OREANDA-NEWS. December 27, 2012. The World Trade Center hosted an international high-level conference on decent work, sponsored by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security of the Russian Federation and supported by the International Labour Organization. The conference was proposed by Vladimir Putin who voiced the idea of having an event on those issues at the 100th session of the International Labour Conference in June 2011.

The conference was attended by over 800 delegates from 80 countries and 16 international organizations. The list of distinguished speakers included Olga Golodets, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Maxim Topilin, Labor and Social Security Minister of the Russian Federation, Guy Ryder, Director-General of the ILO, Mikhail Shmakov, Chairman of the Federation of Independent Trade-Unions of Russia, and Alexander Shokhin, Chairman of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs.

The main purpose of the conference is to discuss strategic approaches to overcoming the global crisis and its negative impact on employment, labor conditions, national labor markets, social policy and economic development. The conference will make a significant contribution to the implementation of the Decent Work Program developed by the ILO and aimed at achieving full, productive and freely chosen employment, promoting social dialog, developing social protection measures, and fostering respect of the fundamental employment principles and rights (freedom of association, eradication of forced and child labor and discrimination).

The conference attendees discussed issued related to global growth of unemployment, brought about by the global economic crisis. As a way out of the situations, some speakers said it might be beneficial to turn to the experience of the countries that choose to create jobs and maintain social equality, using that model as a development vehicle. Furthermore, special attention was given to challenges faced by young people. According to ILO Director-General Guy Ryder, “of 200 million unemployed, young people account for 40 percent.” Unless the situation changes, we run the risk of having another “lost generation.”

“Work must be a mainstay not only of well-being, but also of personal development. Especially keenly it is felt in a period of economic crisis,” said in his speech First Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Denisov. He stated that the labor management situation differs a lot in developed and developing countries, and expressed hope that the International High-Level Conference on Decent Work will contribute constructive proposals and recommendations for practical use all over the world.