministries of labor, finance, planning and economy of different countries of the Hemisphere, who recognized the importance of policies that recognize the interdependence between employment, labor mobility, social protection, demographic and technological changes, regional disparities, the environment and economic growth.

During the second plenary session of the ministerial meeting, the Chief of Staff of the Minister of Economy of Argentina, Fabian Dall'o, presented a historical overview of the growth and distribution issues and explained how this issues have evolved in his country. He claimed that "over the last decade, Latin America is an example of growth with social inclusion," and that the region has heterogeneous strategies for inclusive growth. In this regard, he said that to achieve inclusive growth "a more active role of the state seems be a necessary condition, which should serve as a mediator between sectors, protecting vulnerable groups and articulating public policies with the private sector in pursuit of a strategy of cooperative development."

The Minister of Planning and Sustainable Development of Trinidad and Tobago, Bhoendradatt Tewarie, spoke of the approach that the government of his country has adopted to ensure sustainable development, based on the interrelatedness of the various sectors of the economy, and the cross cutting principles of discrimination, gender equity, human rights and rights to dignity and a high quality of life participatory governance and social inclusion. In particular, the Minister reported that the employment policies of his country have as "central pillars to achieve policy coherence related to our planning process as well as monitoring and evaluation of results, national targets and indicators."

The Minister of Labor of Canada, Kellie Leitch, recalled that for decades the IACML has proven invaluable in helping the countries of the Hemisphere to work together to strengthen their workplaces and economies through sharing information and forging partnerships. "Labor ministers have a key role to play in developing policies and measures to support economic activity while encouraging collaborative and stable labor relations, and promoting safe, healthy and productive workplaces," she said. Regarding her country, she affirmed that the greatest challenge for the Canadian economy is the growing mismatch between available skills and available jobs. She further stated that to meet the challenges related to work it is necessary to identify occupations where there is a shortage of qualified people, support skills development through training programs, improve worker mobility and strengthen partnership between government, learning institutions and employers.

For his part, the Minister of Labor and Social Security of Costa Rica, Olman Segura, referred to the impediments of access to decent work and stressed the importance of increasing international integration of economies, to promote and strengthen local production chains, the productivity of agro-based rural societies, and the entrepreneurial and business culture. Minister Segura also encouraged the strengthening of macroeconomic policies to design and implement initiatives that create, consolidate and develop scientific and technological infrastructure, and to strengthen international economic integration, "which plays a key role in facilitating the transfer of innovation and global experiences to our societies." Therefore it is necessary, he concluded, “to ensure continuing education through training efforts of universities and vocational training institutes.”

The Inter-American Conference of Ministers of Labor is the main forum in the Hemisphere to define priorities and actions to be taken on labor and employment, which meets in this its eighteenth edition with 50 years working for an inclusive dialogue between employers, workers and governments, and to make recommendations and commitments and promote Inter-American cooperation.

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-431/13