Meeting of labor authorities culminates with approval of XX IACML Agenda

During two days of work, the meeting of Working Groups of the XIX IACML and the First Preparatory of the XX IACML were held consecutively. The following are the main results:
 

• Participation of 17 delegations of Ministries of Labor, representatives of workers and employers, grouped in COSATE and CEATAL, and specialists from international organizations including the ILO, IOM, UNICEF, World Bank and CISS.

• Agreement on the Agenda of the XX IACML, to be held in Barbados from December 7 to 8, 2017, with the theme "Building on our achievements and advancing toward social justice, decent work and sustainable development in the Americas." The approved agenda can be consulted here. 

• Analysis and exchange of experiences (programs and policies) from the Ministries of Labor, as well as perspectives from social actors and international organizations on issues of the highest priority for the region, such as: the transition from the informal economy to the formal economy, youth employment, labor inclusion of people with disabilities, effective enforcement of labor legislation, combating child labor and consideration of its linkages with social protection. The Report of the meeting will include lessons and policy recommendations from the experiences presented in each topic.

• Follow-up to the study "Analysis of bilateral and multilateral social security agreements as they relate to pensions". The CISS informed that it is developing the database of agreements requested by the Plan of Action of Cancun and reiterated its commitment to continue working with the IACML in the protection of migrant workers. The database is funded and coordinated by the CISS in partnership with the OAS and the Ibero-American Social Security Organization (OISS).

• Begin the planning of the RIAL Workshop on Labor Migration, to be held from July 13 to 14, 2017 in San José, Costa Rica. It will be organized in partnership between the Ministry of Labor of Costa Rica, the OAS, the ILO, the IOM, and CISS. The workshop proposal is open to comments (see “next steps” below).

• Presentation of the results of the Inter-sectoral Workshop on Youth Employment, held in December 2016 in Brasilia, which brought together officials from the Ministries of Education and Labor, at the regional level for the first time. The document of conclusions is open to comments from the participants to the workshop.

• Financial and activity report of the Inter-American Network for Labor Administration (RIAL). The Secretariat emphasized that the RIAL continues to show excellent results and invited Ministries to increase their contributions to ensure sustainability.

• Launching of the new website of the RIAL, more interactive and agile, with new sections and search engines.